Posts Tagged ‘Twitter’

If you haven’t visited @FakeAPStylebook on Twitter, you should — even if purely for the entertainment factor. As mentioned in an article, this Twitter sensation offers memorable nuggets of writing advice, particularly interesting to those of us whose lives are ruled by the APA, MLA and AP guidebooks.

Since October 2009, Fake AP Stylebook has filled the gap for a satirical attack on the topic of language. The site attracted 1,000 followers on the first day — and now with over 150,000 — it is clearly catching the attention of many loyal fans. The founders, Ken Lowery and Mark Hale, even have a book deal in the works! [In Bookstores Spring 2011, from Three Rivers Press]

Quoted in PRSA’s PR Tactics, Lowery says, “The account was a joke between some friends and me. We’d just hit on a good comedy prompt and see how far we could take it before the joke ran out of steam or we lost interest. Once we got some vindication that the joke had legs, we made the account.”

When asked about the Fake AP Stylebook’s effect, Lowery says, “The reception has been largely positive and sometimes surprising. That said, I know at least one of us has been told by a colleague that they’re concerned the Fake AP Stylebook will steer students of the English language down the wrong path, even if we have ‘fake’ right there in our name. So you can’t please everyone all the time.”

Here are a few of the hysterical tweets you’ll find on @FakeAPStylebook:

• Avoid repeating common myths: we only use 10% of our brains, drink 8 glasses of water a day, man landed on the moon.
• Roman numerals are neither Roman nor numeric. They’re, like, letters, right? Are we the only ones seeing this?
• Do not use quotes inside quotes inside quotes; you’ll get lost if you go that deep into the sentence.
• Include plenty of rainbows and unicorns when writing your organization’s marketing plan. Everybody loves rainbows and unicorns.
• internet – Wires and something? We’re looking into it.
• Op-ed: May only be written by men named Ed who wear vintage 1980s surfer clothing.
• When interviewing third-party candidates, try not to snicker when they discuss their chances of being elected.
• Sprinkle the word ‘quantum’ throughout science articles, particularly if you have no idea what you’re talking about.
• Never say anything about a colleague in a private e-mail that you wouldn’t put in print, since it’s going to end up there anyway.

If you haven’t at least heard of Facebook and Twitter, you have probably been living under a rock — or in denial. But as quickly as you get used to the ins and out of the most popular social media sites, more are on the rise. And these sites want to know where you are, where you’re going and where you’ve been.

Welcome to the location-based social networks, such as Foursquare — which I have previously discussed in another post. I tried out Foursquare — and I while I’m not super familiar with it, I can see the appeal. You “check in” to businesses and other locations in real time, and many places are now offering special perks for their most frequent visitor — called the “mayor” — and others who check in.

But what about Blippy? Customers can tell their friends about the products that they buy through this site, which links merchant accounts to broadcast members’ purchases to the world. Blippy lets you communicate about and share purchases with friends by syncing already existing e-commerce accounts to Blippy such as iTunes, Netflix, Woot, eBay and more.

And then you’ve got TagWhat, which takes a leap into the world of Augmented Reality (AR). It allows people to tag real-world locations and attach information, reviews, links, photos, videos, notes and so on to those particular spots, whether tied to their current location or not. Users can also follow other people and merge their respective ‘markers’ together in an effort to build a global network of augmented reality hotspots.

A little overwhelming, right? Well, maybe it’s best to start with a toe in the ever-changing social media pool instead of taking a flying leap headfirst. But whatever you do, start swimming!

Today’s news atmosphere calls for up-to-the-second news, as soon as you can get it and as fast as you can post it. That includes social media such as Facebook and Twitter, but it also applies to websites. One essential way to keep your website as updated as possible is an online newsroom with fresh, new content that is constantly evolving.

David Henderson, author of “Making News in the Digital Era,” said, “Static newsrooms are the least-visited part of a website because most are just graveyards of old press releases. Your newsroom needs to present the spectrum of all the things that your company is doing within its industry, and hanging press releases there kills credibility.”

The core audience for an organization’s online newsroom is everyone from shareholders and business partners, to customers, donors, employees… and THEN the media. And because newsrooms are not only for the media, practitioners must use a writing style that draws interest in a way people can relate to.

“Nobody cares what your company does unless you tell them in a way that adds value,” Henderson said.

What are some elements to add value to your online newsroom?

• News articles (300-500 words)
• Short videos (HD for B-roll)
• Links to company facts and contacts
• Search capability

And if you use WordPress as your content management system, you’re not alone. Even The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal use it for their blog networks, said Ryan Zuk. There are over 22 million WordPress publishers as of February 2010: 10.6 million blogs hosted on WordPress.com plus 11.4 million active installations of the WordPress.org software. According to Quantcast, around 250 million people visit one or more WordPress.com blogs every month, and they view over two billion pages on those blogs.

So get reading, writing and online newsroom–ing.

I really can’t believe it’s 80 degrees outside in the middle of April. Things are starting to bloom, allergies are starting to annoy, and construction is everywhere. It’s also the time for a new crop of students to graduate college and enter the workforce. And when I found a very interesting blog post from the Council of Public Relations Firms dealing with new hires and tech-savvy Millennials, I was intrigued. (as I am considered one of those tech-savvy Millennials:)

Do you know into which generation you fall? According to most sources, the following applies:

Silent Generation [born 1928-1945]
Baby Boomer Generation [born 1946-1964]
Gen Xer [born 1965-1980]
Gen Yer/Millennial [born 1981 or after]

Millennials are known for being confident, self-expressive, liberal, upbeat and receptive to new ideas and ways of living. But they may not be as loyal to their employers and companies as past generations. This post brought up some great tips on how PR agencies can attract, and keep, their new talent, including offering career advancement opportunities and a greater focus on state-of-the-art technology and social media.

And just because I’m on Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Twitter and send a mountainous number of texts and e-mails a day… I don’t know that that necessarily makes me tech-savvy:) — but I try!

Coles Marketing Communications has been named Agency of Record for SteadyGRO, a product manufactured by floral industry giant Syndicate Sales Inc. Coles Marketing Communications will globally market the SteadyGRO brand.

SteadyGRO is an inert, sterile product used by home and greenhouse gardeners, professional gardners and hydroponic growers that optimizes soilless plant growth. Available in plugs, sheets, blocks and slabs, SteadyGRO helps growers maximize results when growing indoor food crops like cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, popular flowering plants, woody ornamentals, vines, ivy and more. SteadyGRO was created to be used as a substitute to rockwool, a soilless growing media developed in Denmark in the early 1970s that has been the standard for vegetable and flower production in North America and Europe for decades. SteadyGRO has been laboratory tested to produce faster seed germination, higher fruit weights and better overall fruit quality than rockwool and, unlike rockwool, SteadyGRO is eco-friendly and can be reduced from its original form to a mass of less than 11 percent or incinerated for bio-mass purposes

Recently, Purdue University conducted a six-month laboratory study that analyzed the performance of growing cucumbers and tomatoes indoors using both SteadyGRO and rockwool. The study concluded that SteadyGRO outperformed rockwool, producing higher germination and fruit weights, plant longevity, general plant health and overall fruit quality.

“We chose Coles Marketing Communications to market SteadyGRO due to the agency’s long and proven history for building and sustaining brand awareness and getting results,” said Kelvin Frye, national sales manager for SteadyGRO. “We have an innovative, revolutionary and proven product in SteadyGRO and Coles Marketing Communications understands how to grow our presence in the international marketplace.”

SteadyGRO is manufactured by Syndicate Sales Inc., a leading manufacturer, importer and distributor of more than 1,500 items to the international floral industry since 1946. Syndicate Sales manufactures brand names Aquapic©, Aquafoam©, Aquaplus the difference is clear©, Aquahold©, Hydraplus©, Hoosier Glass©, Garden Collection© and Everlastin Baskets©. With subsidiary Hurryin’ Hoosier Transport, Syndicate Sales is the leader in customized distribution and delivery to its customers in all 48 contiguous U.S. states and Canada.

News about new client SteadyGRO’s impressive performance in a recent Purdue University study hit the national media last week, showing up on the Reuters board in New York’s Times Square (at left) and the Clear Channel message board in Las Vegas.

SteadyGRO is a new product that optimizes soilless plant growth. It’s used by home and greenhouse gardeners, pro gardeners and hydroponic growers to grow food crops like cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, flowers and more. Manufactured by Kokomo, Ind.-based Syndicate Sales, which has for more than 60 years manufactured and distributed more than 1,500 floral related items for the international floral industry, SteadyGRO is available  in plugs, sheets, blocks and slabs.

The Purdue study compared indoor plant growth results using SteadyGro and rockwool, a product developed in the 1970s. A huge difference between SteadyGRO and rockwool is their impact on the environment. SteadyGRO is eco-friendly and can be reduced from its original form to a mass of less than 11 percent or incinerated for bio-mass purposes.

Purdue University research concluded that SteadyGRO H+ was the best-performing soilless growth medium in terms of average grams of fruit harvested per plant in tomatoes and cucumbers. SteadyGRO H+ produced 47 percent more cucumber in terms of fruit weight per plant than rockwool, according to the study, and both SteadyGRO and SteadyGRO H+ outperformed rockwool in promoting the growth of tomatoes by a 23 percent gain in harvested weight.

News of SteadyGRO’s performance compared to rockwool was also picked up by Reuters, Forbes.com, Yahoo! Finance, the Boston Business Journal, the Los Angeles Business Journal, WBTV CBS-3  in Charlotte, N.C., WTHR NBC-13 in Indianapolis and more than 180 other news sites throughout the country.

Indiana-based SteadyGRO has named Daniel Shinall as the company’s social media marketer. Shinall is responsible for the daily maintenance of the SteadyGRO Web site, the company’s activities on Facebook and Twitter and implementing SteadyGRO’s online marketing strategies.

Originally from Savannah, Ga., he served as an intern in the Information/Technology department at SteadyGRO’s parent company Syndicate Sales Inc. during the summer of 2009. Prior to joining SteadyGRO, he was a sales specialist at Circuit City in Savannah and a landscaper at Cottonwood Homebuilders in Richmond Hill, Ga. He graduated from Richmond Hill (Georgia) High School and is attending Armstrong Atlantic State University in Savannah.

SteadyGRO is an inert, sterile product that optimizes soilless plant growth. Used by home and greenhouse gardeners, professional gardeners and hydroponic growers and available in plugs, sheets, blocks and slabs, SteadyGRO helps growers maximize their results when growing food crops including cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, popular flowering plants, woody ornamentals, vines, ivy and more. SteadyGRO is eco-friendly and can be reduced from its original form to a mass of less than 11 percent or incinerated for bio-mass purposes. SteadyGRO is manufactured by Syndicate Sales Inc., a 60-year staple in the international floral industry that manufactures, imports and distributes more than 1,500 floral-related items in the U.S. and overseas.

Recently, Purdue University research concluded that SteadyGRO outperformed rockwool, a soilless product that has been a mainstay in the industry for decades. Overall, the study concluded, SteadyGRO H+ was the best-performing soilless growth medium in terms of average grams of fruit harvested per plant in tomatoes and cucumbers. SteadyGRO H+ produced 47 percent more cucumber in terms of fruit weight per plant than rockwool, according to the study, and both SteadyGRO and SteadyGRO H+ outperformed rockwool in promoting the growth of tomatoes by a 23 percent gain in harvested weight.

Like many companies, our fax machine has been pretty quiet lately.  No, it’s not dead.  It’s just not being used.  Email is our number one means of communication, along with cell phones, land-lines (yeah, still) and social media. 

And speaking of social media, this article’s headline by Sam Brace, special for Inside Tucson Business, states 2010: The Year Social Media Comes of Age for Businesses.  There are some interesting facts in the article.  Below is an excerpt.

– KRC Research, based in Washington, D.C., found that 88 percent of 200 executives of nonprofits it surveyed experimented with social media in 2009, and 85 percent plan to actively use it in their organizations this year. MarketingSherpa, a research firm specializing in tracking marketing efforts, reports that most industries are increasing their budgets for social media marketing in 2010.

Behind these increases is a booming population of new users of social media. Statistics show that 66 percent of global Internet users have visited social networks and that more have used these sites than traditional e-mail. Facebook grew to more than 300 million users in 2009. Twitter grew by 1,382 percent in February 2009. These sites are where people are gathering and there’s little to indicate they will leave for greener pastures in 2010. –

So here’s my question…will email be the next to die.  If you read this article by Dave Rosenberg at the CNET Blog Network, you might think we heading down that path.

Perhaps it’s too early to kill the fax machine (or email… how do you kill email?) with a baseball bat, as seen in the movie Office Space.  But I don’t think that day is too far away.

It’s a trend that is taking over the local news in every market–going interactive. No longer is that anchorman or anchorwoman such an unreachable star. It seems that every person you see on the air these days broadcasts their e-mail, Twitter information and more.

Facebook and Twitter are now helping local stations connect with their audience and tap into new viewers. And not only is social media being used as a way to interact with on-air talent but also as a way for viewers to help shape the news content for the day. “Tweet in your opinion on this topic.” “E-mail us about what’s going on in your neighborhood.” “Send us in your pictures.”

According to an article in the Boston Globe, “As local stations lose viewers and advertising revenue, they are turning to social networking Web sites for help. In recent months, news directors have used such sites as Facebook and Twitter to generate stories and, hopefully, boost ratings.”

Eventually — will the news become only what we make and want it to be?

As part of our ongoing professional development here at Coles Marketing Communications, we subscribe to a host of industry publications and share highlights from stories — relevant either to our clients’ industries or the improved practice of our craft — at our weekly staff meetings.

One of those publications is “Public Relations Tactics,” a monthly publication sent to members of the Public Relations Society of America.

As you can imagine, the conversation this past year has often turned to the world of social media: why it’s so important, what works, what doesn’t, what to do, what not to do, etc.  Here is a partial “don’ts list” aimed at those in the PR world, but I think everyone could take a lesson from it. These points come courtesy of PRSA and Twitter expert Sandra Fathi with some of my own thoughts intertwined:

• Hashtag hijacking: Taking advantage of popular trending topics (those words in Twitter posts with a “#” in front of them that make conversation topics easier to search) such as, say, the Indianapolis Colts,  to interrupt the conversation with your unrelated agenda such as, say, advertising your band’s gig on Friday night, is kind of like going to a dinner party and summarily inviting everyone to leave and come to your house … for a softball game. Not cool.

• False mentions: Including someone’s username in your tweet with an “@” in front of it will make that tweet show up in the person’s “mentions” tab in an attempt to grab their interest. PRSA calls this an “Ah! Made you look!” approach to marketing that makes people feel tricked. Also not cool.

• Misleading links: In the offline world, this goes by the name of “false advertising.” If you get people to click your link, look at a photo or watch a video by giving them false information (think of the subject lines in your e-mail’s spam folder … and then think about what’s actually in some of those e-mails!), you will anger your followers pretty quickly. Coolness factor: none.

• Mass follow: I’m reminded of  a line from Adam Sandler’s movie, “Funny People,” which I saw last weekend. I’m paraphrasing: In general, the more friends you have online, the fewer friends you have in real life. People use this tactic to try to amass a lot of followers in a short period of time. It’s not a good idea, in general, Fathi writes, to follow or be followed by a person advocating illegal activities or, if you’re a brand, controversial topics.

• Twitterns: Just because someone is a teenager/early 20s and knows how to tweet doesn’t usually qualify them to speak on behalf of a professional organization! Tweeting for a professional organization requires good judgment, understanding of company messaging and strategy, and representing the organization to the public in an appropriate manner consistent with those strategies.