Had a great – and lengthy – discussion recently with SEO Expert Lee Odden that covered a ton of fertile ground related to Search Engine Optimization (SEO), PR/Marketing and more.

Some of the topics we hit on include:

• How Google’s new “Personal Search” changes the SEO landscape
• How YouTube (currently the world’s #2 ranked search engine!) is vastly underutilized by PR/Marketing professionals for SEO purposes
• Lee’s upcoming book Optimize: Win more customers with Social Media, SEO and Content Marketing

It’s a long but worthwhile discussion – hope you find it as useful/informative as I did, and thanks again to Lee for the time and insight!

Gary’s brilliant book Thank You Economy nailed this trend back when he wrote it in late 2010/early 2011, but this video crystalizes how important customer service will be in 2012 and beyond thanks to Social Media. Watch:

Video:

Do NOT miss the chance to pick this PR/Marketing/Social Media expert and NYT Bestselling Author's brain!

Awesome news! Just confirmed USA Today and The Wall Street Journal Bestselling Author and PR/Social Media Expert David Meerman Scott will join me for a special Google+ video hangout on January 11 at 3:30 pm Eastern/2:30 pm Central time.

Save the date and spread the word!

We’re going to talk about David’s new book Newsjacking – PR/JOUR folks this is NOT to be missed! David is the best of the best when it comes to cutting-edge PR/Marketing trends, and his concept of “Newsjacking” is both controversial and potentially the biggest new PR/Marketing trend we’ll see in 2012 and beyond.

Special thanks to David for being such a class act and so willing to share his time and expertise with myself and the rest of us! Pick up a copy of Newsjacking ahead of time (only $6.99 for the e-book) too!

Make sure you have David and myself in your G+ Circles so you can participate!

Topics included:

• How to get you or your PR client on the airwaves
• The future of talk radio
• The impact of Social Media on the talk radio industry
• The “Enrage vs. Engage” model that has taken over many talk radio formats
• The personalization and segmentation of news and its audiences

Here’s the video of our chat, which also featured Dave Bateson and the one and only Chato Hazelbaker - enjoy!

Scott Libin has spent more than 25 years in the TV News business.

Scott Libin spent nearly three decades as TV News Reporter, Producer, Anchor and News Director. I can’t think of a better expert when it comes to finding out what works and what doesn’t when it comes to getting TV News coverage for your company/client.

Scott and I had a great discussion this week (video below), and I was really impressed with his honesty and candor when it came to getting inside the head of a typical TV Reporter/Producer. He shared some great insights and advice on what will (and will NOT) work when it comes to getting the TV News coverage your company/client wants.

I was also fascinated/excited about his take on whether or not PR people should use the controversial strategy of “reporting on the reporter” during interviews. This is where you (the interview’s subject) capture the entire exchange with the reporter on video, and then (if you need to) put out a copy of the video online as a defense/explanation for a quote you felt was taken out of context, bias demonstrated by the reporter, etc. (Skip ahead to the 8:25 mark of the video to hear this exchange.)

Social Media and the ability to easily capture and share video online has completely changed the TV News business. Think about the strength and leverage you or your client now has when agreeing to sit down for a potentially controversial/difficult interview! In the past, you were at the mercy of the TV Reporter to represent a fair and balanced report on air. Now, you can film and then release your own record of the conversation to prove to your core stakeholders/audience/critics/etc. that what you said was taken out of context or misrepresented.

Game-changing stuff, and I’m glad guys like Scott Libin are here to help PR pros and journalists alike sort through it all!

Here’s our discussion:

QUESTION: Would you advise a PR client to use this “report on the reporter” technique? Why or why not? And if you’re a journalist, would you refuse to conduct an interview if the subject told you he or she was going to tape the conversation and possibly release it later online?

Philadelphia 76ers fan Jerry Rizzo used Social Media to land a dream job in the NBA!

Mashable has an awesome story of how a 23-year-old fan named Jerry Rizzo of the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers leveraged social media to essentially do the team’s job for it online, a move that caught the attention of the 76ers’ CEO and landed the 23-year-old Rizzo his “dream job” working for the team.

Memo to anyone wanting to land a new gig and stand out from the crowd: In 2011, you need to create a real-time resume that showcases your skills. That means your Blog, Twitter feed and everything else are in play when it comes to impressing potential employers.

Even though he was only doing it for fun and out of passion for the team he loved, Rizzo’s unsolicited and savvy use social media on behalf of the 76ers caught the eye of the team’s CEO, Adam Aron, who offered him a job with the team as a result. Said Aron:

“Jerry impressed us not just with his clever Twitter campaign, but he had also created a website that was just loaded with content that demonstrated his creativity and drive and that he is a good writer and knowledgeable about social media,” Aron said. “He did online what people have done in job-searching efforts for decades — put his best foot forward and demonstrated what he can bring to an employer.”

Gary Vaynerchuck said this a few years back, but it rings true in 2011 more than ever – now IS the time to cash in on your passion. And the best way to do that is to use real-time tools like your Blog to show potential employers/clients what you bring to the table, and how you can specifically help them reach their goals.

Congrats to Jerry Rizzo for doing exactly that. What a great story!

Our weekly Google+ Video Hangout with Journalists and PR folks is coming back online again this Tuesday, Dec. 6, at 10:30 am Central time. I’m going to try out a new format where we start with a featured “Guest” that I/we can interview briefly, and then open it up to a bigger discussion.