| Message from Peter |
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Dear Friends:
As you may already be aware, this past April we formally launched Carabiner Communications. It has been an exciting endeavor starting a new technology PR marketing firm and I’ve enjoyed remaining active in the Atlanta technology market.
Many of you who know me know my love of the outdoors, and this has served as the inspiration for the new agency, which takes its name from the strong metal clips used in mountaineering. Just as mountain climbers rely on these devices to securely climb mountains, our clients can count on us for strategy-driven programs and quick connections to key audiences.
Focusing on technology start-ups, we specialize in linking clients to media and analysts, venture capitalists, customers, strategic partners and others using proven communication methodologies. To see our list of current clients, learn how we can help you and to meet the Carabiner Communications team, please visit our Web site at www.carabinercommunications.com. We look forward to clipping you in soon.
Sincerely,
Peter Baron
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Beyond ‘Traditional PR’ Tactics:
Search Engine Optimization for Press Releases
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If you optimize press releases for better search engine visibility, you reach out not only to journalists and but also to the millions of people who go directly to the news sites for the latest information.
According to Neilsen/NetRatings, in one month Yahoo!® News was reported to have as many as 19.8 million visitors and Google™ News has had as many as 4.1 million visitors. Journalists also research online daily in huge numbers. According to a Middleberg/Ross Survey, 98% of journalists go online daily; 92% for article research; and 73% to find press releases.
The first step in PR and search engine optimization is to understand how news search engines operate. Unlike traditional search engine indexing of Web sites that can take up to 30 days to register new content, news search engines only contain stories and releases that are less than 30 days old.
There are traditional PR tactics that help press releases to get picked up by search engines, like distributing through a news feed like Business Wire, PR Newswire or PR Web™. Companies can also target smaller news groups by posting news to gateway sites, which are category-specific sites that are often scanned by the larger search engines for news. These sites vary by industry and are topic-specific. To identify potential gateway sites for your news, search the news by topic on the internet to review the top news sites that surface. You may also check with a webmaster to evaluate the top news sites for your topic to see which are the most prevalent among search engines.
The next step is to identify what keywords and phrases your target journalists and clients use when researching your industry. Based on those findings, “optimize” your press releases and all marketing materials, including white papers and e-newsletters, with the keywords that are important to your audience. Be sure to also inform key members of your company to understand and use the new messaging in all of their spoken and written communications.
The result from these efforts is a press release that reaches your intended media targets, in addition to being exposed to the thousands of reporters and millions of people visiting the search engine news sites on a daily basis.
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| Volume 1, Summer 2005 |
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Carabiner Clients Connect
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Tall Maple’s Samara Receives Product Excellence Award |
Tall Maple Systems’ Samara™ 2.0 was awarded a Product Excellence Award in February 2005 at the LinuxWorld Conference & Expo ®. Presented in conjunction with LinuxWorld Magazine, the LinuxWorld Product Excellence Awards recognize product and service innovations. Carabiner was instrumental in directing the launch strategy for Tall Maple Systems, providing strategic counsel on branding, product naming, messaging, web site, collateral and press kit development as well as a public relations strategy that helped Tall Maple receive industry recognition among influential industry analysts, reporters, customers and partners at the conference.
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Prenova’s Impact on Energy Savings for Dollar Tree Featured in Top Retail Magazines |
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On behalf of Prenova, Carabiner researched, wrote and placed a contributed article in the Feb. 2005 issue of Professional Retail Store Maintenance entitled “Gaining Control over Energy Expenditures: Since everything it sells costs a dollar or less, Dollar Tree watches energy expenditures like a hawk.” The article was attributed to Prenova and included a magazine cover mention.
In its April 2005 issue, Chain Store Age featured Prenova’s success in helping Dollar Tree save more than $1 million in energy costs. “Similar to many retailers, Dollar Tree is increasingly hard-pressed to effectively manage energy on its own. Prenova negotiates and manages the chain’s numerous utility contracts and prepares its request-for-price (RFP) documents. Prenova estimates that Dollar Tree’s supply savings have totaled more than $1 million over the past four years.”
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Encapsulon’s Retail Software Suite Voted Best Loss Prevention Solution |
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Encapsulon’s Retail Software Suite was voted the best loss prevention solution by Integrated Solutions for Retailers in May 2005 for the results of their first customer pilot, which helped save home décor retailer Garden Ridge $8.5 million. Carabiner was successful in securing widespread case study coverage of the Garden Ridge results in key publications for Encapsulon, including Chain Store Age, Loss Prevention Magazine, STORES Magazine, Security Director News and Integrated Solutions for Retailers.
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