PR for My Peeps

With budgets in my niche (construction, equipment, industrial, turf/ornamental) squeezing up into a shriveled little ball, I've gotten the opportunity to expand my client list to include a few local companies.

I'm so excited to have added three Des Moines-based clients this week:

Metropolis P.A., a personal assistant and concierge service

Storied Gifts, a personal history book publishing group

Sweet Binney's, a French-style pastry bakery serving both the wholesale and retail markets

What fun!

Don't get me wrong, I love writing about hydraulics and turf paint (truly, I'm not being sarcastic), but it's refreshing to be back in the mix with local reporters and editors, encouraging them to look the way of these three fantastic women-owned businesses. 

Psst: The Des Moines skyline art work was done by Alan Lampe... go check him out if you're into Iowa landscapes... great stuff...

Your Web Strategy? Do It Yesterday.

By Guest Blogger Doug Mitchell, Chief Brand Amplifier at createWOWmedia

Where will your firm spend its marketing dollars in 2009? If your company fits the trend, it seeks higher returns on marketing investment, reduced upfront costs, high impact and measurability (psssst we've just described Web marketing). 

But few firms are equipped with the knowledge and tools to be effective online marketers. The resulting heads in the sand will likely net scattered results from new glossy (and 100% useless) brochureware Web sites and expensive flash videos that really look cool but do nothing for the firm. (Retraction: Those videos do something for the firm. They make marketing departments feel like they're doing something valuable.) 

My advice: Stop and take a breath. Accept reality. Develop a true online marketing strategy with measurable goals and realistic expectations.      

If you're still wondering where to put your marketing bucks, do yourself a favor. Ask everyone in your office, "Where's the first place you go to look for information about a product, service or person?"

Now, do the same survey at home with the family, and call your relatives too. Cover as wide a demographic as your network allows.

What did you find? I'm hovering at 99% "I Google it."

Now, if your ad hoc focus group produced a near 100% answer pointing to online marketing, please tell me why you're still designing brochures, putting ads in phone books, and letting your brother-in-law make once-a-year updates to your Web site (the one he built free as a hobby in 1995).

Look. Most people don't know HOW to create an effective and affordable Web strategy. Most don't know where to begin, but they're certain it's expensive and leverages voodoo dolls and black magic. 

Wrong. 

Stop making excuses. Become findable where 99% of your focus group TOLD YOU THEY'RE LOOKING FOR YOU! 

Get help wherever you can. Start by reading blogs about the subject and determine how much you should do on your own vs. what you should pay for, i.e. calculate the opportunity cost of becoming a good Web marketer. If you need to hire someone, do it yesterday. 

Virtually Everywhere.

By Guest Blogger Cori Keeton Pope of KeetonPR

I can’t figure out why I’m not reading more about the virtualization of the PR and marketing industry. Granted, as a work-from-home PR pro, I’m pretty vocal about the virtues of virtual PR firms. But really, what’s not to love?

You don’t have to look far to find legions of us out here with years of rock-solid corporate, agency or non-profit experience who decided one day that we could provide better service, at a better price, by going it alone. Or with each other.

There’s a whole community of “independent” PR pros, branding experts, media buyers, web designers and other creatives who are working together a la carte, building the perfect, custom team for every client. We have all of the same tools as the big firms, without the overhead, or the big, fancy price tag.

So, why aren’t you hearing more about us? Well, I have a theory. It’s because we’re too busy making sure you’re hearing about our clients. So the next time you’re looking for a PR pro, let one of us throw our hat into the ring. We’re nimble and quick. We’re smart and adaptable. We eat, sleep and live just down the hall from the office. We’re virtually everywhere.

Public Relations vs. Advertising

My training and experience supports this mantra: Build your brand with public relations; support it with advertising.

It's my belief, and it's my business. And because I have such a passion for PR, I tend to miss the importance of advertising when educating clients on the best methods for reaching their target audiences.

This morning I had coffee (read: hot chocolate) with advertising guru Julie Rau of Central Iowa's Kids' Directory. During our conversation, we touched on quite a few resounding benefits of advertising and agreed that both PR and advertising can (and should) work together to instill messages in the minds of a company's current and prospective clients.

While PR (think media relations, specifically) gains business increased credibility through exposure (because people naturally give more credence to the words of a newspaper reporter than to those printed on a paid ad), it can't match the visual and repetition benefits of advertising.

Particularly for busy people (and who isn't these days), they may not have time to delve into an article, read an entire blog post or watch a newscast from start to finish. They might instead flip the pages, scroll down the Web site or flip channels, leaving their brain just enough time to capture images and catalog them for later.

Now is a great time to look into both marketing tactics. Fees for independent PR practitioners are low, ad rates are dropping, and more people are consuming media as they find themselves looking for job leads.

So scrounge together whatever marketing budget you can manage, and go get 'em!

OMG! The ‘PRESS’ called back! Now what?

by Guest Blogger Jeff Dickey-Chasins, MEP Jobs VP of Marketing

So you’ve dutifully culled your lists of contacts. You’ve sent notes and emails. You’ve written an absolutely fabulous press release.

Then a member of the press actually calls and wants to talk. To you. Assuming you don’t go into cardiac arrest, here are a few tidbits of advice:

1) Be friendly but not obsequious. Treat the person on the other end of the line as a colleague who simply wants to learn more about your company and services.

2) Don’t sell. For one thing, the reporter is not going to buy – and more importantly, you undermine your credibility by ‘selling’. Just give them the facts.

3) Provide context. The reporter may or may not be an expert in your neck of the industrial woods. Don’t be afraid to talk about competitors or what your product can and can’t do.

4) Don’t lie. For that matter, don’t exaggerate (see #2).  And if you don’t know the answer, say so – and promise to get back with them with the answer. After all, it’s another chance to talk with the reporter.

This list certainly isn’t comprehensive, but it will get you started – at least, as soon as you pick up the telephone receiver and recover your composure!