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) (more…)

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.

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.

By: Lisa Buyer

Did you know 1 out of 8 couples married in the U.S. last year met via social media, according to our favorite site www.mashable.com. Talk about chemistry!

As an interactive PR agency, The Buyer Group says people need a reason to interact with you on social media. It’s kind of like building a little chemistry for that first kiss. If you can’t relate by being engaging, entertaining or humorous, not only will you get the awkward “turn-of-the-cheek move” on your date’s doorstep, but your efforts on Facebook and Twitter could be all for not.

This notion was backed by my recent trip to PubCon Las Vegas. I met Jennifer Laycock, editor of SearchEngineGuide.com: A small business guide to search marketing. As a PubCon panelist Laylock summed up how to successfully relate online.

Seven Tips to Build Relationships on Social Media

1.    Listen. Find out what makes customers happy, what they are saying and what changes you can make. Get personal insights on media or bloggers, and find a common point for interaction.

2.    Be romantic. Relationships require work and effort. Use Yelp or Google Reviews to identify loyal and passionate customers. Encourage and invite these customers to take part in your business through special offers.

3.    No sex on the first date. Long-term customer relationships don’t develop over night. Invest the time, and be confident that the “score” will come.

4.    Don’t pretend to be someone else. Be yourself. Insincerity is easy to recognize online.

5.    Make yourself available. You need to put yourself out there and find a way to interact with customers. Wallflowers won’t make the cut in social media. Interaction and conversations are key.

6.    Seek out the right match. The right connections may not be available through every social media channel.  Find out which sites your key publics frequent and engage with them there.  It is easier to connect with customers on their terms than trying to attract them to a new forum.

7.    Value the long-term relationship. Accomplish this by delivering value time and time again. It is far cheaper to keep a customer than to get a new customer, so give them reasons to come back.

So forget the cheesy pick-up lines and go for quality in social media interaction. The best relationships are those developed slow and steady.

Every social media user puts such great importance on building a large following on Twitter or group of Fans on Facebook. It definitely  is important  to connect with as many people as possible in both public relations and social media, however the strength of your connection is dependent on how well you know your audience.  Ask your followers questions about themselves. Gain a sense of who they are, and customize your responses to them based on their personal details.

Deerfield Beach, FL –October 15,2009– Wondering what your Tweets are worth? With Twitter’s new estimated value at $1 billion, there must be a very positive PR Tweetfactor. Lisa Buyer, president and CEO of The Buyer Group, joins Internet marketing experts in Las Vegas, November 10-13, at WebmasterWorld’s PubCon Internet Marketing Conference, highlighting the impact of social media on public relations.

Opening the conference as keynote speaker is Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh, who has made his mark as an early CEO adapter of Twitter as a PR tool. Zappos has become famous for its fanatical devotion to customer service, and Hsieh has proven the power of Twitter as a relationship-building tool.

“Tony has put Zappos at the forefront of the Twitter revolution within the CEO world,” Buyer said, “He’s been the CEO darling of Twitter and provides a perfect launching pad for the conference, which will be something to Tweet home about for sure.”

Incorporating social media tactics into everyday PR is The Buyer Group’s specialty. At PubCon, Buyer will delve into “the Twitter factor” and describe its power in a corporate public relations strategy. Buyer uses her own case studies as well interview results from other Twitter professionals who dish out the Tweets for PR and media purposes.

With over 15 years of business management and communications experience, Buyer understands the importance of engaging with customers in an online social sphere that encourages them to speak openly about brands.

“It is so incredibly important for companies to stay on top of the conversations surrounding their brands,” Buyer said. “Social media is opening the door for more people to broadcast their opinions than ever before in history. This change only adds to the responsibility of companies to actively engage with consumers and drive discussions that are mutually beneficial to both the public and their brands.”

Las Vegas PubCon 2009 will be held at the Las Vegas Convention Center, November 10 – 13, 2009. The event will include sessions on search, Web 2.0, net marketing, SEO/SEM, affiliates, domainers, video, and multimedia and is sponsored by bing.com and Raven Internet Marketing Tools.

For more information, join the conversation on Twitter by following @lisabuyer and @pubcon.

About Lisa Buyer
When it comes to relationships, Lisa Buyer believes the chemistry between search, social media and public relations is exponential. As the founder of three media companies and current CEO of The Buyer Group, Lisa is ambitious about the influence public relations has on Social Media, SEO/SEM and continues to share her innovative approach with clients, peers and associates. The Buyer Group is an interactive public relations and branding agency in South Florida that also offers consulting services for agencies transitioning from old school media to today’s best search engine strategies. The Buyer Group’s PR/SEO clients consist of public and private companies in the technology, real estate and health/beauty industries.

Lisa is a Certified Google Adword Professional, member of SEMPO, SFMIA and past Agency Management Roundtable. She also publishes a PR/SEO news blog in addition to her social media involvement and expertise. When it comes to interactive PR and corporate communication – Lisa believes Social Media, SEO/SEM should be part of the boardroom marketing mix.

About PubCon
PubCon is an educational conference and industry trade show produced by Webmaster World Inc. Specifically designed for internet professionals, the conference focuses on topics related to search engine marketing and optimization as well as website publishing and management.

In between friends and follows, I hope your summer is tweeting you well with a good mix of business and pleasure. We wanted to share with you The Buyer Group’s latest interactive line-up.

Friends: More than just titles, yes, we’ve got talent. Proven, measured, referenced and real! I’ve put together a trusted team of industry experts adding to The Buyer Group’s PR mix including investor relations, search pros, senior editors, social media elites, digital die-hards, and WOM (word of mouth) brand junkies.

Growth: Looks like I’m in the right industry. This week’s NYT said the PR industry will continue to grow at a steady pace. “Little growth is forecast to come from shrinking traditional media, instead, it will be drawn from areas like public relations.” Social media spending is expected to balloon to over $3.1 billion between now and 2014, while the trusted PR industry is predicted to lead all media growth according to this week’s New York Times article.

Speaking of social media, Interactive Producer Sarah Van Elzen and I host monthly social media webinars for clients like ShopToEarth @shoptoearth, a 80,000+ eco-friendly business network, as well as boating industry leaders Monterey Boats @monterey_boats.

Milestones: I welcome the latest addition to the client roster, RSource, a business services company specializing in revenue cycle management. In other words, they help collect debt and keep the cash flowing so you can focus on running your business. Healthcare, credit card companies and business leasing are the sweet spots for RSource. Follow them @RSourceNews.

Follows: I’m hitting the road next week to share all things search and social at @SESSanJose in California during August 10-14. I’ll be speaking on two panels: Using Search for Missing Persons and Using Twitter as a PR Tool. Stay tuned for an email from me with my full line up of sessions I’ll be attending. And, if you are in the mood for search, follow me through the conference @lisabuyer on Twitter.

Sidebar: TBG client Roy Oppenehiem @oplaw is hosting a free seminar tomorrow: “Should you Walk? Real Estate Workshop” if you or anyone you know needs advice on buying, selling or saving a home. Roy can help.

Hope you’re having a fabulous summer.

Lisa
P.S. Last but not least special thanks to our University of Florida summer intern Matt Innes @mattinnes who is now, all things social. We will be continuing to work with him virtually in the Fall as he returns to Gainesville for his last semester as a Gator.

Also, if you’re on Facebook, become a fan of The Buyer Group for current event schedules and blog posts.

A study released this week titled “Communications Industry Forecast” from the private equity firm Veronis Suhler Stevenson, indicates that despite all the bad news swirling about the media industry, it is expected to be the third-fastest-growing economic sector over the next five years, according to The New York Times article by Stephanie Clifford.

“Almost none of that growth is forecast to come from shrinking traditional media, however,” Clifford wrote. “Instead, it will be drawn from areas like word-of-mouth marketing and public relations (with a 9.2 percent compound annual growth rate from 2008 through 2013), branded entertainment (9.3 percent) and the Internet and mobile devices (10.2 percent).”