It is a misperception in the PR business that the primary audience of an organization’s online newsroom is the news media.

Journalists and bloggers, alike, have learned that most traditional online newsrooms are little more than dusty repositories of old press releases, and not news and not helpful. Not surprisingly, most online newsrooms are seldom visited. Besides, that’s not how reporters find the material they need for stories … they usually turn to Google and find out what others are saying about you.

The objective of the digital model for online newsrooms developed by the team at The News Group Net LLC – of which I am a partner – is to make a company or organization the go-to online resource for balanced and legitimate news about its industry or business sector.

At the same time, it is a site that reflects stories, voices and news that appeals to the company’s most meaningful audiences – such as investors, the financial community, business partners, employees, customers, consumers, contractors and vendors … and then, maybe, the media.

In other words, we build online newsrooms – such as ISCNewsroom.com and LouisianaSugarNews.com, among others – that quickly become the most credible information resources about an industry as well as the company. In an era of media chaos and turmoil, we create sites for organization’s to showcase their own news, targeted to audiences that make a difference.

In the case of Imperial Sugar’s online newsroom, its popularity reflects a 181 percent growth in shareholder value. The site has become the highest rated site of any sugar company in the world, soaring to an Alexa.com ranking of 135,000 in the U.S. (among 12-million sites online). More than anything, Imperial Sugar’s online newsroom has significantly expanded the company’s brand awareness as a leader in the food industry.

When you achieve such transparency, credibility and openness, you get the news media’s attention. That’s how it works in today’s digital era.

I was speaking before a terrific group at George Washington University recently – Professor Steve Lawrence’s graduate level class on Media Relations. The focus was understanding social media. The students could easily be described as among the best of the best – White House staffers, current and former; rising stars at government agencies, NGOs and other organizations. Quick, intelligent, probing, curious individuals.

The class is comprised of professionals who really want to understand today’s media, and the nuance and subtleties of communications in the digital era. None worked for a communications agency, and when I asked, none indicated any interest in doing so. They were more interested in achieving significant results in today’s new world of communications. Steve, a veteran journalist, is among the best to point the direction.

One student, however, brought up a good question – how do you get social media experience. She cited, with amusement, a help-wanted ad from an organization that wanted to hire a social media expert with at least 10 years experience. We agreed that it would not be a meaningful place to work because today’s online social media has only been around a couple of years and continues to morph each day.

My advice for jumping in to learn social media is to start a personal blog. You need five things, and it will cost about $125 the first year … less in subsequent years:

1. Domain name or Web site address – Visit Godaddy.com to find something clever. The cost is about $10 a year.
2. Web hosting (this is your portal to the Internet) – I recommend ThisWebHost.com which will cost $3 a month.
3. Wordpress blog software – It is the most common blog software in the world and free. Click Wordpress.org.
4. Blog theme (the look and feel of your blog) – There are literally thousands of themes available for Wordpress. Just Google “Wordpress themes.” The best and easiest themes I’ve found are from Solostream.com. A good theme costs about $79.
5. Imagination and creativity – A winning blog is only limited by your own imagination and cleverness.

You need no technical or code skills to launch your own Wordpress blog but I recommend reading the blog start-up tutorial at Wordpress.org. The only tricky part is configuring a Wordpress blog database but the people at TheWebHost.com will help. Also check BlogStrategies.net for free advice on Wordpress blogs.

By the way, I suggest forgetting about free blog services, like Blogger and the free version of Wordpress. If you want to make an impression, be distinctive!

That’s it. Then, just start writing, posting photos and video and join the online conversation!

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal with Lonnie Champagne of Louisiana Sugar Refining, Alan Willits of Cargill and John Sheptor of Imperial Sugar Company posing for photos.

Event publicity is a tough business. There always seems to be something sexier, more appealing competing for the media’s attention. On top of that, resources of today’s mainstream media to cover stories is stretched by cutbacks and shrinking budgets.

So, what to do when a client asks for coverage of an event that’s to be held in a small town, 35 miles from any major media city?

The team at The News Group Net, of which I’m a partner, was recently given the assignment to handle news media coverage for a ground breaking event near New Orleans – a major, new cane sugar refinery is being built at Gramercy, La., along the Mississippi, 35 miles miles from both New Orleans and Baton Rouge. The sugar refinery will become the largest in North America.

TV photographer for WBRZ, Baton Rouge

Our clients included the groups that make up the joint venture – Imperial Sugar Company, Cargill and the Louisiana Sugar Growers.

But, we had another formidable problem, besides distance – the event was scheduled for February 3, in the middle of Super Bowl week as New Orleans Saints were getting ready for the big game. Media attention, understandably, was focused on the hometown team’s first trip to the Super Bowl.

Our first task was to find a compelling and legitimate news story angle to appeal to the media, and that part was easy – the sugar refinery, biggest in North America, would be an economic development engine for southern Louisiana, attracting as many as 500 construction jobs for starters.

Photographer for the New Orleans Times-Picayune

In this digital era of media, our focus turned to creating a content-rich media resource Web site which we got online in less than a day. We got lucky and registered a great domain name – LouisianaSugarNews.com. Credible-sounding and appropriate. This is important – the site’s sole purpose was to serve as a news media resource.

Working together with Nicole Riechert, an outstanding professional on Cargill’s corporate communications team, we drafted an advance media alert and specific news stories for the site. Ed Lallo of The News Group Net went on-location to shoot high resolution news photos and HD video.

No news releases were used because releases are really the antithesis of what today’s media wants … reporters want stories. We created no media kit because everything was online. Rather, we also put all high res photos and HD videos on USB “thumb” drives that we handed out to the media.

Reporters and photographers at ground breaking event

The traditional PR business … which is slow to embrace using the powerful tools of real news stories, authentic online news sites, photos and video … remains largely paralyzed in a kind of press release catatonic state, generating a blizzard of releases that the media no longer pays attention to.

We also avoided the paid news services – such as Vocus, Businesswire and PR Newswire – that lazy PR agencies persist in using even though they rarely achieve results. Instead, Hattie Horn of our team created a custom media list for southern Louisiana. Hattie is absolutely the best media relations pro at finding the media contacts that really count.

When our media alert first went out 10 days before the event, it resulted in a national Associated Press story, among other local stories. We know of a little secret about how to get AP coverage and bypass all competing PR hype.

The event on February 3 was … well, astonishingly successful. It was covered by 21 reporters and photographers from newspapers, TV stations and trade magazines. The New Orleans Times-Picayune ran a half page about the event in the Metro section the next day. One television news team fed the story to 17 TV stations throughout the state.

The News Group Net doesn’t do PR. We work with organizations to achieve substantial results through what we call Corporate Journalism … and, it is powerfully effective.

Social Media "Gurus"

Whether speaking before an audience and advising clients, I caution them to wary of today’s proliferation of self-anointed social media gurus. Don’t be taken-in by big talk, big claims. A lot of followers on Twitter does not an expert make.

Most such self-appointed gurus have questionable-to-no credentials … even those who were among the first on Twitter (possibly because they were unemployed) or those who have had other people write books on their behalf and are now on the lecture circuit. There’s often little behind the smoke and mirrors.

I’ve found that many social media gurus lack experience in communications or marketing, quite a few don’t have blogs (even those extol the virtues of blogging), and a simple search of Google reveals nothing about them to support their grandiose claims. They are, in my opinion, phonies.

At the core of social media is the essential need for established credentials in communications.

The New York journalist and writer BL Ochman and I seem to be on the same page. She recently wrote on her WhatsNext blog, “Self-Proclaimed Social Media Gurus on Twitter Multiplying Like Rabbits,” and I could not agree more. She’s given permission for me to re-post her findings:

In May 09 when we first used Tweepsearch to count of the Twitter bios of self-proclaimed social media gurus, experts, superstars and ninjas there were 4,487. A mere seven months later, we were shocked to see that there are now nearly 16.000. They are multiplying like rabbits.

Here’s a breakout (according to Tweepsearch) of the 15,740 self-proclaimed social media gurus we discovered in our most recent search:

As your company or agency scrambles to get up to speed on social media, it is wise to remember that “guru” is something someone else calls you. The consultants others are likely to call gurus:

• bring experience to the table;
• sell solutions, not formulas;
• don’t promise that social media will provide a quick fix for your bottom line.

Check out BL Ochman’s blog because she knows what she is talking about.

Imperial Sugar online newsroom - ISCNewsroom.com - powered by Wordpress

Ever since the dawn of what’s called Web 2.0 around 2004, a wide spectrum of exciting online tools have fueled an explosion in blogs, online sharing, web-based communities, social networks, streaming video and greater user control over online content. It’s all designed for better communication and connecting online.

The original and mostly static style of HTML Web sites has gone the way of the hula hoop. Today, blog technology rules, not only as the preferred “under the hood” software of an estimated 200 million blogs worldwide, but also to power countless online news outlets, social media sites and an exciting new generation of interactive online newsrooms, powered by the dynamic features of Wordpress (wordpress.org).

A primary objective of these newsrooms is to help manage the online conversation by becoming an active and primary exchange for news, information, stories, comment and sharing:

• News stories are written by working journalists in a concise, balanced and legitimate news style, free of sales pitches and self-promotion.
• Profiles of employees, executives and experts alike, are drafted as appealing features, giving personal insight and showing a distinctive human side to an organization.
• Photos, shot by accomplished photojournalists, are used widely and add rich dimension to online newsroom stories. Online photo galleries provide easy access to high resolution images by the media.
• Contact links instantly alert specific people assigned to media inquiries or questions from customers.
• Social media tools are built-in to each story to provide easy posting to Twitter, rating on Digg, emailing to a colleague or any number of social networking sites.
• Search engine optimization or SEO runs invisibly and automatically to ping or alert every search engine to new activity and stories and to boost the all-important ranking on major search engine pages.

The online newsroom of the Imperial Sugar Company, launched in May 2009, has become the most popular site in the global sugar industry. It was developed and is managed by the corporate journalists at News Group Net LLC.

This story is a feature in the January/February issue of IABC Communications World. Click here to download.

[Here's David Henderson's article in the January/February 2010 issue of IABC Communication World]

Strategic planning, storytelling and clear messages have always worked to point us forward.
They will do so in the digital era too.

Today’s digitally-driven information revolution is creating a new-world business matrix and model. Organizations large and small are finding they can simply bypass mainstream media to communicate their news, in their way, directly and effectively, to their publics. They can pick their media: Web sites, blogs, YouTube videos, and online sharing and social networking sites.

This communications tsunami is rolling our way and many of us are not sure what to do. We see the tide going out fast and far. But standing on the beach and waiting for it to roar back in is not an option.

So how do we get to high ground that’s well above the communications storm surge?

Let’s begin with the latest hot and sexy new trend in digital communications: social media. Today’s self-proclaimed disciples of social media preach about the need to get onboard the bandwagon, and wax rhapsodic about the features, functions and benefits of various technological bells and whistles.

But few possess the expertise to authentically exploit the medium by incorporating strategic planning or skillfully developed messages into this new communications juggernaut.

Even fewer extol the importance of telling an appealing story.

In communications, the tactical use of social media for social media’s sake can be terribly shallow and short-sighted.

This digital era is unquestionably the most exciting period of my career as a journalist and strategic communications advisor. But as an early adapter of online and blog technology, I believe it’s only going to work for us on a sustained basis when we stop long enough to embrace the core elements of effective strategic communications to drive any social media or online communications initiative.

Strategic planning, storytelling and clarity of messages have always worked like a beacon to point us forward. They will do so in the digital era, too.

Today’s online social media is just another in a long line of tactical communications delivery tools that stretches back to storytelling around the tribal fire, epic poems, parchment, books, postal mail, the fax machine and email. In fact, think back to when email first hit the big time. Pundits predicted world-shaking possibilities. Nobody predicted spam.

Brooke Gladstone of National Public Radio’s “On the Media” program says, “Journalists are taught to talk and write in human terms. Tell me a story.” We are all part of a storytelling culture in America. It’s been that way forever, and it’s no different in countries, cultures and communities around the world. We share infinite variety of stories about the human experience, and often the best stories are repeated over and over.

Even though an opportunity often missed by a PR industry seemingly obsessed with traditional press releases and predictable promotions, the use of storytelling cuts through competitive clutter far more effectively and with greater influence than anything else in an organization’s marketing or PR arsenal. It gets to the heart of what’s special about your organization and what you have to say.

My colleague Anne Bell at PBS NewsHour says it best: “A great story has legs that in today’s world can travel many miles per hour.” Consider how a great story can sprint the globe today in a nanosecond.

We are living in a communications world where new and not-so-new tools collide, merge and morph, all with the intent to better connect with audiences. To do that, we must use all these advanced technologies to do something ancient: tell stories that people want to hear and be motivated to share.

How do we make it work to break old habits, take advantage of new technologies, tell good stories and reach jaded audiences? How about relooking at the concept of an online newsroom?

Online Newsroom: No Longer Hiding in Plain Sight

In a demonstration of true counter-intuition, the typical online newsroom is usually the last place any self-respecting reporter or site visitor wants to go. Traffic numbers confirm it. It’s typically lifeless, dull, and more like the burial spot for press releases, speeches and legal-sounding statements than a relevant, active spot for timely, hot and meaningful news. Some newsrooms even require a journalist to fill out an online form and then wait for a response, which may take hours for approval … if ever. While it may be convenient for internal communications people, such a procedure can cause delay and frustration for a reporter on deadline.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.

A lively online newsroom can be the perfect place for a smart company to strategically position its expertise and experience prominently online; to be clearly heard and stand out in all the right ways; and to manage the conversation around its image and reputation in timely and relevant ways.

The hard part is expressing a corporate voice above the noise of the marketplace, where often people much less qualified — but far more vocal — shout out their opinions into mainstream and online social media. The sheer speed, volume and rapid dissemination of information — right or wrong — can inundate communications and sway public opinion.

To have a meaningful conversation online, a company needs to do the following:

• Articulate clear points of view on the things that it cares about the most.
• Identify its own compelling voices of experts and champions — in and outside the organization — to tell compelling stories to advance its case and strengthen its market position.
• Create ever-evolving public platforms and forums where it can consistently and frequently showcase its views, along with other respected industry experts and thought leaders.
• Support and complement the organization’s overarching strategic initiatives.
• Create a forum for openly sharing comments, generating a conversation and listening.

It’s a bold step for any organization to cast aside old tactics, like press releases, to get attention. That’s why it’s essential for a company to take charge of telling its own stories with appeal and credibility to its audiences. For starters, a company or organization must avoid the compulsion to sell or promote, because it no longer works in the online environment.

For example, the Los Angeles Kings hockey club didn’t believe it was getting enough coverage in the dwindling local mainstream newspapers. As a result, the team’s owner decided to launch an online news blog, LAKingsInsider.com, and hired a seasoned sports reporter, Rich Hammond, to write stories. The spotlight of attention quickly shifted to the Kings when both The New York Times and National Public Radio did stories about this new approach to making news in the digital era.

A company must also realize that its “Googleability,” and the news that appears about it on page one of any search engine, will help drive its perceived believability.

That’s one of the reasons why the team at The News Group Net LLC (of which I’m a founding partner), developed a groundbreaking online newsroom for the Imperial Sugar Company (ISC). The goal: focus on delivering legitimate and timely news about the company and the global sugar industry.

Case in point: When an explosion and resulting fires temporarily closed Imperial Sugar Company’s large sugar refinery at Port Wentworth, Georgia, in February 2008, many news stories and images of the incident appeared in mainstream and online media, including at Google and other search engines. Those reports about fire, death and tragedy continued to show up on the first pages of search engines for months, even though much of the information was sorely outdated.

The online newsroom went online in June 2009, and delivered the latest news about Imperial Sugar Company rebuilding its refinery, resumption of sugar production, business expansion and other relevant stories about business and community involvement. By positioning Imperial Sugar Company as an authoritative voice in the sugar industry, the Google headlines gradually moved from disaster-related stories to more positive news about employees, products, customers, business partners and industry analysts.

It took a few months, but the result is the most popular online site in the sugar industry and has dramatically improved the company’s image and reputation with employees, investors and the marketplace.

It worked … and continues to works today … because the stories are what people want to read and to share.

Incidentally, both LAKingsInsider.com and ISCNewsroom.com are online newsrooms built on blog-turned-news-delivery technology … just like the news sites of NYTimes.com, WSJ.com and PEOPLE.com.

It’s About the Bedrock of Strategic Communications

So, let me pull this together … Storytelling conveys personality that everyone can identify with, and it can lead to transformational leadership that energizes all levels and corners of an organization. Used in the online environment, storytelling can reflect passion, uniqueness and immediateness.

The discipline of storytelling used with a dynamic, interactive online newsroom can energize (or reenergize) any business or organization. It becomes woven into the fabric, stimulates excitement and understanding of vision, builds consensus of purpose, and triggers sharing far and wide.

In today’s online world, the influence and payoff of good corporate storytelling can be staggeringly powerful.

One great, timely story on an active and credible corporate newsroom smoothly cuts across all boundaries to achieve a common purpose in an organization’s daily conversations:

• Shareholder/financial communications
• Internal communications
• Web sites, blogs, social media
• Media relations and external relations
• Government and regulator relations
• New business development

People like to share good news, so give them a story that they will get excited about and tell someone else. Increased media coverage, enhanced word of mouth and greater awareness all build exponentially from a great story that is carried by many legs.

Stories are the bedrock of interaction, building blocks of knowledge, the foundation of memory and learning. Stories connect us with our humanness and link past, present and future by teaching us to anticipate the possible consequences of our actions. Stories help define what is authentically special about something or someone.

Propelled by today’s engaging digital communications tools, a good story will be carried — credibly and influentially — by many voices and travel many, many miles.