Building a press kit? Where are your digital files?
August 20, 2010 by Mary Ellen · Leave a Comment
Your press kit doesn’t build itself. Consider:
Are you an artist who refuses to keep an updated CV? Imagine going back five years to unearth classes taught, shows displayed, awards won. Difficult? Add impossible to the list if during that time you moved, had a baby, or experienced any one of life’s major change agents. Seemingly unimportant items make the difference when presenting the story of your life in written form?
Are you a young professional with a full-time job plus a start-up business commitment? Once again, the gathering of information becomes the challenge. You suddenly become the obstacle if you don’t/can’t pull your resume, or bio, or head shot, or all of the above, together.
Are you a service provider so obsessed with billable hours you can’t concentrate on your own publicity? Keep in mind the necessity of working on your business, rather than just in it.
Are you a business owner who needs to pull a proposal together quickly? Your press kit probably contains collateral pieces appropriate for journalists as well as bankers, vendors, distributors or large customers.
Begin your digital press kit file today. (NOTE: In my last ProfitMeister newsletter, I talked about items to include in the online press kit. Sign up and receive ongoing, smart marketing information you can use to build your business.)
If you’ve got already got a digital press kit, comment here and share the example with others.
Common Errors That Kill Press Releases
May 26, 2010 by Mary Ellen · Leave a Comment
This year marks 30 years in business. How will you celebrate? Can a press release help your visibility?
Your goal is to give away several thousand books. Could a press release frame this for the media, thereby adding to the success of your campaign?
A relatively new business, you’ve just landed a partnership with the most respected expert in your industry. Should you write a press release?
In every case, the answer is yes. Each business in the scenarios listed above could use a press release to garner additional visibility and tell their firm’s story.
Press releases help you get the word out. If you’re preparing a press release, read on to avoid five common errors that could kill your story before it begins.
- No lead time. When contacting publications to distribute your press release, research deadlines. If you’re posting your release online, some services require a two or three day period in which to review your information. Weekly papers, magazines and many trade publications have even longer timeframes. Allow plenty of time in order to earn maximum coverage and avoid error number one.
- No contact information. Journalists receive numerous solicitations daily. An interesting idea gets trashed if it’s too much trouble to find out more. Avoid this error by supplying all contact information, including an after-hours telephone number and make it easy for journalists to contact you.
- No relationship to the audience. Spamming (the art of sending unsolicited press releases via emails) endears you to no one. Most of us understand the restaurant critic doesn’t choose to hear about a book giveaway. Without a specific tie-in, your release will be trashed. Select an audience that cares about your topic and avoid error number three.
- No call to action. Dozens of do-it-yourself press releases fail to get results simply because there is no call to action. Build your news release around what you want the public to do. If you want to sell tickets, mention all the details of the event and explain how the public can purchase tickets. Give options for readers to get more information.
- No picture or additional information. When your press release focuses on an award, or information about the founder, include a headshot. If there is a particularly compelling photo opportunity, be sure to include it. At the very least, be sure to add a paragraph with “About the Company” information. Typically referred to as boiler plate, this paragraph sometimes runs in its entirety. So, ere on the side of caution by providing full information.
Today’s digital world encourages the use of press releases to communicate directly with customers, prospects and the general public as well as journalists. Increase your chance of coverage by avoiding these common errors.
Do you have additional “No” messages to add to the list?
Promote your cause with publicity for the nonprofit
April 7, 2010 by Mary Ellen · Leave a Comment
“A philanthropic effort is more likely to get press if:
- A significant contribution is made in time or energy
- People get their hands dirty
- The effort truly makes a difference
- The public is familiar with at least one of the participants (either corporate, nonprofit or celebrity)
- There is a real story behind it.”
Excerpted from Starlee, Success on Your Terms, a new print magazine for entrepreneurs.
Teaming up with causes you care about sparks enthusiasm. I experienced this with Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) as a good friend talked about the community outreach the organization performed. (See my January post: Cause-related marketing unites hearts and helpers.)
The public relations committee for CREW New Mexico asked me to speak with them about getting the word out. Here are my ten suggestions:
- Standardize info. Provide all members – especially committee members – with access to organization information including:
- “About our organization” – a boiler plate paragraph explaining what CREW is and why it makes a difference
- Fact Sheet with information about the outreach for the organization
- Complete guidelines for talking about CREW services, events and people
- Promote the name. Encourage board members and committee members to list the organization in their extended profiles on various social media sites. In return, these participants can request a link from the non-profit website to their company, if appropriate
- Use social methods. Activities get promoted on social media sites by committee people. Invite others in the organization to link to the blog posting, Digg a comment, or otherwise share information
- Get detailed information about future and past events on the website. Establish a media room for the organization and update it with news on a monthly basis
- Use press releases. Prepare a press release about the next big event and send it to traditional media outlets. AND, more importantly, publish the release on your website, make it available to sponsors and vendors.
- Daily newspaper
- Weekly business paper
- Various print publications of a weekly or monthly nature
- Local magazines
- Radio stations (especially those with a news department)
- TV stations (especially those with a morning show who talk with members of the local community)
- Concentrate on social media
- Include major city blogs
- Add a Facebook fan page if someone in the organization can maintain it
- Inquire within the organization to find members with blogs or active pages who might be willing to publicize specific activities in conjunction with the organization
- Plan to publish event info via email
- Provide a paragraph to all board/committee members and sponsors for inclusion in company newsletters
- Make it easy for volunteers to participate and promote the organization
- Be clear about the benefits of your event/program/request
- Add information to media calendars. Many media outlets provide non-profit calendar items for free. Note that events must usually be submitted separately and in advance
- Develop relationships. Form long-term relationships with media reporters, photographers, and media salespeople who might have special interest in your cause.
- Say thank you. Take the time to thank any publication or person instrumental in helping you get the word out. This extra step goes a long way towards future publicity.
Put your enthusiasm to work with a concentrated effort. It takes just a bit of planning. In the long run it will pay off in visibility.
Press Kit 101: promoting previous publicity
January 28, 2010 by Mary Ellen · 1 Comment
You may want to share hard copies of articles about your business when you communicate with the media, even if you have an online media room.
For those who plan to use a traditional press kit, make your previous publicity work harder for you. Here’s how:
- Highlight your mentions in previous articles. This saves the recipient from searching for your name, your quote, your specific. If the article is all about your company, highlight a key point or pertinent quote. On the other hand, your highlight will make you more prominent in a compilation article or series.
- Make sure credits show on your publications: names, dates, contributing author. (NOTE: The time to get permission to use this information is when it is printed. Contact the publication and ask about their reprint policy.)
- Give special attention to the organization of your stories. Include most recent materials on top, filing in reverse order to oldest dated information.
- Be selective. If you have dozens of press clippings, include only the most significant or those most pertinent to the target.
- When sending your press kit to multiple locations, keep a duplicate so you know where materials “live.” You can then find referenced information quickly, or you could direct someone else to do the same. (HINT: If this kit is available at the office then other employees can be taught to refer to it as well.)
- Include a personalized cover letter when you send your press kit. HINT: Refer to a particular item (you’ll notice …) and thus direct the recipient inside the kit.
- In addition, take the time to target the recipient and customize your communication to him/her. For example, if the publication has a section for which you’d be perfect, mention it. As a storefront, if you are a tourist attraction, make a case to be included in a regular column about highlights of a city; a service provider who is a subject matter expert, might site examples of quotes or feature articles pointing to his/her specialty. Give the publication a good reason to make your story/idea work.
- Most of all, make it easy for the publication to like you and showcase your business in a future issue!
- Include contact information on all materials.
While there’s no magic formula to capture the attention of the media, one thing is certain: If you don’t work at it you have no chance.
V-v-v-v-video! Go Viral, Young Woman!
July 15, 2009 by Mary Ellen · Leave a Comment
Has the hot new social media element of video landed on a website near you?
If you’ve searched on social media, Google tabulates more than 186,000,000 results in less than half a second. For many entrepreneurs, it ends right there. Overwhelm takes over.
Making sense of social media means thinking through the reasons why you want to use it. What are your goals? Where do you hope to be in six months, a year? How would that look different without a social media?
Without a plan, or at least an idea of what you hope to accomplish with social media, you’ll waste a considerable amount of time, energy and precious resources. You might even turn off some of your potential customers in the process.
Speaker and author (good friend and daring enthusiast) Cynthia Morris recently introduced video to her Journey JuJu blog with Library Juju, talked about the viral social media opportunity.
On the plus side:
According to any number of “experts” video on a website is hot, not only because it attracts viewers, but because it creates a closer connection with the potential customer. (A picture is worth 1,000 words.)
Video sharing websites like YouTube, video.google.com and ustream.tv get millions of hits. Entrepreneurs dream of being the next Susan Boyle (71 million views and counting) when their video goes viral.
Today’s video is easy: use your built-in webcam, upload and go.
On the minus side:
Instead of jumping with excitement, Cynthia ran through a myriad of fear-based questions and came up with a much longer list:
What if people think I look squirrelly?
Maybe someone who was going to hire me will be turned off by the fact that I just went for it?
What if they don’t like the background?
Should I pull it down before anyone sees it? (NOTE: She’d already passed the 50 mark on YouTube.)
How can this work on an ongoing basis for me?
Is video the right tactic for my business?
Does a series of JuJu videos that might make people giggle make sense? (Cynthia is often hired as a speaker/performer.)
How will video impact your business? Have you produced a video yet? Will you do so? What do you think of Cynthia’s?
After our discussion she found and shared with me a great link from HubSpot, an inbound marketing firm that might make your video options a bit easier. Happy shooting!
Website Marketing Opportunities and NOT
June 29, 2009 by Mary Ellen · 1 Comment
“We’re going to switch our URL. I don’t like the name.” (NOTE to self on hearing this: Check the stats to see current traffic patterns and make a recommendation.)
“Nobody has really signed up for our forums; maybe we should cancel them.” (NOTE to self: review the topics and check what response they’ve had in other arenas.)
“My business is just too big for me to care about social media.” The sole proprietor said this without a trace of a smile. (NOTE to self: This sounds like wish.)
Unfortunately, on the web as in other arenas, focus can be a bit myopic:
What’s convenient for me?
How can I make my business run more smoothly?
What do I want?
What can I cross off my “to do” list today?
What sounds good now?
The norm:
Doing business on the fly
Moving fast
Over-commitment
Choosing the easy path
Following recommend of a friend
Content marketing, the art of attracting customers with quality information, means thinking about your customer, listening to your customer and planning to satisfy your customer. How will you fit that into your schedule?
E-mail: A low cost solution or an annoyance and obstacle to productivity?
February 26, 2009 by Mary Ellen · 1 Comment
Policing e-mails gets to be a job, especially when the in-box exceeds 200. (My goal is to make it through the list.) As more and more businesses use e-mail communications, the need to grow our effectiveness becomes critical.
According to Forrester Research, eight out of 10 broadband users delete most commercial e-mail without reading it. Six out of 10 say most e-mail offers nothing of interest.
Sid Liebenson, Executive Vice President and director of marketing for Draftfcb, offered basic e-mail guidelines in an op-ed piece in DMNews:
To make it work effectively, use your company name and/or a real name in the “from” field. Personalize and customize content as much as possible. Segment e-mail content so that recipients get information that most interests them – if you don’t know what interests them, ask. Include interaction, like polls or quizzes. Offer reports and whitepapers. Keep messages short, simple, and focused. A text-heavy appearance is deadly. Read the complete article.
I continue to recommend e-mail to clients. In addition, I continue working to improve my own. Post your good e-mail hints (or your worst e-mail examples) here in the comments.
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.
Internet Respiratory Infections and Other Problems
September 12, 2008 by Mary Ellen · Leave a Comment
As a card-carrying member of the do-it-yourself club, I tell my clients they need to be in control of their website rather than being held hostage by a webmaster. Good advice if you can take it. My challenge isn’t finding the problems. It’s fixing them.
Based on some of my own experiences with the internet, I devised a simple diagnostics test you can use to check for problems. Here is a do-it-yourself web audit of the simplest variety.
- Can visitors navigate your site easily, smoothly and quickly?
- When you click on the header for your page do you automatically go home?
- Does every link on your site work?
- Is anything underlined that is NOT a link? On the web, the underline communicates link at a glance, so visitors expect the underline to be a hyperlink.
- Do all icons (print, pdf, and email) work?
- Did you limit yourself to one or two fonts and then use those fonts on every page consistently throughout the site?
- Have you viewed your web page in different browser environments such as AOL, Internet Explorer, and Firefox to ensure its consistency?
- Have you used a repeatable image as background? No matter how cute or closely tied to your message, the image is likely clutter that interferes with the readability of text.
- Have you proofed every page, dialed every phone number, tried every contact or signup sheet, and clicked through to every link?
- Does your site look professional with high quality graphics and quality photos combined with text?
As you answer these questions, every hesitation or no answer constitutes a potential problem. Like any illness, unresolved issues weaken the immune system or the website. Too many troubles can create a respiratory infection and even the tiniest illness can morph into a major problem if left unattended.
What to do? Call the doctor. Call the webmaster? I know the frustration of waiting days for a response. Remember the prescription, “Take two aspirin and go to bed?” I want that solution.
Details, Present or not, Deliver a Message
September 9, 2008 by Mary Ellen · Leave a Comment
Making the customer connection is easier when a niche audience is involved and the customer is defined for you by the niche. Take ballooning, for instance. Ballooning, a niche sport, involves hot air and gas balloon enthusiasts. While participants in the sport live all over the world, Albuquerque is generally regarded as the headquarters for balloon events because the Duke City is home to the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, the largest gathering of hot air balloons.
- AIBF celebrates its 37th year in 2008
- 2008 festivities also include the 40th Coupe Gordon Bennett , the oldest air race in the world
So, when the Fly New Mexico! Aviation Division published their 2008 Aviation Events Calendar, it was likely an oversight that there was no mention of AIBF in the October Activities:
- October 1 – Tucumcari Rotary Club Airshow and Open House, Tucumcari Airport
- October 4-5 – Amigo Airshow 2008, Biggs Army Airfield, El Paso, Texas
- October 10-11-12 – Land of Enchantment RV Fly-In, Dona Ana County Airport
Even more embarrassing, at the bottom of the calendar is the following message and no link to AIBF exists: “For a fabulous website calendar with aviation events from around the world, go to http://www.deltaweb.co.uk/asgcal/index.htm
Take a promotional lesson from the publishers of Fly New Mexico! newsletter: It’s all about the details. Check your details. Proof. Check again. Then, ask yourself: “Have I covered the most obvious detail on my calendar?”
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