Profiled - Businesswire - Press release newswire distribution
An interview with Monika Maeckle, Vice President, New Media at Businesswire
Businesswire tells SMP about press releases, social media and surviving the shakeout Social Media Portal (SMP): What is your full job title and role at Businesswire?
Monika Maeckle (MM): Vice President, New Media
SMP: Briefly, tell us about Businesswire and its target audienceMM: Regarding EON: Enhanced Online News, the goal is to provide a ?pull? press release service as an adjunct to Business Wire?s powerful ?push? capabilities, while also offering great exposure value at a lower price point.
SMP: What was the most challenging part of building the service?MM: Just like our clients, integrating new technologies and ways of doing things with existing infrastructures and perspectives is a never ending challenge.
SMP: Who are your target audience and why?MM: For EON: Enhanced Online News, the audience is any company or organization that is trying to drive website traffic or gain web visibility.
SMP: How did you initially attract users to your service, and how do you do it now?MM: It was a quiet launch at first, as we worked out bugs. We tap all the tools in the marketing arsenal?from print advertising to PPC to Twitter coupons. Our free, award winning webinar series serves as an introduction to new audiences, encourages best practices and provides free education to communicators along the way.
SMP: What separates your services to others out in the market? MM: Service is our hallmark. Real, live people who know their stuff offer assistance and insight. Also, our built-in Press Release Builder encourages best practices and thoughtfulness throughout the press release process, with a keyword analysis and optimization tool.
SMP: What are the low moments of what you have been doing so far?MM: Launching in a bummer economy.
SMP: What are the high moments of what you have been doing so far?MM: It?s gratifying to be part of a successful new service and help shepherd its development.
SMP: What do you see as your biggest challenges and opportunities in the press distribution market?MM: Would love to tell you but that would be indiscrete of me.
SMP: What are the dedicated social media services that you offer your clients? MM: The EON platform affords every press release multiple social media opportunities with built-in sharing icons, XHTML, rich text formatting, tags.
SMP: What are the benefits for your customers using the social media services? MM: That depends on them. They still need a great story, well written, appropriately distributed. We provide the platform and tools for success, but they still have to do the work.
SMP: What are your thoughts on the social media press release?MM: I think it?s a bit of a self-important misnomer. They?re all press releases. Just like in the movie business, we started with silent movies, then there were ?talkies.? Later, we had ?color motion pictures.? In the end they?re all movies. We don?t rename them with each incremental innovation. It?s the same with press releases. At EON and at Business Wire, we encourage web friendly press releases and will continue to do so.
SMP: Many bloggers don?t like receiving press releases, how do you help your clients connect with bloggers? MM: We encourage best practices every step of the way: good content, well written, appropriately distributed. And: cultivate real relationships online and off.
SMP: What other support services do you offer clients? MM: Again, we?re all about service: live human beings who are available and extremely informed that can guide those who need help. Go figure!
SMP: What?s the next big step for social media and networks and what impact is this having upon press releases?MM: It?s a compost pile and things are changing, happening, evolving every minute. I can?t answer this question, nobody can.
SMP: What are the next moves for Businesswire, particularly regarding social media?MM: That?s top secret. ;-)
SMP: What?s going to be the most interesting aspect regarding social media / technology throughout 2009?MM: The shakeout. Many of these social networking sites are going to burn out. It will be interesting to see who survives and who thrives.
SMP: How does this fit into plans at Businesswire?MM: We?ve been around for a long time and will be here after the shakeout. It helps to be profitable and have no debt.
SMP: Top five tips businesses using press releases services should consider?MM: Here?s a great
Press Release Tip sheet we put together.
SMP: Best way to contact you?MM: monika.maeckle @ businesswire.com
Now some questions for fun
SMP: What did you have for breakfast / lunch?MM: Banana, hardboiled egg, pomegranate yogurt.
SMP: What?s the last good thing that you did for someone?MM: I took my 77-year-old mom purple coneflowers from my yard last night.
SMP: How many hours to you work a week?MM: 40 - 50
SMP: If you weren?t running Businesswire what would you be doing?MM: Working as an agitator for the environment and as a Monarch Butterfly evangelist.
SMP: When and where did you go on your last holiday?MM: Marfa in West Texas, where the James Dean classic, ?Giant? was filmed.
SMP: What?s the first thing you do when you get into the office of a morning?MM: Crank up the computer and turn on NPR.
SMP: If you had a superpower what would it be and why?MM: I have no idea.
SMP: Are there any other sites/s that we should be aware of that relate to the above?MM:
http://www.businesswire.comSMP: Is there a corporate or personal blog/s we should know about (if there is, you should add this to SMP also)?MM:
http://businesswired.wordpress.comIf you are interested in being Profiled, get
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