In case you missed it, the PR world agrees to disagree with ZDNet’s click bait freakout headline “Did Google just kill PR agencies?”

OK, so what did the big guys’ changes to webmaster rules on links and keywords do? They forced PR pros to change their SEO press release strategies—and this is not a bad thing.

See, Google really doesn’t like what they call “link manipulation schemes” which provide “unnatural boost[s] to the popularity of a piece of content” via tactics like the dubious repetition of certain hyperlinked keywords/phrases which all go back to the same client’s address as well as the placement of press releases on numerous sites to improve search placement and “game [Google’s] algorithm.” According to ZDNet’s Tom Foremski, Google sees these PR practices as the equivalent of the “keyword stuffing” tricks that they hate so very much.

Their warning to publicists pushing clients’ content: If you continue doing this, your client company may well be penalized or even blacklisted.

Bad news, right? Not really…

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This week PR Daily posed an important question: Should brands pay for blog mentions?

Before the requisite “this is a complicated issue that will affect different parties differently and we want to avoid making overgeneralizations” statement, we’ll give you the short answer: no.

Don’t get mad before you read the qualifiers: well over 50% of the public turns to editorial sites for info on products, so if a prominent blogger truly enjoys/approves of your client’s product, any related content is PR gold. But you already knew that.

Here’s the rub: As readers and writers of blogs, we can tell you that if you are a blogger who consumers turn to for “unbiased” insights, they will begin to question your credibility the minute they discover that you were paid to promote something even if you’ve made that relationship clear to everyone who visits your site (which you’re legally required to do anyway).

No, bloggers aren’t held to such strict standards of objectivity as traditional journalists. But paid endorsements can never be 100% “sincere,” so their value is limited. The conflict of interest between blogger and patron ensures this fact.

That’s not to say you shouldn’t try to get bloggers to promote your client, but there are some big caveats:

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“Before you ask me who wrote such shrewd prose, let me just say: Speeches are like sausages. It’s better not to see them being made”. Those were comments by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, as reported in a recent New York Times article. Years earlier, when a West Wing episode focused on drafting a State of the Union speech, in culinary terms it was like a ten-course gourmet meal. (Photo below: scene from West Wing episode at 2006 Democratic National Convention)

Speechwriting coach and author Joan Detz certainly agrees about the challenges of creating and delivering effective speeches. But instead of keeping her speechmaking sauce secret, she demystified the process and shared some pointers during the IABC World Conference in New York last month.

Worth the effort? “Remember, it’s an invite, not a subpoena,” Detz cautioned the audience. Before covering the specifics of speech content, she emphasized that prospective speakers should weigh whether the speech is even worth the substantial amount of time involved in preparation, revisions, rehearsal and travel. “It’s ok occasionally to decline an invitation to speak”, she said.

Clearly this may run counter to the goals of many corporate presenters and those seeking high-profile, lucrative speaking engagements. Though as Detz noted, “too much value is lost by giving mediocre speeches. Huge egos go out and speak too much when they could be doing other things.”

Deciding factors: What are key variables Detz recommends considering when figuring out which speeches are warranted? Find out about the host organization, target audience, subject matter, which other speakers are slated to appear, the proposed day and time slot. That way you won’t end up delivering a talk to a controversial group or be surprised when you show up and discover you’re scheduled for the dreaded late afternoon session. (And it’s best not to take the stage behind comedian John Oliver, unless you’re Stephen Colbert.)

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“Baked in” is a popular media technology phrase, but with the latest heat wave, humans are the ones baking. This week it’s high time to share a few pointers for shaking off the extreme heat. The items here involve travel, cocktails, apps, celebrities and sandals, but for a change of pace, no celebrity scandals.

1.Visit the minus5° Ice Bar in New York and Las Vegas: The hotel brand that’s eliminating traditional room service, Hilton, just adopted a more novel option– an icy venue where it’s minus 5 degrees centigrade (or 23 degrees Fahrenheit). While igloo hotels in wintry places have long been popular, selected hotels (New York’s Hilton midtown and Las Vegas’ Monte Carlo and Mandalay Bay casino resorts), adopted the concept for cocktails. At minus5°, sculptures, furniture and glasses are all made of ice. This entertaining retreat charges a cover and lends guests insulated parkas and gloves.

2.Watch a rerun of Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown – Canada episode: Another place one needs warm clothing is Canada, and that’s where the devil-may-care celebrity chef trekked last winter. He spent time in Montreal, Quebec City and the province of Quebec while visiting with well-known Canadian chefs and restaurant owners. They went ice fishing and dined in an ice shack on a frozen lake. However, if you find the food they’re consuming too hearty, (Bourdain calls the meals a “Franco Canadian full-on assault on the liver”), then take a TV break and enjoy lighter fare. …

3.Try Ben & Jerry’s Liz Lemon Greek Frozen Yogurt: The flavor is lemon Greek frozen yogurt with blueberry lavender swirl, or as the website calls it, lemon-y-blueberry-y. The print ad announcing the new product shows an image of a figure based on Tina Fey’s 30 Rock character attempting to skate with a giant lemon on Rockefeller Center’s lemon-framed ice rink. Ben & Jerry’s dedicated the product in honor of Tina Fey’s longtime support of Jumpstart, an early education organization for children in low-income areas.

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“Every picture tells a story”: now that Rod Stewart song rings especially true. Use of visual social platforms has become so prevalent that it’s even been eclipsing text based social content. At PRSA’s Digital Impact Conference last Thursday in New York, specialists in visual digital content reviewed core concepts related to this trend along with tips for creating story-telling visuals. It might not be as simple as it looks.

Why? “Visuals are processed far faster by the brain than text”, said Heidi Sullivan, Cision’s SVP of digital content. “Stories with visuals are also more compelling”.

Which? Sullivan shared a few quick facts about the most popular social visual platforms:
• In 2012, Pinterest and Instagram were the fastest growing social networks.
• Instagram has more than 90 million monthly active users.
• Pinterest produces almost as much referral traffic as Twitter.
• The average user spends 88% more time on websites that contain videos, (thanks in large part to YouTube).
• Vine users post 12 million videos on Twitter every day.
• By 2016, two-thirds of the world’s mobile traffic will be video.

When? Before embarking on a new visual platform, be sure you can provide frequent updates, Sullivan said. “You need mental and emotional energy to maintain social networks. Otherwise, you don’t want a ghost town with no fresh content. You need to keep users’ interest and find the right tone for the community.”

Who? For Pinterest, it’s all about reaching the right target audience and “finding out how your products and services best fit their lifestyles”, Sullivan noted. “This platform represents an opportunity to showcase your brand’s personality. Create pinboards based on a few keywords. It’s also a prime spot to link to related content and run contests”, she added. For other Pinterest tips, click here. (PRNewser searched Pinterest using keywords ‘Wimbledon’ and ‘fashion’, and found the image shown above)

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The partnership between PitchEngine and Cision, which began in 2011, has ended, with PitchEngine announcing plans for what CEO Jason Kintzler says is “a new kind of content distribution and deployment.”

Cision customers no longer have access to PitchEngine’s social media publishing services. However, in the press statement, Kintzler says, “Cision was notified of this change back in December, so there shouldn’t be any surprises”). Instead,Cision made an announcement of its own about changes in its service offerings. Read more

Hack to Flack is a monthly column by Lindsay Goldwert, a senior program executive at Hotwire, a global tech PR firm. Before she leapt to the dark side, Lindsay worked at the New York Daily News, ABCNews.com, CBSNews.com, CourtTV, Glamour and Redbook.

If there’s any profession that deserves a little TLC this month, it’s the print and online news business. Pink slips flew at the New York Daily News, buyouts reigned at the Post and the Village Voice imploded. The DOJ is breathing down the AP’s neck. Rumors are flying about layoffs at ESPN. I doubt there’s more than handful of newsrooms in the country where reporters and editors feel confident that their jobs, as they know them, will be there in 2014.

There’s been more than a few things written about how the PR industry needs to change in the face of the shrinking newsroom. But in a field that’s supposed to be built on “relationships,” I haven’t seen much empathy for the laid-off journalists. Strange, since we rely on their news judgment, good moods and spare moments to consider our stories and ideas for publication.

Consider what journalists do: They make it known that they’re interested in hearing about, say, new fitness apps. Then they get a deluge of emails from PR people who pitch them everything from fitness water, to fitness DVDs, to fitness instructors. “Maybe for a future story,” we say. That’s like you emailing your friends seeking a good housepainter and getting hundreds of responses for floor guys, electricians, roofers and custom closet makers “just in case.” That’s not good work — that’s telemarketing.

We all talk about “cutting through the noise.” Hail Mary pitches that only push your client’s agenda and don’t propose any real value to a reporter or editor are noise.

Here are some ways to make lives easier for journalists that can only benefit you and your clients in the end:

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“Unique ideas often start with pitches, and many are surprising”, according to Breanne Heldman, New York bureau chief at Yahoo! Entertainment. She was speaking on a PRSA NY panel on Tuesday about placing entertainment stories.

Other panelists included::
• Lauren Brown, Site Director, Ok! Magazine.com
• James Chairman, New York Bureau Producer, E! News
• Erin Clements, Celebrity News Editor, The Huffington Post
• Paola Leva, News Director, In Touch Weekly
• Benjamin Wagner, Senior Vice President, MTV News

Below are their tips for breaking through the clutter with original, creative pitches leading to mutually productive relationships. Some appear self-evident, but may be worth repeating.

1.Celebrities promoting brands: These types of stories provide access, Clements said. The outlets will touch upon the brand tie-in, then cover the celebrity’s work. As Heldman added, sometimes it’s even funny, as when they interviewed a pregnant celebrity plugging a rum brand on St. Patrick’s day. All she could do was mention what she’d like to be drinking.

2.Exclusive content is highly desirable, or at least most media outlets prefer to receive it first. As Brown observed, “nothing is really exclusive online anymore, because once it goes online it’s fair game”. But if her site posts an item early on, their readers will share it and build the outlet’s own social media following.

3.Story extension ideas: Sending pitches to extend a big story running for several days is advisable. For example, it may be an expert who can speak about Angelina Jolie’s recent medical news, Heldman said.

4.Finding unique angles is critical, Clements noted. Brown wants the flexibility to add first person spin and avoid a cookie-cutter approach. As Wagner added, for MTV News, merely an announcement of a new album release is a non-starter. (Image at left courtesy of MTV News’ story, “Cannes Film Festival 2013: Our Must-See Movies”)

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This post was co-written by the author and his wife, Stephanie Coffee. 

Horrific events that shock and captivate entire nations, superseding all other news—tragedies like the Newtown shooting and last week’s Boston Marathon terror attack—are thankfully rare. And yet, as we all know, social media and the 24/7 cable news cycle have intensified the public’s focus on these national crises and their aftermaths.

Now that the Boston case has been resolved with amazing speed by state and local authorities, we can examine the media response to last week’s events from a PR perspective.

As communications professionals, we know that the public doesn’t just demand (accurate) news as it breaks in times of crisis. They also value reassurances and statements of support from sources they follow on social media—sources that include their favorite brands.

At least one brand has already demonstrated the dangers of an inept response. So what should public entities and the people who manage their accounts do?

What NOT to do: 

• Don’t tie the event into a promotion: Epicurious (which is usually a very good food site) gave us a perfect case study on Monday with its tone-deaf promotional tweet encouraging followers to buy specific Boston-themed products. We won’t go into why it was a terrible idea because that should be painfully obvious. As another example, who can forget Kenneth Cole’s infamous Egypt uprising PR Fail?

Fast Company recently reported that Pinterest was not only one of the most visited sites in the country, but also that purchases made through the site bring in twice the revenue per order than through Facebook or Twitter. With traffic only showing signs of increasing and the site releasing free analytics tools, there has never been a better time to start using Pinterest to your advantage.

Yet, many marketing and PR pros using the platform say that just posting a pretty photo isn’t enough. For tips on how your client can start pinning with the best of them, read How to Make Pinterest Work for Your Brand.

– Nicholas Braun

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