Fake Plastic Noodles

3 July, 2009

A refresher on ‘how to pitch bloggers’

Posted by Melanie Seasons under PR Resources | Tags: Bloggers, building blog media lists, digital pr, How to Pitch Bloggers, online pr, pitching |
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I had a bit of a breather tonight, so I spent about an hour going through my old ’starred’ e-mails on Gmail, and you know what? I am a bad person. I had at least 10 pitch/introduction e-mails in there from the last month that I meant to follow up on and never did. This, of course, makes me a giant hypocrite considering I send and manage the sending of these very types of e-mails and am disappointed when people I think will write back, never do.

So I’m going to apologise. Yes, other PR people of the world – I’m sorry for not answering you back. I promise to do better next time.

However, in my own defense, most of the pitches weren’t great, which is why I forgot about them in the first place. That’s why it’s never too late for a bit of a ‘blog pitching basics’ refreshment post…

Don’t pretend to have read a blog if you haven’t actually read the blog
Using completely generic statements (’love your insight, love your blog’, for example) is really tacky. Personalise.
It’s rude to ask a blogger outright to post something or tell a blogger you’d like him or her to put a link on their sites to your client/company/product.
It’s also uncouth to ask a blogger to plug one of their professional competitors, i.e. pitching a Microsoft employee on an Apple product
Understand what the blogger covers before pitching. You don’t have to read every post from the beginning, but at least read the About page. I’m constantly amazed at how many people don’t seem to do this.
If a blogger doesn’t return your e-mail but you know that your request is relevant and something you truly believe they would be interested in, find a different platform to connect on like Twitter.
Have a think about why the blogger didn’t e-mail you back. It’s probably because the pitch didn’t grab them right away. Find a different angle or ask for advice on how you can make it work for them.

There are so many resources out there for ‘how to pitch bloggers‘, but with the increase in pitches I’ve seen over the last couple months, I’m not sure those posts are being used to their full effect.

24 June, 2009

Breaking news from the Press Gazette

Posted by Melanie Seasons under I have no words | Tags: Facebook, New Tool, Press Gazette, Shoddy journalism, WTF |
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This article was published in May. 2009.

On a page the highlight both New Media and the Best of Press Gazette. Think about that for a sec…

I’m still baffled as to how that article got by an editor. Unless said editor has a time machine and is living back in 2002.

*Sent along by my colleague Ian

18 June, 2009

Introducing om nom London

Posted by Melanie Seasons under Blogging, Food | Tags: london food blog, om nom london, omnomlondon |
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Further to my last post about online identity, I’ve decided to start a new one. Yes, after months of thinking about it, I am now the proud editor of om nom London, the city’s newest food blog.

om nom london omnomlond melanie seasons

I’ve decided to do this for a couple reasons, which I’ve outlined on my About page. Deep down I always felt that every time I talked about food or food events on this blog, it just didn’t fit. I wanted to have a real place for it all to live, and despite the name of this blog, it just didn’t seem to work anywhere. The only other option was to begin anew.

So, head on over to om nom London, and live vicariously through my gastronomic adventures. Remember to subscribe as well! And if anyone needs a dining partner, I’m game.

16 June, 2009

What is your online identity?

Posted by Melanie Seasons under Blogging
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Working in online PR, I’ve been able to meet a lot of fantastic bloggers in many different online communities – so much so that I’ve often considered branching out. I’ve already done that a little but with my Tumblr blog, which is generally more for my friends and family back home. I wanted to give them a bit more insight as to what my life is like over here. It works – I get to show off a bit more of who I am and not have to bore them about PR.

On this blog, however, I find it’s a lot harder to maintain a single identity. I’ve been called a PR blogger, a social media blogger, a pseudo-London blogger, online trend blogger with a penchant for taking pictures of food, etc. I’m not entirely sure which hat to wear.

I would have thought this would be a common problem, but to be honest I’m not sure it is. People tend to stick to their communities, which is all fine and dandy if you find yourself part of one, but as I alluded to before, I’m not all together comfortable with that.

So for someone with a blog identity crisis, there are a couple options.

Say screw it and write what you want
Start a blog per category

The first option runs the risk of alienating a certain audience, and the second runs the risk of spreading one’s time too thin.

However, despite the time commitment, I’m leaning toward the latter. Not that there can’t be any overlap on a blog, but keeping your audience engaged is rule no. 1 of blogging. Straying too far from your main topic will put people off.

What do you think? Do you have more than one blog or do you prefer to keep your thoughts in one place?

8 June, 2009

Belgo Lobsterfest, shoes and cake

Posted by Melanie Seasons under blogs
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Thai Red Curry Lobster from Belgo

For those needing a break from PR, I have a new post over at the Wiffens of some of my new favourite things. Check it.

1. Lobsterfest at Belgo for all of June

2. Cake for one you can make in a microwave

3. Shoes that come out of a vending machine

8 June, 2009

Tube strike means Zipcar strikes into action

Posted by Melanie Seasons under Advice
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Got a very timely e-mail message from Zipcar today. For those who don’t know, there may be a tube strike tomorrow and Wednesday, which will upset millions of commuters all over London (except for me because I walk. Exercise FTW). Assuming the strike is still on, they’re holding a promotion where if you rent a Zipcar, they’ll pay for your parking.

We all know how much I love Zipcar for giving me my first driving experience in London, so I figured I’d pass it on….

It makes sense in this city of ours to hop on the tube to work and
back again. It’s fast, convenient and all in all, there when you need
it. Occasionally when it’s taken away from us, though, it spells
trouble. Case in point, if you haven’t already heard there are planned
strikes on all tube lines next Wednesday and Thursday (10 and 11 June)
so we thought we’d make life a little easier for you.

If the strike goes ahead, don’t stand there waiting for a bus (that
will take 4 hours). Take a Zipcar and we’ll pay for you to park it
near your office! So, no need to stress or miss meetings. Just
share the journey with colleagues or friends, and park your favourite
Zipcar outside of your office (in the nearest legal car park please).
All you need to do is send the receipt for your parking costs for that
day to londonmarketing@zipcar.com (or fax to 0207 681 3233) and
we’ll add the cost onto your Zipcar account as driving credit for your
next reservation (we’ll credit up to 30 pounds for your day’s parking).

So, if the strike’s on, just reserve, drive, park and enjoy your day.
If the strike gets called off at the last minute, don’t worry you can
cancel your reservation without any penalties. You’ll need to let us
know though BEFORE your reservation starts on Tuesday 10 June (before
8am please) if you wish to cancel (email londonmarketing@zipcar.com to
confirm cancellation).

Have fun in comfort Zipsters!

The Team at Zipcar London

Photo from FHD

1 June, 2009

Woah, buddy…TMI, TMI – How not to update your Facebook status.

Posted by Melanie Seasons under Facebook | Tags: be careful, Facebook, Facebook tips, Status Updates, Too much information |
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When I was preparing for the working world, Facebook had just opened up to American Universities instead of just to Harvard students, Friendster was still all the rage and blogging was something that only dorks did.

Even then, I remember being told to be careful what I put about myself online. For most 23-year-olds, this loosely translates to ‘No drunken frat party pics’ and don’t update your status about how ‘totally wasted’ you got last night. It works. Even now, several years on, I don’t publish anything I wouldn’t want my parents, my grandma or my boss to see.

But as my generation gets older, I can see the rules are slightly changing. We have new status updates to fear from Gen Y.

A message from an old high school friend:

I noticed that people seem to put really extremely personal things in their status, that they probably wouldn’t share face to face. Things like updates every minute of their baby’s delivery, their wife’s gastrointestinal surgery, or their grief over the girl at my school who died yesterday. Why is Facebook the first place everyone runs to when something bad happens? Call me old fashioned, but when someone dies I don’t think I’ll ever inform the world via a Facebook status update. It just seems to cheapen the whole thing.

I asked her to send me some screen shots because I honestly couldn’t believe she was giving me real examples. Sure enough:

1. A play-by-play delivery of pumping out a kid

2. A husband going through the intricacies of his wife’s gastro-intestinal track:

3. And the death of not one, but two people in one day.

Privacy scares online is no longer flashing a camera, someone tagging the photo and not getting into grad school. The people who did that five years ago, now need an outlet to describe everything going on in their newly-adult lives – and the blow-by-blow birthing recounts are just that.

It may not cost those people a job, but it’s certainly costing me my lunch.

So I propose a new rule:

Social network fodder should no longer be dictated by who you wouldn’t want to see the information (mom, etc.), but by asking yourself who would.

22 May, 2009

Next Generation Talent

Posted by Melanie Seasons under Advertising | Tags: Advertising, creative industry, james fox, next generation talent, panasonic, Student, video editng |
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I’m really proud of some of the work we’ve been doing for Panasonic and Next Generation Talent. NGT, as we so humbly call it in the office, is an initiative that asks students to exercise their creative skills by creating an ad for a Panasonic Viera TV. The winner gets a two-week work experience with the company’s creative agency, a portfolio review and a chance to have their ad on tv. Last year’s winner was on Channel 4 in March for this ad.

This video is just the first part of an amazing campaign that’s going through to October. If you like or laugh at it, pass it on. Thanks!