A site that’s online isn’t much of a site unless people go to it. The raw website visitor stats that services like Analytics and Quantcast provide sometimes aren’t enough for gauging the traffic flow to a site. A “link” is a fundamental way in which visitors reach a site, and direct links (typing in the web address) and search engines are the two other ways. Of course, there’s “good company” and “bad company” online that could be linking to you. I’m not going to discuss right & wrong in this article, but I will go over how to be more aware of one factor that affects all sites… backlinks.

Which method is best?

There’s a few different ways to find who’s linking to a site. Some are tools made available by search engines like Google while some are various services that are available online.

Google’s link: command (perfect for URL-specific stats)

Using link: as part of a Google search will list the webpages that have links to that specified webpage. For instance, link:www.google.com will list webpages that have links pointing to the Google homepage. Note there can be no space between the “link:” and the web page url. It’s also important to know that this finds the backlinks for that one URL, and doesn’t provide matches for every URL on the site. By the way, you can use the number of matches below the search box to get a rough number for assessing the online penetration of that webpage.

Google Webmaster Tools (perfect for site-wide stats)

As part of Google’s Webmaster Tools, they have “Your site on the web” => “Links to your site” in the side navigation that shows backlink stats for a site as a whole. Essentially, this provides:

• A list of sites and what pages they’re linking to
• Which page is being linked to the most
• The terms being used for the links
• and you can get fairly granular with each data set

Everything else

The above methods obviously depend on what Google has indexed, and similar tools are available using Bing and other search engines so one can diversify their data set. There’s also a great service from SEOmoz called Open Site Explorer that’s worth looking into.Unfortunately, searching for a tool that accumulates these stats resulted in finding a lot of adware/junk sites so your mileage may vary depending on the service being used.

Knowing who’s linking to a site a good way to understand what sort of company that site is involved with, and this can be helpful when working with the public relations & marketing for a website. It’s also a decent way to see what others are saying about a particular site, but do keep in mind that this is just one way that websites establish a connection with one another.

I recently read an article about how the social media and PR universe are much like a small town and it resonated with me. IF you are not from a small town, defined as less than 10,000, then perhaps you will not see the connection I do. The social media universe is very much like a small town in that what everyone is trying to do is build a community. Small towns have so many wonderful traits, but they also have some that can be a bit unnerving at times.

I am from Lost Nation, Ia. In its heyday it topped out at 900. I was in the last graduating class as we only had 23 students in my senior class. Believe me, you know everyone and they know you. Some of the similarities that I see between a small town and social community are:

Growing up in a small town, you know almost everyone. They also know everything about you. This transparency is good in many ways, but you are reminded that “word gets around” and the community can quickly learn the bad things someone says or does. Likewise, a company partaking in social media needs to be prepared for customers seeing its dirty laundry along with the good.

In a small town, everyone looks after one another, even if you don’t care that much for each other. There is a bond with communities. I think it is kinda like having a brother or sister. I am an only child and it has always amazed me how my two sons could be picking at each other one minute, but when someone says something or does something against the other they stand together the next minute. Social communities are very similar in this way. The political community is a prime example.

In either a literal or virtual community, you are welcome to join, because we are curious about you. The cost of admission is cheap, especially if you help another member. You are gradually accepted. No matter if you’re considered a “newbie” (even after belonging somewhere for 10 years), you’re still a part of the gang.

However, the thing with gangs is that betrayal is costly. Same with a small town or a virtual community. Betray the group and know that forgiveness comes slowly. Trust is imperative. Companies and organizations need to heed this warning. If a mistake is made, at least own up right away and correct it so everyone can move on.

Ultimately, I think what we are all searching for is a sense of belonging. To belong, one knows your name, your first name. You are not a “Dear Card Holder” or a Sir or Ma’am. Anyone in business, social organizations or school, you need to remember that. We are not faceless beings. We have names. My name is Shelby, I am still from a small town, working in a small city, with two teenage boys and even though my demographics might be interesting to you, my psychographics might be even more so – pay attention.

Remember to connect with folks and create the community you want. We might not all be right for yours, but I bet there are many who are perfect.

No related posts.

Whether you’re a social media novice or expert, it’s important to remember that the Internet never sleeps. While we may need eight hours of rest before returning to work in pursuit of our blog, Internet marketing and public relations goals, there are millions of Internet users who continue to post content when we hit the hay.

With recent changes in search engines and today’s short attention spans, people are now expected to post and promote new content regularly. While automation tools are helping companies and brands share information around the clock, many employees still feel worn out at the end of the day. It’s a lot of work to consistently post and track content on top of our everyday responsibilities, yet it’s more crucial than ever that we monitor what people are saying about us.

Throughout my internship at HRB, I’ve worked on accounts that have needed immediate attention because someone wasn’t listening. A news release wasn’t posted on time, a complaint from a dissatisfied customer slipped past a Community Manager or a competitor beat a client to the punch. I’ve learned these problems can be prevented if we take the time to monitor the Internet and our social media accounts.

Here are 10 reasons why you should proactively and consistently monitor the brands of your company or client:

1) The Point of Need — Information and research is always changing. People are always talking about the latest news and they expect to be kept in the know. It’s important to satisfy these needs and you can do this by following RSS feeds and writing blogs about client events and industry changes. We’ve done this and we’ve heard good reviews from clients and interns who turn to our site for updates and information and can easily find what they’re looking for. (Just be sure to set up blog categories so your website visitors can easily find what they’re looking for!)

2) The Influencer — In today’s business markets the competition is more fierce than ever. Consumers are overwhelmed by the variety of choices they’re given and they’re willing and ready to remain loyalty with one brand, service or product.

Establishing and actively maintaining a presence on Facebook® and Twitter® may seem trivial, but it’s absolutely necessary because your competitors are all doing it. After a prospective client “Googles®” your company, they will immediately turn to social networking websites to see if you’ve built a presence there to listen and engage with others. If you want to be viewed as an influencer, it only makes sense that you engage in networks or outlets that are influential. And right now, that’s Facebook and Twitter.

3) The Crowd — Bloggers, fans and Internet marketing gurus can all be influencers if they have a strong following. Target them when planning your social media campaign or invite them to guest blog for your company or your client’s company. Be sure to respond to their comments promptly. Check out my Friday blog posts—in particular, this post mentioning my Top PR Reads—to see which crowds I follow online.

4) The Competitor — It’s wise to follow, acknowledge and learn from your competitors. They can be huge motivators when it comes to learning about the needs of your mutual target audience.

The goal in using social media isn’t to blab about your own brand, but to create social capital, or a representation of your brand’s “social currency” via online and offline conversations, reciprocity and relationships. We use metrics to determine who’s influential, who we should be following and how we can be unique in our own campaigns.

5) The Crisis — Reading social media updates around the clock helps HRB anticipate, manage and be transparent about PR crises experienced by our own clients and others in our industry. Bottom line: Ignoring crises shows that your agency is disconnected from your audience and may be incapable of dealing with problems head-on.

6) The Campaign Impact — Be sure to measure your ROI and determine if your campaigns are working. Many social media platforms have built-in analytics tools, so educate your team members and your clients about how they work and what they can show you about your clients’ growth and sales progress.

Also, if you’re getting a lot of comments, responses or “Likes” on your blogs or social media pages, this is a great opportunity to showcase your brand’s expertise. Respond quickly and engage with your audience. After all, you can never really be sure who your audience is, and a prospective client may be listening!

7) The Question/Inquiry — As stated above, make sure that your client or your client’s account manager(s) respond quickly and completely to questions and inquiries. These may be posted directly in your news feeds or profile pages, or as direct messages via e-mail or a “Contact Us” form. This can be easy if you designate one person, such as a Public Relations Director or company spokesperson, to respond to such issues.

For the last six months, I’ve been responsible for responding to all questions, comments and concerns about HRB that are posted daily on the company’s social media sites. Sometimes it’s hard to respond to everyone in a timely manner, but it’s been really interesting to see which posts generate the most traffic to our website and which “fans” end up becoming clients.
The Problem — Problems are easier to solve when you know: a) that they exist and b) why they’re occurring. Do a little research if you’re getting negative comments or your followers aren’t responding to your social media engagement tactics.

9) The Compliments — Everyone loves to be complimented. Link to your competitors’ social media pages, blog articles and websites on your company’s own social networks to show you’re not full of yourself. Your company may think you’re a leader in your industry, but so do all of your competitors. Show them a little SEO love. Create Twitter lists, as I’ve done for HRB, to follow, acknowledge and compliment them by re-tweeting their tweets.

10) The Complaints — As I’ve stated in previous blogs, listening is the new marketing. Create e-mail alerts that can be sent to you each time someone posts a comment on your social media pages, and if it’s a complaint, quell that individual’s anger by opening up an honest dialogue. Focus on the positives, not the negatives, and take the conversation offline if it requires further attention or a response from a manager. If you truly listen to outside complaints, you have a unique opportunity to learn and change, showing that your company or client is attentive and understanding.

These are just the ways I proactively manage brands. What tactics do you use on behalf of your company or clients?

There’s a new Web service and iPhone® app called Path that’s been catching people’s attention. At its core, it’s very similar to other photo sharing services that you might have seen before, but with one key difference: they’ve decided to limit users to having 50 friends.

This seems counter intuitive at a glance, because the common goal of social media sites is to grow their user base to as large as possible and worry about monetization later. On Path, it’s up to you to determine who you want to have receiving your updates. In that same vein, it’s up to your friends to decide whether or not they want you to be a recipient of their updates. You can have up to 50 people that you send to and up to 50 people sending to you (these are separate lists so you can, in theory, interact with up to 100 different people).

They did put effort into making a nice looking app.

The artificial 50 friend cap and the accompanying media buzz about it has already generated a large amount of hype and controversy around this new service. I’m going to try to weed through most of that in an effort to understand what this means for those that actually decide to use Path.

I’m going to start by bringing up the obvious: other services don’t force anyone to friend/follow other people because they simply give you that option. People that find themselves overwhelmed with updates just need to take a look at their friends list and decide who they don’t want to continue following anymore in an effort to reduce the flood of messages that they couldn’t care less about.

Twitter® actually has functionality built-in to determine whether or not updates sent in reply to another person are included in your list of updates. You might have one friend that has 1,000 follows and another that has 10, but you’re still going to see their global updates. This makes it so that what you receive relies on their posting habit and not their number of followers. Facebook® acts in the same way. Users decide whose wall they want to write on or if they want to make a global status update for their friends to see. This option provides built-in functionality for determining what kind of updates you want to see in your list of updates.

So who might want to use this?

If you’re not pleased at how frequently particular friends are posting updates about stuff you couldn’t be bothered with; I’m sorry to say that Path is still going to make it possible for them to continue to do so. The real potential way for Path to survive is that public figures that use their Twitter and/or Facebook to speak to a larger audience can decide to separate their personal life from their public life by migrating their personal life over to Path. This is the primary reason why the “tech celebs” are generating hype around Path; they can now use the large user-base of Twitter and Facebook for publicity, and use Path for their real group of friends. Don’t think that this is special though, because this can be accomplished by using any second-tier social media service.

Connect with HRB:

People that don’t really have that need to separate the two groups (or only have one type of person they talk to online to begin with) won’t really see any point in trying to get their friends to sign up for yet another service when Twitter, Facebook, Flickr®, Instagram®, etc. give you the power to decide how many people you want to be a friend of or follow, and they also give you the functionality for reducing the amount of updates that don’t pertain to you or your interests.

Social media is not a matter of how many followers or posts someone has, but rather, it’s the content and quality of those posts that get people to actually read them. Path seems to have gotten publicity by adjusting something that’s going to leave many of their users nonplussed in the end, and it’s because of these factors that I’m not the only one seeing the “hook” to Path as pointless.

Throughout the last few weeks I’ve been busy working on a variety of projects for HRB’s portfolio. Not only do I get to work for a diverse pool of clients in a variety of industries but my work is billable.

How many interns get to have real work on day one of their internship?

I’m not only encouraged to be creative at HRB, but I’m expected to think outside the box on any project I complete. It’s becoming quite clear to me that PR is really about the ingenious ways that you build relationships with the public.

Start small, think big. It’s a marathon, not a race.

I recently finished my second media report for a client that incorporated clippings from three different press releases we sent out the last two months. The first time I created this report for the client it nearly took me three days to create a template, compile and organize the clippings, determine the advertising and PR values and bind the reports. This is partly because HRB lost many of its marketing materials in the Flood of 2008 and I had to create my own templates and system for collecting this information.

These hurdles were a blessing in disguise, though. They taught me be to be organized and efficient. The second time around, I had my system down pat and was able to quickly compile the clippings and organize the information in a spreadsheet.

I’ve also been doing a lot of copywriting. I wrote a few articles for a client’s quarterly newsletter and was really able to strengthen my research, interview and writing skills. For another client I was given the responsibility of writing a consumer article—from start to finish. This was definitely a challenge for me as I’ve never written any copy that was specifically geared toward the consumer audience. My supervisor gave me some guidance and I learned that these types of articles can’t be too “cute” or too “sales-driven.” I finally finished the rough draft, but it took weeks of research, interviewing, reading, editing and re-editing. We hope to have the article submitted to the publication next week.

On the strategic branding side, I was asked to submit ideas for a communication audit and a social media marketing campaign. These tasks really helped me consider branding from a company perspective. Posting updates and creating contests from the perspective of a $2 million brand is far different from posting funny messages on my friends’ Facebook® walls. When you think strategically for a company brand, I’ve learned it’s not just about who you are, but why you matter and how you’re different. Audiences aren’t going to engage your brand or product if you can’t offer them anything in return. At the very least, a new communication plan should incorporate some serious research on competitors, why audiences might be ignoring their brand and how the company can modify their product offering to address consumer needs. Otherwise the message will continue to be as screwed up as Hogan’s goat!

HRB launched two websites recently and I was responsible for cross-checking the development site with the clients’ needs and requirements. I usually read through old service reports before I jump into this kind of task. It helps me match where the client started when they hired us with where they wanted to go. My job was to make sure we fulfilled their needs and that there were not any copy or layout errors. In order to stay organized and focused, I created Word documents noting what was missing or incorrectly laid out.

I think my internship has also taught me to be proactive. When I’m waiting on a project I don’t just sit around and surf the Web. I keep myself busy. Sometimes this means catching up on blogs I subscribe to in my Google Reader®. Other times I spend my lunch hour reading case studies and trade articles to educate myself about different industries. I experiment with the Google Keyword tool, research our competitors’ media kits, review archived company files to learn about the HRB brand, or reach out to local businesses and PR pros about industry and networking events.

Next week I’m looking forward to working on a new account for a college based in Illinois. I’m also excited to start working on another client’s new positioning line. I previously created a brand archetypes report for this company when they told us they needed to determine their strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats. We helped them identify their brand advocate and unique relevant values and now we’re going to focus on expanding their client base. Stay tuned!

Why Social Behaviors Are Plateauing (by Augie Ray of MediaPost)

Since 2007, Forrester has tracked the growth of social behaviors. For years we’ve seen increases in more complex communication techniques from “Creators”—those who generate social content such as YouTube® videos and blog posts.

But for the first time in three years, we’re seeing a change in social media marketing trends. The Forrester 2010 Global Update of Social Technographics demonstrates that many social behaviors have reached a plateau. Why, and what does this mean for marketers, their clients and their portfolios?

Trends in Mobile Barcode Usage by Marketers

Mobile bar code scanning is growing exponentially, according to reporting data collected by Scanbuy™. The company calls itself the world leader in mobile bar code scanning applications. It’s one of several technology innovators that lets you download a bar code reading application to your smart phone and use the camera function to capture the bar code image. The image then takes you to information on the Web–much like actually clicking on a Web link.

According to the company’s information, mobile scanning traffic increased 700% between January 2010 and October 2010. This technology is being rapidly adopted for marketing and advertising purposes. Various types of bar codes are showing up on printed materials and websites that can be photographed with a mobile scanning application to take the participant to additional information on the topic of interest.

Microsoft®, among other companies, also offers a free Tag Reader application that mobile Internet users can download to their phones. How many of you actually use such applications and what are your thoughts about the future of them?

iPad Leads Tablets Into Workplace (by Thomas Claburn of Information Week)

In a blog memo by Microsoft® Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie, marking his decision to step down from his position, Ozzie asks us to “close our eyes and form a realistic picture of what a post-PC world might actually look like, if it were to ever truly occur.” For some, the post-PC world is already here. As Forrester analyst Ted Schadler sees it, tablet computers, exemplified by Apple’s iPad®, are post-PC devices—and like it or not, they’re now being used by businesses.

In a report issued last Tuesday, Schadler observes that new tablets seem to appear every day. He cites Google® Chrome OS tablets, the Cisco® Cius, the Dell® Streak, the Samsung® Galaxy Tab, the RIM® PlayBook and the HP® WebOS-based PalmPad as examples. Even if it’s only Apple that’s currently selling the most tablets—4.19 million during its most recent quarter—Forrester is predicting 13 million tablets will have been sold by the end of 2010 and 59 million will be sold by the end of 2015.

Google Improving Local Search (by MediaPost)

According to Search Engine Land™, Google® this week debuted “Place Search,” which offers a new way to experience local search results. According to the company, “There appear to be some fairly major SEO implications.” Officially, Google says that its algorithm has been improved and refined for Place Search.

“Now, fully fleshed out Place Pages will assume much greater importance, as will being present and reviewed in the various sites featured in the ‘clustered’ links,” notes Search Engine Land’s Greg Sterling. As a result, he says, local directories like Yelp®, Citysearch® City Guides, Insider Pages® and Urbanspoon® will benefit greatly from the change. Visually, maps have been moved to the right column and “floats” or scrolls down the page as users move down results.

Selected third-party sites referencing a particular search topic are “clustered” with the listing. In cases of ambiguous queries, if Google isn’t sure whether users are seeking local information, there’s another type of result that will appear, which Google refers to as “Places Mode.”

What are your thoughts about such news? We’d love to hear your opinions in the comments section below.

I hope you all had a fun and safe Halloween this year! Here are some of my favorite blog posts from this week. Most of them deal with creepy news, recent polls and changes in online media, the value of community managers and recent news about free Wi-Fi.

Feel free to check out my team member page to read my other blogs or share your thoughts in the comments section below.

I also share all of these posts via my Google Reader account (Jace122) and my Twitter handle (@IowaHawkeyeMeg).

Listen, Learn and Engage:

Why It’s Time to Say Goodbye to Free Wi-Fi – Peter Shankman just made me aware of Firesheep® and why free Wi-Fi service is not safe. If you don’t want your personal e-mail or social networking logins hacked into I would highly suggest reading this blog.

100 PR Buzzwords That Need to Go – Now if we could only get our clients to read this and trust our edits…

Harris Poll Finds Over Half of Adults Believe Traditional Media as We Know It Will No Longer Exist in 10 Years – Interesting analysis by the Bulldog Reporter® this week.

“Mad Men” Transformed Into Book Series – Alltop® discusses how and why the characters of the popular AMC television series have been given a makeover.

Use Social Media to Build Your Brand By Fostering Relationships – by Kim Castle, Co-Founder, Intention Products LLC and BrandU.

Why Facebook’s New Groups Will Change the Way You Use Facebook – ReadWriteWeb® looks at the new changes in Facebook®’s Groups feature. Has it become too complicated for users?

Debate: Do All Community Managers Need Social Media? – David Spinks offers his opinion on what goals and skills Community Managers should have.

That’s it! Check back next Friday for more interesting reads!

In an effort to better connect with other aspiring and established PR executives in the blogosphere, I’ve decided to tailor my Friday blog posts to topics that are of interest to me as an intern at HRB. I scan hundreds of articles per week to stay on top of advertising, public relations, marketing and social media trends but am finding I never really get a chance to communicate what I’m learning with others.

My goal is to compile my favorite posts and engage in conversation with you, my readers. Hopefully some of these blogs inspire you as much as they inspire me.

I also share all of these posts via my Google Reader account and my Twitter handle.

PR blogs to check out:

‘The Media is the Enemy,’ and Other Dangerous Notions to Disavow – Great piece by PR News about how spokespeople should treat the media.

The Most Hated Man on Twitter – I wonder if this guy knows that his tweets were recorded and archived by the U.S. Library of Congress (see this article by ArsTechnica.com for proof of this)? Great post by the Spinks Blog that reminds Internet users to “think before they Tweet.”

Opinion: ‘Mad Men’ Unvarnished – AdWeek®’s ad critic Barbara Lippert gauges what the hit AMC® series tells us about ourselves. I have to admit, the “buzz” this show has created thus far is pretty amazing!

As Big Corporations Become Increasingly Mired in Crises, is PR’s Crisis-Management Role In Need of Revision? – This year three major corporations all made the same critical mistake, reports the Bulldog Reporter® this week. Goldman Sachs®, BP® and Toyota® each replied with “No comment” when their company was in trouble. Do you think it’s better to ignore PR problems or address them upfront?

What Small Business Owners Should Know About Their PR Efforts – As an employee at a small company who represents other small companies, I think this article did an excellent job of explaining why business shouldn’t cut their PR and marketing budgets during a recession. This is the first time I’ve read anything by Ronn Torossian of 5WPR but I plan on following his posts from this point forward.

Confidentiality and Agency Life – I couldn’t agree more with Dave Fleet’s statement, “I’ll categorically state that my reputation is worth way more to me than one or two quick wins.” As an intern I too am entrusted with a lot of confidential information about clients.  I think it’s important for all agency employees to recognize the values of honesty and trust in every business relationship they form.

The Secret of the Roush Effect – Short and sweet article by Seth Godin about the success of the late Gerald Roush’s Ferrari Market Letter. How do your own newsletter campaigns size up?

Intern blogs to check out:

Advice for Future Interns (by Jessica Braun of Edelman Chicago) – Insightful post for college students about post-college internships. I follow Jessica Braun on Twitter and subscribe to Edelman®’s blog in my Google Reader®, and I have to say I’m always impressed by this company’s diverse viewpoints about the PR industry.

Jay-Z’s Secrets for Personal Success – As an intern I’m always looking for ways to improve my writing, personal brand and communication skills. This article was truly inspiring to me as an aspiring business owner.

HMA PR Introduces #MediaMonday Blog Posts – I recently stumbled across HMA Public Relations of Phoenix while searching for PR companies on Facebook®. I checked out their blog and noticed that they just started a new blog series, #MediaMonday, in which they post stories from the media’s perspective to help PR and advertising executives get to know the media a little better. This #MediaMonday post introduces Arizona Notebook founder, journalist and shooter Mike Padgett.

One Internship, Two Internships, Three Internships…More! – As a student that has interned with more than three different companies in three different PR settings since 2006, I definitely see the value in gaining as much diverse real-world experience as possible before graduation. Check out this piece by Evan Nicholson of Temple University’s PRSSA chapter in Philadelphia. She offers some great insights about what she’s learned from working for both agencies and non-profits and how it has led her to her “PR niche.”

That’s it! Check back next week for more interesting reads!

Last Wednesday I attended Cision’s online webinar “Creating Social Media Content” and I couldn’t have been more impressed by the presentation. I found that HRB is already practicing most of these strategies, but I also learned about some new online forums and tools that can take our brand and our clients’ brands to a whole new level on the Web.

Presented by two of today’s leading public relations professionals—Heidi Sullivan (@hksully), Vice President of Media Research for Cision, and Sarah Evans (@prsarahevans) of Sevans Strategy—the webinar discussed social media strategies, tips and resources that companies should consider when promoting a brand or service.

In an effort to summarize what I’ve been learning from HRB, webinars and other educational resources on the Web, I’ve created my own master list of the “Top 20 Best Practices for Creating and Popularizing Content on the Social Web.” Check it out and let me know your thoughts in the comments section or via my Twitter® handle, @IowaHawkeyeMeg.

Top 20 Best Practices for Creating and Popularizing Content on the Social Web:

1 ) Every social media strategy needs to be well-planned. Ask these 4 questions before that first meeting with your coworkers and your clients:

- What’s your goal?

- Who will represent your brand on social media sites?

- When will you find time to produce content?

- How will you measure success?

2 ) Blog consistently and on a variety of topics.

According to Cision’s research, there is a 2% to 4% increase in business for those companies that blog 2 to 4 times per week. The trick to write relevant and interesting  posts and promote your content on a regular basis to grow your following.

3 ) When determining who should blog for your brand, choose employees that are passionate about your brand and industry.

It’s counter-productive to make your employees blog if they’re not passionate about blogging, don’t keep up with news or can’t offer a fresh perspective.

4 ) Read, read, read!

Knowledge is power and it’s to your advantage to stay on top of industry trends and news. Follow other bloggers’ RSS feeds in a Google Reader account and set aside 15 minutes a day to read your email subscriptions.

5 ) Be thoughtful when outsourcing your blog content.

In some cases your employees are going to know your brand better than an outsider might. If you’re looking for a fresh perspective on a specific topic or Web trend, consider outsourcing the work to professionals or set up a guest blogging section on your Website to seek out knowledgeable professionals that can contribute to it. Check out the “Young Minds” guest blogging series that Lauren Fernandez of Radian6 created on her portfolio Website.

6 ) Think like a journalist!

Journalists are always looking for new angles and stories to share with the world. Create headlines that are “catchy” and unique. Do your research ahead of time and make sure your blogs have no grammatical errors to avoid negative backlash in your blog’s comment section or on your page’s news feed.

7 ) Assess your goals and progress every week with Google Analytics or other social media measurement tools.

Creating content for the social Web is useless if you’re not monitoring your engagement with your readers. Create a weekly Excel spreadsheet or report to present to your boss and clients to show how many fans/followers you add each week/month/year and which blogs are getting the most hits.

8 ) Create a blogroll in a sidebar list on your company or client’s main blog page.

A blogroll is a list of other blogs that a blogger might recommend by providing links  to them. Create a headline for the blogroll such as “Recommended Reading” and use keywords and other SEO tactics to separate and promote your blog categories.

9 ) Encourage the CEO, CMO and/or President of your company or your client’s company to contribute to blogs and engage with their audiences via social media.

Learning about a company from multiples perspectives is interesting to interns and established professionals alike. It reminds people that they’re engaging with other people (rather than a logo) and often provides audiences with relevant personal stories and anecdotes. To get inside the mind of HRB’s executives check out the blog pages of our CEO, Jim Thebeau and our President, Steve Erickson.

10 ) It isn’t just about blogs.

Create a Twitter and Facebook account for your company and client and link to your employees’ personal accounts on these networks. Show your audience that every team member is vital to the success of your brand or campaign.

11 ) Be transparent.

If you don’t hide anything from your audience they’ll be more likely to subscribe to your newsletter and follow you on social networks because they trust and appreciate your “words of wisdom.” Publish your social media policy and white papers on your Website and publicize company news and internal policy changes on your social media networks.

12 ) Listen and engage with your audience on a regular basis.

If someone comments on your blog, tweet or post, respond to them right away. If other Web users see that you’re paying attention to your followers they’ll be more inclined to get involved in the conversation as well.

13 ) Acknowledge your audience.

Every once in a while post a shout out to your followers, newsletter subscribers and potential customers by acknowledging how their support inspires your company and its employees to continue producing amazing content. They’ll appreciate the love and might even recommend your services to a business partner or networking contact.

14 ) Follow technology changes – the social media release (SMR) is the new press release.

It’s no secret that traditional news methods are quickly being replaced by alternative news methods. The goal with the social media press release is to write for your audience AND the average Web user. Pitch to bloggers via a “Twitter pitch” or create a list of blog contacts that have been helpful in promoting a service or campaign for you in the past. As Heidi Sullivan and Sarah Evans mentioned in their presentation, “Inbound links are the currency of the blogosphere,” so make sure you’re building mutually-beneficial relationships. If a blogger picks up your social media release and repurposes the content on their blog, be sure to return the favor and mention their blog in your Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn updates.

15 ) Create an “Interactive Newsroom” on your company Website.

Include daily or weekly featured news, videos, blogs and photo images about your company. The example provided in the Cision Webinar was Toyota’s interactive newsroom. It features each of these things in addition to a section titled “Our Point of View” that’s written exclusively by Toyota employees and explores current issues in the automotive industry.

16 ) Keep up-to-date on educational news, language lessons, films, audio books, campus tours and more via Apple’s iTunes U.

This service has been around since 2007 but I’ve never heard about it before this Webinar. Since checking it out I have to say that I’m very impressed by the content that Stanford University has put out there for use by students and average Web users. According to Wikipedia, iTunes U was “created to manage, distribute and control access to educational audio and video content and PDF files.” I agree with the Webinar hosts that this is a great resource for interns (and education industry clients) because it’s a free service that includes over 75,000 files for users’ upload or download purposes.

17 ) Remember the rule of thirds: It’s not all about YOU.

As my internship supervisor likes to remind me, nobody wakes up in the morning expecting to get an email from you. It’s important to realize the value in creating online content but equally necessary to know your limits. If you have a Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn account, spend about 1/3 of your time posting information about your company, 1/3 of the time posting information about your clients and the remaining third of your time acknowledging others on the social Web (what the friendly Cision hosts referred to as “social karma”). Don’t walk around handing out your business card—instead, find out what your audiences’ and followers’ interests and jobs are. You should be entertaining your audiences but also engaging with your followers as these groups are collectively responsible for the success of your social media handle.

18 ) Aggregate!

Create a “top 10 list” every once in a while to show your readers you’re paying attending to other writers in the blogosphere. After all, you’re not a robot!

19 ) Got a case of the “blogger blues?” Don’t fret!

There will be days that you’re stuck and can’t find the words to write what’s really on your mind. (It happens to me all the time!) If you’re on deadline consult with your supervisor for new ideas or ask a coworker to switch blog days with you. It’s always better to wait and produce inspiring content rather than bore your readers.

20 ) Social media is a marathon, not a sprint!

If you’re not seeing results in weekly analytic reports, try something new. There is no “correct way” to create and popularize content on the social Web but there are definitely promotional strategies that have grown companies and brands in huge ways. Dare to experiment!

Although this was only the second Webinar I’ve ever attended, I’m quickly learning that virtual tutorials are extremely useful resources. As an intern I always have questions and sometimes I find that my lack of knowledge about the media, the brand I’m representing or the audience(s) I’m reaching out to slows me down and prevents me from meeting deadlines. While this can sometimes be inevitable, I’ve realized that having solid research skills is critical in this industry—especially with the non-stop changes in progressive enhancement and the diversity of Web services offered today. I’m comforted by the fact that there are real people behind those usernames. I know if I continue to be proactive and seek out resources that help me master my shortcomings I can stay ahead of technology trends and promote HRB and its clients in unique and purposeful ways.

I read an interesting study today addressing the impact of social media on the practice of public relations. Donald K. Wright, Ph.D., Professor of Public Relations/Director of Development for Boston University and  Michelle D. Hinson, M.A., Institute for Public Relations, discovered that in 2009 the tide shifted to where public relations professionals agree more that social media has had a large impact on the practice.

According to the study, An Analysis of the Increasing Impact of Social and Other New Media on Public Relations Practice, 93% of the 2009 respondents spent part of their average workdays with some aspects of social media. In addition:

• 85% believe social media complement traditional news media.
• 92% think blogs and social media influence coverage in traditional news media.
• 88% believe blogs and social media have made communications more instantaneous.
• 72% agree or strongly believe social media has enhanced the practice of public relations.

The 574 respondents did say that they expect traditional media to be more honest and ethical. Fewer than half (41%) hold these same expectations for blogs and other social media.

Although we see companies slowly adopting and adapting to social media in this region, it has not impacted communications professionals as much as the east and west coast. There are also differences for business-to-business and business-to-consumer companies in the social media arena. B2C professionals will undoubtedly use it more readily.

So, what do you think? Has social media impacted your public relations efforts? If so, I’d like to know how.