Rick Grant & Associates

One of the most important functions of a public relations firm is to get editors and their reporters to write stories about their client company executives, brands and products. We call this getting ink. This can become more difficult during an economic downturn, when publications, especially the Business-to-Business trade pubs, find fewer advertisers and cut back on the size of their issues.

One way PR firms have tried to get around this is to appeal to bloggers in an effort to get more stories published about their clients. Unfortunately, the vast majority of companies are still led by folks who don’t understand the blogosphere and don’t see the benefit of getting electronic ink there. Plus, it really annoys bloggers. I say, if you can’t find someone to write about you, write about yourself.
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We’ve been saying for months now that companies just don’t have the budget to travel to industry conferences but still need access to the information being shared at these important functions. Attendance at conferences this year bears this out. But do people really care about the information shared at these events? Interthinx, Agoura Hills, Calif., took us to task on that assumption and tested a conference newsfeed last week.

If we can judge by the feedback from the company’s clients, which is the best way to measure the effectiveness of this kind of public relations effort, the initiative was a success.
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One of the biggest problems executives encounter while working through the trough portion of a business cycle is not that business is harder to find, but rather that fewer resources are available for use in finding it. The best companies keep working even when the business gets tough, but it can be very challenging pursuing opportunities when resources dry up. One of the first items in the budget to get slashed when times get tough is travel.

It is painfully ironic that attending industry conferences during a downturn is one of the better ways to gain competitive advantage that can be used to shorten the cycle. So, what’s an executive to do when they know there is news breaking at an important industry show but they can’t get break away from the office to attend? Find someone else who is at the show and grab their news feed.
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Photo Credit: dailyinvention

Charlotte, N.C.-based MindBlazer hopes to use video to ease consumers’ concerns about the economy and earn some new business at the same time. The marketing technology company, which provides financial institutions with interactive videos, hopes to leverage its MoneyMinutesTV video program to inform consumers about financial products and services, while helping banks and credit unions drive sales and service activations online.

As part of the MoneyMinutesTV launch, MindBlazer is offering financial institutions a complimentary video entitled “How Your Money is Protected.”
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Letting people see and hear about what you have to sell will make your offering seem more valuable. That’s the result of a study highlighted in a recent edition of the REAL Trends e-mail alert. The study was based on an industry survey conducted by VHT Inc., a company that makes its money by selling video and high quality photography to the real estate industry.

While the results are self-serving (would we have heard about it otherwise?), they do make sense. Real estate agents will attest to the fact that properties listed with more pictures get more hits. VHT says that using video can increase the perceived value of the property by nearly 6 percent. Professional photography does even more good, increasing the perceived value of a property by 12 percent, according to the company. (more…)

Is it possible that I spoke too soon? Recently, I responded to a blog post that suggested that the Securities and Exchange Commission might start allowing public companies to use blogs for public disclosure. I, having some experience writing for and about public companies, immediately came back on a cautionary note, arguing that public companies would be very, very careful if they thought the SEC was looking over their shoulder. In effect, it would make New Media more difficult for them to adopt.

Of course, I was under the assumption that the SEC was run by a bunch of very old people who couldn’t tell the difference between the World Wide Web and the CIA. I stand corrected. (more…)