After reading King’s book, it made me appreciate his working class background because of the personal experiences infused into his stories and characters. In writing, he says to tell the truth (along the same lines of Pablo Picasso’s expression about never painting a lie). It’s well worth the read – especially his rants against adverbs.

Some of my favorite passages include:

• “The more you read, the less apt you are to make a fool of yourself with your pen or word processor.”
• “This [writing] isn’t a popularity contest, it’s not the moral Olympics, and it’s not church. But it’s writing, damn it, not washing your car or putting on your eyeliner. If you can take it seriously, we can do business. If you can’t or won’t, it’s time for you to do something else. Wash the car, maybe.”
• “Write with the door closed. Rewrite with the door open.”
• “Writing is magic, as much the water of life as any other creative art. The water is free. So drink. Drink and be filled up.”

Share your favorite inspirational writing tip and Costa DeVault will select a winner to send a complimentary copy of Stephen King’s book.

A big “congratulations!” goes out to our very own Doreen Overstreet, senior account executive, who was recently named the FPRA Orlando-area chapter’s “Member of the Year.” This honor is a testament to her outstanding leadership, demonstrated enthusiasm, extraordinary involvement and loyal support.

Photo source: @FPRAOrlando

I was first introduced to the @Spirit_Helper account in September 2009 when I was planning a trip for a group of friends. I asked my loyal Twitter base if they had heard of any flight deals. Heather was not just the only airline to respond, she was also fast and directed me to one of their Red Light Specials. That day, I became a part of their membership club and booked five tickets.

Fast forward five months to my travel date: Heather was there to help when I ran into a ticketing issue and had several questions regarding Spirit’s carry-on policy.

Sure, any company can monitor key industry words (e.g., “flight,” “airline”) and respond to promote their company. But, Heather and Spirit take it a step further. On any given day, you can take a peek at her Twitter feed and see that she isn’t just pushing out Spirit deals. She is asking questions, interacting and most importantly: helping.

I continue to fly Spirit because of Heather. I continue to recommend Spirit to my friends and family because of Heather. In the past year, I’ve flown three different roundtrip flights on Spirit (one of which, four of my friends accompanied me) and my parents have each purchased two roundtrip flights. I’d say their investment in Twitter has more than paid off.

Who are some of your favorite companies on Twitter? Please share in the comments, and let’s give them credit where credit is due.

To pay tribute to the show as a public relations professional, I wanted to share the “Best Thing I Ever Pitched.” My beloved clip wasn’t a national media hit – rather a personal one that involved my grandfather. It ran seven years ago in The Daily Sun, the local paper for The Villages – a large retirement community in Florida.

I pitched Biria USA’s EZ Boarding Bicycle. The bike was ideal for older adults because it had a low cross bar, creating a step-through frame that was extremely easy to mount.  I knew it would be perfect for The Villages, which had a bike shop on-site. But in order to do the story the writer needed a testimonial about the product from a resident. Enter my grandfather (or as I call him my “Opa”).

After explaining what was needed … as well as describing to him what I actually do for a living, Opa agreed to participate. He said as long as it wasn’t an advertisement or unethical, he was willing to give his opinion about the bike. Three days later, he was featured in a front-page story titled, “Pedal Power” – with a photo of him riding the EZ Boarding Bike.

Opa knew it meant a lot to me, and he genuinely liked the bike, so the pitch and story worked out well. I have the article in my office, and it makes me smile because it reminds me how important my family is in supporting my career choice – and how you have to be resourceful when pitching.

Share your favorite pitches if you have them – and enjoy.

The namesakes of our firm, Linda Costa and Nathan DeVault recently shared their thoughts on the dynamic of their family-owned business with the Orlando Business Journal.

What’s their key to success? Read last Friday’s OBJ article to find out.

Some of the most successful social media case studies boast lightning-fast response times. For example, take McDonald’s Shrek glass recall in June. In some cases, the company replied to concerned tweeters in less than 20 minutes.

What does this mean for your business? If you are going to commit to a social media presence, you need to do it 100 percent. Don’t just make a Twitter profile and expect it to be enough. You need to monitor your brand constantly. When someone complains, don’t waste time trying to figure out what to do – have a plan. Whether you solve the problem publicly (with an @-reply) or privately (with a direct message), the consumer will see that you care. And that just might turn the situation around and earn you some praise.

Have you complained to a company via Twitter before? What were the results?

Katy Widrick (@growingbolder), executive producer of Growing Bolder

• “Growing Bolder recently got picked up for national syndication on PBS, so we’re always looking for inspirational stories of people over the age of 50 overcoming obstacles and doing extraordinary things.”

Raquel Giorgio (@RaquelGiorgio), managing editor at WKMG-TV

• “The station is open to talking to experts via Skype.”

Peter King (@PeterKingCBS), news correspondent at CBS Radio

• “We like stuff that makes sound because radio is theater of the mind. That being said, if you have an accompanying audio file (e.g., screeching tires for a car story), send it with the pitch.”

Barry Glenn (@OrlandoMag), managing editor of Orlando Magazine

• “Orlando Magazine just released the premiere issue of Orlando Wedding, a new bi-annual publication aimed to help local brides-to-be plan for their big day.”

Mark Baratelli (@MarkBaratelli), editor of The Daily City

• “Our blog’s target market isn’t just kids in skinny jeans; it’s also suburban moms who want to know what interests their kids (who wear skinny jeans).”

John Cutter (@johncutter), digital media editor of the Orlando Sentinel

• “When pitching a story, include video if you have it. Newspapers need online visuals, and video is a great asset to any story.”

Thanks to the media representatives who were present and, most importantly, candid. Can you share any other tips about working with the media? If so, please post them in the comments.

Given free speech and all, people have the right to use blogs to promote their personal points of view. And in doing so, they can say hateful, despicable things. They can use innuendo at will and lie with abandon. It’s all protected under the First Amendment.

But, here’s the rub. Bloggers, if you want to “rage against the machine” or spew out all the bile that’s in your system, have at it. My problem is not as much with you – or even with the “news” organizations that use you as “reliable” sources. My concern is with the people who actually believe you. Blindly. Naively. Without thinking. Without verifying.

Nothing illustrates this any better than the Shirley Sherrod case, which has dominated this week’s news cycles. The former official at the U.S. Department of Agriculture was forced to resign from her position after a blogger appears to have manipulated and edited video tape that presented Ms. Sherrod as a racist. The tape was aired by a news network and portrayed as truth. As a result, the USDA asked Sherrod to step down – before anyone (including the NAACP, her boss or the White House staff) bothered to view the entirety of her speech. Had the proper fact-checking been done, it would have been crystal clear that the clip was edited out of context and that it bore no resemblance to the truth. Meanwhile, the network that broke the story accepted no responsibility for shoddy reporting and simply reframed it to redirect their audience’s attention. Shame on everybody involved.

Lots of folks are culpable here, and there’s plenty of blame to spread around. But, this is, I believe, a teachable moment. Lessons to be learned: 1) Opinion isn’t fact. Recognize the difference. 2) Don’t allow yourself to be duped. Do your own research; dig as deep as you can to identify the source. Then find out if that source is pushing a particular agenda. 3) Adopt a healthy level of skepticism. Understand that many bloggers simply masquerade as “journalists” and be aware that news organizations can and do manipulate the truth. 4) Balance your knowledge portfolio by taking the time to read in-depth articles penned by good, old-fashioned reporters writing for real newspapers or magazines. Sadly, there are fewer of them around than there should be, but their insight will give you much-needed perspective. 5) Use common sense. When you hear every talking head on radio and television – plus a litany of politicians – using exactly the same catch phrases on the same day, it ought to raise a red flag. Don’t think for one second that they haven’t been fed those talking points. I mean, come on.

So when it comes to making a pitch, promoting a client – or just expanding your own knowledge base – today’s reality dictates this: Verify. Verify. Verify. Then trust.

This stuff keeps me up at night. How about you?

Linda Costa is president and founder of Costa DeVault – a wordwise company. This is her first blog post.

Between the coy, almost ridiculous lines and the smart delivery of actor Isaiah Mustafa, the commercials transcended television and were a near-instant hit across the Internet. Given his popularity, it was only natural for Mustafa to do a round of promotional interviews on shows like Ellen, Oprah and G4.

Old Spice took another step and moved to capitalize on Mustafa’s popularity on social networking websites, including notoriously cynical Reddit.com and 4chan. This post, titled “The Old Spice Man Responds to the Internet,” invites Reddit users to submit questions. Then, he created video responses to the most popular comments.

I’ve watched all the videos Old Spice posted, and I’m impressed with how well this campaign was done. While some questions are about the commercials and the product, others are more random – for example, one Reddit user asked, “Is it true you tore the wings off Pegasus and ate them buffalo style to achieve the manliness you exhibit today?” (See Mustafa’s response here.)

What surprised me most was that some of the responses even include inside jokes and jargon from Reddit – indicating that someone on the team regularly participates in the community. Additionally, the campaign is even courting Anonymous from 4chan (the collective whole of the website, known for large-scale Internet jokes and attacks) – a bold move.

If the responses on Reddit and 4chan are any indication (nearly 2,400 upvotes on Reddit as of the time I wrote this blog), it’s been a smashing success, and a great example of how to reach out to social networks.

Photo source: OldSpice

QR codes are most commonly used as an alternative to lengthy web addresses, but can also contain phone numbers and hidden text. But, there is a catch: you need to have the appropriate software installed on your phone before you can read the code. (I recommend Barcode for iPhone users.)

Recently, Calvin Klein replaced their usually racy billboards with QR codes encouraging passersby to “uncensor” the ad, which redirects them to an exclusive provocative 40-second commercial.

And, in one of the most creative uses I’ve seen, blogger David Fell uses a QR code to complement his business card. Snap a photo of the code and David instantly becomes one of your contacts, complete with name, phone number, email address and website.

Given that you not only need to have a smartphone, but also an additional application to reveal the codes, it’s unclear whether the codes will live up to their potential. Either way, it’s fun to decode the secret message … and even more fun to create your own.

Photo source: Mashable.com