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Spring is Here! Changes Abound at PR/PR

As spring arrives, we have plenty of reasons to celebrate in addition to the advent of sunny, warm weather! One of our distinguished colleagues, Kristen, must say “good bye” for now to make the big move to Pittsburgh with her fiance. We’re sad for our loss, but happy for her gain (and Pittsburgh’s)! We wish her all the best with her wedding and her career – and many happy moments in her new life…

Also, there are lots of positive changes here at PR/PR! We now offer book review packages to both fiction and non-fiction authors, which is so exciting! We love being able to open the door for authors to get the publicity their books deserve. Through our research and experience with the media, we’re able to help authors create a platform on which their book can reach the masses. Books rock!

We’re also offering social media marketing packages, alongside our articles and interview services. It’s an exciting new world online and we’ve teamed up with an experienced social media expert to help our clients reach out to new markets via sites like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.   It’s also a cost-effective way for clients on a budget to reach the masses and gain an international following – not to mention, drive business to their Web sites! Be sure to tune in for more breaking news…

Vote for Google!

It’s funny how the face of political campaigning has changed so much over the past 10 to 20 years! Now, don’t get me wrong; I haven’t been around long enough to personally remember the days of Richard Nixon and Watergate, but I am noticing a major shift in the marketing for the campaigns this year versus previous years. As a professional public relations agency, we don’t normally dabble in political waters, but I just can’t help but comment on Barack Obama’s massive Internet marketing campaign; something no other political candidate has done with such tenacity and efficiency.

In the last 20 years, as Internet popularity has grown exponentially, the United States has gone through five presidential elections, (six if you count this year’s) and countless other state and local elections. Have you ever seen anyone’s online presence grow as quickly and as powerfully as Obama’s?

According to a recent article in Time Magazine “… No campaign has been more aggressive in tapping into social networks and leveraging the financial power of hundreds of thousands of small donors. Nor has any other campaign found such innovative ways to extend its reach by using the Internet – more than $10 million of Obama’s second-quarter contributions were made online, and 90 percent of them were in increments of $100 or less.”

Wow! And apparently his online presence is contributing to his popularity.

One of our clients, search engine marketing expert Heather Lutze, recently pulled the Google Search Engine Volume in July, 2008, and found that Barack Obama had 550,000 searches in July versus 450,000 for John McCain. What does that mean? Well, Heather says that how people search the Internet everyday can be an interesting view of the “soul” of the Web, and can also tell us who’s the latest “buzz.” And if you have enough “buzz”? Well, in this case, you might just become president!

According to Heather, who has spent the last 10 years as CEO of Lutze Consulting, search data like this – which can be accessed through search tools like Google Adwords – gives users an unprecedented view into the mind of the searchers, and can tell a lot about where their interests lie.  While this tool is valuable for politicians, Heather says that business owners can also use it to better understand how their potential customers search the Internet.

So, Google search volumes may tell us who’s hot, but will it predict the outcome of the 2008 presidential election? Only time will tell!