DIY Public Relations – Free Business Advice
Officers of public relations cost too much and do a bad job? Then make your own web. In this video, web expert Tracy Martin DIY page
Q. Why Do Public Relations People Frequently Wear Red?
Q. Why Do Public Relations People Frequently Wear Red?
Information about why public relations doesn’t just happen along with tips about selecting an agency.
Keywords:
marketing, PR, Advertising, consulting, marketing campaigns
A. So the blood doesn’t show.
Many people think that once a company starts advertising, editors beat a path to your door. In some cases, that actually does happen, but it’s not the norm. Public relations is a very important part of the marketing mix, but it’s a tremendous amount of hard, detailed work.
Public relations is very different from advertising. One main difference is that you can’t buy media placement. The story is either newsworthy, or it’s not. Paid placement is called advertising. A successful PR campaign provides third-party endorsement of products or services which is something no other marketing element can deliver.
Both marketing elements are important, but public relations can sometimes be a slow build. Results don’t happen in a few weeks or in a month, especially with the three month lead time needed for magazines print deadlines. When dealing with television, newspapers or radio, the three month lead time is not an issue, but competition is an issue.
There have been situations where we’ve had an instant success story. We created a museum event in Philadelphia at a small children’s museum that was an incredible media success story. Every newspaper, ethnic publication and television station showed up for this event. Over the years, we’ve also had a number of press conferences with tons of media coverage the next day. This is expecially true if the news is sensational or the product is very popular at retail.
In one case, we generated thousands of stories for a client, but we were trying to generate an article in a major business paper. Nothing worked. The editor was interested, but he didn’t understand the point we were using as the “hook” for the story. When we finally drove home the point of differrence between mass market retailers and specialty retailers, he wrote the story and it was fantastic. Our story ended up on the front page of the business section minus one column, but it took months and months of work.
Many clients don’t understand the PR process. For example, when I was handling the marketing for a major children’s line of licensed apparel, the client had signed the advertising contract, but not the public relations contract. He just didn’t understand the entire subject and finally asked for a meeting to discuss things. Shortly into the meeting, this charming, grandfatherly gentleman looked at me with a straight face and said, “Why do I have to pay for this, doesn’t it just happen?”
At first, I thought he was kidding, but then I could see that he simply didn’t understand the process, or the discipline. After a rather lengthy discussion, he signed the contract. The campaign was a big success and so was the clothing line.
Some clients don’t have the budget for the entire marketing mix of trade advertising, consumer advertising, sales promotion, web site development and PR. Many will start with PR and trade advertising and then increase their marketing budget over time.
How To Choose An Agency
When you are ready to consider an agency, what should you look for in a PR team? For starters, the chemistry has to be there. You also need experience and media connections. Don’t hesitate to ask for client references. Once you have them, pick up the phone and make some calls.
Don’t assume that the new business people will service your account. If there is one account person that you feel has the expertise you need, consider requesting that this individual be the point person on your account. The agency should be willing to agree to this request in your written contract. Beware of bait and switch, where you are courted by the new business people who will never be seen again after the contract is signed.
What You Can Expect
Some points to remember:
Nothing kills a bad product faster than excellent PR and advertising. Customers may purchase the product once and then, that’s it.
When products are photographed, the samples must be in perfect condition. The camera picks up and magnifies very tiny flaws. Retouching is expensive, so be careful when you select product samples for photography.
PR is not a tool used to force retail distribution. If you try it, the move will come back to haunt you. When an editor asks for information about the retail distribution of a product and/or service, the PR agency had better have answers or the ability to obtain the answers quickly. Reporters and editors always manage to call for this information when they are on deadline so everything is a rush. A response such as we’re planning to open outlets soon in your area is not the correct answer.
Put yourself in the editor’s place. He/she is interested in writing about your product and the readers expect to be able to find the item in local stores, on respected web sites, or in catalogs. If they can’t do any of the above, the editor will not write about the product.
I have had consumers track me down because they wanted a specific product and could not find it at the retail store mentioned in the article because the item had sold out. One Christmas, I was practically running a mail order operation out of the agency because frantic consumers were calling for one specific product that did not have wide retail distribution.
Trade books usually publish one month in advance. Consumer books publish three, yes three months in advance. If you’re hoping for a December magazine story, you’d better start planning in July or August.
If your agency is creative, it will come up with innovative “hooks” for your products or services.
PR is a wonderful marketing tool, but you must understand the basics to understand how it can work for your company.
Diane T. Creston
Creston Advertising
Your Strategic Marketing Partner
Handelsspecimen Deskundigen verklaren de eerste presidentiële debat in 180 seconden!
Nieuw uit www.yBC.TV Dus de eerste van de vier presidentiële debatten heeft plaatsgevonden en de Pundits zijn ontleedkamer de problemen. YouTube gaat wild
Small Business Champions: Bobra Bush
Small Business Champions: Bobra Bush, eigenaar van Telcom Corporation & Telcare Corporation in Boca Raton, Florida.
Why become a ghostwriter?
Why become a ghostwriter?
Ghostwriting can be rewarding in two ways.
a) You get a chance to research and write about all types of topics that you would not normally have a chance to learn about. The old theory in writing, “write what you know” does not apply to ghostwriting since your clients will dictate what topic you will write about.
b) You can make a decent living at it. If you are new to writing, it may take a while to get clients but it is possible. It just takes a little hard work and perseverance. There are se
Keywords:
sales letter,sales
Ghostwriting can be rewarding in two ways.
a) You get a chance to research and write about all types of topics that you would not normally have a chance to learn about. The old theory in writing, “write what you know” does not apply to ghostwriting since your clients will dictate what topic you will write about.
b) You can make a decent living at it. If you are new to writing, it may take a while to get clients but it is possible. It just takes a little hard work and perseverance. There are several ways to get clients. Here are a few.
1. Bid on writing jobs on contracted work site such as Elance.com, Guru.com and Getafreelancer.com
You signup as a service provider to begin bidding on projects posted by clients. If you win the bid, you do the writing project as a ghostwriter.
2. Place ads for your ghostwriting service on free classified ad sites. It does not cost anything to post ads on these sites and is a good way to get your services out there in front of potential clients.
3. Post responses in forums with a signature that defines your ghostwriting service and an email address or website URL. Something along the lines of “Affordable Ghostwriting Services, [your website url] or email for more details [your email address].
4. Introduce your services in forums where you are allowed to do this. Many forums have a section where you can introduce your business. See out writing forums for this.
5. Have business cards created showcasing your ghostwriting business. Pass them out every chance you get. Put them on bulletin boards in supermarkets etc. You can create your own or have them made.
6 Write a press release announcing your services. There are plenty of no-cost or low-cost distribution services on the web to get the message out for you. Ghostwriting may not be for everyone because you do not get credit for your work, the client does. If that does not matter to you and you like writing on a variety of topics, it can be an enjoyable way to earn some money.
Did you find this article useful? For more useful tips, hints, points to ponder and keep in mind, techniques, and insights pertaining to guides on sales letters, query letters, bylines, with solutions , do please browse for more information at our websites.
Selling Success: Using Testimonials to Boost Your Numbers
Selling Success: Using Testimonials to Boost Your Numbers
It helps potential customers to imagine themselves as proud owners & users of the product or service you offer. Your best customers can talk about the positive experience they’ve had with your product or service. You can present this testimonial to prospective clients. A picture of a happy, satisfied customer is worth a thousand words.
Keywords:
sales, marketing, revenues, testimonials, satisfied, customers, prospects
If you’ve ever watched QVC, Home Shopping Network, or seen an infomercial, you know about the power of testimony. It’s our experience that your sales will increase when customers are seen or heard testifying to the benefits of your product or service
It helps potential customers to imagine themselves as proud owners & users of the product or service you offer. They want to experience the same benefits as the person who made a testimony to it. The best way to get prospective clients to buy from you is to introduce them to other satisfied customers. Since you won’t be taking customers around on sales calls testimonials will take their place
To do this, first you will need to ask your best customers whether you can interview them about the positive experience they’ve had with your product or service and record it either with a digital camera or a tape recorder. Be sure to inform them how you’re going to use the information so they can be at ease knowing that you’re going to be using their words and images in front of perspective customers. Once you have this, in a digital format, incorporate it into a PowerPoint presentation and playback to prospective customers.
For example maybe you know a situation where the cost of your product or service was initially an issue for a customer and they instead decided to buy from a low-price competitor. After discovering that the selected vendor wouldn’t be able to deliver, the customer came back to do business with you. They realized that the low price paid in the short run would actually cost more in the long and the value of providing quality and service is worth the extra money.
The best kind of customer is one you can give you a testimonial. Then, should you encounter another prospect that voices similar concerns, you can simply say “ I understand how you feel and other customers to felt that way. In fact, here are some comments from a customer who had the same concerns you have now “. Once you play the PowerPoint presentation, they can see exactly what you mean.
Ask your best customers to talk about the benefits they receive from using your product or service. If you have a number of different testimonials, you can always use the one that best fits the sale scenario. One sales rep we know show pictures of customers using his product. A picture of a happy, satisfied customer is worth a thousand brochures (and a lot less expensive).
Nothing sells better than truth and you can get closer to the truth and when it comes from someone who’s had a real life experience with you, your product, your services, and your company.
Good luck
Why Network Marketing Sucks
Why Network Marketing Sucks
There is an alternative to network marketing, even if you are a complete introvert.
Keywords:
proven income opportunity,home base business ideas,opportunities online business,additional income opportunity,second income opportunity,make money at home idea,make money fast from home,immediate income opportunity
On the face of it, network marketing should be very effective. You buy a product, recommend it to all your friends and earn a commission on what they buy. This ‘word-of-mouth’ advertising is what the big TV advertisers most fear: your product endorsement to your friends actually carries much more clout than an expensive tele-ad.
So, you earn a few pennies or bucks on each sale. But the big money comes (or is supposed to) when you recruit your friend to do as you have done – to recommend the product to all their friends – and recruit them into the network, too. And you get a few bucks on their sales, and as your network grows exponentially, so does your income. So why doesn’t it work? Why do 97% of network marketers fail?
There are two main answers. First, the compensation plan. To earn anything at all you have to shift product. Suppose that you get $1 on average for each order that flows through your downline. That means that you and your team have to make 100 sales to make you $100. That’s not much. To live the life you dreamed of, to give up your day-job, to spend more time with your family, to pay off your mortgage and car loan and credit-card debts, you’re probably going to need $500,000 (at least!) At $1 a pop it’s going to take you a long, long time.
Which is where the ‘recruitment’ part of the business comes in. If only you could recruit enough people into your team you could shift all that product and get rich. But you’ve run out of friends, and anyway, most of them don’t want to know or are lousy at networking. So this is the second reason why network marketers fail. To expand your downline you have to go out and recruit strangers. And most people hate doing this. It’s difficult, demoralizing and exhausting. So 97 networkers out of 100 give up and fail. The dream withers and dies.
So what’s the answer?
Making a fortune $1 at a time is not the way to go. And cold-calling strangers is about as much fun as pulling your own teeth.
Just forget about the traditional network marketing model: instead look at it from a tycoon’s point of view. You’ll make more money for less effort if you sell a big ticket item. Instead of making $1 profit per sale, why not make $500? And if selling to strangers gives you a pain in the head, why not delegate? Pass the job over to the experts and let them do all the schmoozing, selling and closing. This is what I do and you could do the same.
You can operate this system from anywhere in the world from behind your computer screen. This is not a pyramid, neither is it MLM. And you can do it even if you are a complete and out-and-out introvert.
Overcome Writer’s Block to Create New Articles Faster
Overcome Writer’s Block to Create New Articles Faster
It’s easy to come up with an idea-a-minute instead of spending late nights in tears with writer’s block.
Keywords:
advice, writing articles, getting ideas, writer’s block, search engine ranking
Small business owners would do well to consider writing an article a week about the solutions offered when clients do business with you. These may be published at no cost by online article syndicates, and each will have a link back to your website. Having outside links TO your site is one of the keys to improving search engine ranking.
Important: Write from a neutral point of view. You are not selling your product or service; you are selling your reputation as an expert. Do not include any pricing or offers. Write as if you were explaining something to your neighbor or someone who would never ever become your customer.
Years ago I had cartoons published in various business newsletters, and sometimes the tough part was coming up with ideas. I developed a system that worked beautifully. Instead of taking 8 hours to come up with a humorous situation and then 4 hours to draw the cartoon, I was able to get several concepts in 10 minutes, and do 2-3 cartoons in 8 hours total. Here’s my system with a twist for article writing, and it works.
GETTING IDEAS
Do this exercise and fill in the blanks. You know _____ when _____. The first blank is a problem and the second blank is the reason or result of the problem. It’s easy to come up with an idea-a-minute instead of spending late nights in tears with writer’s block. Do half a dozen and then pick the best one to write your article.
Example:
You know your customers will go away when you forget to say thank you.
OUTLINE SKELETON
Next, for the outline of the article, I use a 3-step rough layout that takes the reader to the happy ending in a logical order. The skeleton can be simple phrases without complete sentences and just enough to keep your thought process on track as you work through the article.
Situation (one liner from fill in the blanks above)
Action (solution to solving the problem)
Results (describe the outcome and include stats if appropriate)
THE ARTICLE
Articles need to be 500-1500 words to meet minimum requirements for article directories, so you can submit them there. I went from 150 sites linked to me in Google to 650 in less than 3 weeks. That’s awesome results just writing an article a week. In NotePad 500 words is at least a full screen page and a half, so 2 full screens would be best to get closer to 750-1000 words.
Opening
Make sure to grab the reader’s attention in the first line and paragraph with a “hook” (problem) that they may have experienced.
Situation
Take the one liner and expand on it to explain what could happen and why.
Action
State the solution with action words to describe your advice to the reader.
Results
This is really the conclusion, or outcome. People love statistics, so if you can add numbers or percentages as examples of how your advice helped someone else, all the better.
Once you have the article written, leave it for a day, and return to see if it still reads well. Before submitting to directories, you need to create a title, introduction, resource box, and list of keywords. For the title, use action words to excite the reader, and keep it short. For the intro, select a line or two from the article that will increase interest. Your resource box is the equivalent of “About the Author” and should include your company, web address, and general description of what you do.
Finally, to get published, search Google for “article directories” and you will find 1000’s that will consider your articles. Submit one article a week to each of 50-100 directories, and watch your search engine ranking improve.
Jurakundenbesuch-
Gegenüberstellen eines entscheidenden Gespräches von Ihren Selbst? VitalSmarts kann helfen: www.vitalsmartscanhelp.com
Practice Active Listening and Boost Your Sales
Practice Active Listening and Boost Your Sales
In sales it’s always said that if you understand your product and solve your customer’s problems then you’ll do well in the sales environment. But this presupposes one thing … that you have really listened and understood what the customer is saying. We’re talking about the importance of active listening in sales.
Keywords:
active listening, increase sales
In sales it’s always said that if you understand your product and solve your customer’s problems then you’ll do well in the sales environment. But this presupposes one thing … that you have really listened and understood what the customer is saying. We’re talking about the importance of active listening in sales.
What Is Active Listening?
You may have heard this phrase before but what does it really mean? If you are actively listening to your customer then you will be able to tell a third party exactly what was discussed, what the customer’s concerns and problems were and what agreement was reached.
Listening intently will help build rapport with your client, give you a much better understanding of the issues and ensures you don’t miss opportunities! It’s a skill that can be easily learned with a bit of practice.
Before we go into some tips on how to improve your active listening skills, let’s look at some of the reasons why we sometimes don’t listen as intently as we should.
Distractions
It’s all too easy to get distracted. The noise from outside, the builders working next door, the photocopier chunking away just outside the room, the customer’s dress sense! All of these things can drag our mind from the ‘here and now’. When we hear or see the first signs of a distraction before we know it our mind has switched off and we have missed an important buying signal from the customer.
Our Inner Voice
This is probably the biggest culprit for our lack of active listening. You have woken up this morning and had a blazing row with your partner. You got into work and discovered a major problem which is going to take up most of the afternoon when you get back into the office. Your inner voice, if not kept in check, can keep your mind occupied for hours leaving you and your customer, wondering what exactly happened in your meeting!
Interruption or No Reaction?
These causes of inactive listening are opposite ends of the scale but just as bad as each other.
Interruption may be your style where you are constantly asking questions. Yes, asking questions, as we shall see later is good, but taking it to the extreme can be damaging. Not only will the customer be annoyed by your steady and relentless interruptions but all your mind is thinking about is the next question! Once you have thought of a suitable question your mind then concentrates on identifying an opportune pause in the conversation. The result is that your mind is doing anything other than really listening to what is being said!
The opposite end of the scale is saying nothing at all. Intently listening but saying nothing will lead to boredom for your mind – it will seek interest by launching into self-talk. The lack of reaction from you means your customer will also very quickly lose interest. If he has no feedback from you as you go along then rapport or a relationship, which are essential ingredients to a successful sale, will simply not develop.
Some Useful Tips
So what can you do to train yourself to be an active listener? Here are a few tips.
1. Train your mind to tune out all the distractions in and outside of the room. Resolve to fully concentrate on the conversation and to understand what is being said. If you find yourself wandering, get yourself back on track by following the next tip
2. Repeat back in your mind what the person has just said to you. To do this you have to intently listen to what is being said. Repeat a few sentences until you are back in the ‘real world’
3. Ask ‘what’ questions to yourself, for example, ‘What use can I make of that point’, ‘What is he really after here?’ These internal questions can both keep you on track and at the same time provide extra insight into what the customer is driving at
4. Before going into a meeting, purge your mind of all negative or distracting thoughts. Resolve with yourself to deal with only the matters in hand
5. Never interrupt a customer when he’s mid flow – it’s distracting for both him and you. Find a natural break in the conversation or store your question away for later
6. Provide feedback in the form of the odd ‘umm’ or ‘OK’. This will keep you interested and also demonstrate to the customer that you are sill with him. In the same way, ask some questions which relate directly to what has just been said. This will keep you focused on what’s being said
7. If you find your mind wandering, take notes. Jotting down what is being said needs your listening skills firing on all cylinders! Don’t go for a word-for-word summary, that’s distracting in itself. Just highlight key points to keep your attention
Active listening in sales is a great and necessary skill. It can be learned but only with practice. Make a commitment to follow these tips so you actively listen. You’ll quickly see better results!
