Top 10 Best Resources for Online News Communications

For many years, I have been using the influence of authentic and relevant news, delivered online, to enhance brand and image reputation for clients. Along the way, I’ve put together resources and tools that deliver exceptional quality, are highly portable and easy to use.

In this New Year, let me share a Top 10 list of the best tools and resources that my firm - News Strategies™ – uses for timely communication of news for our clients in the digital era:

1. Best writing style – news style, guided by the AP Stylebook. News style writing – literally the opposite of writing style for PR, promotion and marketing – jumps out and engages audience attention through the mutual human connection of storytelling and sharing of real news. Of course, it takes the skill of having worked in the news business to master the techniques of news writing.
2. Best online platform – WordPress is the world’s most powerful, versatile, popular, search engine friendly and social media-effective online platform to develop and manage online sites. We at News Strategies™ build all news sites for our clients on WordPress.
3. Best site developers for WordPress – Solostream.com. We’ve worked with these guys for years. They are the friendliest, most talented and reliable team of online site developers I’ve found, never missing a deadline.
4. Best online hosting – Hostgator pro services.
5. Best laptop for managing online communications – MacBook Air 13-inch.  Any Mac is outstanding for managing online news sites but the new MacBook Air, weighing about a mere 1 1/2 pounds, is the best all-around computer for doing everything from updating online news sites to editing video and tweaking images. I recommend always buying Apple computers from Apple.
6. Best video cameras for online work – Whether for online HD video and providing client news video to broadcast and cable news networks, we use Panasonic’s AG-HMC40 that delivers stunning video. Video is often only as good as the audio so we use Sennheiser broadcast-quality wireless microphones.
7. Best digital cameras for online work – Canon G12 or S95. These highly rated cameras capture stunning news-style images for online news sites, especially when shot in professional RAW format.
8. Best and most reliable supplier of high quality video, photo and computer equipment – B&H Photo/Video. They can’t be beat.
9. Best live online news aggregator service – EIN’s News Feed Maker service is excellent for licensed real-time news about an industry or specific topic.
10. Best online news consulting team for corporations and organizations – of course, the magic happens when skilled people make it happen. I believe my team at News Strategies™ is certainly the most accomplished, experienced and has the track record for developing and managing authentic, real-time news sites that quickly build visibility, drive social media and enhance brand image for corporations and organizations.

What I have written may sound a bit technical to many people … but this is where the practice of strategic communications is today. It’s no longer about press releases and a traditional bag of tricks. These are the new tools of communication in the highly competitive online/mobile/wireless/handheld world. This is the way it is … now.

I hope that’s helpful … and wish you the very best in this New Year.

Related posts:

1. The Death of Traditional Online “Newsrooms”
2. The News Is Dead. Long Live the News!
3. The Coming Explosion in News Online
4. Louisiana Seafood Industry Turns to News Group Net for Online Crisis Management
5. Flash Leads to Poor Online Communications

Tags: Brand Journalism, David Henderson, Featured, News Group Net LLC, News Strategies

Category: Featured, Personal notes