1

Justin Richardson

The NEW RULES of MARKETING & PR

COMM 204/330: QUESTIONS FOR QUIZ 4
CH 1.

1. What is a Money Pit of Wasted Resources according to the author? Explain his
reasoning.
This is his way of referring to advertising, namely traditional
advertising. He calls it ineffective because of the fact that it is so wide and
broad. He says that this advertising doesnt work for niche products, local
services, and specialized nonprofit organizations.
2. What is Interruption Marketing? Please provide an example. Do you agree with the
author's views on Interruption Marketing? Why or why not? Interruption marketing
is when you are watching something else and then they throw an
advertisement in to get you to pay attention to a one-way message. He says
that instead of one-way interruption, web marketing is about delivering
useful content right when the buyer needs it, calling it interaction,
information, education, and choice and I do agree with this reasoning.
Timely advertisements are more effective.
3. What are the old rules of marketing? Please list 3-4 rules and explain them.
Advertisement needed to appeal to the masses, it was exclusively about
selling products, creativity was deemed the most important, and it was
more important for the ad agency to win advertising awards than for the
client to get more customers. He calls this outdated because of the way the
web has transformed things.
4. What are the old rules of PR? Please list 3-4 rules and explain them. The only way to
get ink and airtime was through the media, companies communicated to
journalists via press releases, PR and marketing were separate disciplines
run by different people with separate goals, strategies, and measurement
techniques
5. Explain the author's ideas regarding the Journalistic Black Hole. He spoke about
press releases being strictly for the press, and because of that, the writing
by the journalists was different in context because they assumed this press
release was only seen by the press. Now that things are different with press
releases being seen by millions, the exclusivity is altered, and it has become
gobbledygook to the rest of the world, making the old rules obsolete.

Justin Richardson

CH 2.

1. Explain why the company Cervelo Cycles is used by the author as an example of good
PR He brings up that the Cycles company got their brand out by having their
bikes being ridden on major places for advertisement to thrive. The bikes
were being used by riders in the Tour de France, Beijing and London
Olympics, by the dozens of athletes. This sells the bicycles as professional
grade.
2. Explain the Long Tail theory by Chris Andersen. What is the Long Tail of Marketing?
What is the Long Tail of PR? He mentions that Anderson listed this as the
concept that the culture and economy is shifting away from a focus on a
relatively small number of hits at the head of the demand curve and
toward a huge number of niches in the tail. Because of costs of production
and distribution falling with the internets influence, why lump products
and consumers into one size fits all categories? For PR, Scott mentions that
it is not about clip books, but reaching our buyers and mentions that the
old rules dont work, but the new rules do work very well. Thanks to social
media, the waiting for figures to write about you doesnt matter anymore
because we can do it ourselves.
3. Please list 2-3 new rules and explain the main idea of the New Rules of Marketing and
PR on p. 36. Marketing is more than just advertising, you are what you
publish, and people want participation, not propaganda. People want to feel
included in what you do when it comes to marketing so that they dont feel
like theyre being manipulated. The masses want communication.
4. Do you support the author's idea of the convergence of Marketing and PR on the Web?
Explain why. I do agree with his ideas, because it makes sense when you
break it down. The web world and offline world are two different places
entirely in concept. Marketing and PR are handled differently in both of
these places. Marketing and PR are kept separate offline, and online, their
fusion is essential because of how complex the web is.
CH 3.

1. How did Chip McDermott from Zero Trash Laguna reached out to people of Laguna
Beach, CA? He used facebook to rally the citizens to clean up the beaches
that were being dirtied by tourism. This allows for people to launch
movements using the page, and network with businesses in the city, such as
the storeowners in the area.

Justin Richardson

2. Explain the concept of Buyer Personas. Explain how this concept can be used for
marketing. Provide examples. This discusses how marketers can figure out
what types of people that they can sell to based on what they are able to
sell overall. This is useful for marketing because the marketers can break
people into subgroups and catalog them. This is a thing that Target has done
in the past to figure out their markets. Marketing like this allows us to truly
understand our buyers as people and how they think.
3. Think like a publisher. Explain this statement. Do you agree/disagree with this new
publishing model. Explain why. Mr. Scott is telling us to think about when and
where to deliver content, and evolve from the old days in order to make a
successful strategy. For instance, start with a content strategy and then
focus on the mechanics and design of delivering said content. I dig it,
because it works like a checklist for someone pushing out content. Asking
yourself if you filled the needs is a great idea.
4. Why does DMS use Trinity Cathedral as a good exapmple of marketing and PR. Explain.
They are a modernized church that embraces technology instead of sticking
to old values. The place might be a historic landmark, but they know that
sticking to the old ways isnt realistic. Thats why they do things like count
average Sunday attendance, or embrace social media.

CH 4.

1. What is Social Media according to the author? Scott called it a cocktail party
informally but in his main definition, it provides the way people share
ideas, thoughts, and networks online, and it differs from mainstream media
because unlike mainstream media, we can create our works and publish
them and add to the worlds.
2. Explain social media as a cocktail party. Provide an example. He called the web
a city, and said because of that, social media is the cocktail party because
of how people act on blogs, forums, and Twitter being like going to an
nightclub or a bar, a cocktail party. He particularly called Twitter being the
interlude when women go to the bathroom gossiping about guys.
3. Explain the New Rules of Job Search. Provide an example. He is mentioning the
influence of social media in employers search for new workers, and
specifically discusses that there was a friend who asked him to tweet a job
opportunity, but missed his twitter feed when he actually did tweet the
opportunity, lamenting that if he was there, he wouldve had a job by now.

Justin Richardson

No longer is the resume then look for everyone possible then get an
interview then hopefully get hired way the only way in town.
4. Why should PR practitioners participate in online forums according to DMS? Provide an
example Because people who are customers use online forums, it would
make sense for PR practitioners to get in the loop and understand those
forums. Why keep yourself from understanding what people want? Using
online forums can help you figure out if someone liked your iPhone, or
video game, or computer model. Its helpful information.
5. Explain the power of Wiki. How should PR practitioners use wikis in their projects?
Wiki are websites with content that are able to be edited by users of the
website. Wikipedia being the most famous, PR practitioners can use wikis
to promote themselves, and answer frequently asked questions for the
projects to be well understood. Creating an article about a project might
inform interested parties much better.
6. What key lessons can one learn from Adagio Teas? Social networking is a very
helpful way to influence users to work with each other. Adagio sells all
kinds of teas to its users in tens of thousands of blends. By building a
following that is close knit, the company can thrive.
CH 5.

1. Do you believe it is possible to figure out the ROI of blogging? Explain why/why not.
Its a difficult thing to try and do, but it is possible to at least understand
general themes. He said that good blogs can produce returns if its kept up
with well. His own blog is an example of this. He can push his ideas better,
and learn from failures via the feedback he gets, or doesnt get.
2. Is the Huffington Post a blog or not? Explain why or why not. He says its technically
a blog and I agree with him. Although it works like an online news site, it is
written on the Blogger platform. He even said that writing for the
Huffington Post is not different significantly from his own blog besides the
audience.
3. List and explain the four uses of blogs for marketing and PR. Easily monitor what
millions of people are saying about you, the market you sell into, your
organization and its products (1) participate in those conversations by
commenting on blogs (2) Work with bloggers who write about you (3) and
begin to shape those conversations by creating and writing blogs (4) These
four steps help you because you are monitoring the marketplace you sell

Justin Richardson

into as well as your company. You can understand the culture better, the
blog etiquette, as he put it.
4. Why monitoring blogs becomes critical for organizations? Organizations need to
know whats going on with the world. They need to understand their
culture. They need to know how they are doing reputation wise. Measuring
whats going on in the blogs is important to them to figure out the trends.
5. Explain the importance of blogger relations. Provide an example. This is an
influential way to network because you figure out the industry better. You
also get found out by other bloggers. Its mutually beneficial. For instance,
Ive seen video game streamers that were little known team up and become
more popular because of the things they can do to entertain being
combined.
6. Explain the pros and cons of letting employees blog. Provide an example. Opinions
are a strong thing. It allows for people to connect with the organization by
speaking directly to the employees. However, it also allows for employees
to damage the reputation of the company by saying things from their own
beliefs that might not go hand in hand with the organization they work for.
This can lead to sticky situations.
CH 6.

1. Explain why DMS uses The Best Jon in the World as an good example of video
marketing. The adventure of picking out the best job in the world from
multiple countries allowed for people to share their opinions and beliefs in
a massive phenomenon. Whoever was winning wasnt the point; it was
about people sharing their jobs and ultimately benefitting Tourism
Queensland because it created good PR; millions saw the video and 30k
people applied.
2. What's the advantage of using podcasting? Provide an example. Its very cheap to
do since its audio-only, and its possible to make these podcasts available
on places such as iTunes, and these podcasts can reach a worldwide
audience. Anyone can create shows and listen to them.
3. Why did the author like Grammar Girl Podcast? He likes how they make the
complex grammar questions easy to understand. They solve problems for
him by putting it in laymans terms. This was a useful podcast that paid off
when Fogarty wanted to release her book after Twitter and Facebook and
the podcast participation helped get her influence out.

Justin Richardson

CH 7.

1. What are the New Rules of News Releases? List at least 5. Provide examples. Dont
just send new releases when big news happens, find reasons to do it all the
time. Link to related content on your site such as videos. Optimize news
release delivery for searching. Include offers that compel consumers to
respond to your release in some way. Point people towards your news
releases using social media.
2. What is the news release strategy used by WebEx? They released services that
helps companies accelerate sales cycles, and caught the attention of Google
by using certain keywords to jump to the top of the internets mountain to
get attention. News releases that have an end-user appeal helped the
company.
3. Explain the importance of direct-to-consumer new releases. They help track things
such as metrics and see how many people go from the release to trying the
product. They are able to understand the news release channel better.
CH 8.

1. What is minty-fresh explosive marketing? Why do marketing companies fail to find a

formula for a successful viral marketing campaign? Its a metaphor that uses the
coke and mentos combination. He uses it to refer to the marketers that try
to catch lightning in a bottle with viral videos. The example he provided
was 200 liters of diet coke and 500 mentos mints being put together and
causing an extreme experiment to the delight of the audience. This is not
easy to do, however, because it takes creativity, effective sharing
strategies, and luck and timing as well.
2. How can PR pros use Alexa while planning their marketing campaigns? They can
measure how popular their website is based on the sites numbers. It
measures the reach and popularity of websites. Marketers use this to figure
out what sites are hot.
3. List a few rules of the World Wide Rave. Explain these rules. Nobody cares about
your products except you. No coercion required. Lose control, create
triggers that encourage people to share. Point the world to your doorstep.
4. What examples of WWR are used in the book? A film producer made a WWR by
making a soundtrack free for download. It included many indie bands that
were acclaimed in the soundtrack, and the availability of it was attractive to
buyers.

Justin Richardson

5. How did Ryan Gielen created a WWR by making soundtrack free for download? See
above.

6. Why does DMS like Creative Commons? He liked how it was an organization that
made it easy for people to both share and build on the digital creations of
others. The originators also handled copyright correctly so that others could
share their works commercially without having to go through the
permissions process.
7. Why does DMS use the Outsell example. What are the key lessons learned? The
Outsell example was an example of a small company being able to impact
the social media landscape with a major story that talked about click fraud.
CH 9.

1. What main issues regarding the Content-Rich Web Site are raised by DMS in this
chapter? Design of the website, such as color and navigation and appropriate
technology. He goes into detail about the NRDC being an influential
environmental action organization with 1.3 million members and activists.
He also brings up that the best websites primarily focus on content to pull
together the buyers, markets and media and products in one place. He
thinks websites are built with the wrong focus most of the time.
2. Explain why the NRDC website is used as a good model of a content-focused site?
They have over a million buyers because of their membership. They utilize
podcasts to spread their influence. They encourage bloggers to spread their
message because of the liberal themes that it shares, which happens to fit
right into the mostly liberal attitudes of bloggers.
3. Discuss why the author likes the web site of Sasha Vujacic? Provide three reasons. It
took a website from a Lakers player that was called The Machine even
though he wasnt the best player on the team, thanks to his international
firm that built his influence by making a great website for fans and the
media. Its a well put together website that has loads of content dedicated
to Sasha. He has fans over the world so they have languages tailored to
them, for example.
CH 10.

1. List and explain at least 3 characteristics of Real-Time Marketing and PR according to

DMS. Create marketing or PR initiatives right when the moment is ripe.
Operating quickly leads to success in this world. Speed and Agility win the
moment, he writes.

Justin Richardson

2. Why is it necessary for PR specialists to develop a real-time mind-set according to

DMS? Because content can be out within minutes, you have to keep up with
the world or else you will not get the attention you want.
3. List and exemplify at least 3 ways one can engage in real time. Keep up with live
streams about something of importance and write about them as quickly as
possible. You could also create advertisements based on real time events to
keep up with the times. Another manner is to create a real time product,
like when the Uber app helps someone book a private driver in major cities.
4. What is crowdsourcing? Why is crowdsourcing an important concept for marketing and
PR? Provide examples. It is when someone takes a task usually performed by
one or a few people and distributes it to a crowdoutsourcing to a crowd
using online social networks. It is important because it can brings loads of
people to help, or benefit the exposure of a product. Crowdsourcing is
something that can be great for charities to raise money for people who are
suffering from a natural disaster
CH 11.
1. You Are What You Publish. Explain this statement. Why does DMS use Starbucks as an
example in this chapter? You control the kinds of products that are released, and

essentially dictate the terms of what you can get from these products.
Starbucks is an example of selling more than just products; they also might sell
the hangout place for others, because they have other things besides coffee.
2. Explain the importance of having clear goals for an organization. Provide examples. You

need to focus on the market and PR objectives being aligned with the
organization. Profitable revenue growth is usually the most important goal
3. Summarize buyer persona strategies used by Adele Revella. A buyer persona profile is

a short biography of the typical customer, not just a job description but a
person description. The buyer persona profile gives you a chance to
empathize with target buyers and step out of your role as someone promoting
a product.
4. Explain why DMS uses Shareholder.com as a good example in this chapter. Shareholder

did extensive buyer persona research and tailored web content with the words
and phrases of the buyers, which led to page views being higher and linked
more, and showed up more on search engines.

Justin Richardson

5. List and explain key ways to reach buyers through developed website content. Think

like a publisher, develop an editorial plan to reach buyers with focused

content in the media they prefer.
6. List and explain key components of the marketing strategy plan (pp. 177-181). The Five

Ws and How are brought up. Content creation. Driving Action that lays out
Goals, which in summary is to participate, purchase, download, and inquire.
7. List and explain 3-4 reasons on why Obama won the 2008 election according to DMS. He

referred to the president as being the most successful new marketer in history
because he used widespread web use to research audiences. He posted
content that fit the buyer personas. Obama put his fans first, and then the rest
of the world second. He had to build that core more than anything. He was
also positive, and not negative. He talked about Change constantly. He was also
great at speaking in crowds and his oratory skills were masterful.
CH 12.

1. According to DMS, what is thought leadership? Provide an example. Thought

leadership content includes E-Books, White Papers (that take their roots in
technology and government and are written for business audiences), Email
Newsletters, Webinars, and Wikis.
2. What are the forms of thought leadership content? SEE ABOVE
3. How should PR professionals create thoughtful content? List a few considerations. Do
not write about your company and your products, define organizational
goals, think like a publishers, write for your audience, and promote like
crazy.
4. Why did DMS use Pragmatic Marketing as a thought leadership example? Because PM
is a premier product marketing firm for technological companies that
utilized the forms of leadership content as described above. They knew how
to understand their data.
CH 13.

1. What is gobbledygook? Explain the analysis of gobbledygook by DMS. He refers to

jargon-laden phrases that are overused such as groundbreaking, industrystandard, and cutting-edge. The gobbledygook is used when people dont
know how to explain how products helps consumer issues to pepper the
products to sound impressive.

10

Justin Richardson

2. What is poor writing according to DMS? What is effective writing? Provide examples.
Words that include, flexible, scalable, or the other three words I just listed
above. Basically its hollow words that dont hold all that much merit when
promoting a product. On the opposite end, effective writing avoids these
bad things and instead addresses the problems, business issues, and needs,
and starts with buyers, not with the product.
3. Summarize the example of brand journalism at Boeing. What are the key lessons?
They do not use gobbledygook and instead focus on the colorful stories that
capture reader interest, and that is a human element that gets the
attention of people. They have dedicated editorial team in Boeing to gather
good story ideas. The lesson this teaches us is that Boeing was more
successful because they avoided gobbledygook.
CH 14.

1. What are the main elements of a buyer-centric web site discussed by DMS? List and
explain a few characteristics. Leverage the power of content and help site
visitors find what they need. Learn as much as possible about the buying
process. Start with a site navigation that keeps the buyers in mind.
2. How can RSSA deliver your web content directly to customers? Use examples to
explain. Really Simple Syndication helps by tracking markets, companies, and
ideas. It bypasses the crowded and annoying email channel, as he puts it.
Its easy to use because it has the information come to the user.
3. Discuss the example of Franz Maruna, CEO of concrete5. Why does DMS use him as an
example of good PR? Because Maruna utilizes content management system to
build and manage his web pages and other online content. The firm created
a system because the other ones available did not have the right tools for
him. This is an example of creative thinking that helps companies grow.
4. Summarize and explain how a content strategy grew business by 50 percent in one
year. The company switched to content marketing strategy from old rules of
marketing, and Greg Alexander, the CEO, went from interruption-based
strategy to understand how buyers solved problems, and focused on buyer
persona, and developed a large number of new content channels to answer
this challenge.
CH 15.

11

Justin Richardson

1. Explain why it's important to make your business site mobile friendly. Cite a ForbesGoogle study mentioned in this chapter. Because Forbes-Google said that more than
half of senior executives claimed mobile device is now their primary
communications tool, its important to satisfy the demographic of mobile users
by making the website friendly
2. Explain the importance of GPS and QR codes for marketing. Provide examples. GPS
and QR codes locate the buyers, drive people to your content, using the realtime aspect of QR codes. QR codes can help people go from offline marketing
to a site where they can learn more.
3. Explain the mobile media room concept. Provide examples. The iphone and other
mobile devices use public software platforms, so anyone can make an app for
marketing purposes. More reporters are using mobile, so the PR, analyst
relations and investor relations create apps to reach demographics. This helps
get those people on their side by getting the app out there to them.
CH 16.

1. Explain how to use Facebook to market your product or service. Provide examples.
Facebook is the biggest social media website in the world, so taking
advantage of it would be smart. Posting photos on the wall, or updating your
status, or sharing videos, news articles, or musical content with a network
of friends or on a Facebook Page are all ways to help yourself.
2. Explain how to increase engagements with Facebook groups and Apps. Provide
examples. Liking and tagging others is a good way to get people to notice
you, even if its brief. Making notes would be a good idea, because you can
share creative content. Apps have also learned how to partner up on
facebook by enhancing the experience with third party developed apps, or
games
3. Explain how to use Google + to market your product or service. Provide examples.
DMS said that he wanted to hate it but couldnt because its so important.
Perhaps the reason why is because because when someone enters your
name into the google search engine, your + account shows up among the
top trends. You can also use hangouts to make video content by recording a
hangout and then posting it on youtube.
4. Explain how to use LinkedIn + to market your product or service. Provide examples.
LinkedIn is popular for people in the business world, or people searching for
a job in general. Its great for identifying buyers and finding partners to

12

Justin Richardson

work with. However, it is more individualized because you show your public
profile with your face.
5. Explain how to use Twitter to market your product or service. Use Mike Pownall as an
example. Twitter is great because of its SMS content that allows for people to
say little and reach a lot of people on the website. You can quickly tweet
small thoughts, or links to video and photo. Pownall used twitter to reach
horse owners in Toronto by getting on their feeds and promoting his Equine
Services for veterinary help with horses in Toronto.
6. Explain the importance of personal branding. Why did DMS use Amanda Palmer from
the Dresden Dolls as an example? Summarize her story and explain her success.

Palmer managed to raise a million dollars from social networking by using

Kickstarter for 30 days, which is a form of crowdsourcing using donated
funds. She used incentives to get people to donate, ranging from free
downloads of the album to having a dinner with her once its released. This
is brilliant personal branding because she didnt have to spend as much out
of pocket, and got attention from another source altogether on the way
7. Explain the benefits of other social media sites for PR and marketing. Use examples on
pp.266-269. Tumblr is a great place for blogs, and people can reblog to
mutually benefit themselves with exposure. Because the website is so easy
to upload content like photo, or video, or text on a template design, its
very helpful for people who want to blog about their product, or their
organization. Another great example is shopping sites. They are able to
utilize the online convenience to buyers to appeal to them. Amazon is an
example: It provides review opportunities for bookwriters, which in itself is
publicity being created.
8. How should PR pros optimize their social networking pages? List a few ideas by DMS.
Target a specific audience, be a thought/opinion leader. Create lots of links,
participate, make it easy for them to find you, and experiment.
9. Explain the importance of social networking for crisis communication. Provide
examples. It is a useful thing to do damage control or reassure others about
the crisis going on. Penn State was an example of this. When Sandusky
molested those kids and it became public news, the football teams
Facebook page went dark in order to not post anything that could cause too
much damage to the school. The page was filled with inflammatory rage at
times and the page moderators had to take actions, but all they did was
delete bad posts. Kelly Burns spoke about how she regretted this.

13

Justin Richardson

CH 17.

1. What should PR professionals blog about to reach their clients? Dont blog about
things that cover too much, but focus on narrow issues. Be authentic
because people like honesty in blogs speaking passionately about something
they are concerned with.
2. What are the most important blogging ethics discussed by DMS? Be open about
things. Be transparent. Dont blog about things that were privately given to
you. Disclose conflict of interest. Be truthful and dont lie. Give credit to
other sources as well, especially bloggers.
3. List some ideas by DMS to pimp out your blog. Think of a creative blog name and
stick with it because a brand change will be hard to overcome on the search
engine. Use easy-to-use blogging software like WordPress. Choose a URL
that is recognizable. Use graphics that are aesthetically pleasing. Turn on
comments feature to encourage conversation by readers.
4. Discuss the Sharpie Blog. Why is it used as an example of good PR? This is an
environment that provides a lot of fun creative stuff that is made from
sharpie markers. He also liked it because it wasnt a hard sell and provided
great original content from the artists. It follows some of his plans in
blogging.
5. Explain why DMS recommends U.S. cities to blog. Provide examples. It can draw
attention to the communities and keep them/make them even more
relevant on social media. He also encourages people to use the blog content
to inform others about the cities so that travelers can understand them
better.
CH 18.

1. Explain why photographs are compelling content marketing. Use Zursun Idaho
Heirloom Beans as an example. Photos tell a story, especially colorful scenes.
Because of this, marketers should embrace this photography because it can
make their organization more attractive to consumers. The photos can
embrace the uniqueness of a good product. Thats what Zursun did. They
encouraged photography and made original photography to tell their story
to buyers.

14

Justin Richardson

2. Explain the strengths of Instagram for content marketing according to DMS. Provide
examples. Instagram makes it very easy to create and share content because
of how quick it works when it comes to taking pictures and putting on
filters. You dont even need writing for this, just pictures and filters and
thats all.
3. Explain the strengths of Pinterest for content marketing according to DMS. Provide
examples. Pinterest allows a content creator to share things that arent
necessarily in their forte, but they can get people to interact with you
because of the social bond. Its also valuable as a source for inbound links to
your web content, including blog posts and videos.
4. Explain the strengths of Infographics for content marketing according to DMS. Provide
examples. They are graphical representations of complex data, information
or knowledge, and take advantage of human ability to visualize complex
data quickly. Visual graphics are easier to decipher than written columns.
5. Why is podcasting a great marketing tool? Provide examples. As mentioned earlier,
this is something that is audio-only, doesnt require much else to create it
besides a microphone and a device that receives audio, and it can be
broadcasted to multiple outlets such as Itunes.
CH 19.

1. Explain how Mary McNeight used videos to showcase her expertise. Mary could not
find anyone in Seattle that could help her train her dog, so she went and
made an excellent website after learning about the business of dog
training. She went into studying private training sessions and small group
adult and puppy training classes for service and pet dog training. She
shot videos herself to put up on the website. Shes being doing this for
years.
2. Explain how video created for buyers can generate sales leads. Provide examples. At
Attivio, MaryAnne Sinville mentioned that video making helped convey
appropriate information to customer segments. When this gets people to
watch, and want to learn more, they self select a persona path and
converts to a lead, and its much easier to respond with additional
information the buyers will be compelled by.
3. Explain why DMS believes podcasting a great marketing tool. Provide examples.

15

Justin Richardson

CH 20.

1. Discuss the DMS' news release strategy. List 3-4 rules for news releases online. Dont just
send news releases when its big news, find reasons to do it all time. Link to
related content on your site such as videos. Optimize news release delivery for
searching. Include offers that compel consumers to respond to your release in
some way. Point people towards your news releases using social media.
2. Explain how PR professionals should use news release distribution services and RSS feeds.
By using news release distribution services and RSS feeds, the news release
audience is bigger because the services make the content available to other
things such as blogs, journalists, other sides, and individuals of interest.
3. Explain why PR professionals should pay attention to keywords. Use CruiseCompete.com
as an example. Cruise Compete is a website that is highly rated among travel
sites, and they flooded the google search trends by putting in words like
Christmas Cruise or New Years cruises or Thanksgiving cruises. Because
they used keywords that were going to be frequently searched for regardless of
cruises, the Cruise Compete website showed up more on keyword searches.
CH 21.
1. Why did DMS use The Kellog company as an example for best practices for
newsrooms? Provide examples. DMS likes Kellogg Company because they use their

newsroom for Search Engine Operation, which is the talking point of Chapter
21. The newsroom helped Kellogg extend beyond just media to other
stakeholders. Stephanie Singerland creates content based on what people were
talking about.
2. How should PR professionals design a newsroom and use a needs analysis (pp. 327-333).
Provide examples. They should optimize news releases for searching and

browsing, include links to social networking feeds, create background

information that helps journalists write stories about them. Including
multimedia content, detailed product specs, and providing content for all
levels of understanding can help as well.
CH 22.

1. List a few new rules of media relations. Explain them. No nontargeted broadcast
pitches. Video and photos in the online media room are important. Establishing
personal relationships with reporters is important, including following them on

16

Justin Richardson

twitter. These rules are important because you increase networking with these
people and become much more successful in PR.
2. Discuss Launching Ideas with the U.S. Air Force. Why did DMS use the U.S. Air Force as
as an example of good PR? The US Air Force has websites that are full of photo,
video, and article content written by USAF Public Affairs officers. This helps
people find them because of how multifaceted they are.
3. Explain how PR specialists should pitch the media. List a few ideas offered by DMS.
Target one reporter at a time, follow up promptly with potential contacts. Its a
two way street, so remember that. Help the journalist understand the big
picture.
4. Explain how blog mentions drive mainstream media stories. Provide examples. The
Boston Globes Peter Howe, a business reporter, mentions that when he gets a
email subject line that is about PR pitches, he pays attention to them. For the
people emailing that provide him influence, they help him decide on what to
write about.
CH 23.

1. What is Newsjacking? Provide examples. When a major situation happens, like

the Super Bowl blackout example provided, other organizations can come in
and capitalize on it with well-timed propaganda, like the Oreo cookie picture.
2. List and explain the search-based techniques offered by DMS. Track people you do
know, monitor keywords and phrases, and tie your news to current events. This allows
you to get the most traffic because you can utilize those resources to link your name
to a popular trend.

3. Explain how to find news to jack. Provide examples. He outlined it in a graph with
rising action: news breaks, then public reaction grows, then the story peaks
and interest wanes, finishing the cycle. You should be newsjacking right
between the point of breaking news and public excitement growing, when the
journalists are scrambling for more information on the news. Specifically
finding news is to monitor keywords and phrases that are trending, track media
outlets, perhaps like Twitter topics.
4. Explain the cons of newsjacking. How could it damage your brand? If you dont
have a legitimate tie to the story, or you make inappropriate titles
(Hurricane Sandy Sale?) it can cause the newsjackers to have a bad name
because of it.

17

Justin Richardson

CH 24.
1. What is Search Engine Marketing? What is SEO? Use examples to explain how to use SEM and
SEO for promotion and sales. It is marketing that revolves around what people want to

see (because they searched for it). This plays into the hands of marketers who
provide the buyers with what they want. SEO is optimizing search engine
marketing. By providing the words and phrases on your sites, blog, and other
content you might have, you can draw in more traffic.
2. List landing page guidelines discussed by DMS. Explain these guidelines. Build the pages

with specific content to enlighten and inform people who just clicked over to your
website from the search engine. Write from the buyers perspective, not your own
perspective. Making the landing page content short and the graphics simple,
following up, providing quotes from a happy customer to show a good image on
the website, are great ways to make a landing page.
3. Explain the long tail of search. Explain your own search engine real estate. This is a term

that refers to creating a method that is to take is optimize on and advertise with a
small number of words and phrases that are widely targeted to try to generate
huge numbers of clicks. In essence, click baiting people with things they will want
to see, using cleverly placed imagery and headlines.