Public Relations Tips: Marketing

Astroturfing. What is it? If you are thinking it has anything to do with space and surfing, think again. Do you think astroturfing has something to do with that fake grass they use on sports fields? Well, you're closer.

Astro turf is the artificial grass they use to put on sports fields. It was first used in the Astrodome, thus the name astro turf, but astroturfing is used as a metaphor.

Astroturfing is actually a metaphor referring to actual astro turf used on sports fields, but astroturfing isn't used in field sports at all. At least not sports like football and soccer. This type of astroturfing is used in the sports of advertising and politics.

Astroturfing in this sense, is used as a verb, an action word.

• To astroturf, is astroturfing. It is something one does.

Continue reading "What is Astroturfing" »

Posted by DK at 06:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"Astroturfing" is the art of getting the public to believe that something is spontaneous and natural when in fact it is orchestrated and designed. Why would this be important? Well, the public is more likely to get behind something when they think it's important to their fellowmen. If something's important to a celebrity, or a big business, or a politician, the public often reacts cynically, that is, they think that the celebrity or business or politician has some secret motive for advertising what they have to say. But if it appears that what's being advertised is being generated and receiving its energy from "the man on the street," it's much more likely to interest and move other "men on the street." Astroturfing is a difficult, subtle art; it's the art of making what's actually very complicated and planned seemed out of the blue; a revelation.

Let's take some examples of astroturfing and see exactly what it is that astroturfing attempts to do.

Continue reading "Astroturfing" »

Posted by DK at 06:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The lines between marketing and public relations are sometimes blurred. While both work to promote, there are significant differences between the two.

Marketing
Marketing deals primarily with product awareness and promotion. Those involved with marketing work to promote a specific product or service a company or organization offers. Marketing professionals will concern themselves with the products the company provides, the customers and their needs, and are working to anticipate what the next product will be or how to promote it.

A marketing approach will work to sell a product rather than an organization by taking into consideration demand, competition, and how to get more people to purchase services or products.

An effective marketing plan will accomplish the following:
-- Define a target market in order to know who to promote the products towards.
-- Identify the customers and competitors. Knowing competitors and their strategies will help a company to stay ahead by remaining competitive.
-- Outline a strategy for attracting and keeping customers as well as identifying change.

Continue reading "Marketing and Public Relations" »

Posted by DK at 07:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"Wikiturfing" is a strange word. What is it? What does Wikiturfing mean, exactly? It actually has a very simple definition.
Wikipedia, as everyone knows, is a popular online encyclopedia. Wikipedia is free of charge and everyone can use it. That is, everyone can read it; and everyone can write articles for it. If you have a favorite subject (say, a favorite cartoon), and you've written an intricate, interesting history of it, you can submit it to Wikipedia for free. Wikipedia is a very popular stop on the internet; thousands and thousands of people use it every day. What, then, is Wikiturfing?

Continue reading "Wikiturfing" »

Posted by DK at 06:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"AstroTurf" is the art of getting the public to believe that something is spontaneous and natural when in fact it is orchestrated and designed. Why would this be important? Well, the public is more likely to get behind something when they think it's important to their fellowmen. If something's important to a celebrity, or a big business, or a politician, the public often reacts cynically, that is, they think that the celebrity or business or politician has some secret motive for advertising what they have to say. But if it appears that what's being advertised is being generated and receiving its energy from "the man on the street," it's much more likely to interest and move other "men on the street." AstroTurf is a difficult, subtle art; it's the art of making what's actually very complicated and planned seemed out of the blue; a revelation.

Let's take some examples of AstroTurf and see exactly what it is that astronautics attempts to do.

Continue reading "Astroturfing" »

Posted by DK at 07:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

There are so many different options that can help you with your PR. One option is using holidays for marketing. One tip may be to help a family in need by donating a tree to the festival of trees or something like this. For example the festival of trees is a charity where different companies decorate trees making them look very elaborate. It is a huge event that is usually covered by the local news stations and newspapers. They usually get judged and they will have prizes for the winners but the best part is that all of these trees are bought and all of the money goes to children in need. A long with these thousands and thousands of people walk through and look at the trees which help your company to get advertising. Plus it helps people see that you company is caring and generous which a lot of people like when they are deciding where to buy things from.

Posted by DK at 07:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

There are a lot of different ways that you can market your PR. One way that you can market is in big events that you know a lot of people attend. For example if your community has big expos for different things you will want to make sure that you either get a booth or go in with some one else that is renting a booth. This is a greats way not only to show what products you have but also do drawings and give away free things so that people get to know your name and your name gets out in the public. If you market it right people will think of fun friendly people when they see your name which will help them to use you and to tell other people about you. These are just a couple of tips that you can use to help your business.

Posted by DK at 07:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

There are some extra things you can do when writing your special reports to get the most out of them. Some examples include:

 Create two text files for your special report. The first file should include the document exactly as you will print it, including italics, boldface and a larger headline for the title. The second document should be a second text file in ASCII format so you can send it to editors if you are offering it as an article. This will save them time because they won't have to edit your boldface, italics and other emphasizing devices.

 Make sure you have fliers explaining your other services and products, and stuff several fliers into the envelope along with your special report. I also include in the envelope the flier listing all my special reports, in case customers want to buy more. It's a handy Fax-Back form and it's at the end of this report. Feel free to copy the format for your own use.

 Use a type size of from 10 to 12 points.

 You needn't worry about a cover. Just be sure all your contact information is at the top of the first page.

To get a complete list of all the extras, as well as other useful information about special reports, see Special Report #19, "How to Write and Market Profitable Special Reports"

Posted by Dan at 08:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

At large universities, it is not unusual for op-eds to be drafted by staff members. The person whose name appears on the piece generally reviews and edits the article and generally has provided information for the piece through interviews prior to development of the piece. In general, however, most op-ed editors prefer to avoid ghostwritten pieces.

In working with faculty, the media director can be helpful in suggesting topics, narrowing a topic, editing and rewriting.

Avoid topics currently appearing on the front pages of daily newspapers. For the most part, once an issue becomes front page news, op-ed editors already have been inundated by opinion pieces on that topic. The best advice is to try to anticipate issues, or develop new angles on old issues, or both.

To learn more about how to implement an effective Op-Ed program see Special Report #15 “15 Steps to Effective University and College Media Relations”

Posted by Dan at 08:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In order to get yourself in the lime light, and get publicity for your college or university, you can’t sit back and wait for it. GET OUT OF THE OFFICE!!! Dig up those stories about faculty, students, alumni and staff by attending events on campus, regularly scheduling meetings with faculty and administration, and listening carefully. Find out where your admission office is recruiting heavily and target releases to that area. You won’t know that a faculty member is also a nationally renowned ballroom dancer unless you get to know him, or that the honor student graduating is a single parent with three children unless you talk with your colleagues on campus.

For more tips on how to get out there, and not work in a vacuum, and for tips on how to get publicity for your college or university see Special Report #15 “15 Steps to Effective University and College Media Relations”

Posted by Dan at 08:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The media are as skeptical of the college rankings as the people at the colleges and universities. However, that does not give you an excuse to sidestep them. A few universities and colleges have boycotted them in the past but the majority is still in the game.

Make sure that the public relations or marketing office sees the surveys before they are sent back. With each department at a university or college filling out their own survey part, mistakes can and will be made.

Planning for the undergraduate issue begins in early March and the graduate guide planning begins in early September. The credibility of your institution is at stake, so be proactive in completing, checking and returning your surveys.

To learn more about getting your school more publicity whether through surveys, or elsewhere, see Special Report #15 "15 Steps to Effective University and College Media Relations"

Posted by Dan at 08:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Many people believe that the most important way to get publicity for business is in the business sections of newspapers. It may be more important though that instead of targeting papers, targeting business journals.

The way most people think about it.when you have a great story to tell, the most important consideration is targeting. You want to reach the right people with your message at the right time. I often compare the difference between business journals and your metro business paper as the difference between a shotgun blast and a rifle shot. When your story lands in a business journal, you are directly going to the target that you most want to reach.

You can find more great information about publishing your content in business journals in How to Use Business Journals to Tell Your Story.
http://101publicrelations.com/businessjournals.html?utm_source=prideas&utm_content=business_journals

Posted by Dan at 12:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you're front and center at most of the important networking breakfasts in your community, but you think writing a White Paper to establish your expertise as a consultant is too much trouble, keep reading.

If you're the ultimate schmoozer and really know how to work a room, but you're clueless about how to work the media in your trade industry, pay attention.

Perhaps your consulting business is slowly chugging along, just waiting for the next piece of referral business, but you aren't doing anything proactive to let people know how you can help them solve their problems.

If this sounds like you, it's time to start employing a variety of marketing and publicity tactics designed to establish your expertise, enhance your credibility and bring you more clients.
For more information on how you can boost your consulting business with publicity, and a whole list of tips to cherry pick from see Special Report #23 "Profitable Publicity Tips to Jump-Start Your Consulting Business"

Posted by Rachael at 06:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Create a great marketing and publicity strategy for yourself with these tips:
Use a Signature File

Put an automatic signature at the end of every e-mail message you send. Call yourself a consultant, or an expert, or any other word that lets people know how you can help them. Here's the signature file I use, which lets people know I consult, am an expert, and am willing to give away free advice.

Joan Stewart
a.k.a. "The Publicity Hound"
3930 Highway O Saukville, WI 53080
Phone: 262-284-7451 Fax: 262-284-1737
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Speaker, trainer, consultant, and expert in
media relations and employee recruitment/retention
"89 Reasons to Send a News Release" is yours free
at http://www.PublicityHound.com

Be Listed as an Expert

List yourself in every directory and expert database you can find that deals with your industry. Two excellent resources are "The Yearbook of Experts, Authorities and Spokespersons" at http://www.yearbook.com and Profnet's experts database, managed by PR Newswire, at http://www.mediaInsider.com. These two sources are often the first places reporters go when looking for expert sources.

For more great publicity and marketing tips see Special Report #23 "Profitable Publicity Tips to Jump-Start Your Consulting Business"

Posted by Rachael at 06:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

There are many products you can use to promote your services, including:

Books. If there's any product that can take years to create, and at great expense, it's this one. Cut your time in half by tracking down a co-author.

E-books. Electronic books are an ideal product for partnering. My friend Tom Antion, a professional speaker, invited me to partner with him on an e-book about publicity. I wrote most of the book titled "How to be a Kick-Butt Publicity Hound." Because his ezine list is well over 100,000, I rely on him to do most of the marketing.

Tips booklets. Either co-author a booklet, or track down a product partner who can write a booklet that would be a good companion to one you are thinking of creating. Publishing two or more booklets on the same topic can prove profitable because some buyers will want the entire set. For more information on how to write and market tips booklets, check out Paulette Ensign's excellent web site at www.tipsbooklets.com.
For even more ideas, see Special Report #41.

Posted by Rachael at 06:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If your book is on a niche topic, check out the Oxbridge Directory of Newsletters, a resource book at your local library. You can search print newsletters by topic. Send copies of your book for review to newsletters, which have a loyal following.
Visit https://www.mediafinder.com/secure/product1.cfm#newsletters

If you've written a book targeted to senior citizens, visit http://www.seniornet.org. This is a book club for seniors that features discussion groups and even invites authors to discuss their books.

Don't forget all those college newspapers if you have a book targeted to college students. Collegiate Presswire provides press release distribution to college newspapers. Visit http://www.cpwire.com. The Associated Collegiate Press lists lots of newspapers. Click on "Members Online" at http://www.studentpress.org/acp/ The Editor & Publisher International Yearbook, available for purchase in print or on CD, includes a section for college newspapers. This publication also lists daily and weekly newspapers in the U.S., Canada and many foreign countries. http://www.mediainfo.com/store/store.htm

For more ways to target your niche audience, see special report #40.

Posted by Rachael at 07:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Use the following great tips in order to custom build your publicity and marketing strategy:

Paulette Ensign's excellent site at Create a Tips Booklet

An informational tips booklet, which you can sell as a product or give away, can be a wonderful revenue stream and really establish you as an expert. Everything you need to know about tips booklets can be found at http://www.tipsbooklets.com.

Record an Audio Tape

Audio tapes which feature the same types of topics you deal with in your consulting business can be used as giveaways or sold.

Publicize It

Work with business groups in publicizing your speaking engagements. Offer to write your own copy for the brochure.

Teach Classes

Teaching a class at the local college, or through the adult education program, can bring you fabulous publicity. Local newspapers are often looking for unusual angles to report. Create one, and you might get a story.

For more great publicity and marketing tips see Special Report #23 "Profitable Publicity Tips to Jump-Start Your Consulting Business"

Posted by Rachael at 06:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Having a partner help with funding and promoting a product is a great idea. You won’t have to look very far to find great product partners. Here are three ideas to get you started:

• Direct competitors. When I started my business, I spent so much time worrying about my more successful competitors that, eventually, I adopted the attitude, “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.” So I contacted a few competitors and asked if they’d be interested in partnering with me on projects such as audio tapes and telephone seminars. Every person I asked responded enthusiastically and said yes.
• No overlap, but complementary topics. My friend Debra J. Schmidt, another professional speaker who specializes in customer and employee loyalty, asked if I’d be interested in creating a product with her specifically for event planners. Deb worked as the community affairs director several years ago at a local TV station here in Milwaukee and planned and executed hundreds of successful events. She needed my help explaining how to promote the events. I jumped at her invitation. Together we created “How to Plan & Promote Sizzling Special Events,” a $247 package of six one-hour audio tapes and 15 checklists on CD.

Special Report #41 has many other ideas on where to find partners for business.

Posted by Rachael at 06:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Creating products is one of the best ways to ensure an alternative revenue stream. And the quickest, cheapest and easiest way to do it is by teaming up with someone else. Two heads are better than one, the saying goes. So are two checkbooks when you need an up-front investment of money to get your new product off the ground. My collection of more than 50 products would never have been possible had I not collaborated with many other professional speakers like myself. Some of my partners in those projects included my competitors. More about that later.

You can cross-promote each other's services. If your partner's clients need a service you offer but your client doesn't, it can mean more business for you, and vice-versa.

After the product has been on the market for awhile, you'll start to get invitations for paid speaking engagements. If your calendar is full, you can refer the request to your product partner, and vice-versa.

For more about the benefits of a partnership, see Special Report #41.

Posted by Rachael at 06:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Write, post, and do, these are some great ways to market yourself and your business and get the publicity you need and want. So start out right.
Post E-zines at Your Web Site

If you publish an e-zine, post it at your web site. If you can afford it, add a function that allows visitors to search your e-zines by topic.

Pro Bono Work

Do pro bono work in your community. Choosing the right high-profile groups can put you in touch with high-level decision-makers who might hire you to do consulting projects for them.

White Papers

Write a White Paper that focuses on a topic related to your consulting work. Include new insights. Load it with statistics. Make it comprehensive or perhaps controversial. Be objective. Interview industry leaders about the topic and include them in the report.

Write a Book

A book can help your credibility skyrocket, even if it is self-published. Three excellent web sites for self-publishers are the Small Publishers Association of North America at http://www.span.org, book marketing guru John Kremer's site at http://www.bookmarket.com and Dan Poynter's site at http://parapublishing.com. All three have excellent free e-zines you should subscribe to if you are considering writing a book.

For more great publicity and marketing tips see Special Report #23 "Profitable Publicity Tips to Jump-Start Your Consulting Business"

Posted by Rachael at 06:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

When you're in a negative situation, how do you make people believe you and your side of the story?

Obviously, trust is extremely important in relationships, including business relationships. When rumors abound, no one will believe the truth unless they have established trust with the business.

Rumors often start with a small kernel of truth that gets blown out of proportion and elaborated upon. If there is a tiny bit of truth in a rumor, you have a responsibility as a business spokesperson to step forward and admit that small piece of information. By doing this, you automatically gain credibility because you are willing to admit what is going on.

People tend to believe those who can be critical of themselves, which also applies to a business admitting they made a mistake. Of course, as soon as you admit this tiny kernel of truth, you need to reassure your public that you are remedying the situation to your best ability. But having the guts to discuss the truth in a rumor gives you the credibility that will allow people to believe your side of the story.

Read more tips like this in What to Do When Someone Damages Your Good Name

Posted by DK at 07:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

One great way to get more clients and publicity is to do a survey.

Now, a survey does not have to be something that is scientifically valid. It can be just asking usually anything over 100 people a simple question, and tallying the results. If the results are interesting and newsworthy, you can present it in an interesting and newsworthy way to get publicity for you.

You could survey a particular industry about how many of these companies actually got media coverage in the last year, or how many of them have a crisis communication plan in place. Of course, the responses need to be anonymous.

But then, you can put together a press release saying that, "Only 28.9% of a selection of companies in the local area actually have a plan about what to do if a crisis hits their company.""

That gives you an opportunity to talk about why this is so important.

Submit your results in a press release to the local media. Write them up as a fact sheet and send them out as direct mail to prime potential contacts. Them them into your media kit. Add them to your website. Distribute copies at the Chamber of Commerce meetings. Do whatever it takes to get them out.

Surveys give you two advantages - first, they're more newsworthy, so they're more likely to get you press. Second, presumably you will have chosen as a topic for your survey something which you have expertise in solving - this helps to set you up in your potential clients' minds as a potential source to help them resolve this issue.

This is just one of 24 tips to be found in 24 Ways To Attract Clients To Your P.R. Practice

Posted by DK at 10:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Briefs are very short articles you can use to build your publicity. Why spend your time writing briefs?

- They fill odd-size holes on a page, and they can sometimes stand alone. If you offer a 75-word list, it stands a much better chance of getting published than a longer, 900-word article, which an editor has to have a lot of space for.

- Briefs help portray you as an expert in your field. You can send the same tip sheet to a variety of publications. For whatever reason, the media (particularly magazines) are not as concerned that the same information appeared elsewhere. So you don't have to worry that "I can't send this to Woman's Day because I've already sent it to Family Circle." Just go ahead and send it and if they've got a space for it, they may use it.

- You can promote yourself with briefs much more so than if a reporter wrote a long story about you. If you're going to pitch an idea about yourself and they call you to do an interview, and write a big story, they decide exactly what goes in that big story. Many editors are going to make sure that it doesn't sound too promotional and doesn't include too much hype. But with briefs, you can promote the heck out of your product, service, cause or issue much more than in a longer story. For some reason, editors will let you get away with it in those shorter briefs.

These are just a few of the many tips you can find in Briefs, Fillers and Quizzes: How to Write Them and Why Editors LOVE Them

Posted by DK at 10:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

One of the toughest things for many business bloggers is to think of things to write about. Here's a great technique that helps to generate ideas that are guaranteed to be of interest to your audience.

First, I believe that one of the best things that everyone should be doing is reading the publications that your customers and the others in your industry read.

Gather at least a year's worth of issues of those magazines (hopefully 3 years) together into one place to use as resource materials. Then make copies of their tables of contents and post them side by side up on a wall someplace. Look at the commonalities that you see between those publications.

These are trends that are being consistently being talked about through published trade media for your particular industry. So you can assume that either those trends are what your audience is interested in knowing about, or that your particular trade's media is suffering from mass delusion (somewhat unlikely).

Those trends should give you a pretty good idea of you what you should be blogging about. Of course, the more recent issues should be weighted more heavily in your analysis.

It's one of the most powerful tools you can use because you're being told exactly what people are interested in.

Want to learn more about how to write better business blogs with less effort while still ensuring that appropriate review and control procedures are in place to help keep your company out of trouble? Check out our new report Business Blogging Results: How To Create and Write A Blog That Builds Your Business.

Posted by DK at 05:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)