Last week, Garden Media's Suzi McCoy hosted a Google+ Hangout to discuss how to connect, inspire and wow the media.

The G+ Hangount expanded on key aspects from Garden Media's media relations' e-Book, How to Win the Media's Heart.

Katie Ketelsen of Better Homes and Gardens.com, Michelle Slatalla of Gardenista, and David Ellis of American Gardener joined Suzi to dish on the best tricks and treats for getting your garden business in leading industry publications like these.

Below are the top tips for getting media placements by forming relations with key media influencers.

Last month, Pinterest followed in the footsteps of other social media giants by announcing that advertisements would soon sneak their way into your Pinterest streams.

Pinterest, though, touted something different: "tasteful" ads.

And as promised, the advertisments/promoted pins have arrived--kind of.

Last week, the sponsored advertisements went live for a handful of Pinterest users.

Read on to discover what Pinterest ads will look like, how they'll keep growing, and how your garden business can capitalize on these pseudo ads.

This Trending Thursday, we're looking at 2014 to see what social media trends are coming over the horizon.

Some networks are here to stay and will continue to grow while others are already stale.

With Garden Media's 2014 Guide to Social Media Trends, you can begin to see where to budget your time in the upcoming fiscal year.

Without further ado, here are the top 5 social media trends of 2014.

Hot of the presses, Garden Media's October e-Book is here!

This month our GROW! e-Book of the month clubwill be talking media relations every Wednesday, right here on our blog. The blog posts complement the info in our Media Relations e-Book and break each aspect of media relations into bite-sized pieces!

But, first thing's first, be sure to download our e-Book, "How to Win the Media's Heart."

In it, you'll find all of Garden Media's secrets to making (and maintaining!) friendships with the media.

To start the conversation, below is Garden Media's guide to media relations--beginning with the basics, like what is media relations, and where do you start?

1906-?

Press releases aren't dead. We're saying it!

But, just because they're still alive, doesn't mean they're fine as is. The strategy, format, and goals of press releases are still relevant. Yet, the tactics with which we write and market our press releases need some work.

Below are 4 tips and tricks to bring your press release into the 21st century.

When connecting with journalists in the wild and wonderful world of PR, there are proven tactics that work--like email.

PR pros cite emails as the top medium to reach out to journalists, and journalists agree. Email is their favorite way to be contacted too.

While public relations gurus and journalists are on the same page about email, after that, there's a major disconnect.

Namely, 35% of journalists prefer contacts and pitches on a social platform that a mere 15% of public relations professionals use.

Read on to discover what the social platform for pitching and connecting with an audience is that you're missing--and how to master it in a snap.

Making a video go viral is exactly what every brand wants to do. Viral videos are seen by millions of people, have off the chart levels of engagement, and place your brand positively in the mind of consumers.

But, creating a viral brand video is like finding a needle in the haystack.

How can your garden brand create a video with the potential to go viral?

Start by following these tips below, and from there, promote that video--then promote it some more!

Social media is here to stay.

It's completely transformed the landscape of personal and brand communication.

Yet, one of the biggest impacts on social media strategy thus far was just released in a new study from Econsultancy.

The reason marketers are using social media is changing--and the new findings are detrimental to your long-term success on social media.

Read on to discover the #1 way to ensure your social media strategy will fail--and how to avoid it.  Create a social media strategy that succeeds and shines.

This week I rediscovered one of my favorite quotes:

"Creativity is intelligence having fun." --Albert Einstein.

And how true! PR firms and garden businesses alike are full of brilliant thinkers, so let's help them have more fun and exercise their creativity--which will ultimately affect the bottom line.

Below are 7 tips to integrate into your garden business to have a bit more fun and a whole lot of ground breaking ideas.

If you're about to hire a PR firm, you want to do your research. Know when to hire a PR firm, questions to ask, and what public relations can really do for your business.

Before you sign the contract, clearly set your expectations. The last thing you want to do is sign a year-long contract only to discover you've made a terrible mistake.

To make your partnership with your (almost) new public relations firm, outline a clear plan of attack for these 4 criteria.