The Wall Street Journal launched a new social media site this week.  In addition to providing content found in the WSJ, the new site will allow users to email, set up personal profiles, and consult business professionals about topics they are experts on.  Subscribers of the Wall Street Journal can use this site free of charge.  The article below comments on this new feature and all the networking and business opportunities it provides for users.

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/15/new-wsjcom-builds-on-its-community-of-subscribers/

The Wall Street Journal launched a new social media site this week.  In addition to providing content found in the WSJ, the new site will allow users to email, set up personal profiles, and consult business professionals about topics they are experts on.  Subscribers of the Wall Street Journal can use this site free of charge.  The article below comments on this new feature and all the networking and business opportunities it provides for users.

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/15/new-wsjcom-builds-on-its-community-of-subscribers/

http://www.fortunebankwa.com/custCorner.asp

 With many banks in financial turmoil, Walla Walla’s Baker Boyer Bank wanted to emphasize its strong financial position. Chairman and CEO Megan Clubb used a video podcast to announce a 10 cent stock dividend and remind customers  that Baker Boyer had not participated in risky real estate loans.  Direct access from the front page of the website www.bakerboyerbank.com  also increased viewership.

In today’s business world, it’s pretty much assumed that if your company has a website it also has a blog posting feature.  Larger companies have found that blogs enable them to connect with their client base on a more personal level.  In addition, blogs give employees personal recognition with a company because they are able to voice their opinions and express their individual wants and needs.  Ultimately, social media tools benefit the larger corporations by allowing them to reach out to the public in a time efficient and cost effective way.  Do the same rules apply for small businesses, whose resources and employee numbers are often stretched thin? You bet!  The following link provides a great example of how small businesses can use social media to their advantage.  By simply inserting a blog feature or a link to another social media tool onto your company website, you can improve the image of your company, reach a wider client base and gain valuable feedback from the consumer.

http://www.smallcompanybigimage.com/small-business-blog-success-story-power-of-web-cooks-up-sweet-ending/

Companies are often hesitant to explore social media tools for a number of reasons.  Many employees feel they do not fully understand the term and all of its implications and are overwhelmed by the sheer volume of social media tools available.  It can be very intimidating and daunting to explore the unknown and often times employees are under the impression that this process is time-consuming and will interfere with their work load.  Research has shown that social media use is an evolving trend that will help companies improve customer/client relationships, market their brand and network.  In order to successfully implement these tools, executives and employees must be in-sync with their wants and needs.  Working towards a cohesive plan starts with internal communication and education.  The article below further explores this matter…Check it out!

http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/business/story.html?id=95de494d-d3bf-4a2d-99ac-a7c4a5432eae

YouTube is a popular video sharing website that allows users to upload, view and share video clips.  The wide variety of site content includes television clips, music videos, video blogs and original videos.  Check out this creative, short introduction to social media.  It compares the expanding range of social media tools to the different varieties of ice cream flavors.  The light-hearted comparison provides the audience with a great introduction to the benefits of using social media tools.

Are you interested in the “world of blogging” but aren’t quite sure how to get started?! Here is a great site that compiles the Top 50 Social Media Blogs of 2008. Just click on the link below and try out one of the blog sites.  This is a wonderful way to gain experience with blogging and other social media tools. Enjoy!  

http://www.evancarmichael.com/Tools/Top-50-Social-Media-Blogs-2008.htm

VHPR’s new website has a tag cloud! But what is a tag cloud, and why are we using one?

A tag cloud visually represents the number of times certain words and phrases appear on a website or blog. The more a word is used in tagging (categorizing) something, the larger that word becomes in the tag cloud. In our tag cloud Social Media is the largest word because it is something that we post about a lot.

The tag cloud widget helps us achieve two goals. First, if you are new to our site you can instantly see the topics we cover. Second, clicking on any of the words in the tag cloud will take you to all of our postings about that subject. Overall it all comes down to making the VHPR website easier to use and more visually dynamic.

Read more about tag clouds at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tag_cloud

Do your marketing materials or strategies need a makeover? As prospective customers and employees become increasingly hard to reach, we are using a growing list of approaches, including video, audio, podcasts, blogs, and RSS feeds, to tell our client stories.

Consider this response from Starbucks after they were ridiculed for their coffee-buying practices:

VHPR's blog is constantly updated with our thoughts on social media, but here are some of the blogs we enjoy reading:

http://www.toprankblog.com

 - This blog includes articles on social media, search marketing and online PR.

http://www.pr-squared.com

 - A blog about "PR 2.0”, also known as the social media side of public relations.

http://digg.com

 - A unique website that is constantly updated with interesting links from its users. Since the content comes directly from the site’s users some of the links may be inappropriate, but we find it to be a powerful tool to recognize what people are talking about before it hits most blogs.

http://newpr.crispynews.com

 - A website built on the Digg format that caters to the public relations community.

http://mentalfloss.com
 - A mentally stimulating blog that is full of interesting trivia and stories.

Wired.com has the Army’s full story here

In an effort to keep up-to-date on all the current social media tools, we are excited to start experimenting with Twitter, a micro-blogging tool used to send short updates to your contacts throughout the day. This may seem too basic or too intrusive, but Twitter is a rapidly-growing tool that has implications for you personally and professionally.

Personally, this can be a great tool to keep in contact with family members and friends, and quickly and easily update them on your travel plans, relationship status – or exciting news (think “It’s a Boy!”).

Professionally, more and more business people are using Twitter as another way to communicate with audiences – whether that be community members, employees, or the media. You can send out updates on what you’re working on, seek statistics or sources for projects, test out product ideas, and pitch the media. All in 160 characters!

For example, here is a site where community members of Columbus, Ohio chat with their local NBC affiliate and each other using Twitter. http://twitter.zappos.com/Columbus/employee_tweets

Other companies who are “tweeting”:

Jet Blue: http://twitter.com/JetBlue

M&Ms: http://twitter.com/msgreen

PerkettPR: http://twitter.com/PerkettPR

Norwich University: http://twitter.com/NorwichNews

Check out the VHPR Twitter account here and let us know what you think about this micro-blogging phenomenon!