Patrick Monaghan Archive
Roll Out the Red Carpet for Facebook Brand Timelines
There may not be paparazzi sneaking about, but here’s an event you won’t want to miss. A week from today, Facebook is expected to debut its Timeline (not Time line or timeline) feature for brands at the first fMC—a Facebook marketing event—on February 29. No longer will this scrapbook-like format be available only to individual users, but soon many of the brands you “like” will be able to make the switch.
With Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest making headlines as of late, it’s easy to get caught up in the glitz and glam of “what’s hot” in the social media world. So what do Facebook Brand Timelines mean for companies’ future social engagement? Well for one thing, more pictures. From cover photos to tagged images to profile pictures, the new layout is laden with visuals and, let’s face it, people love visuals. The more personal a page is, the more likely fans and customers are to interact with that brand—which is ultimately more compelling to marketers, according to AdAge.
Life’s Lessons with Lucy
When my obsession with “I Love Lucy” began, I had no idea there would be so many correlations between my late-night television indulgence and my blossoming career in public relations. As a child, I switched channels any time a black-and-white show came on, apparently thinking that because it was pre-color TV, it must be something my parents watched…so it must be boring. How young and foolish I was.
Lucille Ball was, in my eyes, a true pioneer for women in comedy. In a time when women were the homemakers and men were the breadwinners, Lucy Ricardo proved that she wasn’t a typical housewife. Time and time again, she coerced her best friend, Ethel Mertz, into getting caught up in outlandish schemes that always turned out well. Aside from being entertained, spending countless hours watching Lucy, Ethel, Ricky and Fred play off each other in 30-minute segments has helped me learn a lot about life but also about how to make work, well, work:
Quora: distraction or deliverance?
Contributed by Samantha McGarry
As a communicator, Quora pushes all my buttons — in a good way. But folks, let’s get serious. Let’s get over ourselves. Let’s stop trying to be cool and popular, let’s put on our business heads and focus on value and effort. Amid all this Quora buzz (and there have been several interesting articles written in recent days,) the following questions leap out at me. I don’t have the answers; I’m not sure anyone does yet. But it behooves us to think about this stuff before we jump on the bandwagon.
- How do I manage another social site? I could spend hours on Quora but, seriously, I have a long, long to-do list to get to.
Check out the Great PR Blogs at Alltop
We’re very excited to have been accepted to Alltop. Check out the great PR content there at http://pr.alltop.com/, where you will also find a feed of InkLings@InkHouse.
A Holiday Ode to Hustle and Bustle
We graced our new entryway just 12 months ago
It’s brought us new business, new faces and floods (yes floods)
It welcomes us each morning as we rush to see
What the nighttime has brought to respond to today
Long nights were spent waiting to see the big story
As we toiled away seeding great thoughts through social
We blogged, tweeted links, and liked all sort of things
While the “fan” took its place in the annals of “then”
Armed with our iPhones, Androids and iPads
We worked in the service of the almighty alert
To respond just this minute to the news of the day
Come new iPads, more Groupons, recession or M&A
We hustle and hurry to our holiday retreats
Looking forward to a few days without all that bustle
Silence mobile phones, IMs, Skype and email
We’re off to rest up so we can do it again
Oh Christmas Tree
Andy Rooney said that “The best Christmas trees come very close to exceeding nature.” I think ours comes pretty close.
Conversation with Scott Kirsner, Part 2: Is the press release dead?
Contributed by Beth Monaghan
In part two of my series following a conversation with Scott Kirsner, the Innovation Economy columnist and blogger for the Boston Globe and Ross Levanto, SVP at Schwartz Communications, we talk about the future of the press release. Last week Ross posted a piece of that conversation about targeting your audience, which I encourage you to read.
The topic of the fate of the press release comes up often, most frequently from those who have embraced social media and view it as a relic from the past. Many of these entrepreneurs, CEOs and marketers are looking to use their blogs as the mouthpiece for their news.
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