Newest Piece of the Public Relations Puzzle: Self Publishing

8/27/09 -- I was out on the networking/cocktail party circuit last night, and the talk of the town when it comes to marketing and public relations is social media, social media and then let’s throw in some social media.

However, each person who I spoke to, and I had about a half dozen people bantering about ideas at any given time, had the same questions: Does it work? And will it work for my business?

Here’s my quick take: Social media is another way to expand your network of contacts and keep in touch with those same contacts, but it is also a powerful conduit to distribute your company’s own information. In my opinion, we are entering an era where one very important information distribution channel is what I’m calling “self publishing.” This is not to be confused with getting 20 copies of your own novel printed – that’s a completely different business.

What I’m suggesting is that aside from traditional marketing channels, we can also “publish” our news and information to our network of connections on LinkedIn, Twitter, FaceBook, you-name-it. By posting it on a blog, it becomes searchable to the rest of the world. And by distributing through inexpensive Web based “wire services,” you can often bypass traditional media and go directly to end users and consumers.

Back to the question: Does it work? And will it work for my business? We are seeing small-scale success here and there. Over time though, I believe the self-publishing channels will be a source of revenue for many companies.

--John


www.miamipublicrelations.com