“You can’t fire-and-forget. If you’re a CMO, or a small business owner, you can’t just hire an internet marketer and then forget the whole thing. It requires your input. You at least need to check in now and then. Otherwise, crappy results are as much your fault as your consultant’s.”

True and wise. Thank you Ian Lurie of ConversationMarketing.com for writing that.

Read more: “25 Internet Marketing Facts“

With it’s philanthropic STOMP campaign well under way, Australia Luxe Collective has been generating some buzz. ABC News recently caught up with Cindy Crawford and snapped a photo of her signing one of Luxe’s luxury boots that will be up for auction to raise money for a global cause of Crawford’s choice.

CLICK HERE to take a peek.

MaleSurvivor, an international organization dedicated to issues surrounding the sexual victimization of boys and men, has announced the details of their bi-annual “Healing & Hope” international conference.

CLICK HERE to learn more.

Taber Extrusions LLC, a pioneering manufacturer of complex aluminum extrusions, has earned the distinction as the only U.S. domestic aluminum extruder using a rectangular container and billet configuration to produce wide aluminum extrusions with superior tolerances for military and commercial applications. This distinction has garnered Taber Extrusions the position as the preferred supplier for custom defense-related applications using ultra-wide multi-void hollow extrusions in thicknesses from .75 up to 3.4 inches and widths up to 24 inches. Its customers include the U.S. military as well as various government prime defense contractors.

CLICK HERE to read more.

Pitching isn’t the most fun task and can even be downright nerve wrecking at times. Knowing what not to do is half the battle but it’s an important one because one tiny error can make or break whether your pitch gets read or immediately deleted.

A guest post by C.C. Chapman on PR-Squared.com covers some dos and donts of pitching.  We thought we’d pass along the info to our fellow publicists out there. For the full post, click on the link at the bottom.

Here are a few things not to do:

• Dear _______
  It doesn’t matter what it says after that. NO ONE but people pitching things start e-mail with something like that. If you want to make it personal then use my name and move on. Think about it. When was the last time you started an e-mail to anyone like that? For bonus points, put the wrong name in there or forget how to use mail merge and leave some variation of <first_name>.
• 100% Form Letter
  I understand that we’ve all got boiler plate copy to use, but don’t make the entire e-mail one big piece of boiled crap. Take at least a the first introduction to show me that you are writing this to ME. You’d be amazed what 15 minutes on a bloggers site, Facebook profile or Twitter stream will do to allow you to get to know them a little bit better.
• Send it more then once
  gMail is my main e-mail program and it does a great job of threading messages with the same subject line from the same people. If I see 3 new messages from the same person grouped together I don’t even open the e-mail since it is obvious a sloppy pitch.
• Pretend the pitch isn’t a pitch
  Don’t you dare send me a note talking about “this amazing link I found online that I thought you’d like” acting as if you are nothing more then a reader and trying to show me something cool. Thankfully these types have become rare, but I had it happen just last week so I know some of you are still doing it.

I could probably rant forever on this topic, but I want this to be a learning experience for everyone, so let me give you a few tips that will improve your pitches and thus lead to more coverage for your clients.

• Show that you’ve taken the time to at least get to know each person a little. This means after you’ve put together your target list that you go out to each of their sites and online profiles and let them know why you are reaching out to them. Did they blog about a competitor? Do they write about your industry on a regular basis? Whatever the reason, let them know.
• Choose your words carefully. Try to avoid using things like Miss & Mrs. as some people don’t appreciate them. If you are reaching out to parents be sure to use that word. Too often these days I am getting pitched as a mom, but I’m a Dad. When in doubt go overly general.
• Get to the point as soon as possible because if I don’t know you then I’m going to scan and decide what action to take very quickly. Whenever possible put a link to what you want me to look at, review or interact with as up front as possible.
• Don’t be afraid to be overly direct in what you would like to get out of me, but always remain courteous. Consider saying something along the lines of “If you liked what you saw/heard/read please consider sharing this with your community.”
• If you are going to send an item for review, go the extra mile and upfront say that you will expect the blogger to disclose this when they post their review. This shows that you and your client has a certain level of integrity and goes a long way. Personally I’m big fan of using Cmp.ly for my disclosures.

Each one of us fights the demons of staying on top of our inbox daily and when it comes down to choosing between a pitch from a stranger and a note from a friend, the pitch will always lose.

Take my advice to heart the next time you begin telling the world about your client and I guarantee you that more people will read it then before. I promise you that I will. Feel free to e-mail me the next time I’m a match for one of your pitches.

CLICK HERE for the full post.

Writing a press release is by no means rocket science. Some might even call it an art. It definitely requires some know how and practice and above all, writing skills and creativity.  Still, we all make mistakes. The following are “The 8 Most Common Press Release Writing Mistakes” by Eric at DirJournal.com:

1. A boring headline

2. A misleading headline

3. Hype instead of facts

4. Lifeless quotes

5. Too much jargon

6. Ignoring SEO basics

7. Grammar errors

8. Rambling on for too long.

Pretty straight forward and self explanatory right? CLICK HERE if you’d like to read more.

SenditCertified recently partnered with Carahsoft Technology Corp., a trusted Government IT solutions provider, to offer clients solutions to the many challenges and risks surrounding sensitive information transfer in an online world.

Carahsoft will begin to proactively market and sell the SenditCertified Secure Communications Suite to key government agencies in February. The suite of offerings includes SenditCertified’s ultra-secure and easy-to-use communication software for sending, receiving and storing voice, video, text and files.

CLICK HERE to read more on their blog.

Cal Net Technology Group also entered a partnership with ShoreTel to deliver unified communications solutions to its roster of managed services clients. They will use ShoreTel exclusively for their VoIP services to more than 200 managed clients in a range of industries, including professional services, manufacturing, education, entertainment, banking and healthcare.

CLICK HERE to read the press release.

In the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake, Australia Luxe Collective, known throughout the world for its upscale, cutting-edge luxury boots, introduced the philanthropic STOMP campaign, which will feature a celebrity-signed boot auction through entertainment-clothing auctioneers Clothes Off Our Back. All proceeds will go to support the American Red Cross Haiti Relief Effort.

CLICK HERE to read more.

By now, most companies realize that social media marketing is essential for their business. The challenge is knowing where to start. The Internet is a vast web and one can easily get tangled up, wasting enormous amounts of time just trying to figure out where to begin.

Last month, Mashable.com released an article on “The 10 Stages of Social Media Business Integration.” It provides a great overall strategy to begin implementing … Here is a summary:

1. Observe and Report: “Listen” to what is being said on the Internet about your company, industry and competitors by using various tools such as Twitter Search and Google Alerts. Then create a brief executive report that provides an overall summary of what you observed.

2.  Setting the Stage + Dress Rehearsal: Create a few accounts or profiles on various social networks (i.e. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn) and begin posting and developing the accounts. Report back to your managers with an overall look at some of the metrics such as traffic, mentions and size of connections.

3. Socializing Media: Join the conversation. Be proactive and reactive and be sure to address any sort of issues or complaints anyone has about your company/products/services. Keep track of some metrics.

4. Finding a Voice and a Sense of Purpose: Take a step back to review activity and look at trends. Try to remain as relevant and focused by only participating where there is value. You don’t have to be everywhere at once.  Consider your goals and objectives and be strategic in your approach to achieving them. You don’t want to be shouting into darkness.

5. Turning Words Into Actions: It’s no longer enough to simply respond. You have to engage your audience and make them believe that they can connect with you and that you are there to listen and hep them. This way, they are more likely to respond during a call to action.

6. Humanizing the Brand and Defining the Experience: Once you know your audience, you have to ensure that your brand speaks directly to them.  Take a look at all of your online properties and consider how it speaks to your audience. Is the landing page static? Or does it continue to engage and drive interaction?

7. Community: It takes time to build a real community.  Reach out to those in your community you see as potential “ambassadors.” You are the leader and must pave the way for a vibrant & lively community.

8. Social Darwinism: When it comes to effective social media integration, you have to make sure that you’re well structured and committed internally as an organization.

9. The Socialization of Business Processes: Mashable says it best, “Multiple disciplines and departments will socialize, and the assembly or adaptation of infrastructure is required to streamline and manage social work-flow.”

10. Business Performance Metrics: As with anything you do, you will ultimately have to address performance metrics or ROI.  Unless you take the time to assess your efforts, you won’t know how to improve upon them and where to direct your attention.

CLICK HERE to read the full article.

Fitness and health expert, Jennifer Galardi, made another appearance recently. This time, on Better TV, part of Fitness Magazine’s “YOU CAN DO IT!” challenge which inspires readers to lose weight and get fit! Throughout January, Jennifer will be highlighting and demonstrating the workouts of the program with it’s creator, trainer Joe Masiello as the correspondent for Fitness Magazine. Every Friday, she will be bringing the popular articles and cutting edge workouts from Fitness Magazine to life with video on Better TV.

CLICK HERE to see the first episode!

Robert Weiss, founder and director of the Sexual Recovery Institute was also in front of the camera for E! News providing his expert opinion on the Tiger Woods scandal.

Meanwhile, Brandon Hance, founder and CEO of Audiolife.com, was recently featured on Under30CEO.com with his 2010 business resolution:

“In 2010, I commit to staying to true what inspired us to create Audiolife as well as having the guts to put myself out there as a leader for artists and musicians around the world. I want to focus on creating deeper relationships with our artists and their fans while educating them – and create some disruption in the industry – on Web-based alternatives to custom promotion, manufac­turing and distribution.”

It’s that time again to share what some of our clients have been up to:

Fitness expert, Jennifer Galardi, recently appeared on the Today Show to demonstrate a new and innovative fitness class.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Boxers and Ballerinas will be launching their kids dance workshop and showcase on February 2, 2010 at their Studio City location. Students will learn popular dance styles seen on shows like “Dancing with the Stars,” “So You Think You Can Dance,” “America’s Best Dance Crew,” and more from nationally renowned choreographers and TV dance stars.

CLICK HERE to read the press release.

Meanwhile, the Sexual Recovery Institute is in full swing with their Intensive Outpatient Programs for sex and porn addicts.  The low cost, highly effective, 10-day intensive provides a personalized program of daily individual therapy, group education and structured support.

CLICK HERE to learn more.

Eyetrack III posted some interesting findings from eye tracking studies in 2009. Remember that year? I personally didn’t stumble upon them until now and thought there must be tons of others out there like me who haven’t had an opportunity to read the study. I highly recommending clicking here and reading it in full, but the following is a summary by Darren Rowse at ProBlogger:

1. “Dominant headlines most often draw the eye first upon entering the page”
2. “Smaller type encourages focused viewing behavior…. larger type promotes lighter scanning”
3. “a headline has less than a second of a site visitor’s attention”
4. “For headlines — especially longer ones — it would appear that the first couple of words need to be real attention-grabbers”
5. “Navigation placed at the top of a homepage performed best”
6. “Shorter paragraphs performed better in Eyetrack III research than longer ones.”
7. “We found that ads in the top and left portions of a homepage received the most eye fixations”
8. “Size matters. Bigger ads had a better chance of being seen”
9. “Close proximity to popular editorial content really helped ads get seen”
10. “the bigger the image, the more time people took to look at it.”
11. “Our research also shows that clean, clear faces in images attract more eye fixations on homepages”

I came across an article today titled “2010: The Year Marketing Dies …” and immediately did a double take. What? Dies?! That can’t happen, I thought. What would I do? But melodrama aside, I was intrigued. The article was actually published on the Forrester blog so I figured there were going to be some valid and interesting points made. And of course, there were … particularly the following:

Of course, if marketing burns to the ground in 2010, a new and more powerful marketing will rise from the ashes.  The role of the new marketer:

• Won’t be simply to focus on outbound messaging but to consult with sales, customer service, and human resources on how the brand must be communicated in every consumer interaction, every tweet, and every touchpoint,
• Won’t be merely to imagine creative messages but to fashion programs that are seamless with the actual product and service experience,
• Won’t be to plan bursts of communication on a yearlong calendar but to respond to and be part of the ever-changing dialog with consumers,
• Won’t be to count friends, page visits, eyeballs, readers, or viewers but to measure changes in consumer attitude and intent,
• Won’t be merely to talk at consumers but to listen and engage one to one,
• Won’t be to build campaigns but relationships,
• Won’t be to create impressions but experiences, and
• Won’t be buy media but to earn it.

Now this made a lot more sense. I mean, after all, isn’t this what every social media marketer or “guru” was preaching and talking about in 2009? As always, though, it takes some time for things to fully materialize and catch on to a wider audience.  I don’t know if I would say that marketing is going to “die,” per se, but it will undoubtedly shed some of it’s old skin and be transformed in 2010. I’m personally looking forward to it!

CLICK HERE to read the full article.