Interesting 10 Facts I found out through Google Research on Titanic, a great exploration links… keep reading. Amazing.

Fact 1: There was an actual love story on the real Titanic.

A real-life romance which blossomed abroad the Titanic is revealed today as bearing remarkable similarities to the love story in the blockbuster film. Roberta Maoini, 21, was a lady’s maid travelling in first class, who fell for a young steward employed on the Titanic during its doomed maiden voyage in 1912.

When the vessel struck the iceberg the steward, whose identity has never been revealed, sought Roberta out, helped her into a lifeboat and, as a final gesture, pressed his White Star brooch into her hand.

Like the lovers played by Kate Winslet and Leonardo Di Caprio in the hit film, Roberta survived the disaster but her sweetheart was one of the 1,513 who lost their lives.

Roberta, with her employer, Countess Lucy Rothes, was among those rescued by the Carpathia and travelled on to New York. Within hours of her arrival she wrote a moving poem, which will be auctioned next month.

Later, in 1926, she also wrote a poignant seven-page account of that traumatic night. It tells how, in the final moments, groups of men and women stood on the Titanic’s decks “looking gaunt and fearful” and of how, from the safety of a lifeboat, she heard “the terrible last cries of the fourteen hundred men, women and children left” as it sank.

Roberta, who later married wealthy Yorkshire businessman Cunliffe Boland, died in the 1960s and the memorabilia was bequeathed to her relatives.

Her niece, who has asked not to be named, said: “Roberta fell madly in love with a steward and he with her.

“On deck on the night the iceberg struck, her officer gave her a badge in the shape of a star.

“After the survivors were picked up from the lifeboats and all were safely on board and attended to, she put her hand in her pocket and there it lay in the palm of her hand, the Titanic star. She always wore the star very proudly.”

The poem, her gripping account of the sinking, the brooch and a photograph of Roberta are expected to fetch at least £10,000 when they are auctioned on March 16.

Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge, of Aldridge and Son’s, in Devizes, Wiltshire, said: “The poem is a dark and sombre recollection of Roberta’s trauma. “The account she wrote is an important eye-witness report. But the brooch is the most touching souvenir, a love token from the courageous young man she had grown close to.”

Fact 2: There now is a real diamond necklace called “Heart of the Ocean”.

The Titanic movie featured Kate Winslett as Rose wearing “The Heart of the Ocean” – a blue diamond necklace based on the famous Hope Diamond. (the actual Hope diamond was never on the Titanic)

Jewelers Asprey & Garrard were inspired to make a real Heart of the Ocean diamond necklace. The result was a 170 carat heart shaped sapphire with 65 diamonds, each 30 carats. Celine Dion wore it at the Oscar ceremony as she sang “My Heart Will Go On” – the theme song from Titanic during the 1998 ceremony. It was later sold at a benefit auction for $2.2 million.

Fact 3: Jeweler Harry Winston created a “Heart of the Ocean” blue diamond necklace. The $20 million necklace was worn by Gloria Stuart, who portrayed Rose as an older woman.

Fact 4: Apparently there were 13 Honeymooners aboard.

Fact 5: Titanic wasn’t found until September 1st 1985.

Fact 6: Only 1 boat from the remaining life boats went back to save people. Only 6 people were saved from the freezing water.

Fact 7: There were 6 warnings received by Titanic on the day of the collision. They were all ignored by the wireless operator who was pre-occupied by transmitting other messages.

Fact 8: There were 475 lifeboat seats that were not used.

Fact 9: There was a man named Daniel Buckley. He disguised himself as a woman to get on the boats with the women and children.

Fact 10: Last surviver was a woman named Millvina Dean. She died in December of last year. She was only 9 weeks old on board the Titanic.

Make sure you check out this amazing exploration site: www.expeditiontitanic.com

For Facts: Pulled from http://www.eszlinger.com/titanic/titanfacts.html

My prediction is printed news papers will gone within a couple of years or minimized dramatically.  What are your thoughts? Do you read the newspaper?

It’s no secret that social media has influenced the new way people connect with eachother, promoting their business, and reaching towards the respective market. Facebook, Twitter, Linked-in are the primary sources for day to day interactions and connectivity. But what about expanding the reach via viral marketing campaigns?? Viral marketing campaigns in the short word are”effective”. Engaging the user to interact with a form of media or game and giving something that is fun and interactive will provide them with value and the desire to “pass it on”.

Have you thought about “Viral Marketing” for your brand?

Dan Zarrella at danzarilla.com did such a great job compiling the top examples of viral marketing campaigns implemented by top brands.

Hotmail

When Hotmail launched, much of its early success was due to the virality of the sigline that it attached to every outgoing email inviting the recipient to join. One of the earliest examples of viral marketing on the internet.

Subservient Chicken

The creepy webcam site made for a Burger King campaign allowed people to control a guy in a chicken suit. It went viral almost instantly and for a few weeks was everywhere.

Will it Blend

One of the most recent best viral marketing campaign examples, Blendtec’s will it blend video series shows scientists testing if various household items will blend in their super-powerful blender. This campaign leveraged the popularity of online video sharing sites.

One Red Paperclip

This was a blog where the author started with a single red paperclip and traded his way up to a house, documenting his steps along the way.

Million Dollar Homepage

Perhaps the most famous viral marketing “why didn’t I think of that” example, this site sold pixels on its homepage and eventually made over a million dollars.

Simpsonsize Yourself

Created for the Simpsons movie, this site allowed visitors to create an avatar of themselves as a character from the cartoon.

Mentos/Diet Coke

Another wacky scientist schtick, these guys got famous by making art out of the explosions caused by mixing diet coke and mentos. Mentos handled it beautifully, Coke did not.

Dove Evolution Video

Part of a campaign by Dove, this video showed how models’ beauty is often artificial, and really struck a chord with its intended audience of female viewers.

Tea Partay

This was pretty genius! A beverage company created this video as a parody of rap videos and used preppy white kids.

Youtube Embedable Videos

Youtube’s meteoric rise is due in large part to the embeddable videos the company introduced, allowing bloggers to put videos directly into posts.

Lonelygirl15

This fake reality show featured an aspiring actress, playing strange storyline. It generated lots of views and eventually the creators were unmasked.

Bob Dylan Facebook App

This application allows users to make their own version of Dylan’s Subterranean Homesick Blues video. This is an viral marketing campaign example consisting entirely of “brand” interaction for the purpose of entertainment. Beautiful.

1. Make a list of the companies that you want to target.

2. Research the PR behind these companies to find “current” tie-ins that can drive support for your product or service.

3. Brands are digging Social Media. They just are still trying to figure out all the new “stuff”.

4. Show these companies how they will save money, increase traffic, monetize, explain the value as it relates to something they are trying to achieve, not just fitting something in.

5. Be different, unique, promote the relationship via Social Media.

6. Do the things others WILL NOT do.

— Jake Press  Reporting.

One of the things that you may want to consider is writing a survey list that you have all to yourself. Update it frequently when you get answers to the questions about the people you want to connect with, on a deeper level. Example: What are their goals for the next year 2009 and how can you help them with acheiving their goals with your products or services? Perhaps, it’s neither, but maybe a contact that you know. Then your product and service becomes more attractive, because you are more attractive to them, and have proven yourself valuable.

Jake Press —- Reporting.

Not those contacts??!?

This is a question you should ask yourself on a daily basis. Evaluating how you handle your contacts will be a major determining factor into accomplishing your goals.
Just for a minute think about this… “The Phone Rings”, you answer it, it’s John. You know John is working hard and trying to meet new people and also get his business off the ground.

Is your first instinct, how can John fit into my business? How can I sell John my product? How much you are going to charge him?… Since after all “You do KNOW him”. If this is you, I suggest one thing for starters. John didn’t call you to ask you to sell him a product or service, or maybe he did. But maybe John just wanted to share about what is going on his world and wanting to know whats going on in yours.

Here is a very important fact: Friends do business with Friends. It has been this way for a very long time and I don’t think that “rule of thumb” is going to change anytime soon. (Note: Make more friends). Here is something else to realize, John has something to say. People love to be heard and by you listening to John, he feels valued and important. If he feels important he will will be the guy you can call on late at night and answer the phone, like we talked about earlier.

What does John want? John wants assistance from you, he wants your advice, he wants your feedback on a situation. He has done something you have worked hard for “He is calling you” and YOU are the EXPERT! Giving John the expert feedback, will motivate him to make the necessary implementations and/or changes to his business. He will NOT forget that you were the one that helped him. You now have a powerful connection that knows people, that will get the message that you are the expert and how you helped him. Don’t be surprised if you get calls from people he knows.
Here is another thought. “Don’t wait for John to Call”. Maybe, start off by giving John a call and asking him about his business and if their are any needs that he has, that you may be able to help him with your contacts/database/expertise/etc. “Whats the catch” he is thinking. There is no catch! When he knows there’s no catch, he will reply with how can I help you. Let that linger to a follow-up conversation after you did what you said you would do, creates a powerful scenario where both of you WIN!

How many Johns do you know? What are you doing to help them! I promise the rewards are great!

Jake Press —– Reporting.

You are sitting in front of a computer with the phone on your right hand side, you have a job to do! Your job is to get in contact with the “right person”, the person that can make the decision to work with you. So how do you do this? It really is quite simple.

1st Step: Do your research! There are several ways that you can find the “right person”, use Google and type in the persons name + title and chances are they have been interviewed at one time or another. Other ways include, using resources like tech crunch, and other sites like this to gain information about who is the top dogs in the company.

2nd Step: Know what to say before you start speaking! What is the state of their company, partnerships, at least know “something” about their company! Don’t get in a position of “do you know what we do?” and you say uh!…Uh… That’s a great way to end a potential connection/relationship.

3rd Step: Do it! Pick up the phone and make the call. Don’t worry about what they say, because if you do step 1 and 2, and then proceed to make the call, you will be doing better than a vast majority of people. “You just have to make that call!”

4th step: Very important! When you are the phone, be real, be quick, be respectful, be YOU!
Know what you do, how you do it, how you can help them, don’t curse, be friendly! After all people do business with people they like!

5th step: Don’t worry if you mess up! It’s all a part of learning! You will be tongue tied sometimes, you will lose your thoughts, it’s ok. You’re human! You will however, do Great!

—-Jake Press Reporting

Our Application “Touch To Give™” that we created for our client Charity USA has been Featured as #1 on the “Whats Hot List” on the front page of iTunes. Touch to Give™ is an application that gives you ability to make a simple donation by a “single touch” and it’s absolutely FREE!

You touch produces an Ad, and your Ad pays for your touch. Click on the statistics tab on the app and see how many people are have given their Touch to Give™ for the day. You can also make apparel purchases that benefit each wonderful cause.

Click here to download the app for free:

As covered by Anne Handley.Follow her on Twitter@marketingprofs.

It’s true that every business is a publisher. In other words, every company has the opportunity to produce content, such as blogs and webinars and podcasts and so on, to attract attention and prospects and increase its profile. In essence, every business these days is, increasingly, the media.

But nonetheless, there’s a certain cachet to getting a major news outlet to tell your story for you. And there are other benefits, too, of course: like broader reach, and instant legitimacy, and the fact that your Mom can brag about it. Every day, for example, I get dozens of emailed press releases and idea pitches from business owners and the public relations people who work for them.

Like a lot of editors, I ignore many of them. Some of them are tossed immediately because they suffer from what my friend Matthew Stibbe calls “Frankenquotes,” or bloated, monstrous quotes stuffed to the seams with spare jargon parts, all patched together to create something hideous. The quote is usually attributed to a Big Cheese with a Fat Title. (But, ironically, no human would ever utter the words.) Here’s an example of what I mean:

“ZZZ company has re-affirmed its belief that ZZZ consumers want a voice in and want to help shape the future of the ZZZ franchise,” said Abby Simon, senior vice president, chief consumer engagement officer, ZZZ Company. “By maintaining an open dialogue with our consumers through an intense, year-long collaborative and strategic project, we’ve offered them an opportunity to leave their imprint on a legacy brand they truly love, have solidified an even stronger relationship with fans, and are delivering a more efficient dialogue.”

Amazingly, I’ve received much worse. But do people really talk that way? Do you?

Here are nine steps to crafting a better press release and get the media to sit up and take notice.

1. Create relationships with reporters and editors. This almost goes without saying, but the press releases I pay the most attention to are those sent from companies and public relations practioners I know and interact with. Meeting in person is optimal, of course. But social platforms like Twitter or LinkedIn and Facebook give you the ability to get to know reporter and editors on a whole nuther level.

Press tip: Work on building those relationships before you need them. It’ll pay dividends with my second point here, too.

2. Know the publication you are targeting. In my job, I get a lot of new product press releases requesting inclusion in our “new product release section.” The problem is, we don’t have a section of our publication dedicated to new products, and we don’t run press releases.

Press tip: Be sure you know the kind of articles or stories the publication you are targeting is likely to run, or make sure the story is similar to other stories the writers there have covered.

3. Have something worth sharing. This is another seemingly obvious point, but it’s amazing to me how often I get stuff that’s worthless. The purpose of a press release is to inform people about something newsworthy. It should be new and interesting and, ultimately, something that a media outlet will want to share with its readers.

Press tip: Your news should be of interest to those outside your company, not just within it.

4. Provide a news hook. Sometimes, news events can spark a great opportunity for your company or your expertise. Journalists and editors are often overworked and sometimes just plain lazy; it helps if you make the link for them and don’t wait for them to figure it out on their own.

Press tip: Link your press release to specific news events and tell the editor how and why it matters for their readers.

5. Write a descriptive subject line. I feel a profound sense of lost opportunity when I see a subject line in my inbox like, “News release from Baden Corporation” or “MEDIA RELEASE: Baden Corporation Announcement.”

Press tip: Tell editors what the story is and why it’s interesting—not simply that you have a story.

6. Get to the point. Keep press releases short… and embedded in your email, not attached as a file. Editors scan. Make your first sentence your best. Keep it short, with all the relevant information right in the first line or two. Don’t make us dig for the news, and don’t make us open attachments.

Press tip: Keep emails to fewer than three short, tight paragraphs. Include a link to a website or more complete press release for more information.

7. Avoid bloat. Present the facts. Remember the foundation of a good story. Tell editors the Who, What, When, Where, and Why without a lot of bloat or miscellaneous information.

Press tip: Stick to the truth and facts. Avoid exaggeration or hype or bloated language like “world’s first” or “first time ever!”

8. Be human. Reveal the personality of your company through the tone of voice and language you use, and write as if you are speaking to real humans. (Because you are.) Be lively. Doing so will enhance your credibility and give a sense of the color of the story.

Press tip: Write from the “I” or “we.” It helps to ground the story as being fundamentally about people, for people.

9. Speak to your audience, not your client. Often, I get press releases that feel like they were crafted by committee, or come with the above-mentioned Frankquotes. As a result, they feel as if they were written more to please the client-company than serve the media and their audiences. Remember that your “audience” here is really the publication itself, and its readers—not you or the company itself.

Press tip: Sell the story, not the company.

Your turn: What else would you add?

BIO: Bio: Ann Handley is the Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs. Follow her on Twitter@marketingprofs.

Photo credit: KC Toh

I am realizing that “nothing is perfect” and we can always wait and wait and wait for this perfect fasod of what could be presumably “our success in delay”. Today, case in point, I’m talking about the power of having a blog. I have two blogs, both of which are scattered about the internet and NOT updated on a regular basis. I couldn’t decide which direction I wanted to take my blog, so I began to write about Entrepreneurs and business goals and then switched to a personal blog. Neither are wrong, but both unintended to, is frankly, just a waste of time. And therefore lies my mistake, doing nothing at all.

It’s the example of if the tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound. Same with the blog. If you write and no one reads it, does it make an impact? I say all of this to say that I think a blog is one of the best ways to interact with our audiance. readers. and market. I wish to have a new design for my blog that is both comprehensive and enlightening with tips and resources but for now, I will write on this blog and have this as my primary blog.

If you have any suggestions to how this blog can be improved, please feel free to leave a comment. I would love to know that someone is reading my blog.

And Now, I have to say… Word Press WINS!

Official Site Name… coming soon.

Have a great day

Jake