Just Blogging

Jim Hart asked:




If you are thinking about initiating a public relations/media communications effort it makes sense to understand the media markets to help formulate a communications strategy. In this article we will discuss the major media markets and practical considerations associated with a low budget communications plan.

THE TOP-30 MEDIA MARKETS

As mentioned in (Part 1) of this series, there are 30 major cities in America known as the TOP-30 media markets. They are called major media markets because the population levels exceed over one million people across a wide demographic audience and they are:

Atlanta, GA

Milwaukee, WI

Baltimore, MD

Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN Boston, MA

New Orleans, LA Chicago, IL

New York, NY Cincinnati, OH

Philadelphia, PA Cleveland, OH

Phoenix, AZ Columbus, OH

Pittsburgh, PA Dallas/Fort Worth, TX

Portland, OR Denver, CO

Sacramento, CA

Detroit, MI

St. Louis, MO Houston/Galveston, TX

San Diego, CA Indianapolis, IN

San Francisco, CA Kansas City, NE

Seattle/Tacoma, WA Los Angeles, CA

Tampa/St. Petersburg, FL Miami, FL

Washington, DC

These media markets represent the biggest bang for the buck if you get booked for newspaper, radio or TV interviews because of the sheer volume of readers and radio and TV audiences. Each of these cities have at least one anchor newspaper organization located in them (The Boston Globe, The Columbus Dispatch and the Chicago Tribune, etc), for example, and even smaller newspapers can reap a substantial amount of response from a simple mention of your project. Do not underestimate any media in these cities or the surrounding areas within a 100-mile radius. If you are looking for big time coverage and major public awareness, these cities are they place to focus your time and resources.

SMALL CITIES

Smaller cities, those that do not appear in the list above, can still generate significant results in areas with populations ranging from about 250,000-750,000 people. While not considered a major media market, coverage by TV, radio and newspapers concurrently can create quite an impact on public awareness. Again, these cities should not be overlooked in the communications planning.

SMALL TOWNS

Small towns include population centers from about 25,000-100,000 people and many times only have a local newspaper organization, some local magazines and a few local radio stations. TV broadcasts are often received from neighboring cities and through cable.

TALKING TO THE MEDIA

Every city, no matter how small or how large, has a natural order within the media; Newspapers organizations are headed up by editors and specialty column writers and the electronic media (radio and TV) all have producers and hosts. When dealing with newspaper organizations you want to target your calls to the appropriate reporters covering your story idea. For example, if you were trying to promote a book on cars, then you would want to talk to the reporter covering the auto motive section, if your story deals with real estate, the real estate reporter, and so forth. In the electronic media (radio or TV), you can either do research at the library, or order a Bacon’s media directory or call the target stations directly with your story idea. Many times the receptionist can guide you to the appropriate producers of the shows most inclined to cover your story idea. A key is to make friends with the receptionist, who is your eyes and ears into the organization. One way to establish a dialog with the receptionist is to simply ask “can you help me” and then briefly describe your story idea and ask to speak to the best producer according to the receptionists opinion. The receptionists know who’s who in these organizations and can save you a TON of time.

THINGS TO CONSIDER

1. If a newspaper has never interviewed you, relax, it’s a breeze. Radio and TV is different though. Many times these are live and you will be exposing your self to a considerable audience. If the media event takes live calls this can be especially nerve racking if you have no experience. In order to be professional, you must know your topic. You must be an expert in your field. When you are on live radio or TV and they plan on taking live calls, it is comparable to sitting in the middle of a packed super bowl football field and having to answer questions from anybody in the bleachers and everybody will hear your answers. Not to much of a problem if you REALLY know your topic. If you don’t know an answer to a caller’s question, be honest and say you don’t know—tell them to leave their name and number with the station and you will call back with an answer. It provides a professional way to maintain your dignity.

2. For this reason, it makes sense to target your first phase of communications towards smaller towns and focus on small newspapers and small radio stations. This way, you will gain experience in smaller venues and, if you make a mistake, you will not destroy your credibility in a large media market.

3. Concentrate your efforts into one city at a time unless you think you can handle a national PR rollout. I suggest focusing your efforts and money into a city because you want to “spin” the media all at the same time. I mean, you want all your media events to happen in a concentrated manner so that newspapers, radio stations and maybe TV cover you all within a week or so. This way you get in and get out of a city and analyze what happened, both good and bad including results.

Getting media coverage is most often a matter of being honest with everybody you deal with. You will need a professional release (the next lesson in this series) to get people’s attention but beyond that, being friendly and honest is the key to success with media. As long as your topic is informative, controversial or sensational, getting media coverage is relatively easy to do. Stay tuned to these articles, they will be updated daily over the next five (5) days.

To your success! Copyright © 2006 James W. Hart, IV All Rights reserved

Marcus Rollingston asked:




Let us start at the very beginning when we get to know this computer called HP Pavilion Media Center TV m7350n PC. You may be interested to know that this computer has many names and some of its aliases are:

•HP Pavilion Media Center EL406AA

•HP Pavilion Media Center TV m7350n

•HP Pavilion Media Center

•Hewlett-Packard EL406AA

•Or simply as the Hewlett-Packard TV m7350n.

Such technology is expected to be really functional. What’s in the HP Pavilion Media Center TV that makes it unique? For one, the HP Pavilion Media Center TV m7350n PC has an Intel processor with processor class D. It has a processing speed of 2.8 GHz, and a 2 GB installed memory. Its BUS speed is 800 MHz and a cache size of 4 MB. The memory technology is DDR II SDRAM with a maximum memory of 4 GB. The system chipset is Intel 945P Express.

Further, the hard drive has a storage capacity of 250 GB. Its CD Read Speed is 40X, the CD Write Speed is 40X, the CD Rewrite Speed is 32X, and the DVD Read Speed is 16X. It comes with Serial ATA Drive Controllers as well. The 2nd CD Read Speed is 16X.

For graphics and the monitor, you get a plug-in card for video integration and 64 MB of installed video memory. For networking and communications functions, your HP Pavilion Media Center TV m7350n PC has a 56 Kbps modem speed, and both Fast Ethernet and Ethernet for network support.
The interface connectors you get with your HP Pavilion Media Center TV m7350n PC are three forms of line-out: line-out (center/subwoofer), line-out (rear), and line-out (side surround.) On one hand, the expansion slot types of your HP Pavilion Media Center TV m7350n PC accommodate an XD-Picture Card, SD Memory Card, Memory Stick, SmartMedia Card, PCI Express x16, a CompactFlash Card, Memory, Processor, and PCI.

This type of computer uses Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 as its operating system (or OS.)The OS comes with these different software programs:

•Microsoft Office 2003 Student and Teacher Edition (Trial)

•Muvee autoProducer

•HP Image Zone

•RealPlayer

•Sonic MyDVD

•PC-Doctor 5 for Windows

•A 60-day subscription to Norton Internet Security 2005 AntiSpyware

•Adobe Reader 7.0

•Sonic DigitalMedia Plus

•Microsoft Works 8.0

•And InterVideo WinDVD 5

Moreover, the keyboard and mouse are the input devices provided. You can buy the appropriate monitor via a separate purchase as an independent unit.

And now that we know all that techie mumbo-jumbo, it brings us to the most important question: what can it do for us? Well, to start with, it makes for an excellent paperweight, especially if you accidentally plug it into the wrong power source which then renders the insides fried and useless. However, that doesn’t justify the expense. Unless you’ll take a closer look at it, you’ll never appreciate this computer. So let us look deeper.

Since this computer is actually a Media Center, that gives those of you who love your entertainment a ray of hope. For one thing, you can record, and create video recordings to a maximum of 170 hours. The Image Zone software (an exclusive technology of Hewlett Packard) permits you to edit, organize, then store and protect any video clips and photos you feel are worth preserving. You can also create personalized CDs and DVDs with this baby. And there is much, much more it can do - but you need to read the manual for that to get at the nitty gritty technical details.

Should you buy this product then? Well, that’s really up to you - if you feel you really need all those high-tech features for both your leisure and work, then this is a great investment. Depending on your usage, the HP Pavilion Media Center is a cool state-of-the art technology for your personal and business needs.

Michael Bustamante asked:




You can qualify for many interesting and respected professions with a degree in Library Science. Library Science degree programs are designed for future librarians to learn diverse occupations that can range from information technician to research librarian to college professor.

There are many colleges and universities across the US and Canada that provide degree programs for people who love books, language and information retrieval. Today’s librarians are expected to be well-versed in not only literature and reference materials, but also various forms of media including CDs, DVDs, websites, visual arts, information technology, and information databases. Certificates, diplomas and undergraduate degrees offer a broad overview of a multitude of topics to qualify for library technician positions. Degree options would include the Associate degree or Bachelor’s Degree in Liberal Arts with an emphasis on Library Science.

Advanced degree programs are usually focused on one specific area of media; in fact librarians are often given the title of media specialists. Graduate students may opt to achieve diplomas such as Master of Library Science (MLS). Those who aspire to a career in research or library administration may enter the top of the field with Doctorate Degrees in Library and Information Science.

The certified librarian is expected to have a Master Degree. Graduate degree programs allow students to focus on a specialty of interest, such as children’s literature, library administration, medical literature, art history, or information technology, just to name a few. The choice of emphasis is up to the taste and professional goals of the individual student.

Undergraduate degrees and diplomas may suffice for entry-level positions, such as library aide; however a degree in Library Science is required for positions of authority. Once you have determined your ultimate goal, you will be able to begin the academic path to success. For instance, if you simply want to learn to be a library technician or media aide, you may be able to achieve it in two years or less with certification or an Associate Degree in Library Technology. However, if your greatest desire is to become the director of a huge university library, you will most likely be required to have a PhD in Library and Information Science.

Take some time to assess your ultimate goal for the future and investigate which degrees you will need to get there.

DISCLAIMER: Above is a GENERAL OVERVIEW and may or may not reflect specific practices, courses and/or services associated with ANY ONE particular school(s) that is or is not advertised on our website.

Copyright 2008 - All rights reserved by Media Positive Communications, Inc.

Notice: Publishers are free to use this article on an ezine or website, provided the article is reprinted in its entirety, including copyright and disclaimer, and ALL links remain intact and active.

For more help in making a good decision, feel free to contact appropriate schools and universities on our website to request in-depth information about Library Science degrees.

Thomas Murrell asked:




Recent research has shown 12 % of Australian businesses and 39 % of councils have no contingency plans to cope with an emergency or crisis event. Of those that do have plans, I wonder how many have an effective strategy to deal with the media?

During a crisis the media play an important role informing the community of what’s going on.

But not maintaining good relations with the media and not having a plan to deal with them can turn even the most thorough plans into chaos.

For example, in the emergency and crisis media management workshops I run, I give the following two examples to highlight why a plan to deal with the media should be an integral plank to any risk management plan.

Example one is where a fatal accident occurs at a work site and before the organisation can contact relatives a well-meaning colleague is ringing the local radio station dedicating a song and naming the recently deceased work mate.

This illustrates the importance of firstly having a media crisis plan and then communicating internally this plan to all employees. It should be made clear that during a crisis all contact with the media should be through one or two official spokespersons.

The second example illustrates how information often flows to the media through informal channels.

A sick infant is brought into the emergency ward of a busy hospital. The infant is given an incorrect dose of a drug, goes into relapse and subsequently dies.

A nurse working at the emergency ward the night the infant is admitted is studying journalism part time and tells a fellow student of the incident. The fellow student works at a major daily newspaper and tells the editor. Next day it’s front-page news.

How do you stay ahead of potential disaster in circumstances like these?

The most important tactic is to have a media plan and understand the requirements of different media during a crisis or high-risk event.

Understanding different media tools?

In an emergency or crisis situation there are a range of media tools available to the manager. Often the best way of getting your message across to the broader community is to use the media with the widest possible audience. The most immediate is radio news bulletins, followed by TV news and then daily newspapers.

Often, as you are in a crisis situation, the story will have a strong news value. The challenge will be not so much getting media coverage, but managing both the media and the message.

Also in a crisis situation, the story may develop and be ongoing. Journalists will be looking for new angles and developments to “keep the story alive”. Here the challenge is to keep providing accurate, timely information at all times.

Improving your media performance during a crisis.

When the story breaks it is important to develop good relations with the media and manage the way the message is communicated.

For example the Nine Network’s 60 Minutes coverage of the Australian mining company at the centre of the major cyanide spill in Eastern Europe highlights the dangers of appearing on the media unprepared.

The visual images were powerful. Huge fish belly up in the river being pulled out by locals with pitchforks. It is difficult to combat these emotive images.

But the company wasn’t very smart in thinking about and managing the visual image they wanted to portray. The mining CEO was interviewed in a 5-star hotel room and was dressed immaculately in a suit and tie.

Even if you didn’t hear what he was saying the visual message was one of being aloof, uncaring and remote.

They missed a golden opportunity to do the interview on location at the site of the spill, sleeves rolled up and giving the impression of doing something about the situation and being in control.

In fact the image just reinforced typical community perceptions of the mining industry reaping huge profits while being dirty, dangerous and environmentally unsound.

The keys to performing well in such a situation are planning and preparation. When a crisis occurs know the exact status of it and every fact available. For example who are the people involved, what are the circumstances and what is the latest information?

Also act decisively. A crisis is no time to dither. Get as much information to the media as quickly as possible. If you don’t take control of the information, the media will look for other sources to provide a ’sound bite’ or ‘news grab’ and these may not be accurate or reliable contacts.

Often in a crisis, rumour, emotion and incorrect information can quickly fill the information void. Continually update the media as information comes to hand.

When presenting and planning your media response think of the target audience and what words will reassure them. Be involved and take a ‘hands-on’ approach. Do television interviews on location rather than in a comfortable office remote from the crisis and audience.

Know how to use control phrases to introduce your agenda. Be diplomatic, confident and refrain from becoming angry with journalists.

10 Tips for Managing the Media during a Crisis

From my experience as a reporter, presenter, executive producer and manager I now advise and train organisations on how to manage the media during a crisis.

Here are 10 tips I consider essential:

1. Plan for a crisis in advance.

2. Clarify your communication objectives.

3. Determine your spokesperson and road test their skills prior to a crisis.

4. Identify the best channels of communication.

5. What is your key message?

6. Stick to the facts. Show empathy with those affected.

7. Develop an open and honest relationship with the media, avoid “No Comment” and be proactive.

8. Build your case.

9. Use the Three Golden Rules (Know your Topic, Be Prepared, Relax) to perform at your best.

10. Seek professional help.

© 2001 Thomas Murrell 8M Media & Communications

Tulika Dube asked:




The rapid evolution of social media has led to consumers controlling brands rather than marketers. Influencing news coverage through press releases and media relations is far more difficult now with news channels creating and shaping stories hand-in-hand with the general public. 30 percent of frequent social networkers trust their peers’ opinions when making a major purchase decision, but only 10 percent trust an advertisement (1). 77 percent of online shopper’s read consumer reviews before making a purchase (2).

Participatory websites like YouTube, Wikipedia, and Flickr now account for 12 percent of all web traffic (3). Content generation on social media sites is still low, with Hitwise report findings suggesting that less than 1 percent of internet users are generating content, with the rest only viewing the generated content(3). Sites that are simpler to edit like Wikipedia see user participation (editing/uploading) to the tune of 4.38 percent. However, content generation on video and photo sites is low (less than 1 percent).

Social Media spending was 7.8 percent of the total Online Marketing Budget allocated by US Marketing Professionals in Q3 2007(4). Brand marketers are realizing the importance of social media. Monitoring social media sites like news and blogs to check any negative publicity and support positive publicity is crucial. Further, companies should keep track of emerging trends on social media sites and modify business strategy accordingly.

Social sites are also realizing the need for better advertising and tracking platforms. Google’s OpenSocial platform and Facebook’s SocialAds are steps in this direction. Google’s recently launched OpenSocial platform has been grabbing a lot of attention. Social gadgets built using the OpenSocial platform will work across many popular social networking sites including Orkut, MySpace, hi5, LinkedIn, Ning and SalesForce. Google’s portable social gadgets are poised to give tough competition to the widely popular Facebook platform.

References:

JupiterResearch Press Release [http://www.jupiterresearch.com/bin/item.pl/press:press_release/2007/id=07.03.12-social_network_sites.html/] Jupiter Research - “Retail Marketing: Driving Sales Through Consumer-Created Content” Hitwise US 2.0 Research Note: Measuring Web 2.0 Consumer Participation, June 2007 Coremetrics , “2nd Annual Face of the New Marketer”, provided to eMarketer, October 30, 2007

Thomas Murrell asked:




Media training is a ‘must do’ professional development program for any serious leader or manager.

Media interview training provides you with the skills to effectively deal with the media.

Media relations training, with a specific focus on media presentation training for television can be seriously nerve wracking for first timers.

Here’s why you should consider doing a media training course and some essential tips from our media skill training courses.

If you go to the archives of any commercial television station and pull out footage from a news bulletin from the 1960s and view that footage with a stopwatch, you will find the average length of the quote (known as a sound bite or news grab) from the person being interviewed for the story is around 60 seconds.

If you watch commercial television tonight with your stopwatch at the ready, and measure each sound bite or news grab, the average length will be seven seconds.

This is why its being called McNuggett News! Its quick, slick, fast and tasty, but not very satisfying.

There are three reasons for this shortening of length.

1. Increased competition for our ever diminishing attention spans,

2. Increased choice, noise and clutter in our lives, and

3. The merging of information and entertainment dressed up as news.

So how do you get your message across about a complex, detailed issue through the media in seven seconds?

Well, you need to work out your key message and deliver it flawlessly as a media friendly quotable quote.

Remember, you have only one chance to get it right. The professional TV news crews I work with are constantly telling me about people who ring them after the interview and say “can you come back, I forgot to say this and that?”

Of course, the media are so time poor and deadline driven they never come back.

So you only have one opportunity to maximise your media moment.

How do you do this, especially for TV? Here are my Top 10 Tips:

1. Dress Well.

In the powerful visual medium of television you will be judged by your appearance. Clothing patterns and colours will contribute to the impact of your on camera interview. Avoid clothes with lots of designs or patterns. A dark jacket (blue, black, charcoal or navy) with a white shirt/blouse always looks good on camera. Take your cue from what TV newsreaders are wearing. Heed my mother’s advice: “it is better to pay the extra and buy one really good suit than have many of inferior quality.”

2. Warm Up Your Voice.

Tiger Woods wouldn’t go and play a championship round of golf without warming up. You, as a professional communicator and official spokesperson should never engage with the media without warming up your voice.

3. Speak With Increased Energy.

Speak at a higher volume, range, tone and pitch than you would normally. Imagine having a conversation with someone and speaking at a slightly more animated level than you would normally.

4. Anchor Your Feet and Slow Deliberate Movements.

The more you move around the more your body language will distract from your message. Doing interviews standing, even radio interviews, will change your whole physiology and give your more energy and authority. Stand with your feet about shoulder width apart and firmly anchored to the ground. It is hard to sound credible standing on one foot.

At the book launch of Understanding Influence For Leaders At All Levels, I learnt from co-author Des Guilfoyle that slow, fluid and deliberate movements will give you more referent power, charisma and personal magnetism.

TIP: Watch your interviews with the sound off to get a better idea of what your body language is doing in the interview.

5. Keep Calm.

Assertive, aggressive, even angry reporters will fire off questions at you quickly, like bullets spitting from a machinegun. Their speech patterns will be intense and fast. Do not get drawn into mirroring and matching these patterns. In these situations, take a breath and speak more slowly than the interviewer.

6. Memorise Your Three Key Points.

You must be able to deliver these flawlessly without reading notes. Firstly, write them down. Writing things down helps fix them in the mind and seeing them written down also helps. Then compose a visual picture of the actual words. Visually place them in the top left part of your brain. When remembering these points, look to the top left hand part of the brain and they will come to you instantly like magic.

In technical terms, brain experts have shown the left-side of the prefrontal cortex (just behind the forehead) experiences increased blood flow as new information enters our episodic memory. In fact, the brain’s thesaurus is dispersed in many separate parts of the left cerebral hemisphere (Source: The Odd Brain by Dr Stephen Juan, Harper Collins, 1998).

7. Never Say No Comment.

Journalists will believe ‘where there is smoke there is fire’. Say no comment, but back this up with a valid reason.

8. Drink Plenty Of Water.

Keep hydrated and avoid caffeine and milk prior to an interview. Milk gums up your saliva glands leading to a dry mouth. This manifests itself in the common nervous habit of licking dry lips.

9. Get In The Moment.

Elite athletes talk about and practice getting in the zone to achieve peak performance. You need to do the same.

Try this: Relax, close your eyes and take three deep breaths, focussing on clearing your mind. Then visualise a moment in the past where you felt very motivated and very confident. Capture this moment in your mind and anchor those feelings. Place this mental picture inside your right hand and clench making a fist. Cover this fist with your left hand. Repeat this process until you can instantly put yourself into a state of peak performance.

10. Review, Evaluate and Improve.

After each media interview always review:

What worked well?

What could be improved?

What will I work on for next time?

Health Care asked:


Upon graduation from high school, there is no doubt that you will surely start your tertiary education in college or university. At age twenty, children will not be covered by health insurance of their parents and this can be disastrous if they are merely study and do not do part-time job. Some universities or colleges may have insurance plan offered to students. These insurance may not answer all your needs but you need to be meticulously considered it.

Most of the universities and colleges offer student health insurance plans. These plans should absolutely be at reasonable price, and can give you the school’s nearest hospitals. This option is one that you should definitely think of, if your son or daughter is enrolled in a college far away from home.

College health care scheme may vary from college to college due to laws and some other factors. Many students may think medical services are free of charge, but it is not always true. In term of clinic visit or routine checkups they may be free, however students still require to pay for special kinds of lab tests and other specialties such as x-rays, prescriptions, and a wound treatment. Compensation usually covers some types of service stated in the health care offered at college health centre. When you are referred to see an outside doctor, then the coverage will cover only 70% of your total expense and you are at risk to pay high medical cost.

You may have a problem getting treatment at the campus health centre if you have pre-existing condition. Having a pre-existing condition or illness does not mean to prevent you from obtaining health insurance plan, but you may not be eligible to have your treatment on your pre-existing condition. It can be troublesome if your new symptoms develop from a pre-existing one.

Health schemes are different, so be sure you find out everything about your health insurance plans. Be sure that your health plan stretch to summer break when you or your child do not take classes. This is vital for you because you don’t want to find out that your health care does not cover when you need it most. Some college health insurances may not cover during summer break, while others do.

Be certain that you study your plan thoroughly. Is it an HMO, or can the member utilise any service provider they went? This is critical. You need to know where you can go in case of emergency, and there is nothing worse than discovering that you will have to pay off the bill yourself.

There is no definitive solution to whether you should or should not commit yourself to college health insurance. Be certain that you study your plan thoroughly so that it answer to your need when you need it most. Although there is no free health insurance scheme, surely it will save you a lot of money in time of illness or accident.

For more information, please visit http://www.health-care-central.com

American Life Insurance asked:


American Life Insurance  the most trusted company which has a reputation of about 87 years. This company is one of the globally recognized life insurance companies and it has a number of branches all over the world which has a vast customer line following. American Life Insurance gives various tax benefits to all its insurance policy holders and it also takes care of all your life insurance related policies like retirement insurance policy, wealth management policy, medical insurance, health insurance etc.

 

Life insurance basic terms as you know is an important factor in every person’s life and when it comes to life insurance age is not the main criteria when it comes to get your life insured. American Life Insurance also known as AIG insurance company and majority of Americans has insured themselves with this life insurance company. The market value of this company is high and you can find the companies ratings in the financial books due to their vast financial transactions with other financial institutes.

 

There are two major life insurance policies that this AIG Insurance Company deals with i.e. the Term Life Insurance and Whole Life Insurance. In case of Term Life Insurance the policy taken is for a short period of time and Whole Life Insurance is where you get yourself insured for your whole life.

 

AIG insurance company is one such life insurance company that charters to the needs of the common person. One of the benefits of getting insured in this life insurance company is that you reap a rich harvest of life insurance benefits on all your life insurance policies which no other life insurance company provides you as this company provides you with the benefits when you are still alive.

 

This life insurance company in order to increase its relationship with their vast flowing customer’s have started life insurance online services which has made it easy and convenient for them to get themselves and their family members insured staying within the very comforts of their own house. AIG Insurance is one of the most sought of companies and it is a tough competitor to other life insurance companies.