Social Media and Small Business

Social media outlets are rapidly becoming a "go to" tenet of many small business' marketing plans. In a world where major newspapers are filing for bankruptcy, and/or converting to online subscriptions, it is easy to see why sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, etc. are becoming more and more popular amongst corporate executives and marketing professionals worldwide. Social media allow us to network with hundreds, even thousands of like-minded professionals, potential customers, and other stakeholders with the click of a mouse and in a miniscule amount of time. For instance, as I continue to launch my small consultancy, emergent PR, I have used LinkedIn to reserve two vendors and two additons to my board of advisors in a span of two hours. It's amazing.

So, keeping with the times and with every other PR blogger out there, I must pose this question to you. How do you feel social media will continue to influence the practice of public relations within the next 5-10 years? I look forward to your responses.

Cheers,

Bryan Whitlock
Chief Creative Officer
Emergent PR

The video says it all...

As I'm sure most voters are aware, particularly McCain supporters, there were many PR stunts throughout the 2008 presidential election; some successful, and many complete failures. One of the most obvious PR blunders was McCain's act of calling off his campaign to return to Washington to work on a solution for the US financial crisis. I'm sure his campaign advisors thought this risk would pay off; a plan would be finalized, and McCain would return to his supporters as the "maverick" who puts "country first." However, McCain returned from Washington without a final consensus on the now infamous bailout package. Not only that, he alienated his republican base by showing support for a tax payer bailout of Wall Street once the specifics of the deal were made public. Let's not even delve into all the blunders from Governor Palin.

Believe it or not, I am a republican, and although not entirely satisfied with McCain's politics, I supported him throughout the election. First and foremost, I am a pr/marketing professional who remains frustrated with the misuse of pr strategy and irrational risks. Let the democratic dynasty begin...