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Added for You - Three Ways to Invest Time + Money In PR
In his classic best-seller, "How To Win Friends And Influence People," Dale Carnegie's second chapter is entitled The Big Secret of Dealing With People. The secret is summed up in this principle: Give honest and sincere appreciation.Carnegie said there is only one way to get anybody to do anything -- by making the person want to do it. How can you encourage customers to say good things about you and give you referrals? By giving them what they and all human beings crave: honest and sincere appreciation.The Two Magic WordsThe big secret of dealing with people (or customers) is often overlooked or forgotten. It's simply saying "thank you" consistently, personally and, above all, sincerely. These two words work marketing magic because customers want to feel important.Saying "thank you" is an act of kindness, besides. But don't say "thank you" for the sake of flattery. It must be sincere. As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, "You can never say anything but what
Kelly: So what’s the one thing you wish your clients would do that would make it easier for you to help them in their publicity efforts?
Elizabeth: Bring us into the planning process early on. Often, clients will sit down at the beginning of the year when they get their budget and plan, but don’t include their PR t
Have you ever implemented a new procedure only to find that no matter what you did to enforce it, no one followed it? If so, it’s likely that you were bumping up against the 800 pound Gorilla of corporate culture.Whether you have one employee or thousands, there is “the way things work around here.” That’s your culture. Culture is a set of shared assumptions and unwritten rules - a force field that shapes how we do things. Since your culture shapes how things are done in your organization, it can make a direct contribution to your bottom line.There are four mandates you can build into your business culture to enhance your ability to succeed.MANDATE 1: HAVE NO “KNOW” BOUNDARIES Let’s say you’re the CEO and a customer tells you that your support guys make him nervous. “Nervous?” you say. “Yes. I don’t want to hear ‘I have no idea if this will work but we’ll try it and see.’” What do you say? Bill Daniel (CEO, Surgient, Inc., http://Surgient.com) told the
Kelly: When should people consider PR in their marketing efforts?
Elizabeth: PR should be included in every marketing plan you develop…from the very beginning of a new product being launched or a policy coming out. Use it heavily in the beginning to establish a brand, then level out over time. It’s also a good tool for handling crisis down the road.
For consumer-related messages, PR really builds credibility quickly – 40-50% of your budget isn’t unreasonable.
Fritz: The traditional view is that product marketing should go with ads, not PR…and that issues and position-related launches should use op-eds and PR. But I see it as actually the opposite…for example a good story on NPR will do more than, say, ads. Think of PR to launch a brand, and advertising to maintain it.
Kelly: What advice to you have for someone just learning about PR for their business or organization?
Fritz: PR is a process – it’s not a one-time hit or magic bullet. Just like networking or in social experiences, it takes time to develop trust and credibility. So just one press release in a vacuum won’t do it. This is really a cornerstone. One thing that really helps is planning – even if it’s a year out…you need to be thinking about it now.
Actually, you really need to be thinking and talking internally about it all the time. All of your employees are diplomats and ambassadors of your company. So all the internal communications need to be aligned, with policies on if or how to talk with the press, the general public…talking points are key, as is training. Protect your brand by getting everyone on the same page.
Kelly: So what’s the one thing you wish your clients would do that would make it easier for you to help them in their publicity efforts?
Elizabeth: Bring us into the planning process early on. Often, clients will sit down at the beginning of the year when they get their budget and plan, but don’t include their PR te
The first question to answer when considering participating in a trade show or expo is what do you hope to achieve? Why are you considering doing this show in the first place? Do you want to sell product? Do you want to book parties? Do you want to recruit others into your business? The answers to these questions are important as they will help you determine return on investment and risk potential.Don’t let these terms scare you. All I’m talking about is you determining whether or not this show would be a good investment for your business. Is it worth the risk? Every show I’ve ever considered costs money. It also costs time. Make sure the show potential is worth risking both these commodities.For instance, say your goal for the show is to book parties. You make approximately $200 at your average party. The expo will cost $500 for a booth. You also need to add up costs for literature (brochures, business cards, flyers), decorations, samples, give away items, and
For consumer-related messages, PR really builds credibility quickly – 40-50% of your budget isn’t unreasonable.
Fritz: The traditional view is that product marketing should go with ads, not PR…and that issues and position-related launches should use op-eds and PR. But I see it as actually the opposite…for example a good story on NPR will do more than, say, ads. Think of PR to launch a brand, and advertising to maintain it.
Kelly: What advice to you have for someone just learning about PR for their business or organization?
Fritz: PR is a process – it’s not a one-time hit or magic bullet. Just like networking or in social experiences, it takes time to develop trust and credibility. So just one press release in a vacuum won’t do it. This is really a cornerstone. One thing that really helps is planning – even if it’s a year out…you need to be thinking about it now.
Actually, you really need to be thinking and talking internally about it all the time. All of your employees are diplomats and ambassadors of your company. So all the internal communications need to be aligned, with policies on if or how to talk with the press, the general public…talking points are key, as is training. Protect your brand by getting everyone on the same page.
Kelly: So what’s the one thing you wish your clients would do that would make it easier for you to help them in their publicity efforts?
Elizabeth: Bring us into the planning process early on. Often, clients will sit down at the beginning of the year when they get their budget and plan, but don’t include their PR t
It’s an all too familiar story: It’s Friday afternoon, and you need to finish your accounts and get those invoices out so you can stay in control of your cash flow. You look over your staff timesheets and see that, as you predicted, many of your staff haven’t submitted them yet. You chase them up, only to find out that one of your staff is at a meeting at a client site and cannot be contacted, and a couple more have already left for the weekend. Then there are those that have to be told three times to do their timesheets. How are you supposed to cope with this and still have time to run your business?There are a number of methods to deal with this type of situation when it occurs. There is always the possibility that you will find yourself in this situation even with the very best of planning, so you need to have some kind of coping strategy. Here are a few coping mechanisms that you can use:1 – Wait until next week to do your invoicing. This method is probably the e
Kelly: What advice to you have for someone just learning about PR for their business or organization?
Fritz: PR is a process – it’s not a one-time hit or magic bullet. Just like networking or in social experiences, it takes time to develop trust and credibility. So just one press release in a vacuum won’t do it. This is really a cornerstone. One thing that really helps is planning – even if it’s a year out…you need to be thinking about it now.
Actually, you really need to be thinking and talking internally about it all the time. All of your employees are diplomats and ambassadors of your company. So all the internal communications need to be aligned, with policies on if or how to talk with the press, the general public…talking points are key, as is training. Protect your brand by getting everyone on the same page.
Kelly: So what’s the one thing you wish your clients would do that would make it easier for you to help them in their publicity efforts?
Elizabeth: Bring us into the planning process early on. Often, clients will sit down at the beginning of the year when they get their budget and plan, but don’t include their PR t
In every business endeavor it is a must to come up with a material that will speak up for you. With the innovations made in the printing technology doing a house to house campaign is no longer the trend.Businesses make use of colorful materials that will represent them. These materials are handed out to clients and can far reach clients of different places by hand. Among the materials that are widely used at present are the stickers.Stickers are notably known for its affordability, multipurpose and high exposure promotional tool. They are widely used to build identity and support promotions or can possibly used to make a popular and profitable stand-alone product. Making use of the most economical and effective sticker prints are best way of bridging the gap between you and your target clients.Sticker printing had waved important printing process in which made it easier for business advertisers to come up with prints perfect for their campaign. This printing process c
Actually, you really need to be thinking and talking internally about it all the time. All of your employees are diplomats and ambassadors of your company. So all the internal communications need to be aligned, with policies on if or how to talk with the press, the general public…talking points are key, as is training. Protect your brand by getting everyone on the same page.
Kelly: So what’s the one thing you wish your clients would do that would make it easier for you to help them in their publicity efforts?
Elizabeth: Bring us into the planning process early on. Often, clients will sit down at the beginning of the year when they get their budget and plan, but don’t include their PR t
Recently there was an article in USAToday by Edward C. Baig that cast doubt on the value of spending large amounts of money on pricey banner ads.According to Baig, the Nielsen Norman Group, based in Fremont California, recently released a study where the Nielson firm asked more then 230 participants to research specific topics online. The participants were hooked up to sophisticated eye-tracking equipment that allowed the authors of the study to track what people were looking at on their computer screens.Baig writes, “the study findings show companies still have much to learn about how best to present an online image.” The findings of the study suggest people see very little on most web pages – including the pricy banner ads at the top of most web pages.This would explain why most banner ad click through rates are horrendously low. If most companies get a click through rate of 5% they are incredibly happy with the results of the ad campaign.There are literall
Kelly: So what’s the one thing you wish your clients would do that would make it easier for you to help them in their publicity efforts?
Elizabeth: Bring us into the planning process early on. Often, clients will sit down at the beginning of the year when they get their budget and plan, but don’t include their PR team until much later. You need to think through angles and pitches early on – and be thinking strategically…not just about tactics.
Fritz: Then there’s the media schedule – if you want to do big pushes in February, realize that you’re competing with the Super Bowl, Grammy’s and Oscars. Even if you’re local and on a smaller scale, there’s an annual cycle that you need to take into consideration.
Elizabeth: There are things you should plan around, unless you can relate your topic to these things.
Fritz: The other thing is for clients to understand the difference between the story and how it’s pitched. We had a client who shot themselves in the foot by not allowing us to let the media ask them about a particularly hot topic – it’s got to be about what the public wants, not what you necessarily want to say.
Kelly: So what should a small company budget for PR if they want to build a regional presence?
Fritz: That’s a great question…and again, it depends on whom you’re trying to reach. You need to look at the scope of what you want to do. What’s your dream list, and then scale it back and budget realistically. Come up with smart PR dollars, and don’t waste your investment. So television interviews may not be needed, when radio will be more effective.
Kelly: Let’s talk about radio in a minute. But first, what are SMTs and VNRs...and why are they beneficial to PR campaigns?
Fritz: A Video News Release (VNR) is a pre-packaged news segment. It looks like anything you’d see on local news – with a reporter in the field, a voiceover, and it’s edited just like news. You then send that to any newsroom and they can pop it in, just like any news piece. So instead of the station having to come out and cover your story, you
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