Written By Barbara K. Mednick, Online PR Expert

White papers, e-newsletters, blogs, digital magazines and e-books – all of these are different forms of online PR. While news releases are a key tool in the online PR toolbox, these other digital tools (sometimes also called “content marketing”) are a powerful way to communicate directly with buyers.

Written By Barbara K. Mednick, Online PR Expert

The old saying that “You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression” applies to more than job interviews” – it can also apply to the opening or lead paragraph on a news release. That’s because the lead paragraph is critical to quickly and effectively selling a busy, cynical journalist on your story idea.

Information Overload

Each day editors and reporters are bombarded with news releases and information from numerous sources. A strong opening or lead paragraph can make your news release stand out from the rest and get the media attention you seek.

Written By Barbara K. Mednick, Online PR Expert

Should the PR/Communication function control social media or Marketing? Does the news media depend on social media and PR professionals when researching stories? As social media continues to increase in popularity and impact the public relations profession, I’ve been pondering these questions — as have many of my PR and marketing colleagues.

The debate over ownership of social media has raged between PR and Marketing, with both sides making a case for centralizing social media functions under their area. Several newly-released studies provide answers to these questions and also shed light on how the news media use social media. In my opinion, the survey findings relate to both offline and online PR, which often need to work hand in hand.

Written By Barbara K. Mednick, Online PR Expert

As social media continues to evolve and “content” continues to explode on the Internet, new online PR tools and resources are popping up every day. While one can literally spend hours upon hours online these days, it’s hard to keep up with all of the news and trends, let alone the new tools, services and resources to conduct effective online PR. So, I’ve researched a variety of PR tools that can help you to get more publicity, monitor news and blogs, analyze coverage and help you to save time and money.

Written By Barbara K. Mednick, Online PR Expert

Each day more and more people seek news and information online. This is also true for journalists, who are increasingly searching online for story ideas, sources, trends, statistics, etc. That’s why online PR is such an important part of any PR and marketing strategy.  And, one of the most critical tools in such web campaigns is an online news release – both from a consumer and a news media standpoint.

Power of Online News Releases

In my last two blog posts, I talked about the power of online news releases. Consider the following:

Written By Barbara K. Mednick, Online PR Expert

Every day, we are bombarded with news, marketing messages and information from various media sources including the Internet, TV, newspapers, blogs, ads, publications, radio, Twitter and direct mail.

Americans Becoming News Grazers

In an effort to digest this increasing overload of information – particularly as it relates to news – many Americans are now “news grazers”. That’s according to a Project for Excellence in Journalism and Pew Internet & American Life Project “State of the News Media 2010” report, released on March 1, 2010, which found that the Internet and cell phones are changing people’s relationship to news.

Written By Barbara K. Mednick, Online PR Expert

When I started my career as a PR professional in the late 1980’s (after working first as a print journalist), my primary goal was to write and distribute a compelling news release that the media would open, read and either write an article on or run a radio or TV story on. The rapid growth of the Internet, however, has changed that.

Barbara K. Mednick, Site Booster’s online PR expert author, is an award-winning public relations and marketing communications strategist with more than 25 years of experience serving local and national consumer and B-to-B clients. As president of BKM Consulting, Inc. (www.bkmconsulting.com), she works directly with clients and also partners with other independent consultants and marketing and design firms to form “custom virtual teams” to provide PR and marketing consulting services to clients to help them succeed in their marketplace.