The Public Relations News Portal
“Please read and agree to Terms & Conditions”: everyone’s favorite phrase when downloading or updating an app. Don’t lie to yourself, you’ve only read about eight combined words in all of those policies you’ve agreed to. Trust us, you’re not alone. Virtually no one reads those things.
Thinking about starting a blog for your nonprofit but wondering how exactly a blog might make a difference? That may be because the blog is an unfa
Online communities exist in an endless variety of form and shape and nonprofits are sitting up and paying attention: these communities offer new ways to engage lots of potential donors. Facebook and Twitter are huge, but some people fail to recognize that YouTube is also a social networking website. In fact, YouTube is a much bigger phenomenon than either Facebook or Twitter and is second in world web traffic only to the Google behemoth.
From the standpoint of nonprofits, making use of social media networks such as Twitter and Facebook is a no-brainer. These online communities allow nonprofits to tell potential donors about their work, engage the public, and drive traffic to nonprofit websites. Pinterest, on the other hand, may be a bit more difficult to understand, from the standpoint of a nonprofit. How can pinning items to a virtual bulletin accomplish any of those above mentioned goals?
While Google takes you by the hand and leads you with a smile to pictures of kittens and puppies, while you laugh at the latest Grumpy Cat meme, while you skip down the aisles of e-commerce buying baseball cards and gumdrops, the Deep Web lies beneath.
This week, the drug rehab center which I run, Morningside Recovery Center was the subject of mistaken media reports worldwide and we learned a lot about the media world. Media reports ran which were often blatantly false – facts weren’t checked, rumors with unnamed sources were cited worldwide as if it was fact or true. People with agendas leaked information to serve their own purposes.
Monday’s New York Times ran an article by Stuart Elliott on the rebranding of our competitor, Fleishman-Hillard (FH). The firm will “be the most complete communications company in the world… channel agnostic… across paid, owned, earned and shared media,” according to agency CEO Dave Senay. His is a bold vision, to partner with brands and to serve consumers with content that is alluring and worthy of sharing. The firm is hiring from outside of the PR field, from ad agencies, consultancies and brand identity firms. It sounds to me like the creation of a marketing services company within a single corporate entity.
It’s 2 PM and you’ve long since finished your lunch. You’re deep into your work, contemplating stocks and mergers when the voices in your head begin their insistent beat, “My bologna has a first name, it’s O-S-C-A-R.” You clear your throat audibly, hoping the actual sound of your own voice will set you right. Next, you tap the keys on your calculator and scribble a few numbers, the it starts up again, “My bologna has a second name it’s M-A-Y-E-R.”
Charities are beginning to sit up and take note that social networking sites are useful tools on a variety of levels. A charity can make a message felt, reach a wide number of people from varied target groups, learn more about what does and doesn’t work, and mobilize support, just by working social media.
Within the Public Relations arena, there is an oft-heard debate about if all press is good press – and opinions differ. Some say just spell my name right – and of course others would say ask Carnival Cruises, Tiger Woods or many others who have been slammed by the media if all press is good press.
