The Buyer Group PR + SEO News

Search Marketing Conferences
PubCon – The search-marketing event of the year that fuels a surge of new energy and ideas for The Buyer Group each year. Looking forward to the PubCon in Austin, Texas.
Search Engine Strategies (SES) – A yearlong schedule of search marketing and commerce events for our online fix. Next stop SES New York March 23-26, 2009.

2008 was great in the world of conferences, where Lisa Buyer held a spot in the speaker’s lounge. Lisa shared the latest trends in online PR on session panels at both PubCon and SES along side the top the movers and shakers in search.

People in Search
Joe Laratro – one of the first 100 Google AdWords certified professional, SFIMA President and Pub-Con Advisor Board Member, this year Joe Laratro worked with The Buyer Group in merging online public relations with the SEO world.
Dana Todd – From SEMPO Chair to SES favorite speaker to Newsforce dynamo, Dana Todd is the personality and brains behind search marketing and was responsible for Lisa’s SES speaking debut.

When it comes to personalities in search marketing, Joe and Dana take the cake. Each were influential in helping shape The Buyer Group’s online public relations and branding position in the marketplace.

Blogs
Top Rank Blog– The intersection of digital PR, social and search engine marketing, Lee Odden’s blog is our 2008 all time fave to follow. We like Lee’s mix and his ability to be at every search conference on the planet.
SEOMOZ – Slightly more techie, but still on our Google home page is Rand Fishkin’s SEOMoz blog. We like his style and his social media conference presentations inspire us.
Scene in the Tropics by Lesley Abravanel – Looking for where to see and be scene on South Beach? Ask Lesley. She is the best celebrity and trend blogger for those who want to know.

Online PR Wire Services
MarketWire – Recently winning over The Buyer Group for its high ranking news search placement and SEO option
PRWeb – Always a favorite of The Buyer Group for its user-friendly interface and video option
Newsforce – The best and easiest PR optimizer on the planet along with the perfect way to get clients instant national headline news.

Research Web Sites
Google – Need we say more? We love Google Alerts to track brands, keywords and our online PR campaigns.
Wikipedia – The year of the wiki, 2008, when The Buyer Group posted its first wiki page

Inventions
Retail DNA Tests– 2008 invention of the year, as scene in Time Magazine

New Business
Shop to Earn/Shop to Earth – The Buyer Group’s newest online venture and client. This hybrid MLM and affiliate marketing business model is destined to be the largest shopping portal on the planet and will bring the average shopper a way to earn money back while also being eco-friendly.
Oppenheim Pilelsky Law – Family of entrepreneurs at it’s finest. Read on about The OppGuide and please take the time to vote.

Books
“Groundswell” by Charlene Li – New and improved Buyer Group Bible of 2008 underlines why social media is a natural with online public relations strategies.
“Breakthrough: Eight Steps to Wellness” – Suzanne Somers’ latest book that listed Buyer Group client as a source

Brands
Apple – Apple computers, iPods, iPhones and more.
W Hotels – “What is your wish?” the W Concierge asks

The Buyer Group is an online PR firm that prefers designer computers and boutique hotels, with an edge. Apple branded products help us work smart and be creative – so we have time to play at the W Hotels.

Best Use of Social Media
Change.gov – Obama’s presidential campaign couldn’t have been more successful as he rode the social media wave to victory.

Social Media Sites
Twitter – 2008’s Micro-blogging, social media site of champions. Familiar with the book, “Twitter Revolution” by Warren Whitlock? If not, pick it up for everything you need to know about communicating on twitter.
Facebook – Sent a martini to your friends Facebook yet? This social site is our 2008-networking favorite; it doubles as a corporate communication site as well.  Many of our clients have networking groups and fan pages on Facebook.
LinkedIn – Where professionals convene, drop recommendations, and share business contacts with each other.

Tweeters of the Year
Shannon Anderson – founder and president of babiesonline.com @queenofgeek
Tony Hsieh – CEO of online shoe giant Zappos.com @zappos

Escapes
Me Day Spa - The best mani/pedi on South Beach. Our monthly favorite escape.
Yoga South – Lunchtime workout? A must-have for The Buyer Group. Ohm.

Investment Banking
Infusion Capital’s Kelly McCarthy – Celebration, FL at its finest.

Online Tool
Google Analytics – The question of the century made to PR firms: How do you measure the success of your PR campaigns?  Easy Answer: The advent of Google Analytics let’s us measure the success of optimized press releases stats, social media facts and more.

Deerfield Beach, FL – October 31, 2008 – Hanging out online is not just for kids anymore. Customers are writing about products on blogs, reviewing businesses on Yelp, joining fan clubs on Facebook, and cutting up corporate commercials on YouTube in record numbers! It’s a social phenomenon – the groundswell – that is creating a permanent shift in the way the world works, plays, lives, and thinks.

As search engine savvy, online PR gurus, The Buyer Group knows the tactics that work best in this industry.

Published in 2008 by the leading company in online research, “Groundswell” is the number one recommended book by SEO/SEM professionals. Authors Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff, lead analysts at Forrester Research, define the social media groundswell as “a social trend in which people use technologies to get the things they need from each other rather than traditional institutions like corporations.”

With clients ranging from non-profit advisors to bioidentical hormone therapy physicians, The Buyer Group has mastered the channels of the groundswell. Whether you’re an online marketing newbie or a new era genius, “Groundswell” offers something for all.

“We recommend that each one of our prospects and clients take the time to read “Groundswell,” said Lisa Buyer, The Buyer Group President. “This is the most informative book available on the ins-and-outs of the social media revolution. A revolution that we are implementing now with our clients to augment their existing marketing strategies”

This “new era” of the groundswell is created by three trends: people’s desire to connect, new interactive technologies and online economics.

The numbers speak in volumes when it comes to social media growth:
• 25 percent of Americans report reading a blog regularly
• 44 percent participate in a social media network such as Facebook, MySpace or Twitter
• 132 million unique users can be found on Facebook, more than double since 2007
• 30 percent watch user generated video on sites such as YouTube
• 25 percent of online users read ratings and reviews
• 11 percent write ratings and reviews

“Groundswell” gives marketers a way to look at their audiences’ social media participation through social technographic tools, allowing them to see the profile of a target market including demographics and psychographics with a stong focus on technology behaviors. The social technographic profile divides individuals into these categories:
• Creators – These people publish blogs and Web sites, upload video, write, and post articles
• Critics – Post ratings/reviews, comment on other blogs, and contribute to online forums and articles
• Collectors – Use RSS, vote for Web sites, and mark or tag pages and photos
• Joiners – Maintain profiles on social networking sites, visit social networking sites
• Spectators – Read blogs, online forums, customer ratings, and watch videos. or listen to podcasts
• Inactives – none of these activities

Where do you fit in? Where do your customers fit in? Groundswell helps you profile your own customer with a free tool at http://www.forrester.com/Groundswell/profile_tool.html

“Groundswell has become the bible in our office lately, we use it as a reference point for ways to tap into the groundswell using public relations and social media strategies – strategies that must be added to your current marketing mix,” said Buyer.

The groundswell interacts in peculiar ways. No matter which angle the system maneuvers, three common denominators drive its force: people, technology, and economics. The first common factor is people. Throughout history, people have always depended on each other, rebelling against institutional power. Technology is the second force driving the groundswell, allowing people to communicate on new levels through the spread of social technologies. Finally, the third factor is as simple as online economics: on the Internet, traffic equals money.

Take the example of the movie, “Snakes on a Plane.” Word got out that the movie was in production and before long, “Snakes on a Plane” was owned by the Internet. Fans created t-shirts and started an unofficial blog called, “Snakes on a Blog.” The online visibility and community created around this blog attracted thousands of fans, who insisted on adding a line – a very popular line – to the movie. The producers, knowing they had to please their die-hard fans in order to succeed, changed the movie, added the line, and lost the film’s PG-13 rating in the process.

“If you can’t beat ‘em … join ‘em,” said Sarah Van Elzen, Interactive Producer at The Buyer Group. “The online world has shifted to a place where corporate brands are redefined by the public, distribution channels are modified, and relationships are built upon and retained. The best way to get ahead in this sector is to just join, learn, and reap the social media benefits.”

For more information about The Buyer Group and it’s interactive public relations programs contact Lisa Buyer at lbuyer@thebuyergroup.com. See what social media can do for your company.