Blogs: An Insider’s View
Topaz Partners has emerged as one of the PR community’s leaders in “Blog PR.” Last year, the company launched its Buzz Media and Online Communication (BMOC) services, and since then Topaz has been featured in a number of articles and speaking opportunities on the subject.

In the following Q&A with Todd Van Hoosear we get some insight from one of the Topaz team members behind our blog effort.

Q. What is a blog?
A. A weblog, usually shortened to blog, is a web-based publication consisting primarily of periodic articles, normally in reverse chronological order. Blogs are different things to different people; they can be used to express personal points of view, corporate positioning, cool ideas, anything.

A blog is what you make of it. It has matured into an amazing communication tool. And, everyone is using them … Newsweek, Business Week … everyone seems to be getting into blogs.

Q. How many blogs are out there?
A. More than 10 million, according to a study by Technorati (a real-time search engine that keeps track of what’s going on the in the blogosphere).

Q. What kind of topics do all these blogs address?
A. A blog can discuss anything from what I had for breakfast today to major news coverage. The unfortunate thing is because they are so new and so much is happening with them, the most popular topic on blogs is blogs.

But, the most interesting blogs don’t talk about blogs. They should be used as a medium to talk about other things, such as emerging technology. That is a great  niche. Gossip blogs are also very popular.

Q. What advice do you have for company’s starting a blog?
A. Use it carefully. A blog is a great tool for communicating to a certain audience. That audience is usually those under 40 years old and a little more technology savvy.

Blogs are a high frequency touch point with your audience. You can convey your company brand without a lot of work.

With that said, my best advice is to plan ahead the scope of topics, theme and tone of your blog. You have to be tactical -- have a schedule and an itinerary. Maybe the most important thing is to have a niche. Topics should be relevant to the business at hand.

When starting a blog, you have to decide how many posts will be accepted and the length of each post. Blogs are most effective when they occur daily. My recommendation is three or four a day.

With a corporate blog, you must keep in mind you are communicating your company’s message, your tone, and your brand. You must be certain your blog is representing the voice of your company.

Q. So, does that mean posts are censored?
A. Not necessarily. Make a policy and stick to it. Communicate it to your readers and your contributors, and enforce it if you need to. You can choose to enforce it before or after it’s published, or not at all. On our blog, which is a group blog, some editing is done before the post is published, but it’s mostly cleaning up formatting, HTML and sentence structure. But if a contributed post is just way off, we won’t publish it.

Blogs can be seen as representing a company. Proprietary information can be leaked. It’s a big issue, and being so new, it’s still “frontier justice.” You have to be careful of what gets posted. Frankly, I would recommend some oversight.

Q. What is the difference between a blog and an online forum?
A. Comments aside, blogs are primarily a “one-to-many” communication tool (I guess group blogs would be “few-to-many”). Forums on the other hand are “many-to-many,” with everyone posting and responding (with the help of moderators). Anyone can create their own blog, but you need permission to post to an existing one.

Q. You’ve given a lot of great advice on what to do before starting a blog. Any major “don’ts”?
A. Don’t dive into the water before checking the temperature. You have to think it through. When we were starting the Topaz blog (http://topazpartners.blogspot.com/), I started blogging three months before. I had to make sure it was feasible.

Also, don’t stick to one topic. Be flexible. If a topic is not working, change it. Adapt.

In addition, it may a good idea to bring someone in who not only understands the technology, but also the cooperate implications of blogging. Like I said, some oversight must be assumed, especially for a public company. Blogging is something you can’t take lightly. There is not a lot of legislature or judicial decisions regarding it. What happens if proprietary information is leaked … It could lead to a shareholder lawsuit.

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Out & About
The past few months have been a busy and exciting time for the Topaz team. Staff members could be seen everywhere from Las Vegas to London. Here is a look at some of the travelings of Team Topaz this past spring.

National Associations of Broadcasters (NAB)
April brought Topaz’s Terry Frechette and Tony Sapienza to Las Vegas to support Black Magic Design (www.decklink.com), Lighthouse Technologies (www.lighthouse-tech.com) and VCI (www.vcisolutions.com) at the NAB annual trade show. It was Frechette’s eighth NAB trip.

The event is the biggest post production television and film tech-show on the planet, according to Frechette, where “huge companies are making huge announcements.”

“There is so much happening. It is my job to break through (to the media) and tell them why they should cover Black Magic news over the 200 other releases they saw that day,” he added.

To make the most of NAB for his client, Frechette began making press calls in February to assure Black Magic would be seen.

Black Magic took home four awards from the show, including its second “Star of NAB.”

Though the event was a huge success for Black Magic, Frechette is still reeling over the fact that there are indeed no pirates at the Treasure Island Hotel, where he stayed.

Topaz also worked with new client VCI, helping to support press meetings and getting an update on market developments.

For Lighthouse, Topaz arranged meetings with the media that covers the large-screen LED display market focusing on the use of this technology for the rapidly growing area of digital signage.

Military Embedded Electronic Computing Conference (MEECC)
Topaz’s Adam Zand escaped the rain-filled May in Boston and flew off to not-so-sunny Long Beach, CA to represent SKY Computers at the first MEECC.

Peabody, MA-based SKY Computers (www.skycomputers.com), a leading supplier of embedded high-performance computer systems, took advantage of the show to make several announcements, including their product road map. Topaz also worked with SKY to get into MEECC’s product showcase.

Enhancing the Topaz value at MEECC, Zand was aggressive “on the floor” turning up on-the-spot meetings with media as well as facilitating briefings he had set up in advance of the show. Seven media meetings and 11 editorial opportunities were turned up for SKY.

As an added bonus to the successful show, Adam said he had “the best Mexican food I’ve had in years.”
Topaz Principal Tony Sapienza was also able to make an appearance at MEECC while working with Topaz clients in Southern California.

Business Across the Pond
In June, Tony Sapienza and Lucy Graziano traveled to the United Kingdom for a meeting with Celtro (www.celtro.com), one of Topaz’s newest clients, and Scotland-based Nallatech (www.nallatech.com).

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Going Global: Topaz and Gorbachev Topaz had the unique experience of helping plan and support a visit to Boston by one of the world’s most visible world leaders in recent years, Mikhail Gorbachev. Earlier this year, longtime Topaz client the Mass Software Council arranged to have Gorbachev address the group’s spring meeting. The entire Topaz team handled PR support for the event. Weeks of planning, including the development of timelines, itineraries and media outreach paid off as hundreds of Software Council members and print and broadcast media, as well as local leaders such as Boston Mayor Tom Menino attended the event at the Copley Marriot on April 12. In his speech, Gorbachev appealed to Massachusetts software executives to strike partnerships with a new generation of high-tech companies in his economically struggling country. He also called for greater economic cooperation between the United States and Russia. Gorbachev balanced fond recollections of his summits with President Reagan with criticism of the U.S.-led war in Iraq and the expansion of capitalism at the expense of developing countries. Topaz got hands-on as team member Kevin Whalen provided security assistance to Gorbachev’s entourage. Tony Sapienza Q&A press briefing with Gorbachev, which resulted in coverage in The Boston Globe, The Boston Herald, EWeek and New England Cable News (NECN) and other media. “The media interest was amazing,” said Topaz’ Amy Krigman. “It was such a unique experience. It was a day when Boston leaders and software executives came to welcome (Gorbachev) to the city, and we were apart of that.”

Mikhail Gorbachev addressed the Mass Software Council.

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“She said, He said:  The Seven Habits of an Effective Spokesperson”
By Cindy Sullivan, director of corporate communications at Cymfony

It is our job at Topaz Partners to share our expertise with clients, coaching and prepping them when dealing with the media. But, sometimes the tables turn and our clients become the teachers.

Topaz client Cymfony has emerged as a leader in helping companies measure and analyze media coverage and online market intelligence. In this article, Cindy Sullivan, director of corporate communications at Cymfony, (www.cymfony.com), shares her insight of how important it is for the spokesperson of a company to communicate the essential corporate messages and increase the chances of media coverage.

Another 30-minute interview with a key reporter at your target publication yields little or no mentions of your company or the spokesperson.  You know that the reporter is writing about your industry, product area or topic, yet it seems that your spokesperson hasn’t effectively connected or communicated with the reporter. What is she doing wrong?  Why are they not writing about your hot new product launch or quoting your insightful CEO?

It might be time to ask yourself, “can your company spokesperson communicate your key messages effectively for a business or trade reporter, just as they are able to communicate with a potential investor, customer or prospect?” and “how does your message evolve as your audience changes?” A critical part of the company spokesperson’s role is his or her ability to convey the company’s vision with enthusiasm and credibility, in a convincing and dynamic manner to meet the needs of the audience. 

Building Credibility for You and Your Company
We all know that the credibility and corporate reputation of a company can lie in the hands of the spokesperson. A good spokesperson can help to improve a corporate identity, while a poor spokesperson can damage one.  A spokesperson needs to have good speaking skills and be able to communicate with different parties including journalists, shareholders, analysts, partners, consumers and employees. At the end of the day, a spokesperson represents an organization in both her public and private life.  Her effectiveness in communicating the company message can be critical to an organization.

For all companies, whether large or small, looking to build or enhance their brand, it is important to have an effective spokesperson within the company who can communicate the company message, values and goals.  It is also critical to accurately measure your spokespersons effectiveness in delivering the company’s messages.  Tracking how well your messages are being communicated will help you determine how well your messages are resonating in editorial coverage and in the minds of consumers and corporate decision makers.

Seven Habits of an Effective Spokesperson
The most effective companies are investing time and energy in hiring experienced spokespeople or preparing spokespeople by training them.  Status, respect and effectiveness of the spokesperson are often tied to exposure to the media.  To measure effectiveness, track the number of quotes attributed to key executives or spokespeople at a company.  Are they consistently on message with the company’s objectives? Do they have something to say that’s been picked up by many publications?

The following are some guidelines spokespeople should follow in order to encourage a positive relationship with the media. –

The Seven Habits of an Effective Spokesperson: 

1.)    Be available – If you’re not readily available or accessible to the media, they may decide to be unavailable the next time you need them.  There could be a lost opportunity if you burn bridges on availability.  Next time your spokesperson needs to deliver important news or information you may have lost trust and only get deleted phone messages or emails in return. 

2.)    Be quotable - Sound bites are an important and effective tool in building a “domino effect.”  To achieve this, spokespeople need to be consistently “on message” and think about how their comments will fit in the context of media coverage.  Inconsistent and long-winded responses will work against you. Being concise and staying “on message” is a skill that may need to be learned by spokespeople. As a measurement of this, you should be tracking the number of quotes and messages from your spokespeople and determine if the coverage was positive or negative if possible.  That way you can benchmark a spokesperson’s effectiveness in communicating the company message through direct quotes. 

3.)    Be prepared - Any experienced PR professional will tell you that you can never be too prepared.  Brief your spokesperson for each media interview that is booked by providing background on the interviewer, previous examples of his/her work, potential questions and answers that should be provided.  Again, you can never be over prepared.

4.)    Be knowledgeable – Good spokespeople know their company’s products and services inside and out.  In addition, the spokespeople should know the corporate positioning and advantages in their target markets – and be able to communicate this without slamming the competition. The spokesperson should be up-to-date on trends and issues and be able to put them in context for a reporter.

5.)    Be honest – Three simple words: Tell the truth. If stumped or uncomfortable, saying “I don’t know” is not the end of the world provided you follow up immediately to provide answers.  An effective spokesperson is not afraid to say “I don’t have that information but I will get back to you as soon as possible” – and then follow through!  Reporters might be frustrated, but they will understand if your spokesperson cannot answer a specific question.

6.)    Be a resource - Give concrete examples, references (clients, partners or analysts and experts who follow your industry) whenever possible. Even if you are not providing direct information about your company, providing a journalist with the information that they need helps to establish a stronger relationship and could lead to a call down the road. 

7.)    Be engaging, enthusiastic and genuinely interested in the topic at hand - Spokespeople who are engaging, truthful and able to address issues with solid information that is to the point and easy for the target audience to understand can be the difference in getting your critical messages covered or ignored. A company’s identity can be improved or damaged based on the approach and attitude of your spokespeople.

Overall, a corporate spokesperson representing the company helps to establish not only general awareness for the company, but also the reputation, credibility and brand equity.   But as many people already know, some of the biggest obstacles to overcome are the lack of confidence, awareness and knowledge about the specific skills required to be an effective company spokesperson. The good news is that with practice and training, almost any spokesperson will see improvements.

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Newsmakers

Constant Contact (www.constantcontact.com), the leading permission Do-It-Yourself Email Marketing® service for small and medium businesses (SMBs) and associations, was featured in a CNN film segment.

The high-profile media hit was a result of another piece of great coverage for Constant Contact in Fortune Small Business. CNN picked up the Fortune article and decided Constant Contact was a great fit for one of its own segments.

The CNN piece featured Constant Contact CEO Gail Goodman who spoke of the company’s growth and how the Constant Contact team made it happen.

CNN taped the segment on-site at Constant Contact headquarters in Waltham, Mass.

HiWired, formerly known as Lightfrog (www.hiwired.com), a provider of remote home technology management services to customers, got some national attention recently when it was featured as part of a Good Morning America (GMA) segment.

The GMA report was planned to focus on “Computer Rage,” and offer solutions for people with computer frustrations.

Topaz coached HiWired on delivering its main messages during a TV interview, helping to position the company as a better alternative to the services currently available that help people cope with computer disasters.

HiWired was able to turn the spotlight on to itself during the GMA segment. What started as a computer focused piece turned into a great marketing opportunity for HiWiredHiHiHhadsfasfadffjlkj, who helps people install, integrate, secure, maintain and upgrade all brands and platforms of in-home technology, including PCs, peripherals, wireless networks and all hardware and software.

GMA reporter Jake Tapper even dubbed HiWired as the “Zen masters” of technology assistance.

Prospectiv (www.prospectiv.com), an online marketing solutions provider, saw air-time on Boston’s Fox 25 News for aiding in the implementation of targeted emailed AMBER Alerts.

Prospectiv donated over 500 man hours, working with The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children^® (NCMEC) to make the project happen.

Prospectiv’s technology platform for the e-mail AMBER Alert program is based on the company’s proprietary e-mail broadcast system and precision targeting capabilities, which are the foundation for its industry-leading online customer acquisition solutions.

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Meet the Press
As PR professionals, we at Topaz realize how important it is to work more efficiently with the media. We’ve had many opportunities in recent months to deepen our understanding and contacts with the reporters and editors who cover the technology market.

Joining Team Topaz for roundtable discussions in the last few months were Mass High Tech reporters Efrain Viscarolasaga and Ethan Forman, eContent Editor and Director of Fresh Spot Marketing David Scott, and a writer for one of the world’s top-tier newspapers (this contact  has asked to remain anonymous).

The Topaz Team  has also participated in Sam Whitmore’s editorial teleconferences featuring media contacts  such as Heath Row, editorial community director at Fast Company, Editor in Chief of EDN John Dodge, Stephen Wildstrom of Business Week and InformationWeek Editor John Foley.

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New Faces - Clients
As the Topaz client base continues to grow, we’ve reached into a number of new markets. Each client expands our reach further into new and exciting tech segments. Here is a snapshot of some of our new clients:

CNET/Webshots (www.webshots.com)
Webshots, established in 1995, is one of the fastest-growing photo sharing communities on the Internet. More than 575,000 photos are uploaded daily, and its photo library grew by 66 million photos in the first quarter of 2005 alone, for a total of 203 million publicly and privately shared photos.

Millennial Net (www.millennialnet.com)
Based in Burlington, MA, Millennial Net develops wireless sensor networking systems that enable OEMs and systems integrators quickly and cost-effectively implement wireless sensor networks. These networks enable the remote monitoring and management of critical devices while providing data to enable more informed decision-making, better control and increased revenue opportunities. Millennial Net’s patented ad hoc, self-organizing wireless sensor networking MeshScape system leads the industry in power efficiency, support for dynamic systems and mobile sensors, reliability, and scalability.  Millennial Net leads the industry in real-world deployments with networks installed across commercial building and industrial environments.

Prospectiv (www.prospectiv.com)
Since 1999 Prospectiv has developed online tools, services and strategies that help consumer products, services, education, travel and leisure companies identify and target the right consumer prospects for their marketing efforts.  Prospectiv generates over 50 million pre-qualified responses per year on a pay-for-results basis, and this is done through Prospectiv's customer acquisition, brand awareness and data analytics programs.  Proctor and Gamble, Wal-Mart, Pfizer, Dell, Blockbuster, Home Depot, T Mobile, AT&T, General Mills, Disney, and Kraft are among the over 2000 clients that have worked with Prospectiv, with more than 90% of those clients repeating programs.

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Team Topaz – New Faces
As Topaz’s client-base grows, so does our staff. As the result of another successful year, a lot of new talent has joined the team. The new faces bring much experience to already seasoned Team Topaz. New employees include Brooke Blew, Doug Haslam and Kristina Maximenko.

To learn more about our team, please visit our website. 

For more news about Topaz Partners, please visit our newsroom.

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PR Confidential from Topaz Partners
Here is a recent presentation on the public relations marketplace done for Thomson Financial, a leading provider of financial information and technology solutions to the world wide financial community. This hour-long presentation, which reviews the practice and realities of PR functions at agencies and corporations, details planning, staffing and implementation, while providing an overview of online technologies and general PR tactics and concerns.

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?p=irol-eventDetails&c=178548&eventID=1079311

Be sure to check out slides 8 & 9: What Keeps PR Professionals Up at Night

Thanks to Tony, Adam and Doug for sharing this overview

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Topaz Partners - Who We Are
Topaz Partners is an emerging leader in the new generation of public relations. Our senior team combines proven PR strategies with groundbreaking approaches to business communications, always aligning our work with our client’s business priorities. We call this public relations with a business development mindset.

Visit us at www.topazpartners.com.

We’re Hiring!
Topaz Partners is currently seeking experienced tech PR professionals to join our team as we continue to change the face of public relations. Our clients range from early-stage companies to industry leaders, in markets that cover the spectrum of technology - from consumer products to enterprise technology to engineering solutions, from hardware to software to services. Topaz is looking for PR professionals seeking new challenges by partnering with our team to help create and support new tech industry leaders. Strong relationships with IT media, business press and industry analysts and experience in tech markets are a must.

Topaz offers an opportunity to get in on the ground floor of one of the PR industry's fastest growing agencies -- and a chance to work in a challenging, fun and team-oriented environment. Please send all necessary information to HR@topazpartners.com.