The Buyer Group PR + SEO News

The Buyer Group Votes for Wendi Oppenheim

Fort Lauderdale, FL – December 11, 2008 – Who said today’s youth isn’t ambitious? Social entrepreneur Wendi Oppenheim, 16, is leading a community service revolution in South Florida with The Opp-Guide – and its Web site (http://www.opp-guide.com/) is the only Florida finalist in the Best Buy @15 Challenge, an initiative to encourage teens to get involved in their communities.

Rock the Vote for The Opp-Guide at http://www.genv.net/bestbuy or text BBYV24 to 32075.

Comparable to Zagat or Yelp, The Opp-Guide is a non-profit organization where teens submit reviews of their volunteer experiences with local nonprofits and charities. As a finalist, The Opp-Guide could win $10,000 in grant funds.

“In the current economy, it’s more important than ever to give back to your community,” said Opp-Guide President, Oppenheim. “Young people need to know the true satisfaction of giving their time to people in need. We want to expand beyond South Florida and also build a Spanish version of our site – but we need your vote to win this contest and fund our vision.”

The Best Buy @15 Challenge features socially responsible programs designed by 30 young social entrepreneurs from around the country, and Oppenheim is the only runner-up in Florida. There will be 15 winners in this competition. All winners are determined by the number of votes they receive via the contest Web site or text messages. Voters can register to win a free iPod shuffle and $500 to donate to their school or favorite nonprofit when they simply cast a vote.

The Opp-Guide has proven an innovative way to get teens involved in community service by helping them pinpoint opportunities that tap into their passion and skills. Opp-Guide users have submitted reviews on organizations ranging from Operation Smile to local dog parks. The user-generated content aspect of the site lets teens get real about community service experiences.

About The Opp-Guide
The Opp-Guide to Community Service in Broward County was designed to help teens find community service ideas based on their interests. Providing reviews of various community service organizations in greater Fort Lauderdale, FL, The Opp-Guide is written specifically by teens for teens.  The reviews are honest, candid and help fill the missing link between actually enjoying volunteering and only being there for the credit.

For more information visit: http://www.opp-guide.com/

Will Obama implement the same groundswell tactics that aided him to victory in his government? Josh Bernoff, social media expert and author of New York Times Bestseller, “Groundswell” seems to think so…

Bernoff is a Forrester Research analyst and blogger who calls on Obama to create “a community of committed Americans to discuss the solutions to the problems that face us.”

After the stunning Internet strategy Obama used to secure the presidency, harnessing the groundswell to govern is certainly a logical next step. Obama’s revolutionary social networking site, mybarackobama.com (MyBo), engaged hundreds of thousands of voters and supporters in an unprecedented fashion. Designed by Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes, MyBo’s contribution is described as “maximizing group collaboration, while acting as a gateway for millions of ordinary Americans to participate in the political process.”

MyBo was just one factor in Obama’s groundswell efforts. Through the use of social networking sites including Facebook pages and Twitter updates, Obama was able to rise above the press in a proactive way. By giving supporters and “naysayers” alike, direct access to his campaign via the Web, Obama achieved online PR goal “numero uno”: Positive messaging given directly to the target audience, no message clutter in sight.

Now that’s good PR.

*UPDATE!* 10.7.08: It seems we were correct in our assessment of President-Elect Obama’s commitment to harnessing the groundswell to help him govern a new America. Visit www.change.gov to see social media in action, changing the government one blog at a time. Also, guess who’s the most popular Twitter user? Yes, President Obama.

by Nicole Balistreri

It’s a Social Media Revolution!

Social media is poised on the brink of a new revolution. Google recently filed a patent application for it’s newest proprietary technology that determines the biggest influencers on the web.

So, it’s like high school except instead of boyfriend stealing and homecoming queens, this popularity contest helps determine how to place ads and brand-related applications with more targeted accuracy than ever before.

For those of us in the online PR world, that means more valuable opportunities to place our client’s brand and messaging on pages that are undoubtedly visited/run by the biggest influencers online.

Better ROI anyone? Yes please.

So far, Google has remained pretty mum on the subject, declining to be interviewed for Business Week’s article on the topic. However, we do know it’s based on the same principles as Google PageRank; that coveted number that tells us how popular our client’s pages are in a group of online search results.

Google’s social media ranking has the potential to be more valuable to online PR than PageRank could ever be. Just imagine, finding your best online brand advocates – and talking only to them. It’s an online PR and social media dream!

When an optimized press release generates online news and captures traditional media coverage, it’s a good thing. The Buyer Group netted the most coveted goal in online PR this month: delivering positive media coverage for clients.

Luxury clients Me Day Spa, Colorado Mountain Estates, and Dr. Paul Wigoda got more than an ego boost this week while featured in major media outlets around the country. Leads, Web site visitors, and third party exposure are just a few of the bonuses when working with The Buyer Group.

To accomplish varied client online PR goals, The Buyer Group utilizes a mix of traditional PR outreach, online PR, social media, and blogging. This combination forms a synergistic mix that appeals to online and traditional media alike, while encouraging direct consumer brand interaction.

In the news this week:

• Me Day Spa and Dr. Paul Wigoda – Profiled online and in print by the Miami Herald and South Florida lifestyle TV program “Deco Drive”
• Colorado Mountain Estates – Profiled online and in print by The New York Times

Client roster update:
The Buyer Group welcomes Southern Specialties, leaders in premium produce and Shop to Earn/Shop to Earth, the fastest growing online shopping portal in the world.