PR - Faster. Better. Yours.

I want to dedicate this post to briefly touching on the "new" model of public relations. Much has been said about the topic already, but check out the links below and incorporate these lessons into your Rainmaking 2.0 arsenal:

PR: Faster

RSS and newsfeeds are nothing new, but are new to a lot of people. This article by Steve Rubel addresses the new model of the press release, and how social network newsfeeds will become the primary way we get news out to the public at large in the very near future.

Similarly, Hubspot has posted a video by David Meerman Scott that dives deep into the topic. This is a must-watch for those trying to understand the immediate relevance of rainmaking via 2.0 channels.

PR: Better

Rubel's comment in the aforementioned article that "what's interesting...is that the freshest story isn't always at the top...it's often the one that generated the most recent activity from the community" really sums up the point. This is "better" PR in the sense that RSS feeds push hot and relevant topics - the topics that people want to talk about - to the top of the pile. It sort of screens out releases that are new but not necessarily newsworthy.

Granted, this automatic filter can also push some really interesting stuff away from us. But it's the fact that PR has become interactive that is most interesting with regards to the PR discipline in general. And if you have something to say about current events (and you should, particularly as it relates to your area of expertise), then you benefit from this model as well.

PR: Yours

So you want to Make Rain? Then read and write.

1. 
   
   READ other's blogs, releases, feeds, Tweets, and similar posts


2. 
   
   WRITE back and tell the world what you think

If your insights are thoughtful, fresh, relevant, and non-predatory (read as: DO NOT SOLICIT), then you'll quickly become to be seen as an expert in the topic and drive traffic to your site(s). Coupled with your own "other" blogs, sites, posts, or feeds, you will soon be seeing more rain than the Gulf shores.

Soapboxes

Recently, the trend of creating UGC platforms - http://www.ning.com/ and http://www.drupal.org/ for example - are becoming more and more popular. This is taking social media and networking to another level.

It's not just one-upping blogging , but even group moderating, as social media geeks are now directing instead of just acting. Meaning, if you were so inclined to create, moderate, and manage a LinkedIn group, you can now take it up a notch and manage an entire social network.

I feel this brings up the evolving question of quality content, as noted here: http://is.gd/4rYL. With this deluge of information, even in the nichiest of niche areas, is there such a thing as too much? I myself have subscribed to a number of networking sites, a combination of social and professional, and while there are maybe a dozen or so, I can only actively maintain a few. I - like you should be doing as you market yourself in this frontier - offer my opinions and share links, resources, thoughts, and the like - as much as I can. When I'm unable to be active in these communities, I worry that I'm spreading myself too thin.

I also worry that with so many sites the overall quality of information will suffer. The aforementioned UGC sites will undoubtedly multiply the number of web sites exponentially. I hope content doesn't suffer exponentially as well.

Please bear this in mind as you post, tweet, and register out there in 2.0Land.