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Tech Tips
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The collaborative spam blocker
that Chris Anderson used to
block 329
publicists’ addresses,
was
Cloudmark Desktop. The
software’s Collaborative
Security Network consists of
more than a million E-mail users
who mark spam they receive. If
an E-mailer is identified as a
spammer by multiple users of the
software, his or her address is
permanently blocked for the
million+ users.
Download a free trial. |
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Web polls.
Surveys are an invaluable way
for communication pros to obtain
the data they need to plan – and
to measure the effectiveness of
– their communication programs.
Many companies are turning from
bulky software programs that
require Ph-D,-level research
scientists to use them, to
Web-based tools that allow for
in-depth research, quick polls,
focus groups, employee research,
customer satisfaction studies
and more. Here are four to
check out:
Zoomerang zPro
($599/year) and
SurveyMonkey
($200/year) both create,
administer and view survey
results.
Vizu Answers,
at $1+ per response, posts
surveys to more than 700
established Web sites;
Vovici EFM Feedback
($1,800+/year) is used for
ongoing surveys. |
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Here we go. Still! |
Media relations is a
staple in the PR
business, a tactical
skill on which every up
and comer cuts his or
her teeth. As the
definition of “media”
continues to change,
it’s increasingly
important for publicity
practitioners to get the
basics right — simple
stuff such as not
sending news about your
“best-in-class
enterprise solution from
the leading provider of
insert-gee-whiz-technology
here” to the fashion
editor of Modern
Bride. Fundamental
blunders like this,
committed a million
times a day, are a key
reason that journalists
can justify the
invective, “flack.”
This issue of my
Update points to
great stories on the
subject:
what
journalists want,
how
PR
surveys may be
hurting social science,
en masse
PR
E-mail blocking,
and the storm that
ensured when one
journalist published the
E-mail addresses of 329
PR spammers.
Read ‘em and weep. |
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To read this issue of
Update online:
http://www.thePRguy.com/theprguynews1107.htm
To read past issues:
www.thePRguy.com/archive.htm
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Featured
Download
58 Minutes with the
Father of Public
Relations.
Edward
Bernays, widely
considered to be the
founder of modern Public
Relations, was also the
first practitioner to
apply Sigmund Freud's
theories to "control the
masses" and to sell
consumer goods by
linking them to
unconscious desires.
The 2006 BBC series, The
Century of The Self,
produced this 58-minute
documentary about
Bernays that's
well-worth the
investment of time.
Watch Crowds and
Their Behavior
online or
download it to your iPod
and watch it on the
treadmill. Just
don't try to get off. |
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What
Journalists Really Want from PR
People
A major new
study of 2,046 working
journalists,
conducted
by Bulldog Reporter and
the Tek Group, reported
results like these: 86% said
material sent by PR people is
"usually not relevant" to their
work; 73% said PR calls
"interrupt them" and "waste
time;" 71% said they could not
easily find information they
need on corporate Web sites.
Blogger Michael Tangeman bemoans
it
here. Download
the summary. >> |
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Speaking of
Surveys
BBC Radio investigated the
relationship between academics,
surveys and public relations
companies.
Could PR surveys
be to the detriment of
scientific research? A
psychologist at University
College London (UCL) thinks so
and says it is becoming harder
to get the media interested in
serious studies.
Read more. >> |
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Things Turn
Ugly.
In
early November, Wired
editor,
Chris Anderson,
used a collaborative spam
blocker (see this month’s
Tech Tips)
to block a batch of spamming
flacks and then published the
addresses of 329 unsolicited
E-mailers, who included people
from major PR firms such as
Edelman, Fleischman Hillard,
Ogilvy & Mather and Weber. Tsk.
The New York Times
reported on the ensuing
maelstrom.
MORE >> |
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Get the
basics
right.
Blogger Marshall Kirkpatrick is
a communication consultant who,
as a blogger, also get pitches
from publicists. In this
October entry, he dissects five
particularly awful approaches …
and names names. He also offers
seven tips for
approaching bloggers with news.
MORE >> |
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