LMA and AMA joined together last night in the Fort Lauderdale offices of Fowler White Boggs to present a roundtable discussion on intellectual property issues impacting marketers. The three-member panel of attorneys did not disappoint.

Led by Board certified intellectual property attorney Sam Lewis of Feldman Gale, and legal panelists Neil Kodsi and David Barman, the panel discussed everything from sharing articles on Facebook to the use of stock photography on websites.

Everything grew silent when we learned about aggressive copyright and trademark trolls using advanced tools to identify those who are infringing on their clients’ intellectual property rights.  Many learned have been infringing without knowing it.

Sharing articles, social media and blog posts using “share” buttons is perfectly alright, but copying and pasting the same copy is not.  Photos and images are probably the most infringed intellectual property.  Many web developers find images online without paying for them and eventually get caught.  Getty Images was cited as the most aggressive enforcer.

What’s typical, you receive a certified letter from a law firm demanding you remove an image or article from your website, seeking monetary damages ranging from $500 to millions.  Many think they are in the clear because they left the image selection to their web developers.  Wrong!  You are all in it together.  Anyone in the chain of evidence can be held responsible.  So, why are so many companies paying the money to settle these claims?  It’s because the minimum cost (per side) to litigate intellectual property claims exceeds $200,000.

The only consensus in the room was, that we need to plan more programs that will help South Florida’s corporate and legal marketers avoid costly intellectual property infringement claims.

Boardroom Communications is proud to support the Legal Marketing Association– to learn more about the LMA and its programming, please contact Boardroom Vice President Jennifer Clarin.

South Florida Luxury Guide hit the newsstands with its May issue and Boardroom client Marina Palms had an entire page spread on its sales center grand opening party!

The magazine showcased 10 photos from the event featuring party guests and the newly opened 10,000 square-foot sales center containing a full-size unit complete with furnishings by Steven G.

Throughout the evening, more than 800 guests came to enjoy the festivities.

South Florida Luxury Guide was among the event’s generous sponsors.

Once completed, Marina Palms Yacht Club & Residences will be the first luxury high-rise project and full-service marina/yacht club development in Miami-Dade County in more than 20 years. Developed by affiliates of The DevStar Group and The Plaza Group, the two residential towers each will have 25 floors with a combined 468 condo units. The marina and yacht club will offer concierge service and 112 slips with mooring for yachts in excess of 90 feet.

JAFCO’s Respite and Family Resource Center for Children with Developmental Disabilities will be a jewel in the community.  Located in Sunrise, the 43,000 square-foot facility will accommodate up to 1,000 children annually with autism, cerebral palsy, mental retardation or Prader Willi.  The center is expected to open this fall.

We’re not the only ones who think this is great news!  The Sun-Sentinel featured the center on the front page of Section D on April 30

The facility will provide support, case management, training, respite care, and education for parents and recreation, therapy and socialization for the children.   JAFCO holds monthly informational meetings for the community to hear about what they’re doing, see the architectural model and drive over the building site to see the progress. It’s a pleasure and an honor to tell the world what JAFCO is doing.

Social media has become ubiquitous and necessary to succeed in business these days.  And small businesses are no exception to this trend; but they should be cautious of certain posts that can appear unprofessional, misinformed or to have an agenda. With some help from Social Media Today, here are some tips to follow while playing the social media game.
1.       Make sure you check the grammar, spelling and general accuracy of your post. Remember that this post, tweet, status, etc. is a representation of your business and it needs to be exemplified in an informed, positive manner.
2.       Include links, tags and hashtags. This step will connect to you vast amounts of people and networks discussing the same topics and will keep the subject matter relative to the reader. However, too much of this can be overkill and appear as spam, so tag in moderation.
3.        Be Careful if you take a stance on religious, political or other controversial subjects in the social media arena. It is a matter of preference for private accounts, but business social media accounts should remain neutral and professional. When in doubt, do not post.

It used to be that writing a press release required a little more than the five W’s and H. But as many public relations pros now understand, it’s also about the S-E-O.

Press releases are not only being used to inform journalists about your client, but simply by virtue of being posted to wire services, a client’s website or other social media, press releases are being read by customers, potential customers, clients and many others.

While it’s important to write clearly, it’s also important to make sure that keywords are added so as to optimize it for the web.

There are several ways to accomplish this:

First: Figure out how you want to be found. What keywords will you use? There are several free tools you can use including: wordtracker.com, keyword discovery.com and Mikesmarketingtools.com, to name a few.

Second: Use those keywords in your headline, in your subhead and in your first paragraph. At the same time, keep headlines short and to the point so it is fully displayed in Google search results.

Third: Post your press release to a wire service. There are paid ones and free ones. Your budget will determine where it will go. Also post it to your company website and from there tweet it. Put it on Facebook and any other social media outlet you are using.

Fourth: Analyze the results. Google Analytics is a good tool. Track the retweets.

Finally, follow up. Learn from what you have accomplished and build on it. Are some keywords working better than others? Eliminate those that don’t work and experiment with others that do.

These days, anyone with a computer and internet access can call themselves a blogger. So what distinguishes the crème of the crop from the Joe Schmoes of the blogging world?

Content

Experts recommend posting content that is less about your client and their products/services. Blog content should appeal with your target audience. Blogs shouldn’t be self-serving.

Ask the following questions to help determine the focus of a blog:

* Who is your target audience?

* What kinds of topics and issues do they care about?

As with anything else, make sure the content is timely and will actually bring something new to the table.

Variety

Different types of posts can attract different readers. It would be a good idea to vary your blog posts to include videos, photos, Q&As, guest columns, etc. Of course, blog readers love lists – easy to read and to the point.

Also try to engage your readers, whether it’s through comments or contests. Encourage feedback.

Frequency

One post per week is a good starting point. Depending on available time, resources and content, the number of posts per week can increase.

But beware of over-posting. Just like the person that tweets too much or the person that updates their Facebook status every five minutes, bloggers who over-post get annoying. That is the number one reason why readers unsubscribe to a blog.

There is no magic number, but it all comes down to how relevant and useful the content is.

Odds & Ends

* Maintain proper grammar and spelling at all times.

* Make sure the design and layout of the blog is aesthetically pleasing.

* Keep it simple and short. Blog posts shouldn’t be more than 300-400 words.

It’s no secret that this political season has sparked a lot of debate – especially in today’s society where social media is prevalent. Although social media is a platform to express your opinions, some say the passionate postings have gone to far and are sick of political rantings.

In a recent CBS article titled “Expert: Keep Your Political Rantings off Social Media for Your Own Good”, professionals are urged to stay silent this year.

Many people have already made the smart move this year to keep their opinions at a hum.

As a PR professional, this is simply a good method to follow. It is bad press for your brand if you show partisanship to one side.

According to the article, people just don’t want to hear it on their social media. A lot of people are unfriending on Facebook and unfollowing on Twitter when their friends and followers continue to rant and insult varying views.

The article recommends that if you must talk about politics, you should do it face-to-face with people you really know, instead of going to social media sites.

And if you are a business with a strong social media presence, you are better off not commenting about politics at all. You may be offending people in ways you are not even aware of.

There’s been some discussion in our office lately about how to get more Facebook fans. We post regularly and often, we promote our clients, we promote our work, we even promote ourselves.

The one thing we all agree not to do is to buy fans. What you get is quantity, but not quality. Your fans should know who you are and what you are about. If they like you, they will support you. But how can they like or support you, if you don’t know them and they don’t know you. And sooner or later, as with most fair weather fans, they will eventually go away.

Instead, focus on growing fans who know you, your product, or who are potential customers.

The ever-growing number of photo-dependent sites and apps – Pinterest, Instagram, etc. — is proof that photos are important. So, use images when possible. Use photos to tell a story, give some insight into who you are as an organization, and what you can do for clients. The same goes for videos.

Other tips?

Keep posts short: People have short attention spans these days. Include links, if they want more, they will click on the related link to read it. If not, they will move on.
Schedule posts: Heck we’re all busy and we don’t always have time to post. But there are some downtimes in our schedule and that’s when we can write something. If we want to hold off on posting, then at least it’s done and ready to go.
When matters: Studies show that Facebook activity peaks at 7 a.m. and again at 8 p.m. – in other words people are checking in before and after work.
Post video: Like a television commercial, web videos can provide customers with a dynamic and interactive experience. They also can provide potential customers with a quick overview of what you have to offer in a way that text can’t.
It’s not always about you: Find ways to make your content relevant to your fans without it being all about what you can do for them. Create a broader connection between what you have to offer and what your customers want.

By following a few simple rules, you may see your likes go up and your fan interaction increase as well.

What are you doing to gain fans?

Facebook has been working hard to enhance their features, making it easier for businesses to target the right people at the right time. Their latest and greatest is the “Page Post Targeting” feature, allowing brands to market to a specific target audience. By specifying a targeted segment of viewers post by post, brands can now customize their marketing strategies.

How does it work?
Page Post Targeting enables you to choose specific variables among your current followers, and then only send posts to their News Feeds based on these variables:

- Age
- Education (high school, schools attended, education level)
- Gender
- Interests
- Relationship Status
- Language
- Workplace
- Location

EX: Let’s say you are running a campaign that is only valid to women living in Miami. You will now be able to post a status/photo/etc. and only make it visible to female followers of your page who live in the Miami area.

The good & the bad

Good

- Control over who sees what
- Offer a special/give a tip that is relevant to a certain group
- Increase sharing within targets due to similar interests

Bad

- Targeted posts only show up on the News Feeds of those followers you are targeting
- ALL posts will remain on your page wall
- If you want to remove posts that don’t apply to everyone, you will need to manually go in and “hide” them
- Limiting potential reach by targeting
- Some people may not share all their information on their profiles, thus leaving them out of the target criteria

Here at Boardroom, we are ready to use the new Targeted Posts with our clients. Miami fashion designer, Rene Ruiz sells all over the world. If he has an upcoming trunk show at a store in New Jersey, we will now be able to specifically target women in the New Jersey area to get the word out via Facebook.

Click here to read a recent article from Open Forum for more information.

In a recent blog, we mentioned the advantages of using Pinterest as a tool for public relations. But it’s worth focusing on a new social media superstar on the rise.

Instagram isn’t just a personal tool anymore. It’s also good for business, so good, in fact, that it impressed Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. He decided to invest in the image social sharing application, buying the company for $1 billion.

Instagram allows you to snap a photo with your phone, edit it, then post it to your feed where your followers can see and comment on it. With Instagram, you can share a picture that can reach a large number of people as a result of followers, hashtags and linking comments. You can upload pictures and share news on the go. Starbucks, Urban Outfitters and McDonald’s have already joined the Instagram community.

Photographs can build followers and positive public relations. If you have iPhone editing and photo applications then you are on the right track.  And good news for Droid users, the application is now available for you as well.

According to Social #prchat studies show that images increase readability in press releases, blog posts and social media.

“Optimized images can also increase your online visibility in search engines in addition to attract searchers to click on a story based on the image,” the website reports.
You can also incorporate apps such as Picfx to add special effects including lighting, color effects, borders and captions to make your images look unique.

Snap a photo that shows your business or employees in a good light, and a simple new tool can bring big results.