Online Media Room: How do I know it’s working?
January 29, 2009 by Mary Ellen · 1 Comment
The online media room communicates 24/7 from your website or a link to your home page. It tells your story to the world wide web audience as well as to specific ones such as customers, employees, stakeholders and, of course, the media.
A year ago, Cynthia Morris put together an online media room for her company, Original Impulse. Yesterday she asked me the big question: “How do I know it’s working?”
“Have you had results?” I asked.
“I’m not sure,” she laughed, and I heard the serious question behind the statement. “How would I know?”
If you’re trying to determine if your online media room works, consider these thoughts:
- Web traffic. I encourage people to use Google Analytics and Google Webmaster Tools. These free tools offer powerful information about your website. You can look at your traffic and discover where it comes from, the patterns of users once they find you and how long they stay. The benefits far outweigh the learning curve. Google manages to make it simple enough for a non-techie like me.
- Results. Have you had feedback about your media room? (Did you ask for any?) Cynthia was recently interviewed by an Australian radio personality who discovered her from a friend’s link on Facebook. It’s highly likely the reporter also did her homework and looked at background info from the media room and other parts of the website. Traditionally public relations used “clips” to measure effectiveness. Clients judged success by the number of different stories published. By all means, continue to look for stories, in traditional media as well as on the web, but don’t stop there.
- Promotion. If you sent the link to a journalist, that’s feedback, whether or not a story developed. Part of your responsibility is to promote yourself. Have you updated your media room lately? Consider publishing your news on some of the free news sites on the web (more on those in another post) and pointing people to your media room. Consider links from blog posts, articles, or social networking sites. Can people find you on the web?
- PR comparison. What kind of public relations did you do prior to your media room? Compare those results. Frequently we expect a dramatic increase simply because we got organized and got started. Unfortunately, putting the media room online is only the beginning of the work.
- Optimized. According to the Free Dictionary optimized means to make as perfect or as effective as possible. Your media room offers a ongoing place for quality content (and the search engines love content). As you continually publish and upgrade your content, you can examine strategies that further attract search engines: keyword rich headlines, for example, and copy containing key phrases.
My friend Cynthia says, “I love being interviewed.” Hey, who doesn’t? If you plan for interviews, and continually put yourself out there, they will happen. Count on it. In fact, if you do the online media room right, you may read about yourself on the web.
Meanwhile, I’m in collecting mode. If you’ve got another way to track success for your online media room, let me know. I’m collecting stories.
Think strategically. Your choice of words sends a message.
January 26, 2009 by Mary Ellen · Leave a Comment
Casey Hibbard, author of Stories that Sell, suggests your website can reflect strategic thinking. Post case studies describing problems solved. Showcase the type of clients you work with. As Casey explained, stories, or in-depth discussions such as these, go much further than simple testimonials. Your case study suggests, “I want more of that kind of business.”
A case study writer by trade, Casey produces dozens of case studies for clients such as Macrovision, Jobfox, USA.NET, and even small companies such as mine.
“The media wants your customer stories,” she writes.
“The story pitch
If you don’t give a customer example in a press release, still offer a customer success story to a media outlet to increase your chances of getting a journalist’s attention.
With your pitch, you might give some bullets about the customer’s success, send a video or written case study, or recommend that the journalist talks to a specific customer.
If you don’t provide it, reporters will likely ask to interview a customer anyway. It’s better to be prepared.
This takes the focus off the vendor business (which editors really like), and puts it on the successful customer – made successful with your solutions. Read more.”
As you look at content for your website, particularly for your online media room, consider case studies. Publish stories about problems you’ve solved, solutions your company provides, and customers you’ve helped. Let your success speak for itself – to potential customers, the media, and most of all, to your own stakeholders.
Awards, Recognition and Other Publicity Add to Your Credibility
January 22, 2009 by Mary Ellen · Leave a Comment
Thunderous applause. Fabulous trophies, medals and citations. Recognition for you and your company that’s difficult to buy. These are the byproducts of recognition you might earn.
Every year hundreds of honors recognize leadership, service work, outstanding achievement, sales success, women-owned businesses, professional development, community service and more. Your decision to expand your visibility might simply mean applying for awards in your local community, state or trade organization. Here are five tips to help you succeed in your quest:
- Plan ahead. The elements required for each award differ and yet, some of the background information can be gathered in advance. A good bit of the time involved in submitting an important application goes into organizing information the first time around. For example, while you may have five or six versions of a bio, it could be more difficult to list your accomplishments by year. Or, if you have testimonials, it might be important to track customers or vendors who would go into greater detail about how you worked to solve their problem.
- The Small Business Administration offers a series of awards each year during National Small Business Week, May 18 – 22, 2009. Nominations for these awards are due in November of the preceding year and winners know their status in April. (It’s not uncommon to apply six months in advance for an award.)
- Applying for an award is no guarantee of winning it, or even being acknowledged for the work involved.
- Some industries provide a listing of awards available as do a few communities. For the most part, you must research this information on your own.
- Check the criteria, review the application and study the organization before beginning. In other words, read the fine print. If possible, talk with a previous award winner. You may discover some organizations require membership in order to be considered. Others give preference to those nominated by other organizations, rather than individuals. (The National Association of Women Business Owners, NAWBO, frequently encourages its members to apply for specific awards in their community.) As you research awards, keep in mind that you may have to call on the same person more than once to nominate you. Be considerate of the time involved in producing a nomination. Whenever possible, provide complete information, making the nominator’s job smooth and hassle-free.
- The Albuquerque YWCA hosts “Women on the Move” an annual awards program; applications are due on/before January 31.
- New Mexico Business Weekly is currently searching for Women of Influence; applications are due on/before February 20.
- Customize your entry to the specific questions on the application. If the question is about community service, your strength in sales may not matter. If participants are judged on contributions to legislative concerns, someone not in the political arena could be disqualified. One word answers won’t earn recognition. The nominations that win are clear, concise and offer strong reasons in favor of the candidate.
- Proof your work and submit prior to deadline. Enough said. In a tight competition, typos and misspelled words make the difference. (Imagine a “Women on the Move” application that referenced the YMCA instead of the YWCA.) In some cases, late applications are disqualified.
- Never give up. In story after story, companies and businesses owners win awards the second or third time they apply. Why? Because you get better with practice.
So go ahead. Apply for an award. Gather your information and vow to put yourself “on the map.” Good luck! Let me know how you do.
Got Local? Get on Board
January 19, 2009 by Mary Ellen · Leave a Comment
Several organizations, including the Albuquerque Independent Business Alliance – AIBA – attended The Mayor’s Economic Summit last week. Roundtable organizers planned the event to identify new and innovative collaborations and potential partnerships.
What happened?
The ambitious agenda invited discussion on five different types of collaboration: technology/sustainability based development, small business initiatives, workforce education and training initiatives, community based development initiatives and regional collaboration opportunities.
In addition, Dr. Lee Reynis, director of the Bureau of Business & Economic Research at the University of New Mexico, presented a “State of the City” report on Albuquerque’s economic status. Her comments set the stage for a sobering, realistic discussion about next steps.
For its part, AIBA urged local spending, noting that dollars spent locally circulate more often and support more services than do those spent with national chains. The group scored a specific by inviting those present to accentuate the positive and participate in the third annual February “I Love Albuquerque” event. The contest, sponsored in part by Local i-Q, is open:
Tell us what you love about your town in 25 words or less!
Submissions can be in any format poetry, prose, pithy comments, limericks, haiku, or whatever you come up with.
Send your entries (limit two per person) via e-mail to contest@local-iQ.com.
Hard copy entries can be mailed to:
I Love ABQ Contest
Local iQ
PO Box 7490, ABQ, NM 87102Big Prizes for “Quirkiest,” “Most Romantic” and “Best of Show.”
More, More, More Might Mean Less
January 16, 2009 by Mary Ellen · 1 Comment
Do you emphasize quantity over quality in your PR efforts? You’re not alone. Just this week I heard this comment:
“I sent out 700 e-mails across the country and got no response.”
The email marked as “non-responsive” follows:
Hi,
Just passing along some info about a new dating site out there for adults with mental illness…thought you might want to pass it along.
www.trueacceptance.com
I’m also including a brief write up in a local NAMI chapter’s newsletter:
http://www.nami.org/Content/Microsites86/NAMI_Albuquerque/Home82/Newsletter3/1Q-2008.pdf
Thanks,
Mike
Like many, Mike gave little consideration to his message. His message, repeated 700 times, offered:
- No personalization. While “Hi,” although friendly, is completely generic. Instead of 700 shout-outs to people who could care, consider seven carefully crafted, personalized messages.
- No specificity. Mike had no call to action. He didn’t ask recipients to read the article, write one of their own, look at the site, call him or respond in any other way.
- No results. No kidding.
The bottom line is no, no, no. The next time you consider 700 messages, just say no. Go for quality, not quantity.
Here’s a more specific version of the same email:
Dear Bill, (or the specific name of the reporter)
In last week’s article (title and date) you mentioned the importance of relationships, (comment appropriately about a subject discussed) and I thought you might be interested in a new dating site for adults with mental illness:
Three points of interest about true acceptance:
1. The two social workers partners (name them and hotlink to an About page) who founded the site have 12 years of work with the mentally impaired, so they know and understand the potential participants.
2. In just six weeks, more than 300 profiles have been added, so we know there’s a need for the service.
3. For more information, see our Online Media Room or call me.Would you please list True Acceptance as a source in your “Websites of Interest” feature?
Stay tuned for more on what works and what doesn’t on the web and in traditional pr. Next time I’ll talk about three big myths of PR.
Business as Unusual: Lose Control of Your Marketing
January 13, 2009 by Mary Ellen · Leave a Comment
Lose Control of Your Marketing, a new free e-book from bestselling author David Meerman Scott, should be required reading for every company owner. Scott ‘s last book, The New Rules of Marketing & PR, continues to be a bestseller. It discusses reaching buyers directly.
Portions of this 33-page e-book taken from World Wide Rave, due for release in March, turn typical marketing think on its head. Scott suggests free access:
Make your information on the Web totally free for people to access, with absolutely no virtual strings attached: no electronic gates, no registration requirements, and no email address checking necessary.
Scott discusses companies and ideas now using these techniques in his conversational style. As a former media salesperson, I loved page 22, R.I.P. Sales Process.
If we’re totally honest, we must know that we no longer control the sales process. Such a thing no longer even exists. Instead, our potential customers control what has become a buying process.
We need to realize that today’s consumer skepticism means that to depend on million-dollar direct mail campaigns targeting the top sales prospects, big-budget advertisements that cast too wide a net, or message-drive PR campaigns directed at media insiders who reach fewer readers and viewers than they once did is to risk failure and irrelevancy.
If you don’t have your own copy of Lose Control of Your Marketing, download it now. Free. Learn Why marketing ROI measures LEAD TO FAILURE!
Plan Your Year and Work Your Plan
January 9, 2009 by Mary Ellen · Leave a Comment
Plan – one of those four letter words to send chills up and down your spine.
“I don’t have time to plan; we’re schedule to ship tomorrow.”
“What do you mean, plan? I’ve got a business to run.”
Plan – where preparation meets opportunity.
Keri showed me a one page draft of her year. It featured four products on which she would concentrate with explicit promotional opportunities for each product. A quick discussion solidified the entire vision and turned it into a potential cash machine: one product, a time-saving system for e-mail, has the power to serve as a funnel for all others. How easy was that! Had Keri skipped the planning stage, she might have completely missed the connection.
The key word, PLAN, offers the following acronym:
P – position
L – leverage
A – analyze
N – nurture
P represents position. Look at the year and outline your events according to the calendar. As you do this, begin to visualize the big opportunities. Keri, for example, could easily see where her largest speaking engagements fell and plan accordingly.
Organizations might simply outline the year by inserting repeatable events. Thus, the schedule begins to take shape. Rather than re-inventing the wheel, the positioning strategy lets one review, rate and go forward.
L – leverage means using previous situations to your advantage. In Keri’s case, demonstrating the power of her e-mail presentation lets participants buy into the half-day seminar. (She says, give me 25 minutes and I’ll add an hour to your day tomorrow. Now that’s a benefit I’ll look forward to.) The e-mail product serves as the leverage point for her leads.
In addition, previous publicity can be leveraged to add to credibility and visibility. Linking stories published in 2008 to products or services advertised today makes sense. The online media room offers a perfect leverage opportunity. Listing and linking previous media coverage adds to the content of your website as well as to the links from it.
A – analyze your work. Keri did her homework and asked for input. Another set of eyes leads to valuable input, often creating synergy. The value of synergy can only be experienced in process.
N – nurture sums up my plan approach. Not only do you solidify your thoughts, you have an opportunity to let the power of the universe go to work for you. As you commit to paper, you refine and expand ideas. This focus becomes a magnet for additional opportunities. Because you’ve outlined the end result, the steps along the way actually become clearer.
Napoleon Hill wrote: “Reduce your plan to writing. The moment you complete this, you will have definitely given concrete form to the intangible desire.” Or, as Tom Landry put it: “Setting a goal is not the main thing. It is deciding how you will go about achieving it and staying with that plan.”
Good luck implementing your marketing plan 2009.
Marketing 2009: Five Questions to Sharpen Your Perspective
January 7, 2009 by Mary Ellen · Leave a Comment
What one thing could make a significant difference for you and your business this year? I know, boring question. Dozens of e-zines, newsletters and articles scream for your inbox attention. Each one promises a quick fix to your problems and you’re already sick of it. Ok. I admit my view of the inbox could be a little tinged with sarcasm. After all, I subscribed to those items to see what was going on. Here are the five questions I suggest considering:
- Do you plan to do the same marketing things you did last year? If not, what will you do differently and why? Remember, the definition of crazy is doing the same thing you’ve always done and expecting different results.
One client, for example, has elected to do no print advertising. Instead, the budget from last year’s print is moving into search engine marketing for her website. The Internet will then become a stronger marketing channel and drive additional sales as a result. This same client is introducing a new product, a service innovation to upgrade current customers. In addition to web site promotion, the product will be promoted through signage and flyers at trade shows, and in ongoing e-newsletters to the database. - What is your theme for the year? A theme ties everything together and puts the power of synergy to work for you. Imagine how much more effective you can be with a multiplier on your side. The theme offers focus and can give you boundaries for considering activities and opportunities. If the theme is expansion, then the evaluation criteria become clearer: how can this project/expenditure/event expand my visibility?
- What books will you read to stimulate your thinking and expand your mental capacities? (NOTE: see the definition in question number one if you have no books on your list.) What do you want to learn? Are there areas in which additional knowledge could make you money? Three books I plan to review for this blog include: Changing the Channel: 12 Easy Ways to Make Millions for Your Business, by Michael Masterson and MaryEllen Tribby; Tuned In: Uncover the Extraordinary Opportunities that Lead to Business Breakthroughs, by Craig Stull, Phil Myers & David Meerman Scott; and Stories That Sell: Turn Satisfied Customers into Your Most Powerful Sales and Marketing Asset, by Casey Hibbard.
- How will your associations in 2009 differ from those you’ve had in the past? What organizations will you join and which meetings will you stop attending? Instead of signing up for everything and suffering overwhelm, how can you more effectively put the power of networking on your side?
- What were your 21 greatest accomplishments of 2008? When the times get tough it helps to remind one’s self of success. Review what worked. Know where you’ve been and then head confidently into the future.
Add your questions here or send them my way in an email to maryellen at profitmeister dot com. (Clever way to avoid the spammers, don’t you agree?)
PR – Public Relations Puts Your Business on the Map for Free!
January 5, 2009 by Mary Ellen · Leave a Comment
Publicity. Free press can be more valuable than some advertising campaigns because media carries credibility. Irish playwright Brendan Behan said “All publicity is good, except an obituary notice.” Few businesses understand how to generate coverage. Still fewer systematically work a plan to build it. If you’ve decided you will be more visible this year, here are five ways you can begin:
- Online Media Room. Across the country traditional media (newspapers, magazines, television and radio) have cut resources to save money. Today’s reporters begin research online and you can help them by providing information they can use and access 24/7 on your website. An online media room or press room with information about your company can increase your credibility with journalists and consumers. The Internet is critical to your successful publicity campaign.
- Action item: resolve to get more Internet savvy now. Do one thing everyday to increase your online presence.
- Local newspapers and magazines. List the major players in your market and then consider all the weekly and monthly alternative publications as well. Pay special attention to sections featuring your industry. Notice the journalists who contribute and review stories to get a feel for their coverage.
- Business journals. Many cities feature a business journal which targets upper management, business owners and professionals. Check American Cities Business Journals for more than 40 weekly publications across the United States. http://www.bizjournals.com/
- Action items for print: take note of these specific print coverage opportunities:
i. Special sections
ii. Editorial calendars
iii. Letters to the editor
iv. Opinion columns
v. Photo solicitation requests
- Action items for print: take note of these specific print coverage opportunities:
- Local radio. Think about what programs get special attention from your audience. For example, many radio stations have morning shows featuring guest appearances. Local personalities may host a talk show or call-in that offers publicity opportunities. Take note of the time and requirements for each. For example, one afternoon personality in our area offers a Friday night shout-out. From 6:00pm – 7:00pm, listeners can call in and promote their spiel at no charge. If, however, the participant is unprepared, this host may cut them off. (NOTE: Because of interaction, the segment is quite entertaining.)
- Local TV and cable shows. If your story impacts a lot of people, consider TV. Frequently, local stations allow promotion during particular segments of the morning show or a noon-time segment. Some stations may even produce a local entertainment feature that highlights local business. Discover the guidelines for coverage by calling stations in advance.
- Action items for broadcast media:
i. Ongoing information is required; get the name of the TV newsroom assignment editor
ii. Ask about public service announcements and observe the policy if you submit psa information
iii. Inquire about user-generated video
iv. Check for the producer’s name and contact information
- Action items for broadcast media:
Begin by researching each media’s website. Then, customize your information to the guidelines outlined. Be specific about your choices and you’ll dramatically increase your chances for success. It may take more than one try, but persistence will pay off. And, I’d love to know about your successes.
