Social Media DIY Workshop » David Meerman Scott

Talk About Your Business (Part 1)

Charlene Kingston — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 13:00:36 +0000

Social media is about conversation. You must speak out to promote your business. But many small business people feel awkward talking about their business to the world. This two-part series helps you find your voice to speak about your business. In this article, you learn the causes for your awkwardness. In the second part, you learn how to find the most powerful things you can say about your business.

Before You Start: You have a business you want to promote through social media.
Learning level: 1 | Social Media Basics
Article Last Updated: Sunday, December 4, 2011

Self-Promotion Obstacles

There are a lot of reasons why promoting yourself and your business may not come naturally to you.

You are naturally shy so you don’t like to point out even the obvious things about your business.
You are unsure of yourself and so you don’t speak because aren’t sure what to say.
You are confused about what other people find valuable about your services and products.
You are reserved and you want your work to speak for you.
You are waiting for someone else to speak for you and recommend you to the world.

But the reasons don’t really matter. What matters is that you find a way from where you are today to where you want to be. And that means overcoming these obstacles.

Self-Promotion Mistakes

Take a little time to look for examples of businesses that promote themselves well. Look carefully at what they say and how they say it. When you find something brilliant, borrow it. But while you are looking, also take note of what doesn’t work in your opinion.

Here are the two things that many businesses get wrong when promoting their services and products.

Describe your business from the inside. Have you ever landed at a website and couldn’t figure out which of the website menu options contains the information you want? It isn’t your fault. The person who wrote the website copy wrote about the company from the company’s perspective. They didn’t think about you and what you were looking for when they designed the structure. You are not an insider. That’s why you couldn’t figure it out.
Describe what you do with a label. Lots of people give labels instead of describing what they do. What’s the first thing that crosses your mind when someone says they are an “expert” or a “visionary” or a “thought leader?” These labels are not helpful because no one can explain what an expert or visionary or thought leader actually does or how they provide practical help for your business. David Meerman Scott talks about meaningless language to avoid in his Gobbledygook Manifesto.

Now that you’ve looked at what can go wrong, in the next article we’ll cover how to break down what you do to create a positive way to talk about your business.

Your turn: What kind of self-promotion mistakes you do see small business people making? Can you add to the list of things not to do?

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The Press Release Grader

Charlene Kingston — Tue, 04 May 2010 13:00:54 +0000

Many business today write press releases that they never submit to the media. Instead, these press releases appear on their company website and on social media press release sites. The Press Release Grader helps you improve your press releases.

Before You Start: You understand the value of social media press releases for your business. You want to make sure that your press releases give your business the maximum benefit.
Learning Level: 3 | Building Skills
Article Last Updated: Sunday, December 4, 2011

Social Media Press Releases

Your business can write a social media press release any time something happens that is newsworthy for your customers. There is an art and a science to writing good press releases. There is an art to writing about your business news so it is vibrant and fresh to the readers. But there also is a science to making sure that your press release has the correct components and that you add links to maximize the search engine benefits from it.

Press Release Grader

The Press Release Grader is a free online tool from HubSpot, Inc. that helps you to improve your press releases. It’s easy to use and provides valuable information designed to help you fine-tune your press releases so you get the maximum benefits from your press release strategy.

After writing your press release, you copy and paste it into the Press Release Grader. Fill out some information about your business, and click Generate Report button.

The Press Release Grader evaluates your press release for structure and content, and provides you with a thorough report of its findings. The report provides you with specific feedback with suggestions for things to improve.

Press Release Report

Your press release report includes:

Score. This is the number of points out of 100 for your press release. Each time the Press Release Grader has a suggestion to improve your press release, it subtracts a few points from your score. Use the score as a guideline, but don’t be upset if you don’t get a perfect 100.
Statistics. The number of words, sentences, and links in your press release. It also calculates a readability score based on the length of your sentences and the number of syllables in your words.
Content Suggestions. The tool checks for the standard press release components. Generally, your press release should have all of the components it recommends.
Gobbledygook Analysis. Using the work of David Meerman Scott, the tool checks your press release for jargon and other words that don’t add value. If it finds any of these words, consider replacing them with more meaningful words and phrases.
Link Analysis. This section helps you to get the maximum search engine optimization (SEO) from your press release. Generally, you should fix everything that the tool recommends.
Word Cloud. This feature lets you see the most commonly used words and phrases in your press release. After seeing this cloud, you may want to tweak your wording to make sure that the subject of your press release and any search keywords are used frequently.
Additional Resources. The Press Release Grader provides you with links to additional resources, include HubSpot’s Press Release Marketing Kit.

When you review the suggestions, you may find recommendations that don’t fit your business needs. That’s okay. Use the feedback to make corrections to your press release and resubmit it to the Press Release Grader.

For more detail about how to use the Press Release Grader, check out the video by HubSpot.

For more information about social media press releases and creating a social media press release strategy, see The New Rules of PR: How to create a press release strategy for reaching buyers directly by David Meerman Scott.

Your turn: Have you used the Press Release Grader? Share your experience with the community.

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Blog About Your Press Release

Charlene Kingston — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 13:00:59 +0000

A social media press release strategy helps your business in many ways. When you write a press release designed for search engine results for each event that is newsworthy to your customers, you not only inform your customers but improve the search engine results for your business website and blog for your target keywords.

Before You Start: You have a blog. You have written a social media press release about an event or accomplishment for your business.
Learning Level: 4 | Creating Solutions
Article Last Updated: Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Writing Social Media Press Releases

There is an art to writing a press release, but there are simple tips for writing a press release that maximizes the search engine benefits from your press release. You should be writing press releases for your business regularly, and you should be optimizing them for search engines to get the maximum benefit from them.

If you are not sure why you should be using press releases in the social media age, take a few minutes to read David Meerman Scott’s “The New Rules of PR: How to create a press release strategy for reaching buyers directly” (free ebook).

Add Your Press Release To Your Website

Your business website should have a page where you attach press releases. You can also add any mentions of your business in the local media, which could include video clips or links to articles.

If you don’t have any press releases or media links today, start building them. There’s no reason why you can’t go back several months and write a press release for past events. After you have a couple of press releases ready to post, create a new website page and add your press releases in chronological order. Every month or so, write a new press release and add it to your website.

In the past, you only wrote a press release when you had an event that the news media would think is newsworthy. That’s a pretty high standard! In the social media age, you write a press release when you have news that your customers would think is newsworthy. That’s a completely different way to define newsworthy.

Here are some tips for getting the most search engine benefit from your press release and website news page:

Include your target keywords in the press release file name.
Put dashes (-) between words rather than spaces or underscores (_) in the press release file name.
Use target keywords as the anchor text for the link to your press release.

Blog About Your Press Release

Each time you write a press release and post it to your website, write a blog post about it. In the blog post, you can recap the news and give a bit more background. You can explain things in more detail than the press release, and include information that you couldn’t include there.

Here are some tips for getting the most search engine benefit from your blog post:

Use target keywords as the anchor text for the link to your press release.
Write your blog post to include as many of the target keywords for your press release as possible.

With a little effort, you can build your press release strategy and start getting the benefit of improved search engine results for your website and blog for your target keywords.

Your turn: Have you developed a social media press release strategy for your business? What have you learned in the process? Share you experience here.

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Social Media Press Releases

Charlene Kingston — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 15:00:23 +0000

A press release is a powerful tool for sharing information about your business. Learn how and why you should be writing press releases that help your business get great search results ranking, even if you don’t land in the newspaper.

Before You Start: You understand traditional press releases.
Learning Level: 1 | Social Media Basics
Article Last Updated: Monday, August 22, 2011

The Social Media Press Release

In the past, a company wrote a press release and faxed it to the local newspapers, radio stations, and television stations hoping to get some publicity. In the social media world, a company writes a press release and posts it on the company blog and website. Search engines like Google find the press release and suddenly the company’s search engine results improve dramatically for strategic keyword searches.

In the past, a company wrote a press release when it had newsworthy information. In the social media world, a company writes a press release each time it has a major accomplishment. Launch a new service? Write a press release. Did the owner get invited to speak at the local Rotary club? Write a press release. Hire a new accounting firm? Write a press release. Sign a contract with a new client? Write a press release. Are you starting to get the idea?

The rules for press releases have changed. Are you tuned into the social media press release?

Press Release Writing

In 2006, David Meerman Scott wrote “The New Rules of PR: How to create a press release strategy for reaching buyers directly” that explained how a press release could have a positive impact on the search engine results for a company. Social media has changed the way companies can generate publicity, and the press release is a key component of the new marketing strategy.

Here are some of the most useful press release writing tips and tricks you can use to promote your business through writing press releases.

Fill your press release with the target keywords for your business and activity. Google indexes every word of your press release. As you write your press release, you want to focus on key search terms. This type of copywriting helps your press release appear high in the most desirable search results.
Include hyperlinks to destinations inside and outside of your company website. Not only do you gain search engine results benefits, but you provide a practical service for the people who read your press release.
Attach the hyperlinks to words and phrases that reinforce the link destination. Google pays attention to the words you use to anchor the links. Your word choice for the links influences your search results ranking.
Create a PDF of your press release for distribution. The PDF format allows readers to use hyperlinks and retains your formatting. Write a blog post about your press release and link to it. Also create a press page on your website and link to your press release.
Provide a list of links at the end of your press release. Some media outlets still require you to fax press releases, which means that they can’t use the embedded hyperlinks you have placed in the PDF version. Don’t include the links within the press release text because it reduces readability.
Don’t link to a web address that redirects. Instead, always link to a direct web address.
Provide online and offline contact information. This includes your web address, email, phone, and your social media passport. For example, list your company Facebook page and Twitter accounts.

Your turn: Does your company have a press release strategy? Have you created a press release section of your website? Share your experiences with the community.

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