I’m excited to announce that our official website, AMP3pr.com, has launched it’s 2.0 version, bringing you more breadth as far as our services and proven track record are concerned. Check it out!

As such, I thought I would take this moment to also shamelessly plug why AMP3 is ahead of the curve, and discuss some current hot topics circulating within the PR scene.

Unlike many of our more archaic competitors who are currently struggling to incorporate social media and web 2.0 into their existing business models, and are, for the most part, outsourcing these services to new media specialists, AMP3 was born into this era, and knows nothing but the integration of these incredible new media tools into our active PR campaigns.

Enter stage left: PR 2.0.

I have heard countless discussions in the past 9 months, all begging the question, “Is Social Media killing PR?” And if you know what you’re talking about, you know the answer is NO, Social Media is actually making PR more effective, more powerful, and more accountable than ever.

Today, I was invited to give a “speech” at the RTV (Rose Tech Ventures) Incubator, a weekly Friday Luncheon hosted by @innonate (Nate Westheimer), that brings together a group of entrepreneurs, primarily with Web Start-ups, to discuss various topics that relate to their businesses, and today, that topic was PR. I do have to say, it was a bit intimidating being the one female in a boardroom full of very established men, but I thoroughly enjoyed the conversation and found the Q&A portion most interesting. They really grilled me on the merits of PR and through this, I was able to learn more about how PR is viewed in their eyes.

While making some notes, pre-speech, it got me thinking about what’s currently relevant…

At AMP3, PR 2.0 means the fusion of traditional PR tactics with social media technologies. Gone are the days of wasteful physical press kit compilation and blind outreaches to unassuming media folks. Today, there is no excuse, and if you’re embracing social media, there are a few incredible tools that can be used to your advantage. PR 2.0 goes a step beyond just creating accounts on all of the various mass and niche social networking sites. Without giving away all of my tricks, vaguely, PR 2.0 can mean:

1) YouTube Pitching – why wait to score that elusive editorial deskside? Have your client film a direct elevator pitch to a specific reporter using your handy dandy Flip Video YouTube Cam, introducing themselves and getting right to the heart of their story. Then, send the private YouTube link with a minimally invasive pitch, and voila, you’ve now successfully put a face to a name.

2) Twitter Pitching – while following the daily antics of all of your friends as they tweet is more than fun, don’t forget to use the search function on Twitter as well. Repping a healthcare client? Type in healthcare, and see who else is talking about it. Then, get @ them, with a relevant link or helpful passage. Twitter is the definition of the traditional snowball effect, so use it.

3) Tailored (and I mean, really tailored) Pitches – If you want to get a really juicy story surrounding your client, you need to consider each and every reporter you pitch, and today, thanks to a little someone I like to call Google, there is no excuse for not doing your homework. If you’re pitching the Arts & Culture Editor at USA Today, read up on her past articles (the print edition is now digital, too, and thus searchable), understand her audience and her tone of voice, and when you reach out to her, really consider why she, specifically, should care and show her that you’re up to speed. Better yet, provide her with content that you know she needs. When she recognizes that you are truly talking to her, she’ll take your ‘call to action’ seriously, and the result will be tangible.

4) Blogging – at AMP3, all of our publicists double as bloggers as well. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, right? This is a really unique way to sit on the editorial side of the table. Now, we’re able to offer our warm contacts coverage, thus creating value in the media marketplace. If you’re linking to other bloggers (and please, link share generously), you are making yourself more current, accessible and indispensable. This helps when it comes to cross-promotion and synergistic opportunities for your client.

5) Resources! Along with the blogosphere and the social media boom comes and unbelievable amount of free resources for publicists and entrepreneurs to capitalize upon. Knowledge is power, and by keeping up with sites like ReportingOn.com (which is basically the Twitter of the Reporting world, sharing in 140 characters or less what reporters are currently writing about and allowing you to contribute relevant content as a result) and BeatBlogging.org (a site designed to help reporters hone in on their specialty “beat” using social media, and thus helping PR people to better understand the who’s who of the media world), you can really know who you’re talking to and have access to warm coverage opportunities. For those of you looking to go it alone with your PR, there is also PitchEngine.com (which helps you to generate a Social Media Press Release) and YourPitchSucks.com (which helps you to find a pitch that, well, doesn’t).

I’ll cut off the PR 2.0 talk here, because like the internet, the opportunities for PR using Web 2.0 technologies are infinite, and I’ll end with what I think was the most interesting question posed to me at the luncheon today.

Question: What would the benefit be to hiring an outside PR firm? Let’s say most PR firms cost upwards of $10K per month, and perhaps we could get a boutique PR firm in the $5K – $10K range; we’re still looking at upwards of $60K a year. Why not bring in an in-house PR person on that $60K+ annual salary, and have them on your team?

My Answer: …. My Answer is 3 pronged:

1) Resources. PR firms have a surprising amount of overhead. There is more to PR than just paying someone who knows what they’re doing. In order to effectively pitch you, your PR person needs access to ridiculously costly resources, including media databases and clipping services (to only name a few) which have weighty annual memberships fees. Add these costs to the salary you’ve allotted, and it might not still seem like a steal.

2) Thinktank. Keeping the PR team in-house means that they are part of your corporate structure and thus part of the focused thought-process of your company. Going with an outside firm brings the “two heads are better than one” theory into play. At a boutique agency like AMP3, though you’ll have your point-publicist who will be your “go to” guy, you also have the unbiased approach of an entire firm of publicists who will be privy to your project thanks to our thinktank set-up, and able to come up with out-of-the-box synergies, contacts and ideas that need their own breeding ground to materialize.  Sometimes that outside-looking-in perspective on what’s press worthy about your brand is valuable.

3) A niche beyond your niche. Chances are, if you have an in-house PR person; they’ll know your specific industry, and they’ll know it well. For example, if you sell designer jeans, chances are your in-house PR person will know the niche fashion media from top to bottom. But with an outside PR firm, collective resources across multiple accounts and previous experiences are compounded. So, if I am repping this same jeans company, I may also be in really tight with the business editors at mainstream publications due to other business-centric clients and interactions, and be able to say, “hey business editor – let me tell you about this interesting company than manufactures jeans” – and business editor might not only run the story from an entrepreneurial perspective, but also offer to refer me over to the fashion editor, creating a double-whammy effect .

Of course, there are two sides to every coin, and I am certain that in-house PR folks everywhere have their merits, too.

Well, my train is now rolling up to my destination, and this long-winded article was a 40-minute train ride will spent for me.  If you made it to the end – thanks for reading!

A very big thank you again to Nate and the RTV crew, for extending the invite today.

And if you’re not already, start following me on Twitter: @AlyAMP3.

Tags: Alyson Campbell, amp3, AMP3 pr, AMP3 Public Relations, It's All Very PR, Nate Westheimer, PR 2.0, RTV

This entry was posted on Friday, November 21st, 2008 at 11:12 pm and is filed under AMP3pr, shameless plugs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.