The news cycle is continuous. We’re all on information overload. And there are increasingly segmented sections of society, or unique niches with which to communicate.

A downturn in the global economy has caused businesses everywhere to look at efficiencies of scale. Like individuals, businesses have had to get by with less, and even do more with less.

This so-called Great Recession, I believe, has led to an increase in the adoption of social media tools, or new media, to do what companies have traditionally done with other media.

Traditional media, with its entrenched conglomerates and high-paid advertising executives has struggled.

Old media isn’t about to give up and die. But their approach and business model has changed, and will continue to change.

Just like the Gutenburg Press changed civilization, the Internet Press is fundamentally changing our culture. People expect corporate forthrightness, transparency and empathy.

It’s not enough for companies to tell you how great they are. They need to be actively listening to their constituents, even participating with them in experiences and being responsive to requests, criticism and praise.

If you’re a corporate communicator who is “unauthorized” to speak on behalf of your employer in new media circles, the least you should do is monitor and report to executives on what’s being said about the company. Because like it or not, people are talking about you on social networks and using new media tools like Twitter.

It’s interesting that in 2009 we have experienced this convergence of a halting economy and proliferation of new communication tools. It’s like the perfect storm, where budgets are trimmed and people are forced to look elsewhere to get their message out. Perhaps 2009 will be known as social media and social networking’s golden year.

Given new media’s accessibility and wide adoption, I don’t think increased budgets and overflowing coffers will return us to pre-2009 ways of communicating. I think we have witnessed a fundamental shift in the way companies communicate. And it happened quickly, like the way the music industry embraced digital media, not like the slow painful decline of printed newspapers.

I thought I’d share the list with my blog audience and ask if there are any really cool tools that are left out. Take a look and please let me know what you think.

Alexa
BlogPulse
BoardTracker
Compete
CustomScoop
CyberAlert
Delicious
Digg
Filtrbox
Google Alerts
Google Analytics
Google FeedBurner
IceRocket
SM2 by Techrigy
SocialOomph
Technorati
TweetBeep
Website Grader
Wikiscanner
Xinu
YouTube
ZoomInfo

Search

Google
MSN
WolframAlpha
Yahoo

It’s being offered through the University of California, Irvine Extension.

There are still a few open seats, so if you’d like to enroll, you can visit the UCI Extension site to sign-up.

Course Description

Public relations is about mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and the audiences on which their success or failure depends. Key audiences of every kind can now be reached through new technology. Social media is especially helpful in fostering communication with and listening to key constituencies. It’s now incumbent upon public relations professionals to not only be familiar with, but also be able to implement and manage a myriad of effective online communication channels. This course will discuss all types of social media — from social networking to publishing content on blogs, newsrooms and wikis, to multimedia sharing and bookmarking — as part of an effective online public relations strategy.

Course Textbook

David Meerman Scott (2007) The New Rules of Marketing and PR — How to Use News Releases, Blogs, Podcasting, Viral Marketing, & Online Media to Reach Buyers Directly. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ISBN 978-0-470-11345-5.

This book is a couple years old now, but it does an excellent job at laying the foundation for the topics we’ll cover in this course. If you haven’t already read it, whether you enroll in this course or not, I recommend you get to know David Meerman Scott. And you can start with The New Rules of Marketing and PR.

Feedback?

As always, your comments and feedback are welcome. Comment on this post or through this site’s online contact form.

They have asked me to provide some recommendations for turning their password protected site into a full-fledged online community, something similar to Facebook.

As I considered the opportunity to provide this feedback, I decided there are others out there who could benefit from similar counsel, so I’m publishing some of my thoughts on PeteCodella.com.

6 things I’d do to turn my static Web site into a vibrant online community

1. User Profiles

I’d add to the username and password criteria for each user.

I’d make it a lot more like Facebook where the user can input various pieces of information about his or her lifestyle, profession, family, likes/dislikes, etc.

I’d include multimedia capabilities so the users could upload a profile picture, as well as pictures or video about their quest for financial freedom.

2. Share-Ability

I’d use a tool like ShareThis.com to make every page on the site and in the community sharable.

The easier it is for people to share information with their social networks, both inside and outside of any specific community (whether it be Facebook or this financial services site), the better.

The whole shift in online communication is one of sharing tidbits of information with your online friends.

People expect interactivity.

3. Forums and Discussion Boards

I’d incorporate the ability for users to create discussions focused on specific topics and solicit feedback from other community members, similar to how people use groups in LinkedIn to solicit information.

It would also be important for company representatives — the financial coaches, etc. — to participate in these online forums to guide the conversation and respond to inquiries.

4. Instant Messaging

I’d add as many ways as possible for the members of the community to interact both with each other and with representatives from the financial services company.

Provide for online chatting, phone numbers, email addresses, online contact forms, text messaging, mailing addresses, etc.

Utilize all the communication technologies to connect and stay connected, both online and offline.

5. Support through Social Media Platforms

Publicize the financial services community, its features and benefits, on multiple social media channels:

• Establish a Facebook page
• Create a LinkedIn group
• Publish videos on a YouTube channel
• Maintain a Twitter account
• Publish photos in a Flickr photostream

This off-site activity should be used to drive people to the financial services Web site. This is what I call inbound marketing.

6. Content

The company should utilize Web pages (home and landing pages) rich with content geared specifically for its buyer personas.

Through in-bound marketing tactics, the company should see increased site traffic and interest in its community. If not, do some testing to solicit feedback on different home or landing pages to see why people aren’t signing up to become a member of the community.

Other Recommendations?

Do any of you have additional recommendations on how to take a static Web site and turn it into a vibrant online social network?

Do you have experience with Ning or BuddyPress? These are both pretty easy tools you could use to build your own social network.

Please share.

Details

Date: October 2, 2009

Time: 3 to 4 p.m.

Place: The Nines Hotel in Portland, Oregon

Description

Pete Codella, APR, founder of NewsCactus — the market’s only $99 per month online newsroom software — will lead a presentation focused on the benefits of utilizing an online press room.

He’ll share best practices and newsroom examples delineating why an online media room is one of today’s most underutilized public relations tools.

Codella will also discuss the opportunity for IPREX member firms to implement NewsCactus newsrooms for clients.

NewsCactus IPREX Partnership

NewsCactus is the online newsroom provider for IPREX. Visit the IPREX newsroom here.

In the various social media presentations I’ve given we’ve reviewed demographics and talked about how Facebook by the numbers is the world’s fourth largest country.

It’s really a pretty remarkable story for a company that’s still struggling to figure out a profitable business model. But that’s a subject for a different blog.

Today SmartBrief on Social Media, one of my favorite email newsletters, linked to an article on GamesBeat about Vivox, a voice chat system for 15 million PC game players.

Guess what? Vivox is developing a Facebook application that will let you integrate voice conversations into your Facebook page.

So, if you didn’t believe me before — about Facebook becoming a person’s online home base — consider the ramifications of now carrying on phone conversations as part of your Facebook account.

Your Thoughts?

What do you think?

Will Facebook figure out a revenue model?

Will Facebook remain unchallenged as the social network of choice or will someone like Google, Yahoo or MSN be proprietors of the next great thing?

Connect

And if you haven’t already, please connect with me on Facebook.

Date: October 20, 2009

Time: 3:30 to 5 p.m.

Place: Corporate Alliance Salt Lake County Hub
at 7730 South Union Park Avenue, Suite 150, Midvale, UT 84047 | map it

Cost: Free

Description

Have you ever thought?

Should I have a blog?
What’s up with Twitter?
Why are so many people talking about Facebook?
How do I launch a viral video on YouTube?

If so, you’ve been exposed to social media.

New digital media are changing the way in which we communicate, both personally and professionally, locally and globally.

It’s why the United States Postal Service recently cut its carrier routes — not as many people using snail mail or sending advertisements to physical mailboxes.

It’s why Facebook, strictly by the numbers, is now the world’s fourth largest country (between the United States and Indonesia).

And it’s why so many business people are asking their communications team to explain what’s going on, how it impacts business as usual, and what the return on investment is if the organization decides to utilize social media channels to spread the word.

Join social media evangelist and thought leader, founder and program director of the Social Media Club of Salt Lake City, Pete Codella, for a free 90-minute seminar that will both inform and entertain. You’ll be overwhelmed by the amount of useful information that will be shared. Admission to Codella’s Social Media 101 seminars is valued at $150.

Codella, Accredited in public relations and a nationally sought-after presenter and member of the BYU Management Society Salt Lake Chapter, has agreed to provide his Social Media 101 to Management Society members and friends during this one-time engagement free of charge.

Codella has consulted and presented for organizations including:

America’s Blood Centers
Brigham Young University
BYU Management Society Las Vegas Chapter
Ignite Salt Lake
International Association of Business Communicators, Las Vegas and Utah Chapters
LDS Business College
Money Mastery
Public Relations Society of America Greater Salt Lake Chapter
Ragan Communications’ Social Media for Communicators national seminar
Smart Media 2009
The City of Las Vegas
University of California, Irvine Extension
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Utah Arts Council
Utah League of Cities and Towns
Utah State University
Utah’s Society for Healthcare Communication and Marketing Professionals
Weber State University
Zions Bank

Pete Codella, APR owns and operates Codella Marketing and NewsCactus, and is a partner in Vortex Integrated Marketing and Profit Academy.

Like everything else, there are good and bad ways in which to use social media tools.

I recently received a comment on my Facebook profile page that “social media is a huge time waster.” Ahh, well, the same could be said of radio, television, the telephone, e-mail, video games . . . the list goes on and on.

The activity or medium doesn’t really matter, it can be a waste of time. Can being the key word.

Here’s My Point

Although some may feel engagement through social media tools are a waste of time, it has become the quickest, easiest way to reach people.

Companies and organizations that learn to harness the power of the Web — social media platforms in particular — will benefit from stronger relationships.

And when it boils right down to it, it’s all about relationships.

Authentic Versus Contrived

One other point here about building relationships . . .

Because of technology, some believe their online activities can be different from real life activities.

Representing oneself or ones brand online in insincere, incongruous ways, will only cause problems.

A contrived relationship is not beneficial. We’ve seen many examples of ethical flub-ups that only backfire on sponsors.

Only authentic, sincere communication will build enduring relationships between people, brands, products, etc. And it’s those authentic relationships that are most valuable.

Examples

Are you aware of some good examples of social media use, or of companies that went about it the wrong way? I’d love to hear from you.

Beyond doing a Google search for your name and looking at the results, the brainiacs at MIT Media Lab have put together a tool that scours the web and graphically represents your persona — or at least your name.

Here’s my persona:

To try it out for yourself, click here. And learn more about the MIT Personas project here.

TechCrunch wrote about the Personas project last week.

I’m one of the University of California, Irvine Extension’s online instructors. This fall I’ll be teaching a new course — one I developed for the university’s continuing education folks — called Using Social Media as a Tool for Public Relations.

I, along with some of the other instructors, will be presenting a complimentary Webinar featuring a brief overview of fall 2009 courses in UCI Extension’s new Public Relations Certificate Program currently under development. They’ve got a great lineup of instructors and courses. I encourage you to check it out.

A side note: I am also honored to serve on the advisory board for the school’s Public Relations Certificate Program which is being developed.

Description

Increase your career value and gain insight into more strategic and effective communication strategies with the University of California, Irvine Extension.

Offered completely online to accommodate your busy schedule, this cutting edge program addresses the continued evolution of public relations and its place within the marketing communications mix.

Learn from industry experts who can help you apply best practices to build and maintain the image and reputation of companies, products, ideas and individuals.

Gain practical, hands-on knowledge of traditional media channels as well as the emergence of digital media, Web 2.0 and social media capabilities now utilized in an ever-changing communications landscape.

Attend a FREE Webinar to learn more!

Date: September 1, 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. (PST)

RSVP: Register here

For additional information about the Public Relations Certificate Program being developed and courses being offered, please contact Amanda Yngelmo at 949.824.9304 or ayngelmo[at]uci.edu.