PATRON SAINT PRODUCTIONS, INC.
~  CHAT TRANSCRIPT  ~
Patron Saint Productions, Inc.
Internet PR Chat Series

Topic: Online Newsrooms
Guests: Steve O'Keefe, author of "Complete Guide to Internet Publicity"
Date: April 18, 2008

LAST SESSION
Opening URL: http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/default.mspx

Who uses online newsrooms?
- Journalists to gather information, background and supplemental information
- Company in crisis
- Non-media trying to break through. Customer service inquiries, job applicants
- Investors and analysts
- Attorneys and investigators
- Own employees and investors

What should a newsroom contain?
1. Must contain
      - Contact information
2.  Should contain
     - News releases, current
     - High-resolution artwork
     - Searchable news release archive
     - Financial Information, especially for publicly traded companies
     - Management profiles EXAMPLE: http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/exec/default.mspx?group=A-D

3. Bells and whistles
    - Newsletters
    - Transcripts of speeches
    - Calendar of events
    - Stand on political issues
    - Roster of employees, directory
   - Broadcast room EXAMPLE: http://br.thenewsmarket.com/Microsoft/br/Login/LoginPreRegistration.aspx
    RESTRICTED ACCESS
        - Contact information OK so emplyees are not spammed
        - Could limit coverage for your business
4. Should not contain
    - Dated material you cannot maintain
    - Message boards
   
EXAMPLE:  http://www.apple.com/pr/
    - Contact information: public
    - News release example: Final Cut Server Shipping
        - No personal contact information on release because of archive issues
    - Images for the media: Airport Express
        - Include format of the artwork including size

ONLINE CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS:  2 Strategies
1. DUCK: what crisis, what problem?
    - Pretend it is not there and hope it goes away
     EXAMPLE: http://www.southwest.com/about_swa/press/prindex.html
    - Archive of news releases
    - Special Web site to deal with media: http://www.swamedia.com
    - Making significant changes on a daily basis
2. STAND TALL: want your side of the story to be told.
    - Pro and con
     EXAMPLE: http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/legalnews.mspx
    - Provide exhaustive information on the topic
    - Document the entire story to get your side of the information out
    - Dark Web site - Emergency Web site that redirects people to the crisis information


Class Podcast:
http://www.authorviews.com/authors/promo/chatsessions/online_newsrooms.wav

PATRON SAINT PRODUCTIONS, INC.
~  CHAT TRANSCRIPT  ~
Patron Saint Productions, Inc.
Internet PR Chat Series

Topic: Search Engine Optimization
Guests: Steve O'Keefe, author of "Complete Guide to Internet Publicity"
Date: April 11, 2008

Opening URL for the day:       http://www.google.com

Search Engine Optimization: The science of trying to get people to come to your site (increase traffic).
Careful, traffic can be a bad thing:
 - Expenses rise as traffic increases.
 - Unwanted viewers
 - hackers
 - lawyers

GOOGLE: algorithm - ranking system based on metatags
On Web site look for source code:

Example site: Google search food - pick LA Times
- Title bar tag (keywords) helps Google understand what is on that page

Example: Food News, Recipes & Restaurant Reviews - Los Angeles Times
- Keywords tag (non in this example). No more than 50, separated by commas

Example: meta name="keywords" content="" /
- Description tag. 25 word of what is on your Web site, not what you do.

Example: meta name="description" content="Find food & wine news and reviews on restaurants, recipes, cooking, desserts, chefs, fine dining, cuisine, Los Angeles restaurants, four star restaurants & more." /

What Google looks for to rank:
- tags match content (you will get the Google smack down if you do not represent yourself properly with tags and content. Smack down = moved to the bottom of the search list)
- linkage (how many sites link to your site)
- popularity among searchers (when Google offers options, how many times are you chosen)

Recommendations to optimize your site:
- Follow metatags rules
- Annual search engine optimization check
    - find out where you are in searches
    - update metatags
- Register your Web site with search engines
http://www.patronsaintpr.com/resources/templates.html
    - Web site registration list
    http://www.patronsaintpr.com/resources/templates/regreport.html
- Linkage campaign (expect 20-25% success rate)
    - Link letter
    http://www.patronsaintpr.com/resources/templates/linkreport.htm    
    - When asking for linkage ask these questions:    
        - Is the site dead or not?
        - Do they have links to other site (links or resources)?
        - Who should I pitch?
Example: Eric Ward article on link letters http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=831971
    -Find a super site (someone that has made it their job to be a resource on the topic)

Here's a link to the sessions podcast:
http://www.authorviews.com/authors/promo/chatsessions/080411.wav