If you’ve never written a press release, much less read one, you might not know what a boilerplate is. So let’s take a look at the history, form and function of the boilerplate.

A Little History

In the mid-1800s, “boilerplates” were steel plates used to make steam boilers for ships. Fifty years later, the newspaper industry adopted the word, and its connotation of sturdiness and reusability, to refer to “a unit of writing that can be used over and over without change.”*

The Modern-day Boilerplate

Today, a boilerplate, in reference to news releases, is the last section of the release where you include general company information.  This chunk of text is usually reused for each news release and across other marketing channels so that messaging is consistent despite the type of communication that is being distributed. 

An example of a company boilerplate:

Write Your Own Boilerplate

To see more examples of company boilerplates, visit the Marketwire website and click on any of the recent press releases that were being distributed. If your company does not have a boilerplate in place, here are seven tips to help you write one:

1. Keep the boilerplate to one to two paragraphs max, to make it concise and easily scannable.  Remember, you are able to tell folks much more about your company on an “About Us” corporate web page.
2. Stick to verifiable facts.  Do not make any claims or insert any opinions in your boilerplate. Standard factoids might include: the date the company was founded, office locations, public or private status, etc.  Avoid statements that are open to interpretation.
3. Include a link to your company website.  If you’re submitting a press release, there is a high probability that you have used an anchor text to boost your SEO campaign.  It’s a good idea to insert a full hyperlink to your company website.
4. Consider a positioning statement or an added value statement.  In addition to the usual company facts, including a compelling fact about your organization attracts readers to a section of your press release that is often overlooked.  For example, if you’re a nonprofit organization, include interesting stats on research, volunteer participation, fund-raising or event attendance.  Reporters and media can take these stats and promote your news release even more.
5. Avoid industry jargon.  Just as we recommend avoiding industry jargon in your press release, avoid it in the boilerplate as well.
6. Use relevant keywords.  SEO still matters, whether it’s the first 150 words of a press release or the last 50. Be sure to insert the right keywords so that the boilerplate continues to flow.
7. Keep it up to date.  Once in a while, re-read your boilerplate to make sure it’s accurate and, if it’s not, revise it so that it remains current and factual.

Do you have any additional tips on perfecting a company boilerplate?  Please comment below or Tweet or Facebook me.  Also, feel free to copy and paste your boilerplate (or link your press release) for others to comment and make suggestions.

*Source: Online Etymology Dictionary

Blogging statistics are staggering.  June 2010 figures from WordPress (which powers the Marketwire blog) cite 11.4 million blogs hosted on their platform, with WordPress.com users publishing about 350,000 new posts on an average day (and their readers, in turn, leaving 400,000 new comments every day). With all that conversation, discussion, opinion, interjection and objection, it’s easy to see why many organizations think it’s best to avoid an already crowded arena. After all, their blog can’t possibly compete with all the rest.  It’s also easy to see why many choose Twitter and dismiss blogging (isn’t it just simpler and faster to say what you need to say with only 140 characters?).

But the blogosphere is calling you, beckoning input and insight from you and your organization.  And while blogging is something that requires dedication and commitment, it is a necessary communications tool in today’s social environment.  There are also proven benefits to blogging, for both the creative, brand-building and holistic right side of the marketing brain and the scientific, numbers-driven and analytical left side.  With valuable input from my SEO lovin’, scientifically sound colleague, Garry Przyklenk, we’ll offer up 10 reasons why you need to blog.

1. Spark conversation (right brain).  Few forums provide a better opportunity for the open exchange of ideas and insights between an organization and their key stakeholders than do blogs.  You are able to put forth issues, share thought leadership and offer solutions, and in return, your customers and readers-at-large are able to participate and share their ideas.  Remember to think in qualitative, not quantitative, terms:  Focus on great conversations, not the most readers.
2. Encourage social media sharing (left brain). Social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook rely on communities that share quality content, but so do bookmarking sites such as Tumblr, Digg, Reddit, and StumbleUpon.  A steady stream of short, quality content on a corporate blog can do wonders to drive traffic and build links as a result of social media sharing.
3. Improve customer service (right brain).  When you provide your customers (and potential customers) with a place to learn about your organization, products and services, and give them the opportunity to provide feedback on what they like and dislike, you open up a powerful channel for customer service.  The multi-way flow of communication between an organization and the public lets you identify and solve problems, gather great testimonials and enhance product development efforts.  Chances are good that if they know you are listening to what they say, and taking action for improvement where you can, you’ve increased their loyalty significantly.
4. Build an army of brand advocates (left brain).  As mentioned above, increased communications between your brand and your prospects, clients or casual visitors can significantly increase loyalty, and nowhere is this truer than on the web.  A blog provides content that is usually much more discoverable; content is optimized for discovery through organic search, social media and other websites.  This discovery often spurs the attention of new audiences, new visitors and new prospects that may not be ready to purchase your products or services, but are more than willing to come back to your website on a routine basis, driving your website traffic upwards and increasing those all-important “engagement metrics.” In some extreme cases, such as Mac versus PC and iPhone versus BlackBerry, the increase in loyalty can recruit die-hard brand advocates that become part of an unofficial sales team.
5. Provide context (right brain).  Sometimes, organizations need to be rigid and formal in their communications, and the news they need to share is indeed black and white.  Quarterly financials issued by public companies, press releases about product recalls, mergers and acquisitions, etc., this type of news is most often more formal and less conversational.  When a blog is adjunct to your other corporate communications, you are able to provide context and dress-down a formal issue, adding colour and perspective to the “hard and fast” facts.
6. Timely subject matter (left brain).  Google points out that indexing and displaying timely and relevant results are important factors in their search algorithms.  It’s difficult for many organizations to jump on trending topics with the express intent of ranking on search engines due to the confines of their corporate websites, so a blog is the perfect outlet to push content out to the web in a timely and less formal manner and generate content to rank well for trendy terms.
7. Build community (right brain).  We often think first (and sometimes only!) of our customers as our audience.  But there could be thousands of people online looking for products, services, ideas and solutions that your organization can provide.  Your blog represents a tremendous opportunity to build a community of like-minded people, and engage them in great conversation.  Think beyond your customers, and think about your stakeholders.  (Think about your employees, too.  A blog is a great way to engage them and mine great content.)
8. Link building (left brain). Not only is a blog a great place to share information and links to other sites, it’s also a great platform to build links back to your product and service pages.  The goal is to write posts that are relevant to your core business, but are also generally interesting to other bloggers, journalists and webmasters that may reference your content with those all-important backlinks.  A few quality backlinks can do wonders for building authority on social media platforms and in search engines that eventually seep great “link juice” back into your corporate website.
9. Get real (right brain).  Bring out the personality in your organization and your people.  Encourage posts from your employees on subjects that are not necessarily tied directly to their daily jobs, but still provide insight and information. Let your customers and readers get to know your organization from the inside, and put a face to your company.
10. Long tail keywords (left brain). A blog allows you to break the confines of a corporate website’s stuffy boundaries and go into much greater depth for many topics pertinent to your business. Technically speaking, elaborating on specific topics is a great way to build highly relevant long-tail keyword rankings in search engines.  Optimizing posts for long-tail search results is incredibly important because up to 90 percent of any website’s organic search traffic comes from long search queries, and competition on short, generic phrases can be extremely difficult to rank well for.

Browse through our blog for more great insights on social media, discover more great tips and tools for SEO and stay connected with Marketwire.  We’re always here to talk.

Note:  The following article is posted on GuideStar.com and was also featured in the July 2010 edition of its monthly newsletter. GuideStar seeks to revolutionize philanthropy and the nonprofit practice by providing information that advances transparency, enabling users to make better decisions and encouraging charitable giving.

Today, marketing isn’t so much about the “big sell” as it is about the way in which you communicate with your audiences. Of course, big-budget ad campaigns for TV, radio, print, and, now, online will cease to go away entirely, but realistically, most nonprofit organizations do not have the budgets to invest in traditional advertising, let alone any other kind of costly marketing campaigns.

Through technology, marketing has grown another branch that involves establishing and maintaining ongoing conversations rather than a one-way push of messages.  This shift presents more cost-effective and do-able ways for your nonprofit organization to promote your cause while actively engaging your audiences in the process.

Let’s say your nonprofit organization is planning a big fundraiser. How do you announce and continually update your volunteers, staff, board of directors, patrons, and donors while encouraging others to get involved, solicit ideas, and provide feedback? To spread the word, incorporate these five online tactics to communicate your event to your existing “followers” — and attract new ones:

1. Social Media
   Update your Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn accounts and any other online platform that allows you to interact with your “followers” and for them to interact with you and with each other. Announce your fundraiser with a “save the date” invitation and a link to your Web site for more information. You can use social media to solicit feedback, respond to criticism, incite action, and predict trends, to name a few useful benefits.  Don’t worry if you don’t have a presence in social media. It’s easy to create accounts, and social media is probably the most cost-effective way to promote your organization.  And there’s no better time than the present to make yourself seen and heard in the social media space.
2. Social Media Press Release
   On that note, send out a social media press release to get the word about your fundraiser out to the masses or to targeted groups. A social media press release reaches traditional media audiences as well as bloggers, online media, and consumers. You can distribute a social media press release that will house your YouTube video, photos, audio, and other digital assets you may already have on hand (video clips from last year’s fundraiser, photos, etc.).  You can also make your social media accounts (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn) easily accessible, encourage readers to visit your site or sign up for your RSS feed (explanation to come) — and more! A social media press release is a one-stop shop where all of your organization’s social media avenues can be found in one place.  And, with the ability for your readers to share the release among their social networks in a single click, the potential for your messages to spread virally increases significantly.
3. Blog
   If your organization has a blog, it’s essential that you announce the fundraiser and provide details about the event to those who read and subscribe to your blog. You can enrich your blog posting with some historical data on your cause or organization, images of last year’s event, and back links to additional resources. If your company doesn’t have a blog, how do you start one? Easy. There are a number of blogging providers that are free (i.e., LiveJournal, Blogger, WordPress, Xanga) or that charge a nominal fee for more options (i.e., TypePad, ChoseIt).
4. RSS Feed
   That familiar little orange and white symbol found on almost all Web sites that carry news and information is the RSS icon; RSS stands for “really simple syndication.” Chances are good that you already subscribe to an RSS feed and already know the benefits of being on the receiving end of the information being pushed to you.  But if you have a blog, or post press releases or other information to your Web site, it’s a great idea to feed your content into an RSS feed and push your news to interested readers that way as well.  Create an RSS feed so that interested parties can “get fed” updated information that pertains to your organization. So, if an individual subscribes to your RSS feed, your RSS feeder will automatically send a link to that person every time you update that source, whether it’s your Web site, your Facebook, or your blog. Creating an RSS feed might require a little technical agility, but you can find a number of online resources that provide an easy step-by-step list that will guide you through the process.
5. Web Site
   All roads lead to Rome, or, in your case, to your Web site. If your nonprofit organization has a Web site, use this platform as a basis for the four previous tips — social media, social media press release, blog, and RSS feed – to promote your fundraiser, and your organization. Think of your Web site as the headquarters that all of your marketing and communications efforts lead back to and the place where your followers can get more information on the event. In turn, you can provide links to your social media accounts, blog, and RSS feed, encouraging people to engage in other ways. For instance, if they found you via Twitter, they might prefer to subscribe to your RSS feed to get updates. Once people click to your site, there’s a good chance that they’ll go to other pages within it, giving your organization even more exposure and yet another way to communicate with your audience.

Communicating with new and existing audiences is more important than ever as you compete with other organizations for funding, volunteers, donations, and sponsorships.  More and more nonprofit organizations are utilizing online measures to connect with interested parties, but do they ensure that their content is fresh? In order to be successful with these five tactics, the trick is to a) update often, b) make it relevant, and c) respond in a timely manner (for social media and blog comments). If you’re able to do all three, your organization will be more in tune with your audience – and them with you.

Throughout the year, Marketwire contributes useful information and content, based on our expertise in the public relations and marketing communications ecosystem, to assist GuideStar’s audience in their own communications needs. Look out for future GuideStar postings!

Previous articles include:

• The Power of Voice: Effective Communication Strategies to Weather the Economic Storm (July 2009)
• Tips for Entering Your Nonprofit into the Social Media Environment (March 2009)
• Public Relations, Investor Relations, and Marketing Professionals: Do More with Less in Tough Economic Times (January 2009)
• 10 Tips for Writing Features Releases (November 2008)

A challenge for today’s communicators is to keep pace with the new lingo that seemingly pops up out of nowhere. If we’re not paying attention, a whole new vocabulary appears overnight.

We can choose to ignore all of this and simply stick to the AP Stylebook and our handy Webster’s Dictionary, or we can go “whole hog” and pepper these buzzwords through our own communications. But even if we choose to stay with the tried and true, it pays to acquire an understanding of the more common terms since they have a nasty habit of migrating beyond their borders and popping up in places when we least expect them.

For example, have you ever received an email message that included a series of initials that you hastily Googled so you could appropriately respond and “save face”? Or have you ever read an article with a term you never heard before, only to find out that it is now an accepted form of corporate-speak?

We’ve found that today’s buzzwords loosely fall into four general categories:

Online lingo for “news snackers”

Stemming from texting, instant messaging and chat rooms as well as Twitter talk, this type of online lingo has accelerated dramatically over the past couple of years, much of it making its way into mainstream communications.

A site called BuzzWhack describes folks who favor these terms as “news snackers.” These are “people with short attention spans who primarily get their news in short bursts from things like Twitter, RSS feeds, mobile phones and glimpses of TVs posted on gas pumps or in elevators. Like most snacks, they’re tasty and easy to digest but aren’t good for you in the long run.”

You can find a list of some of the more common Twitter terms on Marketwire’s blog post featuring Twitter vocabulary.

Computer and technology terminology “creep”

“Cloud computing,” “virtual desktop” and “backward chaining” — terms that are bantered about with increasing frequency in business and beyond — leave the non-techie’s eyes glazing over. Although these terms don’t crop up in most venues, they do rear their ugly heads in general business meetings from time to time only to make one feel like everyone else knows more than he or she does (when in actuality, no one does).

Corporate-speak and quasi-words

There’s a whole lexicon of strange terms popping up these days that appear in business, on TV sitcoms and reality shows. Quasi-words and phrases such as “synopsize” (to condense the details of a boring, two-hour meeting into a briefer — yet just as boring — version), “electronify” (the process of turning paper-based data into electronic or digital form), and “mouse potato” (someone who spends all his/her time on the computer surfing the net or playing computer games) keep wordsmiths on their toes, not to mention the “hip” from trying to cleverly coin their own words.

Street slang and urban lingo

Finally, there are buzzwords and phrases that originate from “the word on the street,” or slang. These are generally made-up or unrelated words that refer to a specific action or object. Although there are many types of American slang, the most prevalent today is street-leet — a hip way of speaking that also appeals to the “nerd-dom” of the internet ala 1337 Speak. Many street terms have also worked their way into the speech of the mainstream hip, such as “sweet,” “phat,” “bling” and “I got your back.”

How many of these buzzwords lodge themselves into the English language and eventually make their way into our reference material is anyone’s guess. But the more we stay abreast of them, the more equipped we are to keep in step with the blinding speed of the communications revolution.

In the meantime, lol with your tweeps, take your virtual desktop with you to the Bahamas and chillax!

Did you know that the word “translator” derives from the Latin root word for “traitor”?  The translator can indeed be a traitor, if she translates incorrectly and conveys an erroneous message.

Case in point: During the 1987 Miss Universe Pageant, Inés María Calero said, in Spanish, that her favorite dish to make was ropa vieja.  The translator told the audience that the Miss Venezuela contestant liked to cook “old clothes.”  That was the literal translation, but in fact it’s a very common Cuban dish consisting of shredded beef in a tomato-based sauce.  Although she received 3rd place, the translator’s faux pas may have cost her the crown.

For translation services, accuracy is key, but the understanding of local and cultural nuances, innuendos and colloquialisms are equally as important.

Spanish, in particular, has different written indicators that dictate how the word is pronounced. For instance, depending on the accent mark and capitalization, the same word in Spanish — papá, papa or Papa — can be translated as either your pop, a potato or the pontiff. The more-common Spanish errors include forgoing accent marks and omitting tildes (the squiggles off the ñ).  How could you leave the stem off the q?  What a ouestion!

These subtle translation mistakes can ruin a corporate brand, embarrass a multinational company and tarnish a well-established reputation.

Most professional translators will not make these kinds of mistakes. However, if they do not understand client expectations or are not familiar with a product or process, a translation can sound stiff and even ridiculous.  The worst feedback a client can give is “This doesn’t sound like it was written by a native speaker.”

On the flip side, it is equally important for clients to be aware of the role of their translators and to actively participate in the translation process. On that note, here are a few things to keep in mind:

The role of the translator

• Translators work “into” their native languages. For example, a native German speaker would translate from English “into” German.
• The “source” language is the language that translators translate from, while “target” language is the opposite.
• Translators who are fluent in their source languages (e.g., English, in the US) are effective bridges between the languages in which they work.
• Translators render the translations in their target languages, staying true to the original texts — in their meaning, style, tone and context.
• Translators do not add style or editorial flare, “transcreate” documents, interpret or create branding images for the target audiences.
• A translator can comfortably translate 100 words-per-hour, not including research, editing and proofreading. Anything faster would sacrifice quality for quantity.

How can clients involve themselves in their translation projects?

• Provide a glossary: Clients can provide a glossary of terms in the target languages or refer to documents that exemplify how they like their terms translated.  Translators love this because it takes the guesswork out of their jobs.
• Ask for prior approval: At Marketwire, we are able to use our global network to provide translations for our clients. So, as far as translated press releases go, domestic companies will often request that prior approval of the translation be given to their satellite office in the targeted country. If an American client has a local office in France, for example, the client can request that the French translation is sent there for prior approval, not only to avoid “Miss Universe-type” miscommunications, but to add linguistic flare and style to the final version before distribution.
• Provide translation resource: Similarly, clients can provide us with access to employees in satellite offices in those frequently targeted countries to use as local resources.

For more tips on proactively managing your translation projects, contact your local Marketwire Account Executive. Marketwire can help create your glossaries, keep reference documents on file and work with your team to convey the right message.

At the last “At Breakfast With” panel discussion, a series that the Los Angeles Area Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) hosts every so often, the focus was online news media and how to get editors’ attention. Panelists included:

• Steven Rosenberg, Online Editor, Los Angeles Daily News
• Christine Miceli, Executive Producer/Online Editor, KTLA.com
• Alysia Gray Painter, Editor, NBCLosAngeles.com
• James Macpherson, Editor, PasadenaNow.com

Three of these four online news organizations were born from traditional media, if that’s any indication of where these online offshoots currently stand in the whole scheme of things. Not so different from slightly rebellious teen-agers, continually developing a mind of their own but still living under their parents’ roof.

How does this dynamic help the PR professional? As Steven Rosenberg put it, “If you’re pitching to print, you’re also pitching to online” and, most likely, vice versa.  The panelists shared other insightful suggestions to the PR pros in the audience on what to be aware of and how to approach them for coverage. Here’s a rundown of the tips they offered:

1. Include multimedia — videos (edited, if possible) and images – in pitches.
2. Make sure that pitches relate to their individual audiences and, if applicable, geographic locations that each organization targets.
3. Send an email two to three weeks before the date of your event and then follow-up with a reminder right before.
4. Attach high-resolution images in your emails.
5. In the email subject line, provide the main thrust of your pitch and include the date.
6. Use the features approach: Tie in a product or service with an upcoming occasion.
7. Be aware: News can be broken online, even before they appear on the evening news.
8. If you aren’t using Twitter, better start now.
9. Be aware: TV stations (in this case, NBC and KTLA) review local publications to look for interesting stories.
10. Send out a press release that positions your CEO or spokesperson as an unusual source on topics that may not have anything to do with his/her company, but that he/she has an opinion on or can intelligently speak about. (An example: A CEO of a bank can comment on how the local real estate market is affecting consumer foot traffic.)
11. Use bullet points, bold areas that need calling out, include links and one-liners that can be easily scanned.
12. For TV, they usually shoot their own footage, so provide high-resolution images instead.
13. If you do have a video, the easiest way to get it to them is to post it on YouTube and send them the link.
14. Be aware: Different media companies sometimes work together: CNN and the Los Angeles Times often use content derived from KTLA.
15. If they’re not interested, they’re not going to contact you to tell you that they aren’t. No need to send multiple emails or leave voice mails – it’s only going to bug them more.

The jury is still out on whether “newspapers are dead” or if all news collection, consumption and publishing will eventually resort to an online-only platform. (Read Emily Levant’s blog post on eReader technology for another tangent on this topic.) To me, the interesting part of this whole debate is the convergence of traditional and online media  – how one overlaps the other and how they are being forced to work together despite the contention, if any, between them.

As a part of my role as a client relations manager at the Vancouver Marketwire office, I attend numerous networking events every month. Among them are association events for CIRI, CPRS, IABC, BCAMA and many more.

Networking, which I considered a formidable activity when I started my career at Marketwire, has become one of the most enjoyable parts of my work day.

Here are some of the lessons I learned over the past three years:

• Prepare:
  • Review registration lists of individuals or companies attending the event  to be aware of who is there, target who you want to meet or connect with and to make the most of your time.
  • Dress appropriately.  You don’t want to wear a suit to a casual event and vice versa.
  • Make sure you have enough business cards.
  • Always wear the name tag on your right so that it’s directly aligned with your handshake.
  • Keep a few relevant conversation topics in mind to instigate small-talk.
• Be early and leave late: This will help you maximize your networking opportunities.
• Engage: Don’t be afraid to approach people or judge by appearances. Until you talk to them, you will never know that the young guy wearing torn jeans and flip-flops is the CEO of of a major software company! Make an effort to reach out and introduce yourself — this is the whole point of networking.
• Listen: Networking is neither about you, your company or its products. And it’s definitely not about the hard sell. It’s more about the individual,the story each one brings to the table and how you might relate to them.
• Study the room: Recognize the quieter spots in the room. It is harder to create a meaningful conversation when it’s loud.
• Be helpful: Networking is all about gaining initial trust and finding ways to help each other. For example, introductions are considered very valuable, so make it a point to introduce two people who know you but don’t know each other.  Following up with answers to questions or challenges attendees presented to you while networking is a fantastic way to gain trust and build yourself as a resource.
• Set reasonable goals: My networking mentor always reminds me: “Successful networking will result in at least one meaningful connection.”  Although you are trying to create business relationships, it’s impossible to achieve that with every single person you talk to.
• Follow up: Connect with the people you just met. Ask them to join your LinkedIn network, send them a thank you e-mail for introducing them to a potential client or call to schedule that lunch date. Make yourself memorable.

I always look for helpful advice that can better my networking skills. What are your tips for successful networking?

“You don’t get something for nothing.”  This adage is tried, but often true, and certainly comes into play when considering free press release distribution services. Perhaps an obvious question that many communicators ask themselves is: Why pay for the services of an established newswire service when I can distribute my press releases at no cost? The answer, simply put, is: “You get what you pay for.” And, sometimes, you don’t even get that.

Before joining Marketwire as their search marketing and social media specialist, I was the marketing manager at another company and was responsible for sending out press releases on their behalf. Because we were on a budget, I thought that submitting company news through a free distribution service was a smart, budget-friendly solution. In hindsight, I made a mistake.

Having learned the hard way, I would like to share six reasons why free press release distribution isn’t always what it promises up to be:

Time equals money — With free services, you cannot target your audience and the specific media outlets that would be interested in what you have to say. Because these free sites do not have the reach, relationships with media outlets or direct feeds to large news sites (including The Associated Press and CNN, to name a few), your press release will rarely appear on Google, Yahoo!, or any other search engine or news site. In order to increase your exposure through free distribution, you have to submit the same release to several different services to increase your exposure. In my previous job, I remember using more than a dozen free sites for the same release in order to gain as much penetration as possible. Needless to say, it took a long time to do that.

No editorial safeguard – Grammatical and spelling errors in any business communications are not only embarrassing, but discrediting. If you can’t communicate properly, why would anyone want to do business with you? What’s more, most journalists will simply discard press releases with typos in them. With free services, the editorial intervention and guidance that are offered by commercial newswires are non-existent.

Limited reach and distribution – Because free distribution sites do not have relationships with downstream partners or direct access to journalists, they can only rely on search engines for placement. (Even that is suspect.) A best practice for any communicator is to target individuals (journalists, online consumers, etc.) who have an interest in your company and your news, instead of mass-blasting your release to thousands of random online readers. As the media landscape continues to shift, with audiences dispersing across so many channels, finding the people you want to reach and targeting your news is more important than ever.

Non-existent analytics and tools – Although analytics exist, to a degree, on some of these free sites, only basic stats, like “number of times viewed,” are available. A commercial newswire service provides monitoring and reporting tools to justify and measure the success of the press release, not only as a communications tools but as an investment.

In addition, search engine optimization (SEO) is another area of analysis that free sites do not acknowledge. Marketwire provides our clients with the SEO Keyword Analyzer to grade the SEO effectiveness of their release before it’s distributed. Free distribution sites do not typically offer such a service, so the time you spent uploading and submitting your release will ultimately go to waste. You will not know who picked up your release, how many times a link was clicked or how to better optimize your content.

Short-tail SEO; short shelf life of search engine visibility – As long as your press release is housed somewhere on a website, it can still be found by search engines and accessed by a reader. That’s why shelf life is important. Most newswires archive their press releases for nine months or less, while Marketwire press releases have a five-year shelf life.

The limited exposure of press releases distributed via free services leads to a short shelf-life on search engines. The reach to media outlets results in a quick boost in search engine traffic, if you’re lucky enough to get picked up. After a few weeks, you will see a big drop off.  Even those that offer free social media releases have the same effect.

Response/post time is sloooooow – On free distribution sites, press release dissemination is not instantaneous. Rather, a queue regulates the process, leaving you to wonder when your release will actually be distributed. In a rush? Fuhgeddaboudit. Even if you have plenty of lead time for your release, there is comfort in knowing the specific time and date your news will be issued. Most people do, which is why our editors keep in close contact with our clients before and after distribution.

In the end, I learned a lesson: “Free” isn’t really free, at least when it comes to press release distribution. Sure, I saved a few bucks, but I wasted a lot of time on a release that never met its full potential.

Okay, I don’t mean just any mouse. I mean THE mouse — Mickey Mouse.

A few weeks ago, like thousands of others, I went to Walt Disney World, and the exceptional customer service and professionalism I experienced first-hand was remarkable. Disney is renowned for their high standards of service to their customers (Disney calls them “guests,” actually, regardless of whether customers are at the theme parks or shopping online),  and at every touch point, from hotel check-in to dinner reservations, I was astounded by the level of service afforded to every guest.

We don’t all work at companies as large and resourceful as Disney, but there are lessons to be learned by any size organization, in any industry or practice and by anyone who deals with people on a daily basis. Here are four essential customer service tips that Disney has perfected:

Talk to your clients. At every opportunity, and by as many means as possible, keep the lines of communication open. On the phone, via email, in customer surveys and focus groups, be sure to have meaningful conversations with your clients, however brief they may be. Ask them what problem(s) they have that you can solve, and ask them what you are doing right. Don’t just reach out to your clients when you suspect the feedback will be positive; talk to your clients in good times and bad. If your customers trust you to get them through the tough times, they’ll trust you even more during prosperous times.

Disney Lesson #1: On three separate occasions, I was surveyed by Disney employees and asked to provide feedback on wait times for park attractions, cleanliness of hotel grounds and my overall experience. The surveys were quick and easy, and I was directed to a website where I could see the survey results and feedback from other respondents. It was clear to me that my observations and opinions mattered.

Listen to your clients. Do more than ask questions, listen to the answers. Your customers are your best barometer, and you need to trust them to tell you how you are doing. Don’t just listen to positive feedback, but also neutral and even negative feedback. Accept constructive criticism and come to terms with the fact that you can’t please all of the people all of the time. The best way to deal with unhappy customers is to let them know you acknowledge their pain points, and are attempting to do something to resolve them. Social media provides a great platform for listening to conversations that people are having about your company and your brand. Tapping into and monitoring those conversations can provide you with valuable customer and industry insights.

Disney Lesson #2: From my first phone call to a reservation representative to hotel check-out, every communication I had with Disney made it clear they wanted to hear what I had to say — good, bad and other. In fact, at the end of most telephone calls, guests are asked to stay on the line to complete a quick survey.

Engage your clients. Whether it’s old-school networking and business lunches or tweeting and keeping in touch via Facebook, it’s imperative to stay connected to your customers and build relationships with them. Few people could name a more powerful, globally recognized brand than Disney, but brand loyalty is not something even they take for granted. Social media presents new opportunities to engage your customers, and few companies have embraced and been as successful with their social media endeavours as Disney has.

Disney Lesson #3: From the Disney Parks Blog to the Disney Moms Panel, it’s clear that customers are looking to organizations to help them make decisions and purchases. And for those of you who think engagement is not tied to an organization’s bottom line, think again.  Many socially engaged companies are in fact more financially successful.

Learn from your clients. You’ve heard their praises and complaints. You’ve seen what they will recommend to others, and what they think “doesn’t work.” Now it’s time to put that into action.  Product enhancements and innovation — much of this should come from hearing what your clients have to say about your company’s room for improvement and how you can help them meet their goals and satisfy their needs. Take their suggestions and criticisms and make them work.

Disney Lesson #4: Not every company can replicate in size and scope the Disney Imagineering program, but we can all learn lessons in what our customers want, and how we can better deliver that to them.

Embedded into Markewire’s corporate culture is excellence in customer service. At every turn, from assisting our clients with press release distribution to helping them understand the value behind social media and SEO-enhanced news, we understand that our own success depends on our clients’ success.

Having recently addressed some of the nearly 800 attendees of the Online Marketing Summit in San Diego, California, I and my esteemed colleagues – Jack in the Box’s Marilee Brusaschetti, Experian’s Kevin Akerman, Lyris’ Erick Mott, and HiveFire’s Pawan Deshpande – sat on a panel sharing thoughts, best practices, and viewpoints of 2010’s Integrated Marketing Trends. In doing so, I – being a huge film buff – harkened back to a Hollywood classic for inspiration and perspective…

He was as old as his tongue, a little bit older than his teeth and wise beyond his years:  jolly old St. Nick, the benevolent character playing opposite a young Natalie Wood in “Miracle on 34th Street” knew that if a customer of Macy’s wanted a product the store didn’t carry, then it was smart business to offer that customer an alternative solution to her problem – even if it meant redirecting a shopper to the competitor Gimbels. Such a simple concept of true client-centric service and content marketing rang true then and chimes even more clearly now, given today’s social media multi-channel communication opportunities. And while short-sightedness might scoff at the notion of losing a sale, the benefits gained by such business practices – true thought leadership, knowledge sharing, and most important, brand loyalty – ultimately contribute more to a company’s bottom line and future potential.

That’s why “Client-focus” and “Content Marketing” top my list for Best Business Practices and 2010’s Marketing Trends. And the reason they’re more important than ever before is because consumers have never before enjoyed such a wealth of information and peer-level advisors (with the simple click of a mouse) to help them find exactly what they believe serves their needs best. And if a company doesn’t have just the right something, that’s okay…as long as it still is able to serve its customers by helping them solve their problems with their own knowledge and sharing of related solutions. Sure, immediate returns and revenues may not be at hand, but the relationships built by always putting clients’ needs at the forefront prove fruitful in the long run. We saw it in the film classic when the redirected shopper made a point to tell Macy’s management that she didn’t know what kind of campaign this was, but as a result, Macy’s had her loyalty, and she was going to spread the word. Today, that kind of content/solution-providing and subsequent endorsement – spreading happens virally at lightning speeds and without geographic or physical boundaries to contain it. Thank goodness for the Internet and all the wonderful new opportunities to connect that it brings.

But let’s not forget other mediums, not just digital but traditional. Why? Because keeping in theme with “content marketing” and being “client-focused,” not all clients are alike. Not all want the same content. Not all want to receive their information in the same manner. Enter the next Best Business Practices and 2010 Marketing Trends on my list: the grouping I like to call the big “-ilities.” Mobility. Portability. Flexibility. Accessibility. Almost no one any longer sits “9 to 5″ in front of a desk all day. Nor are most folks willing to “do as they’re told” by only being able to access something in one way or at a static place and time. “Entrepreneurship” and “Learning More” are at the core of today’s consumer spirit. And in 2010, empowering consumers to tap into information that is uniquely of interest to them, in whatever format (video, audio, straight text, RSS, etc.) appeals to them, and carried via whatever medium or device (niche publication, email newsletter subscription, iPhone or Droid, etc.) accommodates their individual lifestyle is key.

Now you may have noticed that the items making it to my list never do so solo. “Content Marketing” and “Client-focus” go hand-in-hand, as do the big “-ilities” of “Mobility,” “Portability,” “Flexibility,” and  “Accessibility.”  And they all work together. Long gone are the days of silo’d and “one-size-fits-all” strategies and tactics. A company that does not embrace true integration – internally within individual teams and cross-departmentally as well as externally in its approaches to all of its various target audiences – quite simply will not survive let alone thrive. Integration, Collaboration, and Multiple Connections: these are the underlying foundations that must be at a company’s core and that are certain to serve us and our clients best in the coming years.