Or a least 140 tweeted characters! Welcome to the world of Pinterest – the social networking website that is providing visual inspiration to double digit millions (11 million hits a week at last count) and growing. For those of you not already “pinned” in, Pinterest lets users “pin” digital photos and images they find on the web to virtual bulletin boards, then share their vision with the rest of the online world. Themes can be as simple and prosaic as decorating ideas and recipes to the esoteric where the images stretch as far and wide as the individual “pinning” them.

Best of all, you can browse pinboards created by other people. Browsing pinboards is a fun way to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests and its a lot more interesting than some of the oversharing that passes for conversation on Facebook these days!

Pinterest lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes.

Best of all, you can browse pinboards created by other people. Browsing pinboards is a fun way to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests.

Pinterest is proving good for business too! Pinterest’s ease of use for visually bookmarking, organizing and sharing things has made it a hit among businesses whose online imaging “pinners” are using to create their pages and promote items they like.

Companies can add a Pinterest button to their websites to encourage visitors to pin and share their products. Pinterest provides several button choices available on their goodies page for a company to add this. Follow buttons are a great way to let users know you’re on Pinterest. One great way to speed the message is by asking fans of your brand to pin pictures of themselves with their favorite product of yours and tag you, then you can repin those photos onto a VIP board. “It’ll give a shout-out to these fans and show potential customers that your current users really like using your product.”

One thing is certain – Pinterest is growing and adding yet another element to Social Marketing and the way Companies and brands interact with their customers and potential customers… for more info check out this article…”

Many people think PR (Public Relations) and Product Publicity is free advertising. Its not! There is no “free advertising” — just like there is no ‘Free Lunch” because advertising by definition is paid for marketing and promotion. The most common link between PR and Advertising comes up when clients and their pr agents discuss the monetary value and brand awareness garnered from PR versus the higher costs and some believe — less valuable consumer credibility garnered with advertising. There is a matrix PR professionals use that is the closest measuring tool to weight the value of good PR and by nature positions PR against advertising – even thought it is indeed measuring apples against oranges – they both are marketing tools – but they are indeed different and should always be considered in your marketing program independently.

Here’s how it goes…When you receive a publicity mention – lets say your product was featured on a page of Glamour magazine alongside three other products. You take the ad rate (cost) to purchase a one-time 1/4 page advertisement and multiple it four times and you have the value of what the same size “editorial” or PR placement would have cost you could you have purchased it – which of course you can’t – because its pr – not advertising! There are indeed many other factors that don’t necessary level an ad against a pr placement so clearly – the media vehicle itself, its circulation, etc. Cost for cost, PR is often valued between 3 and 5 times more than advertising, with a greater value placed on PR because it offers one thing that advertising cannot — a perception, endorsement, opinion (hopefully positive) by consumers of your brand or product being touted by a third party (blogger, editor, producer, celebrity, writer, reporter) — rather than an advertisement created and paid for by the Company making it and of course considered by the viewer as often sometimes less than truthful. Think about it doesn’t it always feel better to hear someone else tooting your horn, singing your praises rather than you doing it yourself!

While this is an acceptable industry matrix when I am speaking with a potential or new client about the Publicity Process I feel a better, more measurable approach is to partner together with each client to set clear objectives and a strategy for achieving those objectives, as well as developing the editorial messages (pitch direction) to get there together — this provides a clear matrix in which we can see exactly where and how we met our goals.

In our world today consumers are so media savvy and want to become brand ambassadors themselves – hence the power of the blogger. Users of our products and services want/need others to like what they like (thank reality tv for this level of self importance!). The expansion of the word wide web – and social media outlets like Facebook and twitter provides access instantly to so much more information with just the click of a mouse — making PR and third party endorsement even more coveted, valued and accessible. The credibility of having an unbiased third party tell your story within an editorial context can create instant brand awareness that no splashy advertising campaign can! While an ad can present the facts just as you want them presented…the medium of advertising suffers from the simple fact that the medium carrying the message is paid to do so. PR on the other hand is convincing the medium’s discerning and often skeptical editorial journalists/producers that your story or product or message is just about the coolest most interesting thing they’ve ever heard about …and their audience (readers, viewers, followers) need this information…and need it now. No media payment is involved…just thoughtful education, presentation and salesmanship, killer media contacts…and sometimes a little luck. The result is a client mention or story that can compliment or replace expensive ads with absolute credibility…

Is this coverage free…no. Clients pay us for our skill and experience to deliver this third party credibility. It’s called good PR not “free advertising.” Just thinking…

Manners. A lost artform? Yes according to Henry Alford author of WOULD IT KILL YOU TO STOP DOING THAT? A MODERN GUIDE TO MANNERS. Day to day we see examples of bad manners and especially so in our daily business life. Take under consideration your e-mail tone. I am a horrible typer and many times accidentally hit the caps lock key resulting in an email message that is read by the recipient as YELLING at them. Sorry, about that! Establishing a affable tone in both email and text messaging is a business communications must. Alford notes in his book, “the two main impediments to good online manners are the medium’s incredible ease and its blankness of tone.”

How about R.S.V.P.-ing? Alford says we should R.S.V.P. even if we are not planning on attending. Events are often kept to a particular number of guests and by not R.S.V.P.-ing we may actually keep another person from being invited. (I like this one especially since it makes me feel like I can be part of the giving)

How about the the hierarchy in which we respond to phone calls, emails, texts and social networking – yes there is one! Alford believes we want to match the level of the incoming communication or move up in hierarchy – not down…”Answering a phone call with an e-mail can look like you’re trying to avoid something or someone.”

What happened to the simple responses “you’re welcome”, or “my pleasure”? Alford says, “No problem” is not a good substitute. It’s probably only valid in situations where they may actually be a problem.”

Cell phones going off in the middle of a staff meeting. Having to endear private snippets of a co-workers private life during a business commute, a potential client reading and god forbid answering a text during your stellar presentation…How is it that people have such blatant disregard for others? Where have all the manners gone? Are we so self-absorbed that we can not see how rude we have become? According to Alford “The essence of good manners is not exclusivity, nor exclusion of any kind, but sensitivity. To practice good manners is to confer upon others not just consideration but esteem – respect. One of my most highly valued commodities is R-E-S-P-E-C-T-!!! Having regard for other’s feeling is highly valued by all and costs us nothing to practice in our everyday lives –business and personal….

Ugh…designer Karl Lagerfeld leaves a bad taste in my mouth! He was asked in an interview this week about singer Lana Del Rey and the Chanel visionary said, “I prefer Adele and Florence Welch to Lana Del Rey, but as a modern singer she is not bad,” Lagerfeld said. “The thing at the moment is Adele. She is a little too fat, but she has a beautiful face and a divine voice. Del Rey is not bad at all. She looks very much like a modern-time singer. In her photos she is beautiful. Is she a construct with all her implants? She’s not alone with implants.” Once again proving that the people held up as high arbiters of fashion are many times tasteless..and exhibit more than their far share of bad taste… Today Lagerfeld backpedaled saying “I’d like to say to Adele that I am your biggest admirer. Sometimes when you take a sentence out of the article it changes the meaning of the thought. What I said was in relation to Lana Del Rey and the sentence has since been taken out of context from how it was originally published. I actually prefer Adele, she is my favorite singer and I am a great admirer of her. I lost over 30 kilos over 10 years ago and have kept it off. I know how it feels when the press is mean to you in regards to your appearance. Adele is a beautiful girl. She is the best. And I can’t wait for her next CD.” Once again proving he is totally disconnected from reality – Karl if you know and have felt the meanness of the press in regard to your own weight why would you in turn ever comment about others? Karl –Walk your talk…be the change you want to see in the world…Adele I am weighting in…you rock!

F-Commerce is the new “f” word tracking in social media. As Facebook prepares for its $5 billion initial public offering a new way to shop for our retail and commutable goods is exploding across the world wide web via our Facebook page. Facebook commerce or F-Commerce is hot because like Facebook, its success is rooted in friends sharing offers on Facebook with other friends and driving in a big way social like and dislikes and social branding and commerce. As the new Facebook platform includes “timelines” where ultimately favorite brands and products will link themselves into our personal timeline and hence influence our friends and followers. Each of us becomes a valuable brand advocate for our fave products and brands sharing with our friends and hence our friends sharing, passing along, liking, and buying those products. On our agency Facebook page I can’t tell you how many fans have liked the products that our clients promote and even shared how they were motivated to buy the product, use it and make it their favorite. On Facebook the data shows that 90% of the shopping is “advocacy” shopping meaning that it was brought and liked because a friend recommended it. While the trend of making our shopping decision via our Facebook page and being a significant revenue builder is still in its infancy, one thing is for sure — fans are engaging daily through their Facebook pages, building valuable brand awareness for products and companies and driving revenue possibilities directly to a Company’s website and e-commerce portals. F-Commerce, F-Tailing, whatever — its F-ing amazing!