I’ve been doing PR and marketing for 15 years and there’s one thing I learned real quick:

The easier you can lay out the pertinent information about your product or service, the more likely you’ll get coverage.

Simple as that. Nobody has time, and that includes you. Why not make it simpler for everybody?

Here are two quick tips to get you more press coverage:

Fact sheets can be repurposed into one-sheet media overviews easy peasy.

1) Re-Purpose Fact Sheet into Media Overview One-Sheet

I found that with tech and biotech clients I was able to significantly increase my press coverage when I used a media overview one sheet in my press kit.  You already have this info all pulled together on your company Fact Sheet that you have in PDF format!

Take the info that you already have on the FactSheet.pdf and re-purpose this info on Media Overview page. It seems redundant to do this, but it makes sense for three reasons:

• It’s good for SEO–the basic company fact info is on the web, which can be crawled, versus on a pdf one sheet, where it can’t be.
• Having an easy-to-find, easy-to-read “overview” helps spoon-feed reporters, directing them to the areas of the website they need to visit first.
• If you simply added the Media Overview sheet to your current ‘news’ section, as the first page under the ‘news’ category, I think you would find the small effort would be worth it.

2) Pitch Engine

I love Pitch Engine. I want to marry it.  It’s an amazing but very inexpensive way to boost brand awareness and give reporters a multimedia view of your company.  Unlike traditional wire services, PitchEngine enables users to openly create and share their own content, while including images, videos and attachments at no cost.  The service is WAY inexpensive, when compared to the price of a single press release and allows you to create social and search optimized content that is consumer-facing – like digital flyers, press releases – including video, pictures, and links — all on one page.

Facts on Pitch Engine
(They should really hire me because I talk up the company so much.) But I love the fact that it’s only $39 per month for unlimited pitches and I’ve found that once I begin using Pitch Engine for a brand, these pitches are picked up more by the media, the media interact more with the brand on Twitter and Facebook, and Pitch Engine pitches come up on the first page in Google.

Here’s a pitch we did on Pitch Engine for Spiral16 before I worked here full time.  I used to work for the agency that handled the Spiral16 marketing and I fell in love with the tool since I’m such a data geek. This is a great example of how you can mix images and video in a Pitch Engine release.

OVERLAND PARK, KAN. – Web monitoring business-intelligence company Spiral16 announced today that Michelle Lamar will be heading up its expanded account services team as Account Manager.

As partner of Smith-Lamar Advertising and VP of Media at V3 Integrated Marketing, Lamar developed and executed strategic marketing plans for national brands and companies, advising clients on how to mix online marketing, online media, online content development, and social media with traditional marketing plans.

Her 15 years of marketing and media experience will be invaluable as Lamar spearheads a consultative approach to account services, ensuring that clients get the most out of the targeted online data that Spiral16 provides.

“Spiral16 has the most relevant data in the digital space right now, and businesses need to be able to turn that valuable information into actionable intelligence,” says Lamar. “I am excited to assist companies in relating that data to their existing business goals and to help them understand that online data can be used in all facets of their business.”

In addition to helping clients integrate Spiral16 data into their existing marketing research, Lamar will assist the Spiral16 analytics team in creating and managing customized company reports that identifies online benchmarks, volume growth, sentiment measurements, and important trends and influencers.

“Web and social media monitoring is not a new concept for marketers, but interpreting data and communicating conclusions internally is still a challenge,” says Spiral16 CEO Tracy Panko. “One way Spiral16 differentiates itself from other offerings is by bringing years of analytics experience and best practices to the table. Michelle’s wisdom will enrich the client experience every step of the way, saving them valuable time and money as they transform their digital strategy.”

About Spiral16
Spiral16 is a powerful web research and business intelligence platform that helps companies listen, measure, and visualize the valuable online data that affects business decisions. Spiral16’s proprietary web crawler, combined with outside digital sources, ensure a superior quality of data. Its analytics team and automatic correlation scoring qualifies results, saving you time and money. The platform ranks influential webpages by the specific topic you are looking for, classifies sentiment, and performs semantic analysis. Its 3D visual-mapping feature identifies hubs of influence and patterns in online communities and allows you to understand complex data connections at a glance. For more information, visit www.spiral16.com.

Spiral16:
Eric Melin
Manager
Marketing and Communications
(913) 944-4285
eric.melin@spiral16.com

OVERLAND PARK, KAN. – Web monitoring business intelligence company Spiral16 announced today that Robert Madison has joined the company’s expanding sales team as a Business Development Manager.

Madison’s extensive sales experience in industries such as IT services, utilities, and manufacturing will help to solidify and diversify Spiral16’s market base and allow the company to accommodate demand from brands directly. Madison has experience working with enterprise-level clients, as well as healthcare providers, government contracts, and those in the financial industry.

“Social media and web monitoring has become an essential need for all kinds of businesses,” Madison says. “Spiral16’s new platform is designed from the ground up to help companies listen and measure strategically. There’s more to web monitoring than brand management and I’m excited to communicate how Spiral16 can bring value to a wide variety of businesses.”

Madison is known as an articulate communicator who can convey complicated concepts easily and has a strong ability to build relationships and trust with his clients. As National Sales Manager for the Mobile Hydraulic Equipment Company, he was in charge of a highly consultative and extremely technical sales process.

“Spiral16 has expanded its services to include data reporting, analysis, and interpretation. With this expansion, our customer base has grown into the traditional industries Robert is very familiar with,” says Spiral16 CEO Tracy Panko. “We are excited to add his expertise and leverage his experience to continue to feed our growth as a top-tier web analytics provider.”

About Spiral16
Spiral16 is a powerful web research and business intelligence platform that helps companies listen, measure, and visualize the valuable online data that affects business decisions. Spiral16’s proprietary web crawler, combined with outside digital sources, ensure a superior quality of data. Its analytics team and automatic correlation scoring qualifies results, saving you time and money.

The platform ranks influential webpages by the specific topic you are looking for, classifies sentiment, and performs semantic analysis. Its 3D visual-mapping feature identifies hubs of influence and patterns in online communities and allows you to understand complex data connections at a glance. For more information, visit www.spiral16.com.

Spiral16:
Eric Melin
Manager
Marketing and Communications
(913) 944-4285
eric.melin@spiral16.com

Spiral16 is honored to be  nominated as one of the the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce’s Small Businesses of the Year and we are excited to participate in the largest celebration of small business in the nation!

Three months of activities from March through May kick off this month with the Chamber’s Business After Hours 2011 Small Business Candidates’ Showcase on Thursday, March 24 at the historic Muehlebach Hotel in downtown Kansas City.

The site is pretty amazing, as are the companies that will be there. The Muehlebach Hotel is a restored building in downtown KC that was visited by every President from Theodore Roosevelt to Ronald Reagan. It is currently operated as one of three wings of the Kansas City Marriott Downtown. The city’s best and brightest new businesses will be present, showcasing their products and services.

It is one of one of The Chamber’s most popular annual networking events, and its just $5 for Chamber members and $25 for future Chamber members, and they take walk-ins for this event.

Here’s some more info from the KC Chamber’s site:

It’s an event 25 years in the making! Our Small Business Celebration is turning 25, and we are showcasing the top small businesses in Kansas City at the Candidate Showcase. Old and new will come together for another year of great businesses changing the face of Kansas City. The time is now, so have your business cards ready for some top shelf networking.

We’ll be there, and so will all the other SBOY nominees, so come on out after work on Thursday and say “hi.” Kansas City’s best and brightest new businesses will be there, and it sounds like a great way to make some personal connections.

Spiral16 CEO Tracy Panko has been recognized as one of Kansas City’s Most Influential Women. This is great news, and we just had to brag.

Tracy is being honored  for inspiring others, giving back to the community, and creating opportunities for other people.

KC Business magazine recognizes select Kansas City businesswomen annually, and candidates are evaluated by an independent panel of judges.

The 2011 class of Influential Women are honored for their “hard work, dedication to corporate success and personal growth” and this year’s class will be featured in the March 2011 issue of KC Business magazine.

Tracy Panko is one of the few women CEOs in web monitoring and the technology industry overall.  Here at Spiral16, we’ve always thought she was amazing, but it’s nice to see people outside our company recognize this fact.

Tracy and other influential women in Kansas City will be honored at the KC Business magazine annual event on Thursday, March 10, 2011.

EVENT
Thursday, March 10
5:00pm-7:30pm
World War I Museum – Liberty Memorial
100 W 26th St | Kansas City, MO 64108
http://www.kcbcentral.com

Congratulations Tracy!

KANSAS CITY (October 27, 2010) – Spiral16 today announced a new business signing with E.B. Lane.  E.B. Lane, an independent Phoenix-based advertising, public relations, interactive media agency, will be partnering with Spiral16 on its new media initiatives for the Arizona Lottery (www.arizonalottery.com).

“The amount of actionable online intelligence we can extract from Spiral16’s web monitoring platform is impressive,” said E.B. Lane CEO Beau Lane. “The information we get from Spiral16 will be instrumental in understanding the Lottery’s online audience.

E.B. Lane’s current digital strategy for the Arizona Lottery will target the traditional lottery player, but will also extend to a younger demographic. Spiral16’s social media and web monitoring dashboard will provide E.B. Lane with relevant and targeted online data that will be used in the agency’s web branding and online marketing efforts.

Spiral16 CEO Tracy Panko is happy to have E.B. Lane on board and agrees that the partnership is a good fit for the lottery. “The emergence of social media has permanently changed the PR and advertising industry. E.B. Lane understands that you have to keep your finger on the pulse of consumer sentiment and social media trends,” said Panko. “It’s more important than ever to understand the language your customers are using and know where they live on the Web.”

Spiral16’s comprehensive web and social media monitoring solution will be used as a strategic tool in E.B. Lane’s digital campaign for the lottery. With Spiral16’s digital media dashboard, the agency will monitor campaign success, identify new trends and influencers, and improve customer service.

About E.B. Lane

Established in 1962, E.B. Lane is one of the Southwest’s largest full-service advertising, interactive, social marketing and public relations agencies, with annual capitalized billings of more than $65 million. Clients include the Arizona Cardinals, Arizona Lottery, Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee, Cable One, Inc., Greater Phoenix Convention & Visitors Bureau, Harkins Theatres, St. Joseph’s Hospital Foundation, Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA), NYPD Pizza, Pat Tillman Foundation, Phoenix Convention Center, Walmart and Xanterra Parks & Resorts. For more information, visit www.eblane.com.

About Spiral16

Spiral16 is a powerful web monitoring platform to listen, measure, and visualize online presence. Superior quality of data and Spiral16’s consultative customer service help users analyze data on topics in near-real time, in addition to automated sentiment classification and semantic analysis. Its 3D visual-mapping feature identifies hubs of influence and previously unknown connections and patterns in online communities. For more information, visit www.spiral16.com.

Melanie McBride
VP / Director of Public Relations
E.B. Lane
MMcBride@EBLane.com

Eric Melin
Manager Marketing and Communications
Spiral16
eric.melin@spiral16.com

OVERLAND PARK, KAN. – Social media business intelligence company Spiral16 announced today that Ken Miner has been named as its new Vice President of Sales.

Miner’s extensive experience in business operations, sales planning, strategy development, and marketing oversight will increase company growth and help expand Spiral16’s market base into new verticals.

“I’m excited about the value that Spiral16 can bring to businesses by providing them with relevant and qualified Internet data,” Miner says. “I also look forward to continuing to foster and grow relationships with the company’s current partners.”

Miner is recognized for a broad range of entrepreneurial, professional sales, and leadership skills. He has a proven ability to identify, integrate, and nurture the diverse talents of team members to increase company growth and improve client satisfaction.

Recently as a managing partner at IT support and management company Technical Velocity, Miner changed company culture and environment from a fix-it-only IT organization to a to professional customer service organization that is focused on client satisfaction.

Spiral16 offers a powerful Internet monitoring platform to listen, measure, and visualize online presence. This comprehensive, customizable tool collects more than just social media sites, allowing users the ability to analyze data on any given topic in near-real time, including automated sentiment classification and semantic analysis.

Superior quality of data and consultative customer service are among the company’s differentiators. Another unique aspect is a 3D visual-mapping feature that makes it possible to identify hubs of influence and previously unknown connections and patterns in online communities.

Online:
www.spiral16.com

About Spiral16
Spiral16 is a social media technology company that helps companies uncover patterns within large sets of data. Spiral16’s social media monitoring solution is a highly powerful software-as-a-service platform that monitors sentiment, identifies key influencers, and visualizes online data in near-real time. Based in Overland Park, Kan., some of Spiral16’s clients include professional sports franchises; major motion picture studios; biotech companies; and globally recognized advertising, marketing, and new media agencies.

Spiral16:
Eric Melin
Manager
Marketing and Communications
(913) 944-4285
eric.melin@spiral16.com

OVERLAND PARK, KAN. – Social media technology company Spiral16 announced today that Tracy Panko has been named as its new CEO. A strategic leader with a clear sense of vision, Panko will sharpen Spiral16’s brand message, propel forward development of the company’s premier social media monitoring solution, and expand the platform’s subscribers.

“Spiral 16 has developed Spark—a tool for monitoring and measuring social media that has strengths beyond its competition,” Panko says. “I look forward to telling the world about this robust tool and developing additional business opportunities for its use in vertical markets.”

Panko is a creative thinker who, as the CEO of both established companies and start-up operations, has launched over $50 million of successful new products, developed specific market-growth strategies, negotiated strategic alliances, and lead nationally dispersed sales teams to profitable growth. Recently as a partner with Kansas City-based Mid America Capital, she led the acquisition and growth of multiple companies.

Spiral16’s Spark is a powerful social media monitoring software tool. With Spark, users can analyze data on any given topic in near-real time, including automated sentiment and semantic analysis. One thing sets that Spark apart from other tools is the demonstrably consistent quality of data being shared with the customer. Spark’s results are high on relevancy and low on spam. Another unique aspect is Spark’s virtualization—a 3D visual mapping feature that makes it possible to identify hubs of influence and previously unknown connections and patterns in online communities.

Online:
www.spiral16.com

About Spiral16
Spiral16 is a social media technology company that helps companies uncover patterns within large sets of data. Spark, Spiral16’s social media monitoring solution, is a highly powerful software-as-a-service platform that monitors sentiment, identifies key influencers, and visualizes online data in near-real time. Based in Overland Park, Kan., some of Spiral16’s clients include professional sports franchises; major motion picture studios; biotech companies; and globally recognized advertising, marketing, and new media agencies.

Spiral16:
Eric Melin
Social Media Manager
(913) 944-4285
eric.melin@spiral16.com

LAWRENCE, KAN. – The World Company announced today that they will be using Spiral16’s social media monitoring software, Spark, as part of their social media monitoring and analytics packages.

“We’re excited to work with a local company that’s providing unique technology in social media,” World Company Social Media Manager Ben Smith said. “The World Company has a strong tradition of innovation in information gathering, and a partnership with Spiral16 continues our commitment to bringing our community and clients information using the best technology available.”

Along with their news and advertising services through print, television and online, the World Company offers local and regional businesses social media services and resources through a dedicated social media department, including strategy, monitoring, analytics, development, training, and account management.

Spiral16’s Spark is a powerful social media monitoring software tool. With Spark, users can analyze data on any given topic in near-real time, including automated sentiment and semantic analysis. What sets Spark apart from other tools is its virtualization—a 3D visual mapping feature. With the virtualization, it’s possible to identify hubs of influence and previously unknown connections and patterns in online communities.

About the World Company
The World Company was founded more than 100 years ago with the launch of a daily newspaper, which became the Lawrence Journal-World. In 1995, the Lawrence Journal-World became one of the first daily newspapers in the country to formally begin publishing on the Internet. It has been featured in an NPR series titled Convergence Capital USA, and described by the New York Times as the “newspaper of the future.” Today, nine of 10 local households turn to the company’s newspaper, cable television, or Internet editions to receive information. In the fall of 2001, the World Company became one of the first media groups to combine its print, television and Internet news-gathering into one newsroom. Along with the Lawrence Journal-World and a related group of community newspapers, The World Company consists of cable and broadcast television and news operations; a cutting edge DOCSIS 3.0-based cable network; magazine publishing; commercial software development; and a broad range of news, media and technology services.

Online:
www.ljworld.com
www.kusports.com
www.lawrence.com
www.sunflowerbroadband.com

About Spiral16
Spiral16 is an informatic software company that helps companies uncover patterns within large sets of data. Spark, Spiral16’s social media monitoring solution, is a highly powerful software-as-a-service platform that monitors sentiment, identifies key influencers, and visualizes online data in near-real time. Based in Overland Park, Kan., some of Spiral16’s clients include professional sports franchises; major motion picture studios; biotech companies; and globally recognized advertising, marketing, and new media agencies.

Online:
www.spiral16.com

Contact

The World Company:
Ben Smith
Social Media Manager
bsmith@ljworld.com
(785) 423-4538

Spiral16:
Eric Melin
Social Media Manager
(913) 944-4285
eric.melin@spiral16.com

[OVERLAND PARK, KAN.] – Barkley announced today that it has selected Spiral16’s software Spark to monitor the social media space for its clients. The Kansas City-based advertising agency plans to use Spiral16’s capabilities to increase its social media listening, engagement and strategy practice.

Barkley will utilize Spiral16 to monitor the social media space for its clients, as well as monitor key trends and consumer attitudes across a wide array of topics.

“We’re very excited about our partnership with an agency as highly respected as Barkley and their innovative approach to social media.” Spiral16 President David Goode said. “It only adds to the excitement to work with a business based in our own backyard.”

Spiral16’s Spark is a web-based software that helps global brands monitor, manage, and analyze their social media presence. The system allows companies to improve customer service, enhance brand reputation, gather transparent competitive intelligence, identify key influencers, and understand conversations with positive and negative sentiment. All this data is then visualized in a 3D, interactive mapping tool.

“Monitoring, measuring and monetizing our efforts on behalf of our clients in the social media space has become a key area of importance, especially as advertisers look for more relevant ways to interact with their customers,” said Chris Dickey, SVP of Insight/Impact at Barkley, “In fact, Forrester just recently released a study that said four in five U.S. online adults use social media at least once a month, and half participate in social networks like Facebook. Spiral16 allows us deeper insight to how our brands are being talked about, engaged and interacted with, so that we can optimize and adjust in near real time as part of our overall integrated marketing strategy.”

In addition to social media monitoring, Spiral16’s informatic software has the capability to analyze other large and complex data sets. This allows businesses to discover hidden patterns and identify trends in customer service, point-of-sale, call center transcripts, qualitative market research, and other unstructured data sets.

Media Contact

Eric Melin, Spiral16
(913) 944-4285
eric.melin@spiral16.com

About Spiral16

Spiral16 is a software company working in social technology and social media monitoring. Spark, Spiral16’s social media monitoring solution, is a highly powerful software-as-a-service platform that monitors sentiment, identifies key influencers, and visualizes online data in near-real time. Based in Overland Park, Kan. some of Spiral16’s clients include NFL and NBA franchises; major motion pictures studios; and globally recognized advertising, marketing, and new media agencies.

About Barkley

Barkley is the largest employee-owned agency of its kind. Founded in 1964, the company has 325 partners offering a full range of marketing communications services including advertising, public relations, cause branding, sponsorships and events, relationship marketing, social media, design, media planning and buying, motion graphics, research and interactive marketing. Barkley has offices in Kansas City and Pittsburgh, with additional field offices across the nation. More info: www.barkleyus.com and www.barkleyREI.com