1. Linked In is very good for SEO. According to Chris Byrne, with whom I have worked on SEO and PPC campaigns, linking to your Linked In profile page is often a better strategy than to a landing page if you want to be found quickly. In Google's eyes, it's more authoritative than a commercial website and a good alternative to combine with traditional linking.

2. Keyword relevance. When developing your Linked In profile / company pages, ensure they include all the relevant keywords for your business.

As an industrial PR specialist, Linked In is a great way to ensure my contacts with journalists and freelancers are always up to date without having to rely solely on am external media database.

Please contact me with more tips to share or comment below.

The post How to use Linked In effectively appeared first on Good Public Relations - specialists in industrial, technical and professional services PR..

As a specialist in professional services PR, I help clients understand the need to identify with the issues their own customers are facing. In this case it's tax and we offer a wide range of free, practical advice that would otherwise only be available to the very wealthy. Consistently, their newsletter, sent electronically each month, gets well above average open and click through rates and I put that down to these things. Try applying these guidelines to your own professional services pr activities, or newsletter copywriting.

Write about things that are going to make or save money.

Strike a balance between overt and implied selling - newsletters should be educational and informative, any selling messages are incidental.

Avoid overt biase towards your/ your client's services.

Regard newsletters as impartial sources of free advice and a medium for building a trusted relationship.

Disseminate each issue as widely as possible, to existing opted in subsribers and also via social media channels.

Form partnerships with relevant media who might wish to publish extracts of your articles, for one client, this is a tie up with a professional photography magazine - they're all small business owners needing tax advice after all.

Look for ways to guest blog extracts of articles on relevant community sites - again another good new audience source.

Above all, be objective and don't be afraid to experiment a little.

Ask yourself if you would spend time reading what you have written. If that answer is no, then think about what might be more interesting and adapt the content of your newsletter accordingly.

The post Technical PR Tips – Making newsletters work for your brand appeared first on Good Public Relations - specialists in industrial, technical and professional services PR..

1. Clarity - make sure they can understand very easily why you have approached them and why it's relevant for them to speak. This needs to have a two way benefit, the traditional rationale for inviting speakers doesn't apply with politicians.

2. Ethics - MPs have to declare all their benefits, expenses and any gifts. You might think offering them free services is innocuous and a good option, but it needs to be declared and might cause questions at a later date. Offering to donate some money to their chosen charity is more appropriate.

3. Transparency - if your clients event is generating them revenues, this needs to be declared upfront. If their event has a seat price, state it in your invitation letter.

4. Targeting - identify a named contact to send your invitation to rather than use a general mailing address. Taking time to establish the name and contact details will help reduce time and increase the chance they will ultimately be available.

From experience, provided the timings work and the theme is relevant, most likely you will be successful if you follow these basic guidelines.

The post Inviting MPs to conferences – top dos and don’ts appeared first on Good Public Relations - specialists in industrial, technical and professional services PR..

According to NCC, big data presents an opportunity right across the sector divide – public and private sector – to use the information that flows through an organisation to make better business decisions. The data can come from everywhere: from banking and financial transactions; footage from CCTV cameras; posts to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social media sites; digital pictures and videos posted online; transaction records of online purchases; and GPS signals from mobile devices – and these are just a few of the sources.

One in three business leaders frequently make decisions without the information they need and half don't have access to the information they need to do their jobs. That has significant implications for the business, as the onus on IT is to leverage data. Establishing a centre of excellence makes sense, because big data requires a different approach to data analytics, compared with traditional business intelligence (BI).

This is much more than retailers deciding whether they need to spruce up their packaging because of Twitter feedback and could help develop better more cost effective public services for instance. One attended I spoke with from Imperial College was fact-finding how they might collaborate with other universities to share research data allowing other research teams to further analyse existing data for their own projects. As he said, a new gene sequencer costs millions, maybe they can utilise someone else's work first?

Here's what McKinsey are saying about Big Data and for my own part working with clients like Zetes who are focussed on capturing what is now known as structured data using mobile devices, the unanswered question is how companies are going to combine this with the mass of unstructured data to answer business related issues.

As an observer what I find very interesting about this phenomenon is whether the term Big Data is helping to anonymise the issue of privacy and the idea of Big Brother and snooping which so many consumers are worried about. No one could answer this at the event.

I'll be watching the developments unfold with interest.

For companies interested in using Big Data for thought leadership and technical pr, ensure you have some sound ideas for applications which can be independently verified before jumping on any bandwagons.

The post Big Data is latest buzzword for technical pr specialists appeared first on Good Public Relations - specialists in industrial, technical and professional services PR..

SCHAD has developed EXTEND7000, a unique mobile application for remote monitoring, control and maintenance of automated industrial systems like fully automated warehouses, high speed baggage handling lines in airports, automated production lines controlled by PLCs and SCADA systems.

It's a slightly incongruous mix to think state of the art German, automated engineering precision crossed with funky mobile app but it's proving its worth across industry. SCHAD are exhibiting at the BlackBerry Innovation Forum tomorrow at ExCel where they've previously won a string of awards.

Using an ordinary smartphone or tablet, highly skilled engineers can monitor PLCs and SCADA systems and get remote access to control operations in the event of problems. With the addition of cameras, they also have the ability to view the plant controls remotely and shut down functions if needed, pending a fix.

By using EXTEND7000, multiple automated systems can be controlled using a single interface from any location, giving engineering staff a 100% remote control room in their pockets which avoids the need to manage costly fixed control rooms. The system works using existing Wi-fi and GRPS infrastructure providing a very low cost monitoring system.

FAQ - WHAT IS EXTEND7000?

Proof is in the pudding

ROI figures from existing customers have shown the system significantly reduces costs through up to 60% lower downtime, faster throughput levels and better resource utilisation. SCHAD has users across industry in transport and logistics, transportation services/operations (airports), manufacturing - food and beverage, automotive.

EXTEND7000 has been identified as a hot technology and SCHAD received $4m in VC investment earlier this year - see earlier article in TechCrunch. They are also previous BlackBerry, Vodafone and Financial Times innovation award winners.

Examples of benefits seen:

1. Munich Airport - Estimations by the baggage handling operation at Munich Airport have shown that, as a result of using SCHAD's technology, system downtime has dropped significantly and they can service an extra 12 aircraft a day.

2. Lugato - manufacturing and distribution of industrial products - reduced system downtime by 30 minutes each day which allows them to ship an extra truckload of finished goods daily.

Other users: Koln Bonn airport, Berlin airport, LSG Sky Chefs (Lufthansa).

If you are going along to the BB Innovation Forum tomorrow, drop by their booth tomorrow and speak to James Hannay. He can give you a live demo showing how the system works in real time. And there will be lots more from me on SCHAD and what they're up to very shortly.

Find me on Twitter @mundoprlesleym or email lesleyATgood-prDOTcoDOTuk

The post SCHAD takes away workplace Schadenfreude…mobile app to make engineering cool appeared first on Good Public Relations - specialists in industrial, technical and professional services PR..

Understanding what makes the CFO tick is therefore essential for successful marketing communications and achieving subsequent sales.  Messaging needs to be even more business benefit orientated and directly demonstrate how the business’ long term goals can be achieved.

Getting the communications balance right presents both an opportunity and threat to potential technology suppliers.  Overall, in 75% of organisations, the CFO plays a vital role in determining IT investment

One thing PRs will be familiar with is boundary spanning and the need to represent the interests of multiple stakeholders when communicating.  IT providers now need to adopt a similar approach and getting CFOs on side is easier if, as a supplier, you are able to play a ‘boundary spanning’ role, negotiating the needs of both IT and finance as primary key stakeholders.

Befriending the CFO – key do’s and don’ts for IT providers to remember

It is essential to win the endorsement of the CFO for a particular technology solution and understanding how to reach this individual and communicate in a meaningful way is critical for sales success.

The post IT PRs – Make friends with the key influencer quickly appeared first on Good Public Relations - specialists in industrial, technical and professional services PR..

When asked the question: Is it OK for journalists/bloggers to name and shame persistent PR professionals, 55% said no.  I am surprised about that because we should know and learn from our mistakes.  On the one hand I believe in solidarity for one's profession - PR gets enough ribbing for being vague and 'fluffy'.  However, how many times have we seen ranting tweets from journalists fed up of a barrage of un-targeted communications or annoyed by being asked whether they would be 'printing the press release'.

Only last week I had a conversation with an editor who previously used to send out synopses of upcoming articles to selected PR contacts he knew well.  He told me he had to stop the practice 'because of a couple of pesky PRs who would bombard his freelancers with irrelevant information'.  Shame, those updates were really useful....their poor practice spoiled it for the rest of us.

PROs who alienate the influencers that are so important to client communications should a) know who they are, b) know that we know who they are, and c) try to do something about improving their ways for the future.

Let's all learn the difference between professional tenacity and blind persistence.

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So what could you write your blogs about?

1. Comment on something in your industry sector - a new event, conference, forthcoming product launch, event you have attended
2. Offer free advice which has an intrinsic value to readers looking for initial guidance on a topic
3. Discuss new market research or a white paper recently published
4. Offer a perspective on a trade press article - akin to a letter to the editor, make sure you give full credit to those who inspired you and any other sources.
5. Share interesting content - favourite user case studies (preferably without promoting the competition), editorial leaders, videos or podcasts
6. Expand an article written by another blogger, offer an alternative viewpoint
7. Interview an industry figure and publish it as a Q&A
8. Ask some industry colleagues, clients, associates to write a 'guest blog' for you.  As well as providing varied content, this has other link building/community building benefit
9. Above all make time to gather inspiration.  It's too easy to get swept away by the 'busyness' of the day and not flick through magazines, read your Linked In Group updates etc.   That's all useful idea generating fodder....

And if after trying all these ideas you still don't have the time to blog, it might be time to call in the professionals!

If you have any other suggestions for writing a decent blog, to help me make the list a round 10, I'll be delighted to hear them, please get in touch.

The post Take your head out the bucket….9 tips for blog inspiration appeared first on Good Public Relations - specialists in industrial, technical and professional services PR..

Maybe that's a bit too far for now, but lessons in social media are all the rage.....

I have myself conducted a Twitter class of this type for one client to teach them the basics of what it was and how to use it.  It was an interesting experience because it brought to light that the biggest issue concerning the use of social media, which is also touched upon by both Scott and the other article's authors.

Learning how to use Twitter is the easy bit, but the thing that many companies fail to understand is 'why they should be/are using it'. What's their end goal?

Yes it is a fantastic broadcasting medium for reaching new audiences but that falls well short of Twitter's potential. It's also excellent for research and customer service and for giving a brand a clear personality etc etc as many have already documented in other articles.  Most clients however fail to establish a clear objective for their use of Twitter beyond the 'we are just doing it to keep up with the Joneses' strategy.  I guess it is better than the alternative 'not keeping up with the Joneses' but somehow they are missing a fantastic engagement and data mining opportunity along the way.

The fact that Twitter (and any other social media) is time consuming means it is often relegated to become a job for the PR agency and overlooked by the key people within the business.  In my book that's a big mistake.  I believe the most beneficial way smaller businesses in particular, who often lack the resources to dedicate to social media can benefit from using Twitter, is to work in partnership with their PR team and share the workload, with each having clear objectives in mind for their own individual contributions.

Finally returning to the topic of classes, I myself have recently invested in a Linked In class which I found very useful indeed.  Thank you emarketeers!  I now have all my friends asking me to pop round and give them tips on personal SEO etc over a glass of wine.

Watch out for more articles discussing my thoughts on Linked In shortly.....

The post Adult education centres across UK will soon offer Twitter classes appeared first on Good Public Relations - specialists in industrial, technical and professional services PR..

He is skeptical about Twitter and his sentiments completely echoed my own previous doubts about the medium.  I am by no means an expert but have learned a lot about its benefits in recent months.  Yes it can be a time waster and yes there is loads of drivel.  I almost never follow celebrities and am very choosy about anyone else.  But it's also incredibly useful for keeping on top of information and current affairs events like the Budget.  The search is powerful and when combined with a dashboard application it's very handy for keeping tabs on the influencers you need to monitor for clients.  Not to mention that it's a de facto requirement for effective SEO activity.

I like to think of Twitter as a more convenient and user friendly Google Reader.  RSS feeds are great but they are not push in the same way that Twitter is.  And they are not so easily searched and expanded upon.  They require more effort. And most non techy people haven't really got to grips with them.  I've been asking around and don't know anyone who uses RSS but they all use Twitter for keeping abreast of things. Arguably the only people who use them do so for SEO purposes rather than consumers actually accessing news.

In the middle of the afternoon, when you need a little diversion, Twitter is also brilliant fun.  My personal recent favourites in the #middleclassfilms and #workingclassfilms discussions were 'Aldi Kings Men' and Lidl Women'. Brilliant!

So it's not as cut and dried to say Twitter is a waste of time.  There are Twerps everywhere and I guess the beauty of Twitter is that in this medium, they only have 140 characters of airtime before they vanish.

The post Is Twitter just for Twerps? appeared first on Good Public Relations - specialists in industrial, technical and professional services PR..