Unfiltered messaging: One of the huge benefits of social media

Unfiltered newsFor more than a century, the public has turned to newspapers, radio stations and television stations for news. No medium has quite challenged these institutions like social media. Today, sites like Twitter and Facebook provide the public with unfiltered access to organizations, celebrities and sports stars.

So what does this mean for your organization or business? It means you can also tap into this direct conduit to your audience. Certainly, I wouldn’t recommend eliminating the use of traditional media. But with social media, you can tailor your message and be in control of it, respond directly to inquiries, and carry on a conversation.

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Thanks for the free pants (+ more ridiculous items in media kits)

I’ve received hundreds upon hundreds of items in media kits over the years. Everything from food to baseball caps. And pants. Yup. Pants.

Pants in a media kitNow, don’t ask me to recall what ’cause’ or organization the pants were all about. I can’t remember. All I remember is the khaki wrinkle-free pants. It certainly wasn’t a memorable media kit, unless you needed a pair of pants. I didn’t (wrong waist size and leg length). So I gave them to a co-worker. I gave away dozens of T-shirts over the years too. Today, I use some as dust cloths.

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Podcast: Pros and cons of media press kits

WorkCabin Radio podcast series about media tools, strategies for nonprofits, business and organizations in CanadaA media press kit that avoids ‘information’ bloat can be a very useful addition to your media relations toolbox. In this podcast, I’ll share some insights into dos and donts.

Measuring traditional media: It’s not about reach, it’s about conversions

If you pay hundreds, or even thousands of dollars for a piece of equipment, you want to know it works and whether it represents good value for the money.

For example, if you purchase a wood splitter. You want to know that it will produce X amount of firewood in X amount of time with X amount of effort. That’s how you measure the success and value of your purchase.

So why do so many organizations and businesses simply wing it when it comes to traditional advertising in newspapers and radio?

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