Latest Posts
Using Video or Audio to Explain and Sell Your Website
May 7, 2012 · 1 Comment
Http://LeonardSipes.Com This site specializes in public relations and social media for government, associations and nonprofits but the bulk of innovation in the use of video or audio to explain and sell websites comes from the commercial sector. The question is whether non-commercial sites should adopt the same strategies? The bulk of visitors to any website [...]
Reaching Critical Communities through News and Social Media
May 2, 2012 · Leave a Comment
Http://LeonardSipes.Com Pew Study-Background: “A recent study conducted by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism and Internet & American Life Project, in partnership with the Knight Foundation, finds that nearly three-quarters of Americans (72%) report following local news closely “most of the time, whether or not something important is happening.” In contrast, one-quarter [...]
Social Media and Stress in Communications
April 24, 2012 · 3 Comments
Http://LeonardSipes.Com I wrote “Stress and Public Relations” last week and received comments and questions via e-mail, LinkedIn and Twitter. Most debated the reasons for stress in communications but several suggested that social media was a contributing factor. The original article was based on a findings from CareerCast/PR Newser on the ten most stressful jobs. Summary: [...]
Stress and Public Relations
April 19, 2012 · Leave a Comment
Http://LeonardSipes.Com Tonya Garcia from PR Newser reports on findings from CareerCast regarding the most ten most stressful jobs. Selected findings: Public relations officers were second on the list. Photojournalists were fourth. Newscasters (television and radio news presenters) ranked as fifth. Advertising Account Executives were sixth. Observation on the PR profession from the article, “This highly-competitive [...]
How to Cause Panic: Television, Social Media and Emergency Management
April 10, 2012 · Leave a Comment
Http://LeonardSipes.Com CBS “Sunday Morning” (best news show on television) produced “Casting a Skeptical Eye” on April 1, 2012 stating, “No fooling – it’s April 1st, which means we should be extra skeptical about everything today. But correspondent Mo Rocca says with technology letting mis-information and myths spread so quickly, being skeptical is good advice every [...]
The Solution to Search Engine Tracking and Privacy
April 4, 2012 · Leave a Comment
Problem: Search engines, apps and just about everyone else on the web wants to track everything you do. Solution: Search engines and others can ask for volunteers to offer their data on monthly installments. Article: The process of search engines and apps tracking everything you do on the internet and having access to friends or the ability to post something on your [...]
Two Solutions for Journalism’s Most Pressing Digital Problems
March 27, 2012 · Leave a Comment
Http://leonardSipes.Com “Truth is mighty and will prevail. There is nothing the matter with this, except that it ain’t so.” Mark Twain I apologize for the audacity of suggesting that I know how to fix the media’s digital problems. I have been associated with state and national media for over 30 years and I want to [...]
Newspapers suck at social. Why are you different?
March 20, 2012 · Leave a Comment
Http://leonardSipes.Com I recently wrote Newspapers and the internet; the lessons we share. The first and second articles were based on The Story So Far, What We Know About the Business of Digital Journalism from the Columbia Journalism School which may be (and probably is) the most insightful social media document of all time. This is the third article [...]
Kudos to Google and YouTube! Financial Help for Nonprofits and Associations
March 1, 2012 · 3 Comments
Http://LeonardSipes.Com (PR and social media for government, associations and nonprofits) I wrote an article describing assistance from Google regarding assistance to nonprofits, see http://leonardsipes.com/kudos-to-google-help-for-nonprofits-and-associations/. Now, YouTube (owned by Google) is offering an array of incentives to encourage nonprofits to take advantage of its services. One of the challenges of working with nonprofits and associations is getting them to [...]
Social Media
Reaching Critical Communities through News and Social Media
May 2, 2012 · Leave a Comment
Http://LeonardSipes.Com Pew Study-Background: “A recent study conducted by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism and Internet & American Life Project, in partnership with the Knight Foundation, finds that nearly three-quarters of Americans (72%) report following local news closely “most of the time, whether or not something important is happening.” In contrast, one-quarter [...]
Social Media and Stress in Communications
April 24, 2012 · 3 Comments
Http://LeonardSipes.Com I wrote “Stress and Public Relations” last week and received comments and questions via e-mail, LinkedIn and Twitter. Most debated the reasons for stress in communications but several suggested that social media was a contributing factor. The original article was based on a findings from CareerCast/PR Newser on the ten most stressful jobs. Summary: [...]
Two Solutions for Journalism’s Most Pressing Digital Problems
March 27, 2012 · Leave a Comment
Http://leonardSipes.Com “Truth is mighty and will prevail. There is nothing the matter with this, except that it ain’t so.” Mark Twain I apologize for the audacity of suggesting that I know how to fix the media’s digital problems. I have been associated with state and national media for over 30 years and I want to [...]
Newspapers suck at social. Why are you different?
March 20, 2012 · Leave a Comment
Http://leonardSipes.Com I recently wrote Newspapers and the internet; the lessons we share. The first and second articles were based on The Story So Far, What We Know About the Business of Digital Journalism from the Columbia Journalism School which may be (and probably is) the most insightful social media document of all time. This is the third article [...]
Using Social Media to Predict Future Behavior
February 22, 2012 · Leave a Comment
Http://LeonardSipes.Com It’s rather obvious that web and social sites are a journey into the soul of a person or organization. Website appearance and the quality of content makes a statement which scares the dickens out of all of us who self publish without editors. I spend President’s Day looking at e-mail that I haven’t had time to [...]
Twenty-five percent dominate the internet. The Quality Web.
February 13, 2012 · Leave a Comment
Http://LeonardSipes.Com (Note that I write about the internet and PR experiences of government, associations and nonprofits). Pew states that 65 percent of Americans are involved in social media but what do we mean by “involved?” The research below from Pew suggests that power users constitute about 20%-30% of Facebook users. Only 5 percent of Facebook [...]
Public Relations
Describe your sex life with a movie title. The multiple uses of social media.
January 30, 2012 · Leave a Comment
Http://LeonardSipes.Com Question: Is it time to admit that social media has multiple definitions and uses? Assertion: There are two types of organizations using social media; those who simply push information out and those who depend on people interacting to survive. Article: “Describe your sex life with a movie title,” was a recent post on my [...]
Why do we mistrust the media?
January 23, 2012 · 2 Comments
Http://LeonardSipes.Com I conversed with a reporter for well-known national news organization. The subject was media coverage of government (or at least my portion of it). The conversation was fun and honest but I asked if we within government were better at transparency and openness compared to past years. I expected a rather gratuitous answer of [...]
Social Can’t Compete with Traditional Media
January 2, 2012 · Leave a Comment
Http://LeonardSipes.Com Forbes offers another excellent article (see below) on how Twitter and additional social media platforms influence corporate decisions. The problem with the article is context and an understanding as to how information and opinions are generated. A related concern is the flow of information. We live in the age of social information where the [...]
Blogs and Social Media Sites That Die
December 30, 2011 · 6 Comments
Http://LeonardSipes.Com Happy New Year! I talk to people who are ready to give up their sites after one year of effort. I understand their concerns. My government sites pull almost 100,000 page views a month and sites I’ve assisted can get as many as 2,500 page views a day. But starting from scratch and establishing [...]
Some groups are internet savvy. Marketing to others is difficult
December 27, 2011 · 1 Comment
Http://LeonardSipes.Com Alternative title: The religious like the internet and see it as valuable to their efforts. The Pew Internet and American Life Project recently created a statistical overview of the internet use of those religiously active (see below). Those of us doing social media have always known that there are groups that interact well on [...]
Relevancy and Government Service
December 19, 2011 · Leave a Comment
Http://LeonardSipes.Com It’s rare when an article moves you to a thorough understanding of any issue but Adam Hartung’s “Why the Postal Service is Going Out of Business” in Forbes is one of them. The lessons also apply to all aspects of government, association and nonprofit service. As to the Post Office Hartung writes that, “There [...]
Battling the Bullies–Using Audio for Internet Reputation Management
May 14, 2012 · Leave a Comment
Http://LeonardSipes.Com Note: Good writers visualize their readers. I see a women/girl being the victim of internet bullies posting photos or salacious stories on Facebook and related social sites. This article is for her. There was an article in the New York Times addressing reputation management. The fundamental question was neutralizing negative articles or blog posts [...]