Integrated marketing. Multi-channel marketing. Interactive marketing. You’ve heard the terms but what do these really mean for the average entrepreneur or independent business person?
Today’s reality goes beyond merely connecting tactics and conducting multi-media campaigns (say, doing email and postcards). What’s occurring is a convergence of both online and offline marketing methods as well as a fusion of digital channels and tools. What’s driving it is the evolution of the Web, dominated by user generated content, social networking, citizen journalism and growing access to and transparency of content – personal and otherwise.
Here’s a critical lesson for succeeding in this context of conversation marketing: In the intrusive, immediate realm of the Internet, service – not sales – is the name of the game. Be prepared to educate, inform, entertain, and assist. Give freely in order to receive in abundance. Plan to build and earn trust, and don’t intrude uninvited. If you play by these rules, you’ll have succeeded in doing what authentic marketing is all about – not just selling, but building loyal, long-term customer relationships.
And remember, today the desktop computer email inbox has morphed and people expect proven and new ways of communicating with your business – anywhere, anytime, from either stationary or mobile devices. Email, social and mobile messaging, or tri-messaging, is now a force in the multichannel marketing landscape. Such multi-pronged messaging needs to be intentionally well-orchestrated. Digital messaging is no longer a slow moving, one-way street. We’ve got to think dialog rather than broadcast, and be prepared to cross messaging device barriers and permission thresholds that are constantly proliferating.
Learn how to master your email and social media marketing on a FREE call, Thursday, March 25 at 4 p.m. EST with my Social Media Advisor, Mande White
Here are ten suggestions of what you can do to get FREE publicity:
- Seek it out! While this may seem obvious, it takes a lot of work. Make time in your busy schedule to ALWAYS research the town you are going to. Know their newspapers, radio and television stations, service groups, businesses, schools, churches, arts organizations and other places where people gather. The Chamber of Commerce is a good place to start to get a list. Then, keep a database on each town with contact information for each organization and keep it up to date. Check out calendars of events from the chamber of commerce, tourism, schools, media, city government, churches and service organizations. Much of it will be on the Internet, but you may have to get a hold of a local paper before arriving.
- Know who to contact. This was mentioned in number one, but it is essential to create a complete database of each of those organizations with contact names, physical addresses, email addresses and websites. This will make your job so much easier when you return to that town. And make sure it is updated! That news director you talked to last year may have moved on. Putting that person’s name on a press release could show the news department that you are out of touch.
- Get involved with a non-profit event. Once you have checked the local calendars, have a list of the non-profit events and then participate in as many as you can. Events could include the local Relay for Life, a 5K, a school car wash, Boy Scout popcorn sales or a church dinner. The U.S. Army Golden Knights Parachute Team performed at an air show and found out a Triathlon was being held the next day. One of them made the point of participating in it. Also, while you can do the participation quietly, that doesn’t always get publicity. Your participation can bring added dollars to that non-profit, so promote away! TELL the media you are going to be there! But, you might want to subtly slip it in when talking to them, like asking directions to the location or asking the station if they have ever been there. The more you promote the event, the better for your publicity. If the community is in the process of cleaning up a park, building a Habitat for Humanity home, rebuilding after a disaster or any other number of things, do your part. Grab a shovel, a hammer, a garbage bag… and get yourself dirty. Just showing the community that you care will leave a lasting impression on them.
- Talk somewhere for free. If you have a specialty that college kids or troubled youth can benefit from, then talk to them for free. Call the local colleges, treatment centers or churches and ask if they would like for you to do that. If you can teach the kids something pertaining to the class subject, most professors are open to it. Churches also LOVE to have special speakers. And don’t forget about special assemblies at schools. If you have something to offer the kids of that town, do it… and do it FOR FREE! The paybacks in publicity will well be worth it!
- Have a press release, press kit and press package. A press release is not the same as a press kit, which is not the same as a complete press package. A press release is a simple one or two page news story about you that you want to see printed or read. A press kit provides a lot more information including a photo, press release, fact sheet, “tear” sheets of other interviews and articles about you, a Cd of and/or Mp3 of actualities for radio. A press PACKAGE includes the press kit, but also gives a bit of a bonus such as a poster, your book, a video, a hat, pens, umbrellas… PREMIUMS. Think of premiums like the prize you get in a cereal box. The press loves them! (Although they do not always guarantee an interview, they will help you to be remembered!)
What do you think about these tips? Feel free to leave your comments or suggestions below. Stay tuned next week for tips 6-10.
2009 was a “watershed” year, packed with transformation and shifting, all happening to clear out the old in order to make way for the new. In watershed years, a lot of activity and change which has been slowly building over previous periods finally moves through all at once.
And so it goes as the pace of change continues to accelerate in the world at large – more and more gets packed into the same seemingly-finite amount of time and space. Mentalities change faster, evolution happens at a heightened rate. You know where I’m going with this – it all impacts your marketing too. Not just how you market, but what you say and do. And it’s coming to a head in 2010, likely a waterfall year. Expect to see the flow of change speed up even more!
Inspired by the emerging shift in human consciousness already occurring and fueled by everything from environmental awareness to the rise of social media, doing business will become as much about serving as selling (and pardon my bias, but I say it’s about damn time!).
In fact, successful marketers during the economic downturn discovered ages ago that when you sell by way of serving, you develop a loyal following that sticks with you through thick and thin, which is why they’ve remained successful even during recent tough times.
A major ramification of “service” is that you should be prepared to provide it. I’m not talking about lip service, but instead about genuine customer engagement. Go from just talking to also listening. Incorporate the ability for your customers to respond to your messages – both from within and without the message channel.
This means they should be able to reply to your email marketing messages, for example, rather than run smack into a “do not reply to this email” wall. The same goes for social media, where in-channel dialog is not only desired but the norm. Make sure someone’s listening and gathering feedback.
The logical extension of conscious business practices into marketing also involves this same emphasis on contribution and respect. If you’re asking for someone’s attention, give them something worth paying attention to, like free information, free assistance, information or savings. Give before expecting to receive, give unexpectedly, and give even when you’re not asking to receive anything. Listen and talk. Be human, be conversational. CONNECT. Then, when you do present opportunities to buy, your people will have a foundation of trust and loyalty to stand on, and will engage with confidence.
What better time than the start of a new year to crystallize your intentions for 2010 and prepare for the shift toward conscious marketing?
Reserve your seat now on our next 5 Secrets to Emotionally Connecting with Your Target Audience to Increase Visibility, Deepen Customer Relationships and Boost Revenue in 2010.
Your most important tools for publicity are the press release and the press kit.
If you are not a writer, your best bet is to either hire a writer to do your press release or, more simply, keep to the facts. An overwritten press release means more work for the reporter. In this day and age of cut backs, reporters are generally overworked and under paid. If you can make their job easier, you will get published.
Reporters are taught from the get go about the inverted pyramid. This is basically a visual for what a news story should look like. Your press release is a news story, so it should be written like one. The most important FACTS are at the top and the least important information is at the bottom.
What you might consider the most important things you WANT the reporter to know are not always the same as THE FACTS. Reporters want the local angle and “who, what, where, when and why” first. Those five “w’s” should appear in the VERY FIRST LINE of your press release. The first line should also be compelling enough to draw the reader into the rest of the story.
Reporters are also used to seeing press releases in a certain format. Press releases usually get a glance and if they do not capture the reporter’s attention in that glance, they will simply get recycled. So, keeping to the format will prevent that from happening before a single word is read.
Here are the elements you should ALWAYS contain and in the order they appear on the page:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: These words should appear at the top left of the page, in upper case. If you don’t want the story to be made public yet, write “HOLD FOR RELEASE UNTIL …” and insert the date to be released.
Contact Information: Include contact person, company name, physical/postal address. phone/fax, email, and website.
Headline: Just like a headline in a newspaper. Make sure this describes the content of the story. Center it over the body of the story and in upper case.
City, State/Country – Month Day, Year: These details precede the story and orient the reader. Place this information in italics.
Body: This is where the actual story goes. There should be more than one paragraph, each paragraph no more than a few sentences. If there is more than one page, write “-more-” at the bottom of the page.
- END - or ### This indicates the end of the press release. It should appear centered below the body text.
(xxx words) If you like, you can also include the total number of words contained in the press release.
It should look like this:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Name
Contact Address
Contact Phone Number
Contact Email address and Website
HEADLINE
City, State Month, Date, Year – The Body including Who, what, where, when and why and ya da ya da ya da. At least two paragraphs.
-END-
(500 words)
Here are some tips when writing: Keep it short. Keep it simple. A two-page press release can be overwhelming for a reporter who is on deadline if it is not written correctly. Longer press releases should be reserved for magazine articles only. It is better to include a fact sheet along with the press release if there is more information you would like for them to consider.
Always double check to make sure the contact information is included and correct, that dates and times and places are right and that there are no typos or misspellings. Send the press release AT LEAST two weeks in advance and do your homework to know WHO to send it to.
Press kits contain all of the information you want the news department to know. Sending a photo is nice, but radio and television stations only use them if they have a website. Your press kit should include your contact information, a photo if it is for newspaper or magazine; your contact information; your press release; your contact information; a fact sheet about you, your contact information, short, :30 second (at the longest) quotes from you in an Mp3 format (also known as ACTUALITIES) if you are sending it to radio and, finally, YOUR CONTACT INFORMATION! Your goal is to get an interview. If they don’t know how to contact you, there will be no interview.
Press kits do not necessarily have to be four-color, expensive print pieces either. You can EMAIL a press kit with all of the important documents attached. I would suggest using the press release as the body of the email with the photo, fact sheet and actualities attached to the email. Email format can actually save the reporter typing time and it can also save a tree.
Last, but not least, do NOT resend the information over and over if you have not heard from them. Instead, follow up a week before the event with a phone call to confirm they received it. That is your time to use your local angle to SELL yourself to that news department. You know you are newsworthy, now convince them!
The absolute job of any press release or press kit is to make the PRESS’ job easier. Yes, it promotes YOU… but, in news, YOU are not important. What you mean to the news audience is.
-END-
It is free with your free subscription to the weekly newsletter, Speaker Net News. It is a great publication and if you are serious about speaking, you should check it out. Click here to subscribe.
It is now possible to for speakers and countries outside the US to join FreeSpeakerBureau.com. Please share this information with all your associates who may have an interest.
We want to talk up our speakers, organizations and your upcoming events on twitter, facebook and linked-in. Does that interest you? Would that have value for you? Leave a comment below and let us know.
Michael J. Maher of Overland Park, Kansas, is our top ranked speaker
Steve Harsh of Columbus, OH and Amy Johnson of Washington are on his heels!
We have made the switch in our sorting criteria.
With 11 five star recommendations by groups he has presented to in the past,
Michael is our number one speaker. You can view his profile here.
Improve your rankings by inviting meeting planners to review your past performance. Simply log into your account (This is important so that the system can create a link to your profile page) and then use the “Invite” link on the blue navigation bar. Then choose “Rate My Speaking.” An editable email will pop up with a link directly to your profile page. You can edit the email or send it as is.
As the guest or key-note speaker at local association meeting, the last thing you want is to be perceived as a hard-core sales person. But that doesn’t mean you can’t get your sales message across.
By weaving instinctual, intuitive or indirect communication into your presentation, you can elegantly get your sales message across without any appearance of making a pitch.
First decide, what message you want to send to your audience:
- If you buy my product/service you will be happier, richer…
- I care about you, not just your money.
- Being associated with my organization will open doors for you.
Saying: “You should hire me because . . .” is one approach but you are the guest speaker and a hard sell is inappropriate. Instead, make a 3-part outline of the direct message you are want to get out. Second, create a corresponding indirect message, and third, decide on a the method of getting your indirect across.
Example A: From a presentation given by a Management Training Specialist
- Direct Message: “Register for the upcoming workshop on coaching techniques for managers.”
- Indirect message: “Our workshops for managers are fun, interactive, and will get you immediate results.”
- Method of getting indirect across: An anecdote-
“A young manager who attended our Manage to Coach workshop said he couldn’t believe that having more fun actually improved training results. He said that he attributed his success in raising employee morale in part to other participants at the workshop who shared their ideas and also to the fact that he longer saw the turnover problem as something that was just eating up his profits, but rather as a game that he was determined to win. ”
Hearing this anecdote, the audience knows you offer a certain workshop and that it fun, interactive and solution orientated. Without asking them to sign up, you’ve got them interested in buying your services.
Example B: Used by a Life Coach
- Direct: “Life Coaching can help you find a sense of purpose in your life.”
- Indirect: “I am available to coach you – I offer a free one time session so you can decide if you’d like to work with me.”
- Method of conveying indirect message: Using alternatives -
“There are many ways to find your purpose in life, you can read books or self help materials, go to a therapist and hope you get your money’s worth, go on a retreat in exotic locations, or get a free introductory consultation from a life coach who is specifically skilled in that area”
The coach has mentioned a free introductory session. She didn’t say she is offering it, but the audience heard it. Now they are curious and primed to inquire about it. In your bonus offer or feedback form, there should be a box for them to request a free consultation.
Other indirect communication methods to help you plant the seeds that will bring you new contacts, clients, and speaking gigs:
- Open-ended: Make statements that cause the listener to mentally fill in the ending.
“You are here to enhance your business, you know what to do next.”
“You can imagine what it would be like to get relief from chronic back pain.”
- Implication: Intentionally refrain from completing the statement.
“I’m not telling you what to do, but if I had to keep training new people over and over…”
“I won’t mention what happened to my neighbor who went to an acupuncturist who did not have proper training”
“Either that man was going to learn coaching methods or his expenses were going to keep eating up his profits.”
“Either your therapist is giving you what you need or you are wasting your money.”
What would it be like if your staff was motivated? Are you interested?
How would it feel if you could be free of your baggage from the past?
- Yes or yes implied: Statements that must be answered with a “yes”.
“You want to build morale at your workplace.”
“You want to solve your legal issues without it becoming an ongoing soap opera”
- Nonsequitor: Insert an unrelated comment and avoid going back to the statement made before it.
“I was talking to a roomful of doctors at the American Medical Association…Oh, look, there comes Sue, Hi Sue…So, we are here to discuss building staff morale…”
In this example, your audience is made aware that you speak to prestigious groups without you having to list off your credits like an advertisement.
“The client ended up winning the lawsuit with very little pain or expense. Looks like it’s going to rain soon. So are there questions about how to determine if you have a case worth taking to court?”
People will recall the client won with little pain or expense, because the lawyer suddenly switched gears right after that statement.
- Don’t: This method is like good old reverse psychology – tell them just the opposite of what you want them to do. It works because the unconscious mind does not process a negative . (try not to think about an ice cream cone with two scoops – one vanilla and one chocolate.)
“Don’t take my word for it.” “Don’t jump on the band wagon to use new styles of management.”
“Don’t think for a minute that you can get out of your legal troubles without spending your life’s savings.”
Indirect methods alleviate the need to ask for a sale, while bringing you clients, referrals and more speaking opportunities each time you step in front of an audience. Think about your material and take the time to plug in the “indirects”, and then let the fun begin. Be sure to leave a comment about this article below.
Sometimes meeting planners are looking for speakers to speak on a specific topic. That is what the Free Speaker Bureau.com searchable categories are for. When you run your mouse over a speakers picture, those topics will appear along with their geographical area.
We try to keep these topics fairly broad for the Meeting Planner’s ease of use. You should use the narrative in your profile to discuss your unique positioning within those topics.
At your request, we have added many searchable topics to the list – many that may not have been there when you entered your profile. Please make sure that all the topics that apply to you are checked off in your profile so that you won’t be missed when an organization is looking for a speaker in your area of expertise.
To add topics to your profile, log into to your account. Under profile settings, choose searchable topics. Simply click on the topics you want to add to your profile.
Meeting Planners you don’t know yet will feel a lot more comfortable about engaging you, if other organizations have reviewed and rated your past speaking gigs. (Reviews get you the gold stars under your name and the public can read the comments and reviews by those organizations)
Up until now when an organization searches for speakers in their area, the newest member has appeared first but we are changing that system this week. Going forward, the MOST rated speakers appear first in a category or area. That means the more reviews you have, the closer to the top of the list you will appear. (Please note that we will verify that organizations are legit from time to time and any member who abuses the system will be disqualified from membership.) The highest rating is the next sorting criteria. To recap, the sorting criteria are ordered as follows:
- Geographical area or topic
- Number of reviews
- Highest rating (stars)
To get organizations to review you, LOG IN to your account and use the “Invite Button” on the blue navigation bar.
An editable email template will pop up to make it easy for you to send out a review request. The email will contain a link that directs the meeting planner directly to your profile. NOTE: If you are not logged in to your account they cannot be directed to your profile. (Instead they will end up on the home page.) So remember to log in first, then send out requests for review directly from the navigation bar under the heading “Invite”
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... ”As President of the Financial Planning Association of Broward, I can not wait to tell our members about this site. It will be an excellent way for our CFP® experts to reach out and maximize their potential as presenters. Thank you for providing this fabulous service.
Howard Kramer, CFP®, CLU, ChFC.
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