Hot topics that encourage magazine sales can help PR practitioners with proactive public relations outreach. How?  Knowing what readers want (and in turn what editors want) allows us to craft our pitches more effectively.  And serving as a resource to media outlets can help us effectively position our clients in front of the audiences they are trying to reach.

According to a recent Ad Age article, there are a few tried and true topics that can help to sell magazines.  Among them are: articles tackling the important issues of beach bodies (who has a great one and who doesn’t); the always popular “best of” installments; and updates on that which is the economic roller coaster.

As PR practitioners, we may not be able to offer up clients who can speak to who has the best beach body or how the economy affects international trading activities – but we can take this knowledge to use it for our own pitching purposes.  Whenever I do a Media Training 101 presentation, I like to show people which topics the media traditionally gravitates towards.

• Superlatives – first, most, biggest, best
• Information that ties into current events
• How a national trend/happening affects a local community
• New developments or breakthroughs
• How-to stories
• Unusual/unexpected events
• A story that offers compelling visuals (especially for TV)

And knowing this, we can counsel our clients on determining newsworthy topics.  What makes you pick up a magazine?  And how do you tie in what the media wants with your own outreach?

Love this article! Even though you can get a burger practically anywhere (in any town) these days, it seems that there is still demand for a “better burger” using quality ingredients – from the bun to everything in between.  And customers are willing to pay a premium to eat what they crave.

And here’s what Five Guys founder, Jerry Murrel says about the competition:

“If I were choose between opening in a town with 100 burger places and one with none, I’d go to the place with 100 burger places. People eat burgers in that town,” Murrell said. “I like being next to McDonald’s.”

It’s interesting to me that the competitive nature of the burger business inspires people to offer better products (and I would imagine probably better service, too) to capitalize on market share.

It might be a little bit of a stretch to equate burgers with PR services, but as I was reading this article I couldn’t help but think of my own industry, in my own community.

If you aren’t aware, Greenville, S.C. offers a lot of opportunity for PR professionals at all stages of their career – from a variety of advertising/marketing agencies to in-house PR departments, as well as a great freelance community.

And I love this.  I want to work alongside of people who are smart, creative and bring a different perspective to the table so I can constantly challenge myself to learn new things, ultimately allowing me to become better at what I do.

(Thanks to Jim Laseter at Laseter Business Coaching for sharing this article on LinkedIn.  I want to give credit where credit is due…He is always in tune with interesting features, quotes and tips to inspire business owners and entrepreneurs.)

O.K. Maybe not quite, but the song was in my head as I thought about writing this post.

Video has been incorporated into everyday activities across the board to tell compelling stories because, as Chris Brogan writes, it’s motivating to see a message come to life.  Just recently a local television reporter visited our office and told us that they were even being challenged to capture video of their own to share with their audiences.

It’s not like video is a new concept, but it was first an expensive technology enjoyed (and understood) by only a few – and requiring pricey equipment, an in-house studio and professional videographer.  Now that manufacturers are introducing video cameras that offer built-in software that allows users to easily edit video, this technology is becoming more mainstream – and more affordable.

We’ve recorded video at several special events for a few of our clients and have even challenged Caitlin to become aware of new ways to capture, edit and share video, essentially serving as our resident video guru.

So, my question to you is: How do you stay current with what video technology is available?

I’d also love to hear what video capabilities you’ve worked with and how you determine what level is needed for any given project.

Not too long ago, I asked Full Circle PR’s business coach (Jim Laseter in Charlotte, N.C. – someone whom I would recommend to anyone who is trying to keep a laser-beam focus on their business goals): How do business owners get through the tough times? They’ll eventually come – in some way, shape or form.  And even if we don’t know yet what that looks like, I wanted to know as business owners what Liza and I could do (if anything) to prepare beforehand.

Coach Jim’s reply: Resiliency. It’s the one thing all business owners must have.  He even wrote a blog post about it.

We never really know what is quite around the corner, do we?  Something wonderful or challenging can happen to us at any moment.  And I like the idea that having this characteristic can set us up for success no matter what.

Our friends upstairs at Brains on Fire have a pretty cool space with lots of items that are excellent conversation starters (the Bigfoot replica among one of them!).  And as I was walking by last week, I saw a new poster hanging above someone’s desk.  It simply read, “Keep Calm and Carry On.”

I love the simplicity in this powerful message.  And as I have had time to reflect on resilient people around me, it occurs to me that they are void of knee-jerk reactions and doom-and-gloom attitudes, yet keep forging on to achieve their goals.

What company, brand or business leader comes to mind when you think of the word “resilient?”  We’d love to know!

I was flipping through the latest issue of Forbes magazine, which just so happens to be its “The Celebrity 100” edition, where they rank celebrities based on a combination of income (solely from entertainment activities) and exposure.

At Full Circle PR, we are always challenging ourselves to provide a solid framework for measuring social media marketing activities for our clients.  For example, how does fostering dialog among online channels translate to audience engagement, thus creating loyal brand ambassadors?

I thought it would be interesting to share what data Forbes uses when rating the likes of Lady Gaga, Kobe Bryant and Taylor Swift:

The Celebrity 100:

• Earnings estimates for June 1, 2009 to June 1, 2010
• Social rank calculated using metrics, such as Facebook friends and fans, as well as Twitter followers
• Overall press mentions on Factiva
• The number of times a celebrity’s image appeared on the cover of 25 consumer magazines
• Web hits on Google Blog Search
• TV/radio mentions on LexisNexis

I think this information is a good reminder that in our own measurement activities, we can’t just rely on the number of eyeballs that see a particular message.  We also need to delve deeper and look at how a brand’s initiatives affects the company’s revenue stream, reaches new audience members and encourages behavioral change (like going to see a concert or purchasing a basketball jersey).  It’s certainly not going to be the same exact formula for every brand, but I think that as we continue this conversation, we will be able to share best practices among many experts in a variety of industries.

Have you found a great way to measure social media success?  We’d love to hear from you.