“Will the holidays still be fun if I’m not guzzling eggnog like it’s my freaking job?” - Jon Ray on being sober for 90 days.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
New media blogger, Jon Ray, helps fulfill man’s dreams by helping him become more like a giant chicken. ;)

I was meeting with a client this morning who was wondering why she wasn’t getting any press off of the press releases she was sending out. She had spent a great deal of time writing up her release and followed the formatting that the book she purchased told her was best. She hired an administrative assistant, who sent this press release out to every major and minor publication they could find that had anything to do with her industry. Then, they waited.

After waiting and waiting, not much happened. They landed a couple of minor blog posts, but it wasn’t the media frenzy she was hoping for when she started out. Why didn’t more people write about her?

1. Build relationships with the press. It is never really a good idea to blind copy, unsolicited press releases to the press. It’s not generally a practice that they appreciate. Just like with creating a social media campaign, it is important to create REAL relationships. That’s why you hire a PR firm or publicist to send out press releases. Contrary to popular belief a good publicist DOES do something. They have intimate relationships with the press and know who to go to, when to go to them and with what kind of story. If you don’t have time to form relationships with the press…hire a publicist!
2. Paint us a picture and make us care. Just because you’re really excited about your new event, company or product, doesn’t mean anyone else is going to care about it. When you’re writing up your press release, find a way to make your company relatable to the mass public. Whether it’s TV, Newspaper or the blog-o-sphere, people enjoy visual images. Find a way to make your event stand out as a memorable image in people’s minds. (i.e. Snow Cone Stand - Get a snow machine and create a day where you invite kids to come and sled down a giant mountain of ice in the middle of the summer. Now, that’s visual! Here comes the press!) Think in photo ops and your press release will do well.
3. Is it the right time? One of the biggest reasons your press release gets passed over is because it simply wasn’t the right day. If it’s a busy news day, your story isn’t going to be covered no matter HOW amazing it might be. Be conscious of what else is going on in the news. You want to, ideally, identify which days are slow news days. On a slow news day, the press will praise you for bringing them any kind of story.
4. Give both sides. You know, if you’ve ever turned on a television, that the press LOVE controversy! They LOVE it! So, why not give them a little? Are there opposing opinions to whatever you’re trying to promote? Why not list them in your press release and give contacts for the press to reach the opposition for comment? A good reporter is going to list both sides of the story anyway. Make their job easier and your story stands a much better chance at getting picked up.

Of course, there are plenty of other things that can be done to give your press release a better chance of being picked up, but these four things are a good start. It’s amazing to me how many people spend the time, effort and money to promote a press release that is guaranteed to be looked over.

If you’d like to talk further about best practices for gaining press, then feel free to shoot an email to whoisjonray AT gmail DOT com. Otherwise, I’d love to hear your opinions in the comments section. What have you done in the past that garnered you a lot of press? What have you done that was a complete disaster? What would you add to this list?

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Do you reward the people on your team that make you look like a hot shot day in and day out?

We shot the below music video for Jackson Taylor a month or so ago and had a good time doing it. When it was all said and done, we gave him a finished video and thanked them for giving us the opportunity to work on their project. They thanked us and that is usually the end. In most artist/producer relationships, the production team is forgotten as soon as the video airs until the next video needs to be shot. Jackson Taylor’s song “Outlaw Women” (the song we did the video for) hit #1 on the Texas Music Charts this week. I got a package in the mail today from Jackson Taylor and Stevens|Ellis Management with the above certificate inside.

Jackson is on tour and I know his management is working 24 hours a day, now that they have a #1 hit single on their hands. Yet, they still found the time to send out certificates to thank the team that helped them get where they are now. I thought that was nice.

No matter how small the gesture, people like to feel appreciated.

Thanks, Jackson and Co.! Best of luck on the road!

The new video for the #1 single, “Outlaw Women” by Jackson Taylor:

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This post is being written as I stand on top of my parking garage, an area of my building in downtown Austin that has absolutely no WiFi signal. Yes, I stood in line, did my time (4 hours) and am now the proud owner of an iPhone 3G, which means this post is being typed on a tiny digital keyboard with the Wordpress iPhone application and then uploaded via a AT&T’s 3G network. Ha. I read that in the old days if you wanted to upload your thoughts to the web you had to go through a 10 minute dial-up process and then use key commands to navigate through something called usenet groups. You couldn’t even upload pictures! How did people survive? ; )

Yes, I’m back everyone and with a new blog design. What do you think? From now on I’ll be separating everything into four categories, so that you can tune into only what is important to you. They are:

-Social Media
-Marketing/PR
-Video Production
-Other Stuff

I’m off of my sabatical, taking on a ton of new projects and looking forward to meeting a lot of new people. I have been terrible about getting out in the real world and actually meeting all of the wonderful contacts I’ve made in the virtual world. That is just mean of me and I apologize for being so distant. If you have some free time I would love to meet you and spend some time talking about who you are, what makes you tick and the projects that you love.

Find me on Twitter (@jonray) and let’s get together for coffee, lunch or drinks soon. I’m excited and ready to get back in the swing of things.

Lots of cool projects coming up in my world, let’s find a way to make them bigger and work together!

Did I mention that I’m excited! ; )

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DISCLOSURE: I couldn’t get my the iPhone Wordpress App to upload the picture I took correctly. So, I had to login on my MacBook and add the picture that way. When uploading with a picture attached I kept getting an error. Any ideas on how to fix this?

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Lately, I ‘ve been sounding like a broken record. Every time I meet with a new client, I find myself saying the same things over and over again. I hear the same questions, “What is Social Networking?, What is Social Media?, Why do I need to get involved? Can’t I just use regular advertising?” In an attempt to capture the answers to these and other questions regarding social networking and social media, I am putting together a video presentation that I can e.mail or message to prospects and clients looking for more information about some of the services my company offers.

Here is a working script that I have written for the video spot. Use your imagination, as the video will have a great deal of visuals to explain all of the things I talk about below. I’d love to hear your feedback. What parts do you like, what parts do you hate? Am I on the right track? Does it paint a clear picture of social networks and social media? What am I missing?

Your feedback is greatly appreciated! Also, if you haven’t already, check out Chris Brogan’s blog. He is writing 100 useful blog posts in a row about the tools, techniques, and strategies behind using social media for your business, your organization, or your own personal interests. Should be a page turner (I mean window scroller…I mean…what?).

The working script:

What is a Social Networking and Media Campaign?

Hello, internet! This is Jon Ray from whoisjonray.com and as you may or may not know, the way we produce and receive media is changing. No longer can companies blanket their message over the masses and expect people to respond favorably. There are just too many other brand messages to compete with and not enough people are listening to traditional forms of advertising and marketing. Society has been programmed to ignore traditional advertising and marketing and they’ve gotten pretty good at it. The question now becomes, “If my message isn’t being heard, how can I gain traction in a world teeming with competing brand messages?” And the answer is “People.” Start listening to people and you’ll be amazed at what they say.

For too long, advertising and marketing campaigns have been void of a personal touch. In the old world of media, brands could get away with avoiding personal contact with their customers. The best advertising won out and it wasn’t really necessary to reach out on a more intimate level. But, those days are over.

Today’s consumer looks for brands that are remarkable, but more importantly people that are remarkable. Today’s consumer wants to see the face of the company they are buying products or services from, they want their opinion heard. Whether your service or product is good or bad, your customers are talking and people are listening. Millions and Millions of people are listening. What are your customers saying about you? Are you listening? Have you joined the conversation?

We’re designing social networking and media campaigns that drive traffic to your business, while allowing you the opportunity to communicate with your current customers and future prospects. There’s a giant new community out there and we think you should be a part of it. Our social networking and media campaigns will put you front and center.

So, what is a social networking and media campaign and why is it a valuable tool in your marketing strategy?

Well, first off, let’s talk about what social networking is?

We all know what a network is. It’s any netlike combination of filaments, lines, veins, passages, nodes or the like. A group of transmitting stations linked by wire or microwave relay to broadcast the same program simultaneously is a television network. Our transportation systems are a network of roads or railing. A network of veins and arteries is found in the human body. Networks are everywhere and play a critical role in determining the way problems are solved, organizations are run, and the degree to which individuals succeed in achieving their goals.

So, what is a social network? A social network is a network of people tied together by one or more specific types of interdependency, such as values, visions, ideas, financial exchange, friends, kinship, dislike, conflict, trade, web links, airline routes, etc., etc. The list goes on and on and on. Because many social networks are searchable and allow you access to this information, it’s never been easier to find the right conversation to join. You can even start your own. Social networks can help you target a specific demographic with your marketing, spread word-of-mouth praise for your company, raise public awareness about one or all of the projects you are working on, find new markets, design and develop your next product, streamline your workflow and most importantly get to know and understand your customers better.

Here’s how it works: I log into the social network of my choice or multiple social networks and setup a profile. Now, I search for people I know and see that Dusty has a profile too. I click ‘add as friend’ and now Dusty and I are e.Friends. Now I have a question about software development. In the real world, I might call Dusty and ask him if he knows anyone that can help. Dusty would refer me to Stacy, who might refer me to Zander, who would refer me to Larry and Larry would answer my software development question.

Now, let’s see how that formula is applied to social networks. Now that Dusty is my e.Friend, I can see who all of his friends are and who their friends are and so on and so on. I see that Larry is a software developer, so I send him a message directly, rather than being routed through two other people before Larry can answer my question. Thanks, Larry! Social networks streamline how I find people and information. But, we’re just getting started.

Let’s say that I want to share information on how my company can save you thousands of dollars a year off your electricity bill by installing features that make your house more energy efficient. I write something up, put together a video or make an audio recording and then upload it to my profile. Now, everyone that is one of my e.Friends can see that I’ve uploaded new media content and they go to watch it. They are excited about how much money they’re going to save and want to share it with their friends, so with the click of a button they add it to their profile and favorite it. Now, all of their friends can see that they have new content, so they go and take a look at it. As more and more people get excited about saving thousands of dollars every year off their energy bill, they get your video out to more and more people, who spread it along further and further. By utilizing these social networks, I’ve given my media content the potential audience of hundreds of millions of people.

Now let’s say that I have a company. I can create a fan page or profile for my company and then invite people who watch my video to become a fan. Not only does this boost my self-esteem, but it now allows me to communicate on a more intimate level with potential prospects and all of their e.Friends can see that they are now a fan of my company. My fans can even invite their friends to become a fan of my company too. And why wouldn’t they? My fan page has all kinds of useful information about green building, being energy efficient, saving money and the world! People can ask me questions about how my company operates, start an open forum about subject matter related to my company and even make suggestions as to services and products I should add. If my content is compelling and I have enough of it, I can keep prospects in front of my brand name for hours at a time and when they do finally call or message me about purchasing my product, I’ll already know who they are and they’ll be a much more qualified prospect than a random person off the street would be. I sure am grateful for all the business my e.Friends keep sending me!

I know what you’re saying, “But, Jon. I don’t have any friends and that makes me sad.” That’s okay. We’re here to help! Now that you’ve got a profile on one social network, we’re going to get you setup on all kinds of other social networking sites and make you popular. One way we’ll do that is by creating compelling content and distributing it all over the web. We’ll use that to drive traffic to your social network profile and get you some friends. But, don’t just sit there like a bump on a log and think that compelling content alone is going to make you the popular kid in school. Sure, compelling content is important, but compelling conversations are even more important. So, that’s what we’ll do next. We’ll get you set up with a blog that will allow your proverbial voice to be heard. Once your blog is kickin’ we’ll scour the web for other blogs or people that are talking about similar issues and subject matter. Once we find them, we’ll comment on some of BloggerA’s posts and add to the conversation. We might even link back to your own blog and continue that conversation there. Now that BloggerA has been conversing back and forth, we could invite him to become our e.Friend or even a Fan of your company. There are links to the social networks that you belong to on your blog, so BloggerA might add you as a friend before we even ask. Now that you and BloggerA are buds, we might mention him in a couple of the posts we write on your company’s blog. In return, BloggerA writes about your company in one of the posts on his blog. Thanks BloggerA! Fortunately for us, BloggerA has 500 subscribers to his blog and now, they all think your company is really cool. So, now they subscribe to your blog too. Some of them even become your e.Friend and now you have lots of Fans. As you get to know each e.Friend they begin talking about your company in their blogs and telling all of their friends how great your company is. Now you have a lot of subscribers to your blog, even more e.Friends, a lot of fans and they’re all talking about your company. Suddenly, you have more traffic going to your website and more business than you know what to do with! Well, that’s a good problem to have!

So, so far, so good. You’ve beefed up your staff to handle the influx of business you’re getting and everyone seems to like your company. You’ve even found that the conversations people are having with you has not only improved your customer service methods, but has made your entire workflow easier. With all the extra time you’re saving and money you’re making, you decide you want to reach out to even more people and figure out how your company can help them too. So, you decide you want to buy some advertising. WHAT!?! “Jon, you said advertising was dead, belly up, cold, defunct, extinct, inanimate…oh, sorry, am I rambling?” “Isn’t advertising against the rules?” No, being lame is against the rules. Advertising can be a good thing if it adds value to the community. So, how do we add value…with compelling content and a listening ear.

We can buy social ads that are targeted by age, gender, location, interests, and more. Those ads can even be paired with related actions from a user’s friends. So, if Jeff visits your company’s Fan Page and becomes a fan, we can assume that Jeff’s e.Friends might be interested in your company, as well. We can buy targeted ads that will now show up in the news feed of each of Jeff’s e.Friends. Let’s say we’re still looking for people that want to save the world one energy efficient house at a time, but they need to live in the Austin, TX or surrounding areas and be a college graduate. We query the social network for profiles mentioning the environment or green living that are in the Austin, TX area. Now, instead of buying a bunch of ads and blanketing every profile in Austin, we can purchase ads to show up only on this targeted demographic of earth lovers. Ideally, this targeted demographic is much more in alignment with your company’s cause and therefore will be a much easier sales conversion. Because you’re not wasting money on unqualified ads, you can now spend more on generating qualified prospects.

“But, it’s still an ad, Jon and people don’t like ads. I don’t like ads. What say you to that?” That’s true, many people don’t like advertising, but the reason for that is because most advertising tries to tell you to do something. And people don’t like being told what to do. That’s why we design your social ad campaign a little differently. We use your ads to start conversations and ask questions. Running an ad that says, “Buy a Green House!” isn’t going to generate many leads. But, an ad that asks the question, “How would you save the world AND put more money in your pocket each month?” is a softer sell and would generate more qualified leads. With informative video and other content on your website and fan page, you’ll find that people actually start to chime in and give their opinion. Starting a conversation is the first step to closing a sale.

Advertising and marketing is no longer about telling people what to buy, it’s about starting your own conversations and adding to others. When, instead of telling a person to do something, you discuss it and figure out where they’re coming from, you’ll find that they hold you in much higher regard. Social ads can help you be a part of more conversations and if you’re listening, those conversations can lead to a lot of positive opinions, a lot of raised awareness and a lot of sales.

“So, Jon, what’s next?” Wash, rinse and repeat. Great! You’ve built a successful network of e.Friends and are converting each one into sales. Those sales are turning into referrals faster than you ever thought possible and business is good. Let’s keep that momentum going! We’re going to go through your profile and give it a good wash and rinse. We’ll constantly make sure we get rid of any extraneous or outdated material and then we’ll add new media. The more often new media is updated, the more often your company is in front of your prospects eyes. We’ll make sure that your company is always in the spotlight. Our social networking and media campaigns are designed with your ideal customer in mind. We want to like people so that people will like you.

Monitoring and adding to millions and millions of conversations online every day is a big job, but it’s one of the most important jobs out there for your company. If you’re interested in learning more about how one of our social networking and media campaigns can add value to your company, feel free to video message me on Facebook, YouTube, Kyte or Seesmic, find me on LinkedIn, follow me on Twitter, message me on MySpace or Flickr, comment on my Wordpress blog, invite me to your event through Upcoming, e.mail me or just go old school and call me on the phone. Do people still use those?

Jon Ray
(512.785.9160)

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So, there you have it. What do you think? Your feedback is important to me, so I want to here your opinion, good or bad. Of course, if it’s bad, try not to be too mean. Constructive criticism is key! Thanks for reading and thanks for your help. We’re having a lot of success for our clients utilizing all of the tools available online these days. Now, we just need to figure out the best way to communicate that success without sounding too pompous. It’s quite the predicament!

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