Now, the ipad with 3G capabilities will be available on April 30th, and I could not be more excited. Apple’s products are so innovative, and I feel that that sometimes it is better to wait for their newer model to come out. The moment has come!

According to Times Newsline, the iPad 3G model will be a little heavier than the Wi-Fi only model and will have a small black plastic antenna window. This model is $130 more expensive and will come in 16 GB, 32 GB, and 64 GB. The prices range from $629-$829.

From a recent poll by Mashable author Barb Dybwad, Amazon might have something to worry about. Apple IBooks have defeated Amazon Kindle in a reader poll, with 48 percent of the votes vs. Kindle’s 36 percent. Apple has just recently entered the digital book market and is already becoming a leader.

Kindle has an app for the iPad that allows readers to browse and purchases their books. This enables them to keep up and make a profit with the iPad, but is making it even less likely for people to want to purchase an actual Kindle. The Kindle already has 3G capabilities that allows you to download books in less than 60 seconds and is much cheaper at $259. I personally think that they need more innovative features on the actual Kindle or else it will cease to exist. At this rate, it seems that the Kindle will only become an accessory to the iPad, iPhone and Mac. What do you think?

Follow Sarah Evans on Twitter @prsarahevans!

Sarah Evans, @prsarahevans, is the founder of Sevans Strategy, where she is a public relations and media consultant. Throughout her career, she has initiated and is the moderator of #journchat, a weekly live chat that creates a conversation for PR professionals, journalists and bloggers and is also a guest writer for Mashable.

During the PR + Social Media Summit, Sarah Evans shared nine ways you can stand out online in a non-spammy way! She pointed out that it’s busy online and everyone is competing for your attention. In addition, Sarah proved this point by saying that one out of every three online Americans update their social media statuses at least once a week.

Before she shared her nine strategies, she said it was important to think about your goal in action. Is it to build a business, become established online, be famous, or connect with peers? Also, think about how you spend your time online. After you have figured that out, here are the nine things that will help you to stand out:

1.) Find an opportunity to showcase what you do best.
For example, when a minor earthquake happened at 4:00 a.m. in Chicago, Sarah Evans tweeted about the event and looked to her twitter to find out more information. She also direct messaged CNN and filled out a CNN iReport. Through Twitter, Sarah shared safety information with everyone and made herself available to the media as a direct source. Sarah Evans was helpful and shared so much valuable information. Her efforts were praised by New York Times for using Twitter in such an effective manner. Overall, there were 6,200 views of her iReport and she had five new and viable business inquiries in four hours.

2.) Hijack a conversation and offer an opportunity for others to share.
It is not always about being the loudest, but providing a quality environment with quality content. Livefyre is a great tool, because it is a medium that can focus on a conversation.

3. Meet a need in an innovative way.
Sarah Evans created #journchat, an ongoing conversation between journalists, bloggers and PR practitioners. She identified a need for communication between these professionals and asked the group for permission to moderate. For the first six months it was the number one trending topic on twitter. #Journchat has evolved into an online community and is the first live twitter industry chat. Overall, it has more than 6,000 participants and has also sparked 100 plus other industry chats. In addition, it was also the first live chat to land a year-long partnership with Cision.

4. Another way to stand out online is to generate a lot of quality content.
Think about multi media and figure out if you like writing, video etc. Then provide content through that medium.

5. Do it for a good cause.
Sarah used Twitter to fundraise money for four cancer organizations. The hashtag #BeatCancer set a Guinness Book of World Records and has raised over $70,000 in its penny per tweet campaign. Sarah Evans also created a campaign #crisis overnight that rose $161,000 for a local crisis center in three weeks only using social media.

6. Give freely and give often.
On twitter, it is important to share and acknowledge. Tweet any tips, tricks and tools for your industry. It’s karma!

7. Think like those you’re trying to reach.
Get into the mindset of those you’re trying to reach. Find your niche, own it and emerge as an expert in your industry. Also, remember that in the U.S. our relationship with the news is portable, personalized and participatory.

8. Get sourced… a lot.
Anytime you can be picked up as the expert, it adds to your credibility and gives you more leverage. Sign up for Help A Reporter Out and follow journalists online. Identify story opportunities where you are the best source and pitch them. Focus on media, bloggers and online influencers. Bonus: use PitchEngine for your releases.

9. What else?
Sarah asked audience members to volunteer and share other ways to stand out online. These included humor, unique opinions, deep knowledge, audience focus, and going after key opportunities. If you have any other ideas on how to stand out online please add them in the comments.

For more information from the PR + Social Media Summit check out the event hashtag #prsms. There are also videos available on vimeo. To see more blogs from my classmates about the PR + Social Media Summit, check out our PR Summit Blog.

Some of 2009’s most innovative ads include All the Single Babies, JK Wedding Dance, and David After Denist. Today,Lady Gaga was the first artist with one billion online video views. Why did each of these videos go viral? Although you cannot create a viral campaign (you never know if your campaign will go viral), there are a few things that all viral videos have in common.

1.) Your video must be engaging. Why do you think that Lady Gaga was the first artist to have one billion video views? She is creative and out of the ordinary. Although businesses want to use videos to promote themselves, it is important that the video is about the audience. Lady Gaga is over the top and puts on a show for her audience. Even if you are not her biggest fan, you are most likely going online to see her latest music video.
2.) Aside from engaging, it needs to be clever and imaginative. As Gabby Diaz of Marketing Experiments Blog says, “Your not only making a video people will pass along, but spreading a brand that viewers will want to remember and reengage with.” The “JK Wedding Dance” became so popular because nobody had seen a bridal party dance down the aisle like that. It is creative and memorable and therefore spread quickly. Audiences wanted to reengage with it, whether sharing or re-creating the video. It was even re-created on The Office!
3.) Optimize your video tags. When Esther Crawford, video blogger for Weight Watchers, visited my Social Media class this semester, she said tagging requires creativity when first starting out. You need to think about what people are searching for on YouTube and tag accordingly. “If a Brittany Spears song is in your video then tag Brittany Spears.” Tagging effectively can ultimately create search engine optimization (SEO).
4.) Distribution. Make your video widely available. There are other video sharing sites aside from YouTube and Facebook. Don’t forget to look to Yahoo Video, Daily Motion, Blog TV or Funny Junk etc. While spreading the word about your video, it is important to make sure that anybody and everybody can access it.
5.) Timing. Your video should be NO longer than 2-3 minutes. Lets face it; nobody wants or has the time to watch a 25-minute video.
Although going viral sounds great (and it is!) it is important to make sure that it is the right campaign for your product/business first. If you decide it is the right campaign for you and your video does not go viral, don’t get discouraged. It may take several tries to get the results that you want.
If you have any ideas, tips or comments on what makes a video go viral, please feel free share!

While reading the news, I learned that in the aftermath of Chile’s earthquake, many U.S. family members looked to social networking sites for answers about survivors. With phone lines and cell phones unavailable, Internet was the only way to communicate with each other. Throughout the day, friends and family communicated with loved ones using Facebook and Skype to make sure that they had survived the earthquake.

With social media and networking sites becoming more prevalent in public relations, I just found it amazing all of the uses that  it has in society. Many say that social media is a fad, but in times of turmoil it is what gives people the ability to know that their loved ones are safe. Social media is becoming embedded into our society, almost permanently a part of people’s lives.

I have known Lisa for eight years now. She is my best friend Amy’s younger sister. Considering I practically lived at their house for four years during high school, and that I always end up falling asleep in her bedroom when coming back from a night out on the town with Amy, I consider Lisa to be my little sister too.

Lisa is currently a freshman at Illinois State, adjusting to college life and loving her sorority. Originally, she planned to be a history major, wanting to either become a teacher or a lawyer post-graduation.  Then, one day over Thanksgiving break, I was elated to hear that she was thinking of switching her major to public relations.

She began to inquire for information about PR, and I was literally about to explode with excitement! I began to talk on and on about the wonders of press releases, social media, and the wonderful careers she would get to choose from after graduation.

After thinking it over, Lisa realized that public relations was her calling. Now, February 24, 2010, I just got a text message telling me she was going to officially change in her major. Before sending it in though, she wanted me to explain again what options she would have for her new major.

Do you use an iPhone? I can only describe my text message back as being approximately 4.5 inches of text. Pretty long! As I was writing it, I felt so happy to be telling her about my major, what I love to do. While typing this gigantic text message (I should have just called) I felt elated to share my knowledge of PR with her. 

People always tell you, do something you love and it won’t feel like work. So true! I hope that Lisa find the happiness I feel with her new major. And to other PR majors, I hope you understand what I am talking about!

What is even more convenient is that businesses will be able to use PayPal to purchase advertising. This is an easier form of payment for businesses utilizing Facebook. The ease of using PayPal may even attract new business to purchase ad space. Also, many of Facebook’s advertisers are international, so using PayPal would be much easier for them

The partnership of Facebook and PayPal may change how online consumers make their purchases. Eventually, purchases for other websites may be made through Facebook.

The affiliation between Facebook and PayPal may also change social networks, as we know it. There are possibilities for Facebook to sell more products or for people to make their own transactions with one another. I think it will be interesting to see where this partnership takes us.

When a crisis erupts, the worst thing that you can do is avoid the media. PR professionals all over the net are saying that customers needed Toyota to take responsibility and give a solution. It doesn’t help you to just “stick your head in the sand.” Aside from that, the only thing people are hearing from them is more bad news. Now, there are problems with the Toyota Corolla steering.

In the Newsweek article I read, it brought up an interesting point. The Internet is causing crisis communications to change drastically. With the Internet, News spreads all over the globe at a rapid pace. If a company does not address the issue right away, consumers will go to Twitter, Blogs, and Facebook to comment on the issue and use Google to search for details and information. Toyota should have used the Internet to their advantage to reach out to customers first. I think the delay of using social media to address the recall is one element that caused backlash from the public and media.

Newsweek’s article also has an interview with Gene Grabowski, chair of crisis and litigation practice at Levick Strategic Communication about Toyota. If you would like to read it, here is the link: http://www.newsweek.com/id/232962.