There are three key areas of public relations you can use to boost your advertising
results ten-fold over your paid advertising.
The key to public relations lie in:
Public relation or publicity
Merchandising
Promotions
With a solid plan in place that encompasses all these areas, you’ll have a great approach
to use public relations in the best way possible.
Public relations include all that is the media. Don’t limit yourself. The attention of
newspapers, television, radio, magazines, bloggers, ezines and more are all equally
powerful. Online marketing is just as, if not more, important as conventional media.
Here are the steps to get noticed by the media:
1. Put together a press release for your company. The press release should be
relevant to your target market and address consumer interest, not just announce
your business.
2. Compact your press release to include one hook and one angle. Choose the most
attention-getting to make sure the media person you are sending it to is
interested in reading it.
3. Put your press release in professional formatting. With press releases you need a
dateline, the most important information at the top, facts, figures and wrap it up
with contact details including who and how. Print the press release on your
letterhead.
4. Send your press release to all television and radio stations, local and metro
newspapers, national newspapers, industry magazines, and any other form of
media that reaches your target market. Don’t forgot to include relevant blogs,
ezines, press release submission sites and to industry professionals.
More importantly than a perfect press release is to make sure you have addressed the
needs of your target market in the products/services you offer and made that clear in
the press release. If you are provided people a solution to a problem, a way to avoid a
problem and an opportunity to enhance their life the media and public will be
interested.
If you have a connection (or the ability to get a connection) with a celebrity, this can
practically guarantee you’ll get attention. Make sure you are offered newsworthy
information, and then follow up with media outlets to make sure they are publicizing
that information.
“One of the most powerful techniques every business should use is free publicity. As the
name implies, there is no cost, just the time and effort required to attract attention to
your business.” Jay Abraham
Our GUIDED TOUR can show you how to put together press releases that work! Check
out how the pro’s do it and craft the perfect press releases for your business.
Category: Promotion
Telemarketing is NOT the Anti-Christ
Today you’ll learn how to use direct mail marketing and, yes, telemarketing to your full
advantage. I know, the word “telemarketing” might as well be four letters, but there is a
way to help customers feel like they are getting personal attention and keep them from
blocking your number!
With the success direct mail marketing has had and the availability of computers, these
can be used as a powerful marketing tool for your success. Telemarketing is best for
high priced, high margin products/services.
Here are the key steps to putting together a highly effective direct mail marketing
program:
1. List all benefits customers will get from the purchase of your products and
services.
2. Pick the single most powerful benefit out of that list.
3. Build an attention-getting headline around that benefit. Remember to use
emotion-fulfill the desire to be young, wealthy, desired, popular or successful.
4. Develop a sales letter using the headline you created to grab attention, provide
information and motivate customers to act.
5. Put together supplementary items, such as a brochure, order form, reply
envelope or note that encourages them to read the letter.
6. Rent or purchase a mailing list.
7. Compare cost of mailing vs. cost per order.
8. Continue to test and refine your direct mail marketing plan.
You can see how direct mail marketing can help you find a local or even country-wide
target market to send letters or postcards to and draw in new clientele and customers.
Fine-tuning your marketing campaign will bring better results and therefore lower the
overall cost of the campaign.
To be successful in telemarketing you need to:
Put together a plan, so you know exactly what you want to accomplish during
the call.
Develop a list of topics to discuss and the questions you want to present around
these topics.
Input verbiage checking to see if you are calling at a good time.
Include enough questions to keep the conversation interesting, but not too many
to sound like you are interrogating.
Start with broad questions and narrow your focus as the conversation continues.
Offer feedback to show them you are paying attention and appreciate their time.
Don’t insult their intelligence or manipulate them.
Listen first, talk second.
Be relaxed and conversational.
Telemarketing doesn’t have to be the trauma it’s made out to be. You can put together
an honest, personal and effective telemarketing campaign that is endearing, informative
and gets the job done. Think of how you would want to be treated on a marketing call.
Ask your friends and family what they hate most about the telemarketing calls they get
and work hard to craft your plan in a better way.
“When selling by telephone, you have approximately thirty seconds to convince the
customer to listen to you. You need an opening statement that captures their attention,
conveys who you are, what you want and why the prospect should listen.” Jay Abraham
It’s easy to see how direct mail marketing and telemarketing can positively affect your
business by bringing in new customers and increasing the level of awareness about your
products, services and company branding. Our GUIDED TOUR offers the resources and
tools you need to work through these processes and put together the best marketing
plan you can.
Lessons I Learned from Paris Hilton
Today we’ll talk about shameless self-promotion. That’s right, I said it! Shameless! After all, we are learning from Paris Hilton here.
It’s all about self-promotion! Self-promotion comes in many forms and you can use different tactics to get your name out there. Look at politicians! Talk about self-promotion and in some not so discreet ways, at that. But, seriously, consider some of the major superstars we all know. Madonna, Donald Trump, Howard Stern and Bill Clinton, just to name a few.
We all self promote. Did you raise your hand in class to show the teacher you knew the answer? Of course! That’s self-promotion. This is the kind of self-promotion we are talking about. With dignity, class and the knowledge to back it up. If you self-promote only to prove you don’t really know what you’re talking about, you’re going to lose business.
Natural self-promoters are the former and I want to tell you about the three major traits they have and use to build themselves and their businesses.
- The first is position. You need to position yourself around people who can make a difference in your life. You need to do this frequently. You need to wake up every morning and ask yourself “Who can I meet today who will make a difference in my success?” In fact, go a step further, write it in big, bold letters and tape it on your bathroom mirror.
Also consider:
Who can help me meet my goals?
Is it a prospective customer/client? A colleague with contacts? An association with key members who may become prospects?
Don’t settle into interacting with the people who are the easiest to access. You need to reach outside your comfort zone and there you will find a wealth of new connections that will bring you great success.
- Now, let’s talk about Style. No, this doesn’t mean you need an Armani suit to bring in more business (though, let’s be honest-it wouldn’t hurt)
What this really means is how are you different from your competitors and others in your industry. What makes you memorable with customers?
If you are meeting a lot of people and they don’t remember you once you leave the room, you have a serious problem! This means you have an opportunity to present yourself in a more memorable way.
There are lots of little subtle changes you can make. Reassess your:
- Business cards
- Company message
- Your picture
- Your wording
Maybe even, your hairstyle (of course, now we’re back to the expensive suit, but it really works!)
You get the idea. There are lots of little ways you can work on making your image and business more successful. Also, consider how you sound on the phone and how you great people at meetings or other events. Think about your 30-sec elevator speech.
- The third trait of natural promoters is repetition. You can’t say it once and leave it at that. Successful self-promoters say it as many times as they need until they get a response. Would you remember a commercial for Coca-Cola if you only saw it once, no! You see it over and over and eventually you head out to the store.
You, also, have to make multiple impressions on those you are networking with in order to build brand awareness. Repetition is in direct connection with positioning. Once you find people to network with, reach out and find hundreds more who can help in your success as well.
