The Buyer Group PR + SEO News

The press release is now the tweet, the post, and the status update, according to Lisa Buyer, President and CEO of The Buyer Group.

Social Media is changing the way public relations, search and marketing are being executed whether you’re releasing a soon-to-be New York Times Best Seller or launching an innovative new product.

Buyer was recently published on ClickZ.com as she described how social media has added to the public relations and marketing mix for Gretchen Rubin’s best selling book “The Happiness Project” and Piper Aircrafts latest entry-level airplane.

Check out the full article for Buyer’s analysis of these cases or hear her speak at SES NEW York, March 22-26, at the Hilton New York.

By: Matt Innes

Tiger Woods didn’t turn himself into the first athlete to earn $1 billion without proving he was capable of dramatic comebacks and improbable victories.

As news continues to swirl in the aftermath of Woods’ public apology, fans and sponsors keep dropping like the PGA Tour’s television ratings, causing many to question Tiger’s strategy for mending his reputation and repairing his image.

I have speculated Tiger’s current spokesman and communications advisor, former head of public relations at the oft media maligned Augusta National Golf Course Glenn Greenspan, has contributed to his head in the sand communications approach. (Stay tuned for more on Glenn “No Comment” Greenspan next week) Read the rest of this entry »

Rock the vote! Voting is underway for The Sun-Sentinel’s Best of Blogs Awards and Oppenheim Law’s South Florida Law Blog received a nomination in the Business Blog Category.

The South Florida Law Blog is committed to bringing timely news and advice to it’s readers as they work together to survive this treacherous real estate market.

You can vote once a day for your favorite blog (Hopefully The South Florida Law Blog!) after registering for a free Sun-Sentinel account here. Voting ends March 1^st.

Oppenheim Law and The Buyer Group appreciate your continued support, feedback and comments and look forward to bringing you the latest and greatest in Florida foreclosure defense and real estate trends.

Feel free to leave your own thoughts in the comments section, or join the conversation online with @thebuyergroup or @oplaw.

As millions worldwide watched a stoic, unfamiliar Tiger Woods admit wrongdoing and attempt to repair an image shattered by secrecy and sex, reactions on Twitter were as diverse and polarizing as Tiger’s mistresses. Much has been made about Tiger’s public relations response, or lack thereof, since the golf icon’s single car crash in November and stories of infidelity flooded the news.

Today, The Buyer Group was monitoring the public’s reaction online and has compiled a collection of Tweets. Feel free to leave your own thoughts in the comments section, or join the conversation online with @thebuyergroup or @mattinnes Read the rest of this entry »

Lisa Buyer delivers online PR insight + shares how businesses can leverage the powerful reach of social media to increase sales, generate leads and improve customer service at the industry’s top seminars, webinars and conferences

The Buyer Group is more than interactive when it comes to industry conferences and dedicated to leading the pack with social media, online public relations and search engine marketing trends. During the past year, the communications industry witnessed unprecedented growth in social media, with social networking sites accounting for more than 11 percent of total time spent online.

Lisa Buyer, president and CEO of The Buyer Group, helps clients and public relations professionals stay ahead of the social media curve.

“One of our goals at The Buyer Group is to define the current digital marketing and PR landscape,” Buyer said. “Speaking at a variety of conferences, workshops and seminars affords our agency the opportunity to share cutting-edge social media and public relations practices with clients, CEOs and communications professionals.”

Below is a list of 2010 social media, PR and SEO events The Buyer Group is scheduled to participate in.

ShopToEarth’s The Next Step

The Buyer Group is the official online PR and social media agency for ShopToEarth, an online shopping portal. The Buyer Group launched the eco-friendly e-commerce business venture’s new social media channels and unveiled ShopToEarth’s 2010 Mission Video in January.

ShopToEarth Monthly Social Media for Business Training

Designing monthly social media training webinars focused on using networks like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, The Buyer Group’s Lisa Buyer hosts the network’s monthly social media training webinar on the second Thursday of each month.

Search Engine Strategies: New York

Lisa Buyer will join approximately 5,000 marketers and search engine optimization professionals attending SES New York each year to network and learn about topics such as PPC management, keyword research, SEO, social media, local, mobile, link building, duplicate content, multiple site issues, video optimization, site optimization, usability and more.

SES New York will be packed with 70+ sessions, multiple keynotes, 100+ exhibitors, networking events and parties.

News Search Optimization + Search, PR and the Social Butterfly

Moderating two panels in two days is just the beginning of The Buyer Group’s 2010 conference schedule. Join Lisa Buyer as she shares how to take social media to the boardroom and use press releases to tap into the power of news search.

Event Details: Wednesday, March 24^th – 2:15 p.m. and Thursday, March 25^th – 4 p.m. at the Hilton New York. Full agenda and registration information here.

PubCon Dallas: Social Media, PR + Search

Starting where other conferences leave off, The Buyer Group will be presenting on the intersection on public relations and search through social media at PubCon Dallas 2010.

Event Details: April 13 – 15, 2010 Dallas Texas Full agenda and registration information here.

Also on The Buyer Group’s conference list for 2010:

SES San Francisco – August 16-20, 2010 The Moscone Center

PubCon Las Vegas – November 8 – 11, 2010 Las Vegas Convention Center

SES Chicago – Fall 2010, dates to be scheduled.

The Buyer Group is available for custom client webinars or live presentations designed to teach your in-house team how to be social media savvy and maximize the direct and indirect benefits of social media.

Websites, blogs, texting and social media are serving as a viral PR and marketing platform for the recent Haiti disaster relief efforts.

The Red Cross texting campaign went viral through social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, and donations for Haiti alone have already doubled the $4 million that was donated to all charities by mobile texts in all of 2009.

Think about how you can use your own website, blog or social media network to spread the word and make it easy for people to access ways to donate. If you haven’t already done so, think of these possibilities for your business to help Haiti.

• Create a banner add on your website linking to your favorite organization that is helping Haiti. Here’s one. http://www.redcross.org/psa/bannerorder/all/singular.asp
• Add Tweets to your Twitter broadcasts linking to an organization such as the Red Cross
• Post info on your Facebook
• Add a link to your  email signature
• Donate some time to helping locally

For example help a local Red Cross chapter. My sister’s restaurant La Gondola donated food to the Chicago Red Cross on Friday via @PrSarahEvans Tweet media push. Evans spent the day on location with the Red Cross Tweeting and pitching in to help spread the social good. You can too.

The Buyer Group will continue to donate time and a portion of sales to the Clinton Bush Haiti Relief Fund as well as ShopToEarth’s partner Charity Water.

What can you do? Get creative! Below is a list of some ways the media and social media are spreading the word:

1. The Huffington Post has an ongoing list of relief efforts and how you can get involved that it is going to continue updating. Check it out here.

2. CNN has compiled a list of organizations that will be providing support to the estimated 3 million people that have been affected by the earthquake.

3. Many people are engaging the Twitter community to raise awareness, as well as funds. Search “Haiti” and see what the latest updates are.

Unprecedented damage and destruction on the island nation of Haiti has been met by an extraordinary fund raising effort through the Internet and social media.

Aid workers began updating followers on Facebook and Twitter within minutes of the 7.0 earthquake striking Port-au-Prince on January 12.

The Red Cross alone has raised over $8 million through their “Text Haiti” campaign that allows cell phone users to donate $10 via text message.

The Buyer Group has compiled a list of ways social media is contributing to the relief efforts in Haiti.

@RedCross has been providing updates and requests for assistance through Twitter. They announced yesterday that more than $35 million has already been donated in support of the people in Haiti.

@PRsarahevans is volunteering @ChicagoRedCross. Follow her on Twitter for live updates, video and more.

@wyclef Wyclef Jean tweeted a message to his almost 1.4 million followers: “Please text ‘Yéle’ to 501501 to donate $5 to Yéle Haiti. Your money will help with relief efforts. They need our help.” His followers have responded by donating nearly $1 million since Tuesday.

@decappeal is the Disasters Emergency Committee, a group that coordinates efforts by United Kingdom charities. The DEC has seen its followers double in Twitter following the quake and is expecting “astronomically higher” donations because of their increased Web presence.

@whitehouse Even President Obama is using social media as a fundraising source. The White House issued a video update Thursday afternoon and has designed a graphic for bloggers and Web sites to post on their pages.

@cbhaitifund At the request of the White House, President Clinton and President Bush are also partnering in the efforts to help the Haitian people reclaim their country and rebuild their lives through the creation of the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund.

Within moments of stepping into the Zappos headquarters in Las Vegas, it was easy to see the buzz CEO Tony Hsieh is generating by his company’s unique corporate culture is no fluke.

Employees ring cowbells and blow horns to greet guests, conference rooms are extravagantly themed, and Hsieh, one of the youngest and most successful CEOs out there, works from a cubicle that looks like it came straight out of a frat house. Sounds fun doesn’t it?

Check out my Behind the Scenes Zappos Album on Facebook

But the beauty of this zany atmosphere is there is so much more to this strategic culture than fun. It works. Period. See for yourself how Zappos turns happiness into powerful results.

Hsieh has proven that allowing employees to express themselves and in turn, truly connect with customers, fosters the perfect environment for relationships to develop.

As a public relations CEO for The Buyer Group, I look for ways to initiate and advance relationships on a day-to-day basis, and there is certainly a lesson to be learned from the way Zappos does business. Zappos and Hsieh proved to be my inspiration for 2010. I hope these pictures help bring a little fun to your New Year as well.

As 2009 comes to a close, Jeff Zbar of The South Florida Business Journal caught up with several marketing executives in the Sunshine State to see what they are wishing for in the New Year.

Lisa Buyer, President and CEO of The Buyer Group is hoping for some Google grace for her public relations clients and even more success bringing together the domains of social media and search engines.

Keep reading to see Lisa’s thoughts on client trust as well as which executive is wishing to land Tiger Woods as a client.

Happy New Year from The Buyer Group!

Marketing executives hope for success in the new year
South Florida Business Journal – by Jeff Zbar

“What I want for the holidays is … to have more successful clients,” admitted Gary Schweikhart of PR-BS, in Boca Raton. “The better they do financially, the less likely it is that PR will get the budget ax in a tight economy.”

The grace of Google to find her clients’ releases, and greater acceptance and understanding of that place where social media and PR converge were Lisa Buyer’s wishes. The more they get it, the greater the chance for return on investment from a social media PR campaign.

While they’re at it, a little hands-off trust would be nice, too.

“Let go,” said Buyer, principal with The Buyer Group, a Deerfield Beach-based interactive PR and branding firm. “I would like the control freaks and micromanaging type of clients to consider letting go and trusting who they hire.”

You can check out the entire SFBJ article here.

It was 4:30 p.m. on Thanksgiving eve and Florida Real Estate Attorney Roy Oppenheim was in his office regrouping for a long weekend. Meanwhile, Wall Street Journal reporter James Bob Hagarty was working on a story about homeowners who are creating their own bailouts, the coined name “strategic defaults.”

Hagarty searched the various Internet sites and came across some of Oppenheim’s past media coverage. The real estate reporter called Oppenheim and interviewed him about what a homeowner should know before they stop paying the mortgage: a tough decision and one that Oppenheim helps his clients make each day.

It’s a fact: 91% of journalists use standard search to fulfill a component of their job whether researching a story or locating a subject matter expert. Traditional PR efforts combined with savvy optimization will increase your on-line visibility.

Read the full story Debtor’s Dilemma: Pay the Mortgage or Walk Away on the Oppenheim Law News Room or in today’s Wall Street Journal on page A22.

Follow @JamesRHagarty on Twitter for more excellent reporting from The Wall Street Journal

http://twitter.com/JamesRHagerty