Archive for social media
Craftsmen Developers LLC Selects Baltimore PR Firm for Awareness Campaign
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BALTIMORE, Md. (July 12, 2010) – Craftsmen Developers LLC, a residential and commercial land development firm, has selected Baltimore PR firm Sawmill Marketing Public Relations for a public relations campaign to increase awareness of the firm’s land development projects throughout the Mid-Atlantic region and its expertise and commitment to environmentally responsible green development.
The Baltimore-based PR and social media company is implementing a comprehensive public relations campaign that includes media and community relations programs and that will initially focus on Craftsmen Developers’ distinction of achieving the first National Association of Home Builders Research Center 4-Star Green Land Development Certification on the East Coast.
About Craftsmen Developers, LLC
Based in Glen Burnie, Md., Craftsmen Developers, LLC, founded in 2008 by CEO W. Dennis Gilligan, is one of the most experienced land developers in the Mid-Atlantic region, serving the real estate needs of residential home and commercial building industry clients with properties in Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Delaware. For more information, visit www.craftsmendevelopers.com
About Sawmill Marketing Public Relations
Sawmill Marketing Public Relations is a Baltimore PR firm and social media marketing communications agency established in 1995 specializing in the development and execution of marketing public relations programs as business development strategies for business-to-business, business-to-consumer and professional services clients. The Maryland public relations company specializes in social media, traditional media relations, media training, and crisis communications. For additional information, visit www.sawmillmarketing.com
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Integration is New All Over Again and It’s Never Been Better
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Some time ago, advertising agencies were the pioneers into the unknown world of integration. Specifically, integrating PR into, and often in support of, advertising campaigns. The rationale offered to clients was typically centered around “a single message delivered by ads and publicity” that any communications pro knew was suspect because a promotional message is rarely, if ever, also a newsworthy one.
However, that was then and this is now when integration has assumed a new and powerful role in maximizing the benefits and values of social media campaigns with traditional marketing communications ones. As many of us know, this new role for integration has expanded far beyond messaging to now include how, when and what social media and traditional communications tools are used and their exact purpose in the campaign.
We all have much to learn about how best to creatively and strategically utilize (or not) integration and to then share our knowledge with our clients so they can reap every possible benefit from it.
Recently we met with a prospective client whose business is not a tech oriented one. Imagine our surprise and delight when he indicated his interest in our help to integrate the social media tools he was already using by weaving the fingers of his hands together — the sign language of integration!
Reminder: Twitter is ALWAYS a Conversation
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Oops, my bad.
I recently bumped into an acquaintance that I hadn’t seen in months who explained her absence by telling me how consumed she is with the ongoing woes of the company she has been with for nearly 15 years. The shining example of these woes is the dramatic drop in headcount since the first of the year.
Later that day I tweeted about this update using “local, one-time high profile, fast rising firm’”as the descriptor of her company. I hit “update,” never giving the tweet a second thought, other than it was more substantive than “…can’t wait for this day to end” sort of post.
In a flash, I received a DM (direct message) from @robterry26, associate editor/Web editor of the Baltimore Business Journal, asking me for details about that tweet, including the name of the company. Then, and only then, did the reminder light bulb go off in my head that Twitter and other social media tools are all about conversations!
Also, this tweet could have had serious consequences. However, the information was accurate, verifiable and caught the attention of a good reporter who knows the source of it as well as the value of the information he was handed.
In addition to being reminded that Twitter is all about the conversation, I hope this also serves as a an elbow in the ribs to think before I tweet and then think again before I hit “update.”
‘Social Media Road Show’ – Links from My SMEI Presentation in Baltimore This Morning
Posted by: | CommentsHere are links to some of the Web sites and resources I mentioned this morning during the 2009 SMEI Conference and ”Social Media Road Show” in Baltimore. These are good, basic social media and PR tools to get started, and everything listed here is free.
For those of you who were not there, I covered some of the latest thinking in Twitter and PR before a national audience at a conference of the Sales and Marketing Executives International. 
Have anything else to share? Leave a comment!
There are a number of directories to find Twitter followers. A good place to start is Wefollow, where you can search by topics such as ”Celebrity” or “Social Media” or “Baltimore.”
Looking for a dashboard that allows you to better manage your Twitter follows and set up searches for key terms or competitors’ names? Try Hootsuite or Tweetdeck.
To follow the media on Twitter, try this great compilation of national journalists by Jeremy Porter. Interested in Baltimore? Click on our ”Guide to Baltimore Media on Twitter” link on the right.
Want to engage in a weekly Twitter conversation involving journalists, bloggers and PR professionals? Check out #journchat every Monday 
from 7 to 10 p.m., CST.
PitchEngine is a social media news release builder that enables PR pros to effectively package stories and share them with journalists, bloggers, and influencers worldwide via the social web.
Sign up for HARO to receive free daily summaries from media seeking sources for news stories in development. For urgent source needs, follow the companion Twitter account, @HelpAReporter. You can also follow Profnet on Twitter for leads.
And 10 people in PR and social media worth following on Twitter? Love ‘em or not, here’s a variety pack to get your own list going (in no particular order): Scott Monty, Jason Falls, Todd Defren, Geoff Livingston, Amanda Chapel, Chris Brogan, Shel Holtz, Annie Heckenberger, Bill Sledzik and Katie Paine. [Update - here's a great list of 100 PR people to follow, compiled by Valeria Maltoni.]
[Photo, above right, shows my view from the SMEI panelists' table as Gus Sentementes, technology reporter with The Baltimore Sun, makes a point while Greg Cangialosi, CEO of Blue Sky Factory (center), and Steve Kruskamp, head of social media for 1st Mariner Bank, wait for the mike.]
Media Relations Tip #12: 'Socialize' in Real Life, Too
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Don’t get me wrong, social media is a powerful way to connect with people online, and it’s already changing the way public relations pros are approaching their jobs. But nothing beats good ole face-to-face communication.
About a week ago, we visited with the staff of the Baltimore Business Journal during a tweetup at their new downtown Baltimore offices. Next it was off to Chef Geoff’s restaurant in Virginia to meet up with folks at the Washington Business Journal (that’s WBJ Editor Douglas Fruehling, right, in the corner introducing the editorial staff). In both cases, we got to hear first-hand what’s on the minds of the editors and reporters, enabling us to make better decisions as to where a client’s potential news story might fit. Or not.
In addition to specifics about their beats, curiosity about social media is on their minds, but so are the horror stories we continue to hear about PR people either spamming them with press releases or pounding them with unwanted phone calls. One WBJ reporter/columnist (who last week wrote a great piece about a Sawmill client) said she could spend all day simply fielding phone calls from perky PR people making follow-ups. Voicemail is her time-saver. Minutes later an editor talked to us about the balance of using techniques such as tweetups to reach out to younger readers when the core audience is still older businesspeople who aren’t likely spending time on social networking sites. They’re still trying to find that right mix.
It’s one thing to follow media on Twitter and Facebook (which we do and encourage others to do), but the recent meetups bring to mind a few tips for cutting through the clutter: take the time to meet these people in real life, only approach them when you have a decent story (your PR firm should be able to protect you from making a fool of yourself) and make sure you’re reaching out to the right reporter the right way in the right (brief) format. Otherwise, it’s “delete.”
Social Media: Personal vs. Professional
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At a recent social media seminar covering the basics and featuring a panel of corporate users and SM “experts,” a fascinating and spontaneous discussion of personal vs. professional uses of social media resulted when one of the corporate panelists told of rescinding a job offer when photos of the candidate, deemed “inappropriate” by the CPA firm, were discovered on Facebook.
Surprisingly, one of the “expert” panelists was passionate about her insistence that the candidate had the “right to post photos of herself with a drink in her hand” on Facebook without any spillover to her professional standing! Further, this is the same counsel that she offers her clients: professional uses of social media tools are separate from those for personal uses and should not be connected.
She is indeed correct that she has the “right” to post anything about herself that she cares to on any social media tool she wishes. However, she is incorrect (and perhaps also naive) to expect the viewer/reader of this information to categorize it as exclusively personal with no correlation to her professional reputation.
The history of traditional mass media and now social media is replete with examples of people’s professional lives being played out in the public limelight – because they chose to or because they didn’t realize the line separating personal vs. professional is blurred at best.
I urge this panelist as well as those in the seminar audience to use the power of social media tools to their utmost advantage but to do so with the full and complete understanding that there is no “vs.” separating “personal” and “professional” in social or traditional media. Ever.
Bye-Bye, BlogPotomac
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Buzz had been stewing for the past week. Stewing that he lost both time and money, billable as well as oop. Stewing that he was an unwilling voyeur to a near day-long “insiders only” social media love fest. Stewing that, for the most part, he felt talked down to or talked around, dismissing or ignoring his own knowledge of and experience with social media.
So, what is the source of this week-long stew, you ask? Try the one-track June 12 BlogPotomac when at times, watching the flickering laptop screens was more interesting than listening to what was coming from the stage, with the exception of Shel Holtz and Ford’s Scott Monty who each offered valuable insights on their views, uses and thoughts on all things social media today as well as in the future. Thank you guys.
Overall the day for Buzz was relatively low energy, low interest and low value – yes, even at $95. An entire segment on personal branding? Come on. Others had a similar reaction, and it even carried over to the official Blog Potomac happy hour event.
As if to confirm this sentiment, event organizer Geoff Livingston announced that a third and final BlogPotomac will take place in October, and then five days later the Senior VP/Social Media at PR firm CRT/tanaka came out with this blog post with the headline: “Why a Final BlogPotomac: Social Media Really Is Dead.” Wow. Who knew?
Which got Buzz to thinking…as we see this shift to a new stage of social media with all the talk about ”rock stars” (yes, some actually say this!) and personal branding and how to handle this new-found ”fame,” why not develop and host a social media event that brings the conversation back to reality? Anyone out there want to join in?
Social Media a Key Part of Company Success Stories
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When three executives from some of the Baltimore region’s most successful companies got together this morning to share “good news” stories about profitability in the face of a recession, they also took the time to share thoughts about marketing.
And no, they didn’t talk trade shows, direct mail campaigns and press releases.
Try Facebook, Twitter and blogging strategies as the tools they’re focusing on, even if it’s to monitor what customers – and competitors – are doing, linking to, following and saying.
The Greater Baltimore Tech Council event, “Who’s Growing in 2009?” was emceed by Art Jacoby (in photo above, left) featuring Tim Lorello, SVP and chief marketing officer for Telecommunication Systems, Inc. (also known as TCS), Michele Perry, chief marketing officer of Sourcefire, and Todd Johnson, president of Salar, Inc. (right). All three companies are in a strong growth mode, and marketing plays an important role.
But a pleasant surprise of the morning – at least for me – came when they talked about their use of social media and its emerging importance to their businesses. This was no social media how-to workshop where you’d expect that kind of talk. This was a business event and these unsolicited comments about social media’s value came straight from execs in the trenches.
Perry called this a time for “lots of learning and tracking…and numbers to watch” when it comes to social media, with time spent listening to what’s being said about Sourcefire and the industry. She also shared a powerful anecdote of the firm’s success with media interviews as a result of prompt response to Tweets by reporters needing sources for stories. “It all happens within half an hour,” emphasized Perry.
Lorello also acknowledged its importance and talked of winning awards, which leads to news coverage, which leads to results on the search engines, still the most important player in online marketing. Meanwhile, Salar, Inc. has a Facebook page (including pix from a recent Paintball outing) and a Twitter account, but the most efficient use of Web 2.0 tools are the industry blogs that have “10 times more credibility” than other sources, according to Johnson.
“It’s a wonderfully cheap way to market directly to our audience,” he said.
Before the Q and A session got underway, Jacoby, a notable business consultant, proclaimed that “social media is the next giant.”
Amen, Art.
P.S. Check out the blog post about the event written by Baltimore Sun tech reporter Gus Sentementes. It’s on his new blog just launched this week, BaltTech.
