Continuing our call for top Internet PR Resources, this week we are looking for awesome articles on "The New News Release."

Since material on IAOCblog is off-limits to my Tulane student reviewers, I'll start the discussion with a summary of what we have done here on IAOCblog about this issue.

From June 12-16, David Meerman Scott ran a week-long program here on Direct to Consumer News Releases. Scott is the author of The New Rules of Marketing and PR. That multilogue is an example, I think, of some of the finest analysis of how news releases are changing. Scott's focus is using web technology to deliver your news directly to consumers (readers, listeners, watchers) without going through the intermediary of a media outlet (print, radio, broadcast).

While Scott's discussion here on IAOCblog is off-limits to my student reviewers, the leads he points too are not, nor is Scott's own site or the sites of other contributors to that discussion, such as Debbie Weil. And Scott's approach is not the only new thinking on news releases. Share your top suggestions here.

STEVE O'KEEFE
Vice President, IAOC

Oh jeez, not another flexible, scalable, groundbreaking, industry-standard, cutting-edge product from a market-leading, well positioned company! Ugh. I think I'm gonna puke! Just like with a teenager's use of annoying catch phrases, I notice the same words cropping up again and again in Web sites and news releases—so much so that the gobbledygook grates against my nerves and many other people's, too. Well, duh. Like, companies just totally don't communicate very well, you know?   more »

I have started writing a new book tentatively titled "The New Rules of Marketing and PR" and I need your help!

I'll be blogging the book on my own Web Ink Now blog as I go through the research, writing, editing, and marketing process and I invite you to follow along, to contribute to the process, to offer suggestions, and to argue with me when I get off track. The book will take about 4 months to write.

I'm writing The New Rules of Marketing and PR to show how smart organizations reach buyers through blogs, news releases, podcasting, and online media. As IAOC members know, the old rules of marketing as one-way broadcast TV-style advertising don't work on the web. The old rules of relying exclusively on mainstream media to tell your story isn't the only way to get ink on the web.

In a sense, IAOC members have already contributed to the book via the tremendous conversations around news releases. Many great ideas came from that debate. For example, when using releases to reach buyers directly I now say "news releases" instead of "press releases." That's because there was so much feedback on the term "press release" on this blog from people who equated press releases with reaching the media but news releases with reaching buyers.

Another thing that came out is that it’s not just PR that has new rules, its also marketing. On the web PR doesn't exist in a vacuum: marketing and PR are one and the same in that they are both ways to reach buyers with a message. Thank you for enlightening me!

But the greatest idea that came from the online conversation is that there is more to be said on the new rules. Much more. And not just by me. So my blog and the resulting book is a starting point for many more conversations on how to use the web to reach buyers.

The web has changed the business book model and my case is an interesting example. On the strength of my e-book The New Rules of PR and the interest in the "new rules" from thousands of people, I hired a terrific literary agent. We showed interested publishers how the e-book tested the market, gauged interest and that there is demand for more detailed information on how to reach buyers directly.

I couldn’t be happier that Wiley will be publishing the book with a late 2007 target release.  Wiley is an awesome publisher and the professionals there get the new publishing model as well as the new rules of marketing and PR. Other publishers would freak out if an author wanted to put bits of the book out for comment and solicit ideas online. 

Some of my favorite books evolved on blogs. Two that come to mind are Naked Conversations by Robert Scoble and Shel Isreal (also a Wiley book!) and The Long Tail by Chris Anderson. Great company indeed. Thanks for showing the way, guys.

Thanks for the help so far and I look forward to hearing more in the months to come.

It's Friday, the last day of my week as discussion leader on the IAOC blog. Thanks to the thoughtful people who have left dozens of comments and trackbacks.

I’ve you’ve missed any of the action, start here. Direct-to-consumer news releases: Do they suck? There is one new post for each day this week.

So today I wanted to highlight an interesting case example. I was important for me to use a very current example, rather than one I've talked about in the past. This week Brian Carroll's new book Lead Generation for the Complex Sale was published. He launched his book with a press release and a blog post. Quickly, Debbie Weil jumped in and now I am writing about it here. I will also review the book next week on my own blog.

What can we learn about Brian's efforts? Well, had he waited for the traditional reviews in magazines and newspapers, he would be waiting in silence because the process of sending review copies out, gaining interest, then the writing and editing process takes weeks (or months). Instead, he jumped started the discussion about his book (and generated sales) on the very day it was available in stores. And it's not just book launches. In my opinion, direct-to-consumer news releases works in all markets.

Any final thoughts?

One of the most elusive goals of a press release is that the release itself becomes a topic of online conversation. Of course, those of us who write and send releases would love to have mainstream media write about us. But what might be even more difficult is to have bloggers start a conversation about the contents of a press release.

What do you think about the press release as viral marketing fodder? Can we communicators make it happen? Do bloggers care?

To get you thinking, check out today's PRWeb announcement -- a cool experiment with these ideas by offering a $1000 prize to the first blogger who successfully identifies enhancements in the PRWeb service and responds by blogging about it and sending a trackback.

I am having fun "hosting" this special week on the International Association of Online Communicators blog. Lots of good dialog is happening. Thanks for your participation.

Steve O’Keefe suggests a new topic Are Direct-to-Consumer News Releases morphing into News Programs?

Steve says: "We are now speaking of news releases that are no longer news releases; they are programming. You exchange something of value for attention -- help with a problem, an entertaining animation, a tip sheet for packing Christmas presents. David, what say you about news releases as news programs? or entertainment?"

Thanks for asking, Steve. I think great content is valuable no matter what the medium: YouTube video clip, a podcast, a Wall Street Journal article and yes, the once lowly press release, all have potential to enlighten and inform.

What do YOU think?

I wanted to start a new thread because this topic is a bit different: trackbacks in press releases. One of ...   more »