Navigating Your Way Through Citizen Journalism Online

More and more, citizen reporters are shaping the news and the information we receive. Time Magazine named “YOU” as person of the year as a result of the citizen reporting trend. We now find information and make purchasing decisions based on a variety of different sources that include blogs, vlogs, social networking sites, viral emails, and e-commerce rating systems. Each one of us is a journalists if we want to be and can be published in a number of locations in a number of ways on the web. Our tendency to trust each other more that we trust institutions, media outlets or even the government prompts us to turn to feedback from one another about what is truly going on in the world. Wikipedia is a citizen generated information library and one of the most frequently visited sites on the web and “google” is officially a verb. Zenzi offers a few tips on how to get your feet wet in the citizen-generated media world.

Here are some ways to increase your exposure that your current marketing campaign may not incorporate:

1. Put yourself in someone else’s shoes and brainstorm a key word list that a customer would use to find you.
2. Incorporate your top 10 search engine key words into your press releases and post them on your website.
3. Set up profiles on social networking sites based on your target audience i.e. facebook, myspace, linked in etc…have an intern build the network
4. Establish relationships with key bloggers that cover your subject matter, they love new information and have unlimited space in most cases!
5. Post entries on Wikipedia to position yourself as a subject matter authority.
6. Pitch web articles to sites where your target audience goes for information to position yourself as an expert.
7. Develop a value-add podcast which can be downloaded for free on your website or on others: I.e. if you are a tax specialist offer a tax seminar on the SBA’s website or a hyperlink to your site where they can download.
8. Partner with like sites that compliment your services and post each other’s links.
9. Constant contact through regular email pitches that serve a purpose and provide valuable information! Don’t just sell them
10. Do not make people dig to find your information! 3 clicks or less to get to information!

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