BuzzTart's View

Mnet Group Launches South Australia’s new Tourism Mobile Site | Swayve

noreply@blogger.com (BuzzTart) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 08:23:00 +0000

Mnet Group Launches South Australia’s new Tourism Mobile Site | Swayve

AVG (AU/NZ) Cautions: Beware of Malicious QR Codes | Swayve

noreply@blogger.com (BuzzTart) — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 03:17:00 +0000

AVG (AU/NZ) Cautions: Beware of Malicious QR Codes | Swayve

Moving House! New Blog Site!

noreply@blogger.com (BuzzTart) — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 08:43:00 +0000

Hi Guys - just moving across to Wordpress http://www.buzztart.com/... hope you'll join me there with the bigger, better blog! I'm all fired up ready to go! look forward to seeing you there! Just getting to know how it all works....

“Being Funny - Stand-up Comedy Workshop – Adelaide, March 13-14”

noreply@blogger.com (BuzzTart) — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 21:07:00 +0000

Two-day intensive skills training with actor and NIDA trainer Jamie Harding

Want to improve your stand-up skills and explore some new ways to make people laugh louder and longer?

This two-day course is led by Jamie "JJ" Harding, an actor and stand-up comedian for over a decade. Jamie has been delivering a similar course for the National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA) in Sydney over the past few months, while developing a strong fanbase for his own show – and now he’s snagged a place in the Celebrity Comedy Debate, working alongside Australia’s top comedians.

Jamie’s Career So Far

Jamie has worked all over Australia and Asia in theatre and comedy. He is currently following in the footsteps of Carl Barron and Judith Lucy to open for Bob Downe, one of Australia’s most loved comic creations (created by Mark Trevorrow) for audiences of 1,000 in Sydney’s most prestigious venues.

In Adelaide, Jamie worked with State Theatre Company, nominating for the prestigious Critics’ Circle Award and in 2008 winning the ‘Advertiser Best Actor’ award. His television credits include the ABC series ‘Rain Shadow’ and the hit channel 9 series ‘McLeod's Daughters’. His Stage Credits include the State Theatre Company's production of ‘The Cripple of Inishmaan’. He featured in the production ‘The Real Thing’ and was seen recently in the Brink Productions Gorge in 09.

In demand as a Corporate Comedy Performer and Master of Ceremonies, Jamie’s clients include Belfinger Berger, Frucor, V Energy Drink, Star Mission, Royal Society for the Blind and many more.

Here are some of the rave reviews from his latest Comedy Course at NIDA:

~"We wished we had him for longer. He covered lots of ground over 2 days"

~"The course was fantastic"

~"Jamie was excellent at helping and counselling some of us who had more trouble to come up with jokes. No one felt left out and the big finale which was our own stand up performance became almost natural and not so scary anymore."

~"The only thing missing would be a longer course with him because he had so much insight to give."

~"A perfect wrap up by a stand up professional"

To join the Adelaide Being Funny Workshop, contact Jamie Harding aussiestar_jamie@hotmail.com

or text or call 0407 716 573.

The cost for 2 full days is just $250. Concessions, let Jamie know.

Is Social Media Crap for Business?

noreply@blogger.com (BuzzTart) — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 06:44:00 +0000

I've had a few heated discussions with my marketing mates down the pub about social media. Some say it's all meaningless BS and I quote, "Nobody I want to sell to wastes their time on Twitter".... puleease......

That's not how I see it - I get more hardcore, relevant information that I need by listening and contributing on Twitter and linkedin than anywhere else. I hardly bother with my old corporate email address any more because it's so much easier to Skype. I can find all the leads I can handle and I can't imagine not being part of this many-headed Hydra (now, now, no comments about which head i am....or was that medusa?)

I'm interested to find out other opinions - from diehard social media addicts and those who simply loiter.

How to measure the impact of social media - checklist

noreply@blogger.com (BuzzTart) — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 23:28:00 +0000

The PR industry continues to look for a reliable way to measure ROI on social media - they know they have to be there but where do all the hours go and was it all worth it?

One clearcut metric is viewer stats (of tweets, video, press releases, diggs, etc) - they are a surefire indicator of the popularity of a topic. But even without a lot of 'thumbs-up' on DIGG.com, you can still get to the top of Google Search for major, 'expensive' keywords. So views on a single website don't tell anything like the whole story.

A large percentage of tweets (more than 60%) contain brand names so you can also begin to measure online reputation and impact: analyse positive, negative and neutral mentions.  Here's a handy checklist from Ogilvy PR that might help you put together an ROI chart:

• Blogs & Microblogs
– Number of inbound links
– Frequency/timeliness of posts
– Foll owers & subscribers
– Number and content of comments
– Affiliation of author
– Search engine visibility
– Traffic
– RSS feed subscriptions

• Videos & Photo Communities
– Number of views and downloads
– Number and content of comments
– Ratings/peer assessment
– Relevant groups
– Number of subscribers
– Number of inbound links

• Message Boards & Forums
– Breadth of boards
– Quantity and timeliness of activity
– Search engine visibility
– Affiliation
– Membership numbers
– Traffic

• Social Networks
– Membership numbers
– Types of community features present
(eg, profiles, blogs, video, message boards)
– Activity level on features
– Affiliation
– Search engine visibility
Hope this helps - let me know what you use to measure success!

Jack Evans honoured in newspapers across Australia

noreply@blogger.com (BuzzTart) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 08:56:00 +0000

Proud to say the Newsmaker helped inform newspapers across Australia about the passing of Jack Evans, founder of the Australian Democrats.
http://news.google.com.au/news/story?pz=1&cf=all&ned=us&hl=en&ncl=dRd0cHKsyhll0KMAhN5xLvrkmxS0M&cf=all&scoring=d

Aussie start-ups look for US gateway

noreply@blogger.com (BuzzTart) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 07:32:00 +0000

Aussie start-ups look for US gateway

MIS Australia and Australian Financial Review writer Rachael Bolton wrote this cool story about the Australian companies attending this year's ANZATech Summit.

Computerworld also covered the story at:
http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/320473/australian_companies_hit_silicon_valley

Both these pieces of coverage were generated from a press release on NewsMaker :
http://www.newsmaker.com.au/news/1508

Shared via AddThis

Great coverage for PODMO internet bus story :)

noreply@blogger.com (BuzzTart) — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 05:29:00 +0000

PODMO got a whole bunch of media coverage recently, thanks to a press release distributed from NewsMaker:

The press release:
Adelaide's carbon-conscious commuters get on board with Podmo

A few coverage examples:
Anthill: http://anthillonline.com/adelaide-bus-commuters-get-free-wireless-entertainment-platform/
Adelaide commuters get free wi-fi Digital Media
Net savvy Adelaide bus commuters get free Wi-Fi Computerworld Australia
Internet-enabled bus hits road in SA Australasian Bus and Coach
Adelaide commuters get Internet Bus - Stuart Corner iT News
The Wheels On The Broadband Bus Offer Wi-Fi Gizmodo Australia
all 44 news articles » See Google News

Plus plenty more TV/Radio/Print
PODMO for the people!

Why would a journalist bother reading your press release?

noreply@blogger.com (BuzzTart) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 01:16:00 +0000

For all those who have asked me what makes a good press release, here's the inside leg:

http://www.justweb.com.au/public-relations/how-to-write-a-press-release.html

Any other tips, just ask me :)

SEO doing the trick - 2nd spot in Google

noreply@blogger.com (BuzzTart) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 03:20:00 +0000

Thanks to JustWebs writing a fantastic article about us, if you search Google "Australia Only" for "free press release" or "free online press release", NewsMaker comes up at about No 2 in natural results - out of about 22m! Very convincing and thanks, Rob!

PR fails hard via Twitter

noreply@blogger.com (BuzzTart) — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 22:29:00 +0000

This is the funniest thing I've read all day, from Advertising Age. A heated discussion after a US PR firm forgot to BCC her contacts in a press pitch (i love that, makes me feel less stupid!) and were subsequently flamed on Twitter. The bit that caught my eye was ... "Then again, some of them are "social-media experts" and we all know that's a pretty low bar." (can't we come up with some other term for "social media" - it's so last year :) Found this through #fail where you can find everybody's bloopers.

http://adage.com/adages/post?article_id=138547

Coverage in The Oz wins applause!

noreply@blogger.com (BuzzTart) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 06:36:00 +0000

This has been a record week at the news-making coalface and, at the risk of pumping up my own tyre, it started well with this great testimonial from Matthew Michalewicz, SolveIT Software Pty Ltd.

"Having used a number of media distribution services in Australia and
overseas in the US and Europe, I can tell you first hand that the
results NewsMaker delivers is head and shoulders above any other
service on the market. The first time I used NewsMaker it delivered
more media hits than all the previous releases I had distributed using
a different service. If you want results, use NewsMaker."

Here's a link to just some of the coverage from SolveIT's press release:

http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,25910639-5013038,00.html

It came with a lovely pic - having good-looking staff never hurts in the media!

OMMA Metrics & Measurement Conference

noreply@blogger.com (BuzzTart) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 13:51:00 +0000

An online metrics expert has labeled traditional marketing departments as "fossils" at the OMMA Metrics & Measurement Conference at the Yale Club, NY. The gathering, many of them marketers, was told that in future (as in, now) marketers’ performance will be measured in the way sales people's performance is measured, because they are increasingly responsible for the consumer's ‘click’ action. Today's top online marketers are achieving breathtaking conversion rates of 15-30%, Jeffrey Eisenberg of FutureNow claimed. But the trick is, where did the sale came from, or to which activity do you dedicate the 'attribution' - buzzword du jour. Was it the video ad, or the Google ad, or the website copy, or the PR? Means marketers have to be across more territory than ever before.

PR drives up to 80pc of content: The Australian

noreply@blogger.com (BuzzTart) — Sun, 03 May 2009 21:28:00 +0000

A University of Sydney study reported in The Australian's media section this morning says it's a myth that journos don't use PR and press release content to generate their stories - instead, 30-80% of content comes from PR efforts.
The article also reports it's a myth that PR people don't spin - or to put it another way, it's true that PR people spin, when directed to do so by their clients. (You always hope that readers are smart enough to see that, equally, journalists work under the instruction of their editors. They have to espouse the party line they don't always share and sometimes put a negative spin on stories just to increase their newsworthiness.)
The study's author, Jim Macnamara, says: "PR is a fact of life. Journalists should recognise it as an important communication channel and not deny it. And if there is PR material being used, it should be open and transparent." Couldn't agree more - the more quality PR, the better the relationship with the journalist, the better you become as reliable and trusted a source as any other. Bloggers themselves have become both a source of news and a publishing vehicle for PR - there's another debate in the making.
A debate on this topic will be held on Wednesday this week in Sydney.

Trial by Social Media - Hanson et al

noreply@blogger.com (BuzzTart) — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 08:10:00 +0000

When the alleged Victorian bushfire arsonist was outed with his photograph published on Facebook and numerous blog posts, did the social network and possibly the self-publishers breach a court order that prevents media discussing the case? Should social networks be subject to the same conditions as other media publishers and broadcasters? Read the rest of the post at:
http://www.e-channel.com.au/blog/2009/03/23/trial-by-social-media-hanson-et-al/

Shamless Self Promotion: Do Australians need more of it?

noreply@blogger.com (BuzzTart) — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 03:32:00 +0000

Shameless self promotion is un-Australian but I reckon we need to get over it. I've just spent some time in the US and it's like talking a different language: everyone who sells anything online, namely anyone with a website, seems to know why they need proactive SEO (eg, to be first page in Google organic search) and SEM (eg, google adwords).
But I talk to many companies here in Australia and there is a profound suspicion of what is widely regarded as a 'black art'. People don't want to pay someone else to do it because they suspect they could do it for themselves - but then they never find the time. Get it straight - SEO, SEM and constantly updating your online content are no longer optional. If you want to survive the recession, invest a larger proportion on SEO, SEM, and social media - the only promotion you can really control. That means talking yourself up online at every opportunity. Shamelessly self promoting.

Ground-breaking news: How to be the journalist's true friend

noreply@blogger.com (BuzzTart) — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 23:23:00 +0000

Can journalists and PR people ever really be friends? Mainstream metro daily journalists are driven by their editors to produce a certain kind of content. They are not there to promote your product but to provide controversy, humour, human interest or some other parochial factor that aligns with editorial policy.(This differs from the 'op-ed' opinion based columnists who are more like bloggers.)
If you, as a PR person, bombard a business or general news journalist with product-focused media releases, you are going to get the flick. You, and more likely your client, then get upset because your perfectly crafted words and ground-breaking world first announcements have been rejected. Product releases belong with the trades, unless they truly are sensational, ground-breaking world firsts.
It's a better strategy to offer your favourite journalists a real story at any time - even when it doesn't apply directly to your client. And even to offer journalists stories you've identified when they're not related to your clients at all.
The problem is of course that your clients want you to send product focused releases - so send them you must. What I find works for me is to send the release but include in the body of the email a note that talks about how the content of the release could fit in a real story - whether this is because it's relevant to the news of the day or because it could become part of a larger feature story. This is hard work - and you must convince your client of its value. That's a whole other story :).

Why journalists are important

noreply@blogger.com (BuzzTart) — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 10:45:00 +0000

I read the gorgeous Simon Small's blog and couldn't resist a rant on my favourite topic.
As I commented to Simon, I agree that social media is of course another PR outlet - because PR is not just media relations, it's the whole shebang of getting a message across to people using any medium. But there are a few differences and coming from a background of old school journalism i feel kinda sad that trained journalists may not be perceived of value up against the flood of bloggers. The biggest difference is that journalists are trained to report a story more or less without prejudice (this argument can take place separately LOL) , whereas bloggers ALWAYS have prejudice....
Journalists are paid to to present their story from many viewpoints, and because they get paid they can hone their message to give it depth and/or entertainment value. Eg, i would be deeply saddened, even distressed, if the Australian Financial Review could no longer employ great journalists because of a lack of ad revenue. IMHO - and as I'm actually building a business based on Simon's premise that the web allows you to control your message, this is not self-serving at all -- trained journalists can't be replaced by casual bloggers unless the whole thing comes down to money. It's always been said that people get the politicians they deserve; much as i love and adore the social networks - i hope we are not going to get the newspapers and other media outlets we deserve if all their ad revenue goes where the eyeballs apparently are.

Further, yes you can promote your product online rapidly using self-publishing tools combined with DIGGing, Google News etc -- but you still need the skills of a GOOD or even GREAT PR person to manage your message - it's not just about the relationship with a journalist, it is multi-dimensional. Somewhere along the line you want someone to buy your product - Simon does and I do. Somewhere along the line you need to close the deal. I'm interested to see how the wonderful world of social media will wend its way -- inevitably towards that sale!
Thanks, Simon, for getting me going with a real blog!! Mmmwaaah xl

Not everyone is attached by the umbilical to Facebook

noreply@blogger.com (BuzzTart) — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 22:25:00 +0000

According to this survey, the internet has surpassed newspapers as a source of national and international news for the first time, with only TV still attracting more news viewers. I find it surprising that TV continues to lead, though in the sub-30 bracket the internet and TV are neck and neck. (This is a reminder that not everyone is attached by the umbilical cord to facebook!!) So where would you spend your advertising dollars in this scenario? If this survey spells impending doom for newspapers, where does that leave advertising agencies, still pumping out the media spread of TV, print, bus shelters and cinema ads, with a continued uncertainty of how to milk the millions of online consumers. Online consumers like control, they are a breed apart. They make agencies accountable for every click and purchase. Is 2009 the year of the search engine marketer?

Top Ten Tips for Successful Online Press Releases and Publicity

noreply@blogger.com (BuzzTart) — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 12:53:00 +0000

The following tips for writing online press releases will help generate buzz about your products and services across the web, driving traffic back to your website and creating a direct channel to journalists, media outlets and customers.

Use major keywords in your heading and first paragraph - these are often all that will be picked up by Google and other News Indexing services
Proactively share your news using the share and RSS buttons on press release websites
Don't use "you" and "your" or "I", "we" or "our", unless it's within a quote - your press release should be written in the third person so it doesn't sound like an advertisement
Make your headline meaningful to media and search engines - don't be too clever
Keep it short - Google will not index news item that are too long
Make your press release relevant to news or trends - get the message across succintly in headline and first par
Make sure you have good landing pages on your website relevant to your press release - otherwise you are missing an opportunity
Proofread your release and make sure it's of a press-ready standard; your release could end up anywhere and you don't want to spread an unprofessional image of your company (or yourself)
Use free online press release services tagged with relevant keywords to make it easy for people looking for your products/services to find them - this is the cheapest, easiest free publicity you will find
If you're new to online press releases, post older material first then work your way up to the present so you have a good history online, driving incremental (long tail) traffic back to your website

Have fun - email me editor at newsmaker.com.au if you want to discuss any ideas you think would make a good press story.

Connecting Up CEO named Innovator of the Year

noreply@blogger.com (BuzzTart) — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 12:34:00 +0000

Congratulations to Doug Jacquier of Connecting Up Australia who was named Non Profit Innovator of the Year by Equity Trustees. This is so well-deserved. Doug has worked fearlessly to champion the use of technology ro reduce costs and increase productivity in the non-profit sector for many years.

Two degrees of separation: a coincidental world

noreply@blogger.com (BuzzTart) — Tue, 20 May 2008 13:13:00 +0000

It’s open season for conferences in Australia, and I’m keeping my end up. In the past few weeks I’ve attended 3 conferences interstate, and I’m struck, even moved, by a definite trend. At all three I have been ‘reunited’ with people I have met through a web-based social network: just for example, at Connecting Up in Brisbane I met Brett Hooker of Roarz and Kim Sheree of CarpeDiem , whom I met through LinkedIn via the amazing Sonja Bernhardt (the networking guru and IT entrepreneur) .

Also at Connecting Up, I met Beth Kanter, international blogging legend, who has just encountered Australian blogging queen SilkCharm through Twitter – I met SilkCharm at the national Public Affairs Conference in Sydney after being introduced to her through Liz James of social networking business GaggleHouse (more to come soon on that subject).

Any claims that cyberspace makes people antisocial have been smashed by the social web.

I am sure all this synchronicity will have a deeper impact, let’s watch what happens next. PS: join me on Twitter

No I don't know how it works yet either.

Ash shows that Karma is a two-way street

noreply@blogger.com (BuzzTart) — Tue, 20 May 2008 04:58:00 +0000

Ashley Rosshandler of Karma Currency opened his presentation at Connecting Up 2008
with a joke about chooks but followed through with a peck at the gift wrapped prize he'd won as Top Innovator in the nonprofit IT sector at the Australian Community ICT Awards.
Ash quickly recycled his food and wrappings around the room (hmm... kept the wine). Point taken, Ash - we'll make sure it doesn't happen again :-)

Holly Owen and Sam White Make top 30 entrepreneurs list

noreply@blogger.com (BuzzTart) — Tue, 20 May 2008 04:49:00 +0000

South Australian innovators Holly Owen and Sam White have made it to SmartCompany's List of Top 30 Entrepreneurs under 30. Top freelancer Brad Howarth found "an extremely talented bunch emerging from a broad range of market sectors, from beauty products and fashion to high technology and marketing services".
Holly runs Champagne for the Ladies and is the creative genius behind the controversial Coolest Girl in School (GTA for girls). Sam is co-founder of the People's Republic of Animation.