This chart from the Burueau of Labor is quite an eye opener.  Newspaper employment figures are at the lowest ebb in 50 years
We’ve been hearing about layoffs in newsroom, but it’s more than just the journalists.  This trend hits everyone working for a newspaper.  And to see it in graphic form like this really makes an impact. The numbers [...]

Branded content will become an important part of PR in 2010:
Branded content is essentially a fusion of advertising and entertainment, says Wikipedia. Marketers upped the dollars spent on branded content in 2009 – double what was spent in 2008. Branded content snagged 32% of overall marketing, advertising and communications budgets. And the [...]

Early in December Google announced that they will be including real-time news and updates in their web search pages.  And soon after Yahoo followed suit.
How does this affect the news cycle and PR?  As you can see in this short video news items and Twitter/Facebook status updates are right at the top of the page [...]

Social Media is no longer a fad, or something to try out.  It will become an integral part of PR programs in 2010.  And PR people have to master social media and use it strategically to be effective.
Nothing backs up  predictions like cold, hard facts. 
Joseph Thornly posted this graph from Google Tremnds that shows searches for [...]

Social Media Tools For 2010
View more presentations from Sally Falkow.
If you plan to increase your use of social media in the new year here are 5 tools that can help you be more effective

Feeds – The web isn’t about pages any more. It’s about streams, feeds and syndication.  RSS feeds are the blood vessels of [...]

 
A case study about their 72 hour fare sale
The trick to good PR and social media measurement is to work very closely with the online marketing team.  Learn to use tracking links and landing pages for each press release and social media channel.  That way you can track the results and the success of each activity.
This sale [...]

Shabbir Safdar is giving tips about how to monitor and deal with a crisis online.
Content that  gets posted online stays online.  Forever.  If Google sees it as the most relevant content it will still be there years later. You can move it off page one by posting lots of positive content.
Ben Popken’s (Consumerist.com) 3-step systen for fixing a [...]

 
Anne Carelli, Digital Comm Manager for Coke is talking about their social media activities
Several years ago Coke realized that Coke.com is not their home page – it is Google.com, digg.com and YouTube.  Take the time to keep abreast of what is showing up for your brand in thee new social sites and search engines.
New mantras that [...]

Sam Ford of Peppercom:
Listen at all opportunities – make every moment a listening moment. We’re talking to our customers all the time but are we listening?
We have new media platforms – blogs, Twitter, Amazon, Yelp and Get Satisfaction. Everyone is a publisher. Technology has changed the way people communicate.  It’s changed the way we find news [...]

I am in Washington DC today at the PR News How-To conference.  The first session starts at 9 am with How to Listen to your Stakeholders.  The trainer is Sam Ford Director of Customer Insights, Peppercom and he will cover:
How to listen to your stakeholders – the must-do’s
How to execute quick, smart surveys and focus groups that [...]