• Welcome to the GFM Blog!

    GroundFloor Media (GFM) is an award-winning public relations firm based in beautiful Denver. We're lucky enough to be staffed entirely by seasoned industry pros who have a passion for PR, crisis work, digital communications and social media. Our wide range of clients - from food and beverage to health care to technology - consistently offer us innovative and creative opportunities to reach new audiences. We developed this blog to share our experiences, advice and industry commentary with other communicators and PR practitioners. If you are interested crisis communication and reputation management work, read our blog spearheaded by one of our team members, a former journalist, who also writes a weekly column for PR Daily.

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Social Media & Mobile Device Habits at GFM

By | Published: May 17, 2013

I can answer the question, “what one thing would you take with you in a fire,” with certainty. About a year ago my husband and I were staying at a hotel when the fire alarm went off in the middle of the night. We leaped out of bed and prepared to join the other guests streaming down the hall to the exits. But before we left the room I rummaged through my purse and grabbed my iPhone.

Yes, my iPhone. I didn’t bother with my wallet, ID or anything else. In a fire we now know that I would take my iPhone. Frightening? Maybe, but my husband wasn’t surprised in the least.

So I decided to have some Friday fun with the GFM employees as well and sent out an internal survey to learn a little more about everyone’s social media and mobile device usage habits. Our secrets are exposed below.

Read more after the jump…

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Weekly Reads – The Ever-Evolving World of Social Media

By | Published: May 16, 2013

We’re a bit all over the board with our reads this week, and there doesn’t seem to be a consistent theme other than this: the world of marketing via social media is continually evolving. From this week’s Google+ redesign to the steady push toward increased mobile use, communicating with your communities is an ever-changing task. It can be overwhelming, but try to avoid the “Bright, Shiny Object Syndrome” and think strategically about how your audiences are using each platform and each new bell and whistle.

Read more after the jump…

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Yelp Tips Help Business Owners Navigate Review Sites

By | Published: May 15, 2013

As review sites like Yelp, Angie’s List and TripAdvisor continue to grow both in consumer use and search engine value, we at GFM receive more frequent questions from clients regarding how to manage a brand’s reputation on these sites. While in the eyes of a business owner review sites can look like the “Wild West,” understanding the etiquette associated with each platform and spending time to monitor and engage in a meaningful manner can go a long way.Yelp

We asked our friends Tiffany Nieslanik, Yelp Regional Director – West, and Frances Grinsfelder, Denver Yelp Community Manager, to provide some of their best tips to help navigate reviews:

Read more after the jump…

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Maximizing Media Partnerships

By | Published: May 14, 2013

The media partnership is often viewed as a slam-dunk – delivering guaranteed placement of editorial content. However, media partnerships require continued diligence to ensure the right story is being shared at the right time to achieve your communications goals.http://www.flickr.com/photos/alfon18/2439293687/

Oftentimes, the story angle that first hooked the media as a partner, such as exclusive interview access or news coverage can eclipse the overall story you may want to share, such as a business growth or economic impact story. Helping reporters to avoid shiny objects and share a more complete picture of your news is the art of maximizing media partnerships.

Read more after the jump…

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Twitter vs. NYT: What is the better business model?

By | Published: May 13, 2013

nytimes-live-twitterThe debate over which business model has a brighter future—The Gray Lady or the bright, shiny penny that is Twitter—spilled over into media circles this last week.

In the world of PR, the discussion has been taking place in client meetings and communications planning sessions for several years. Still, it remains unclear whether the industry has placed its bets on either model just yet.

Peter Thiel, however, has.

The PayPal co-founder and online trendsetter added fuel to that particular fire at a recent press conference when he declared that Twitter will outlast The New York Times. Thiel contended that “Twitter’s roughly 1,000 employees will have jobs a decade from now,” while Times’ journalists should be worried about their jobs because the newspaper “is not guaranteed a future in the digital age.”

Read more about it Ragan’s PR Daily.

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Weekly Reads – The Ever-Evolving World of Social Media

By | Published: May 10, 2013

It may seem like social media and the platforms that deliver all of the content that we create every single day are evolving and improving at an astounding rate… but it’s only going to get better (or worse, depending on how you look at it). This week’s reads includes articles about new features of Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ and Pinterest and how to best utilize them, as well as a look at some of the most interesting social media research and what we can learn from the data.

Read more after the jump…

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How to choose (and work with) a PR firm

By | Published: May 7, 2013

I recently read an article encouraging startups to avoid hiring a PR firm, and what those new companies should do instead (hire an in-house PR pro, according to the author). Hiring a PR firm doesn’t make sense for every business, but despite what the author of the article above would have you believe, hiring a firm can have a number of benefits – even for up-and-coming businesses.

Do you have the time or resources to manage, or hire a manager of your communications efforts?

Startup companies have a lot on their plates, and typically with a minimal staff. Functions like managing sales channels, materials/inventory, HR and financials rightfully take up a majority of those resources. But that also means marketing and communications frequently get pushed to the backburner and become an afterthought. The right PR firm, with the right experience and contacts, can be an extension of your internal team, and one that doesn’t require the cost and risk of making a new hire. Additionally, if you’re hiring a firm you’re getting a team of communications pros (in GFM’s case, an extremely experienced team). The power of group thinking is tremendously valuable.

Read more after the jump…

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What Print’s Slow Transition to Digital Means for PR

By | Published: May 6, 2013

Apple-Digital-Newsstand (1)The digital age and pay walls are finally taking hold at the nation’s largest newspapers, bringing new life to an industry struggling to reinvent itself.

For the world of PR, the figures released Wednesday by the Alliance for Audited Media means that our industry can still try to pitch news outlets with more of a focus on digital editions, but probably with the same limited success.

A couple of points about the ongoing digital shift and what it means to PR:

• Put the term “newspaper clipping services” into the time capsule, along with fax machines and press conferences;

• More news sites will set up pay walls instead of giving away news for free, making it harder to track news subjects and specific reporters;

• Competing sites will figure out how to offer news products free, without the overhead of newsroom, and that will open up more outlets for PR;

• USA Today, long seen as the gold standard for the future of journalism, might need to reinvent how to sell its product;

• PR will continue struggle to show results, primarily quality versus quantity in terms of media results based on number of eyeballs.

Read more at Ragan’s PRDaily.

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Weekly Reads – Week of April 29, 2013

By | Published: May 2, 2013

Having a formidable online presence is no easy task, especially when you read these statistics about online publishing, but it is possible to remain top of mind with your target consumers amidst the clutter. The key is, as you’ve heard us say many times, disseminating smart content that is quickly digestible and monitoring reactions religiously in order to shift gears as needed and meet your audiences where they are—which is always changing. This week’s social media and digital news roundup offers both tips from seasoned online gurus and case studies offering best practices from digital success stories.

Read more after the jump…

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When PR Takes Patience…

By | Published: May 2, 2013

5280 MagazineWhile PR is a very effective way to build brand awareness, thought leadership and credibility, it is not a quick fix – and that can, understandably, create frustration at times. We hear all too often from colleagues across the industry that clients want coverage for their initiatives, executives, etc. now – or better yet, yesterday. And while we certainly understand that, as PR professionals we also know all too well that securing feature placement in clients’ top priority publications just takes time. The wait is due in part to the changing media landscape – with fewer outlets out there and smaller staffs at those outlets, demand for “ink” simply outstrips the “ink” supply. However, this has also always just been part of PR – as with so many other aspects of business, PR is about relationships. It takes time to nourish relationships between clients and the media – and the timing must also be right in terms of trends/topics that your targeted reporters are covering.

It is absolutely worth the wait when that premium story finally runs – but the wait can make everyone a little bit crazy at times!

Read more after the jump…

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