Small Business Advisors: Bizymoms Small Business Advisors Center!

Title\|Newest\|Oldest
Five Simple and Free Ways to Promote Special Events By : Mary Gormandy White, M.A., SPHR Are you responsible for planning and promoting a special event? Whether you need to publicize a business open house, a fundraiser for a nonprofit organization, a professional association meeting, or just about any other type of event that is open to the public, there are a number of no-cost promotional options available to you. Holidays + Shows + The Internet + Publicists = Lethal Mixture By : Andy Marken Every trade show, conference, convention we get the feeling that we're still about as low as ambulance chasing lawyers -- about. Don't believe us? Hey we've been doing CES (consumer electronics show) for 20 years and the quality of the pitches, hustles has deteriorated because kids don't know enough to be creative!!!!! Staying Real, Credible With Mom Bloggers By : Andy Marken They're half the world's population, control/influence 2/3 of the purchases, spend over half the U.S. GDP. They're women, females in business and online. Usually their sites, blogs, outreach is filled with information, assistance, guidance that even guys can understand. But muck up your communications, work with them and they can be mean, vicious -- a force to be reckoned with!!!! Unfortunately lots of marketing/communications folks miss golden opportunities Planning and Promoting a Successful Event By : Cyndee Woolley, APR Putting together an event is both fun and stressful. If you are a professional marketer, then events may very well be part and parcel of your career. However, many non-profits that I have consulted with host events that are run by well meaning volunteers… who sometimes volunteer for more than they can handle. If you are new to event planning, here is a back-to-the basics list of tips to make your event shine. People Who Live in Glass Houses By : Ed Drozda, Your Small Business M.D. Whether you're in a vehicle with advertising on it, on the phone, in person or otherwise, you and your employees are the public face of your business. What is said and done says a lot about the business (even if it has nothing to do with the business). Public Relations 101: Transparency in Business By : J. Mariah Brown At the end of the day, people are going to do business with people who they feel like they know and trust. While the aforementioned statement may initially seem like a no-brainer, transparency in business is one of the key determining factors for the longevity of a business—yet many still struggle how to accomplish this without saying too much. Top Five Unique Customer Appreciation Ideas By : J. Mariah Brown Your business is as strong as the loyalty of your customers and clients. Regardless of the quality of your company’s services or goods, minor shifts in the economy can drastically change shopping habits or what other businesses are willing to invest in, in the case of business-to-business sales. One way to ensure that your customer or client base remains constant in the face of an economic downturn is to ensure that you have a strong relationship with your customers. Use Local Press to Boost Buzz Fast By : Melanie Rembrandt, Rembrandt Communications There are many press opportunities available in your local area. Find out how to contact the press and increase sales for your business with these quick tips. How To Write a Great Online Press Release That Will Get You Noticed By : Chris Jenkinson Online press releases are a superb way of gaining potentially massive (and often free) exposure for your business. Here are some tips on what to and what not to include in a press release to give it a better chance of being published. Creating Press Releases to Help Market Your Business By : Chris Jenkinson Once you have created your home business you will need to focus on how to market it correctly. A great way to bring your business to the attention of as many people as possible is to create a Press Release. This short article will give you some ideas on how to get started. Increase Press. Reduce Stress. By : Melanie Rembrandt, Rembrandt Communications How do you deal with the frustrations and rejection involved in public relations? Here are some helpful tips to increase press and reduce stress from Rembrandt Communications, www.rembrandtwrites.com. How Are You Handling Turbulence? By : Melanie Rembrandt, Rembrandt Communications Life has lots of ups and downs. Here are some tips to succeed when things get tough from Rembrandt Communications. Surviving Your First, Your Worst Media Interview By : Andy Marken The beloved/dreaded interview...recently annointed and veteran executives are well prepared to give an outstanding interview. Just ask them. Then they wonder why their brilliance wasn't properly captured. Trust us just because you can talk and write doesn't mean you're ready for an interview in today's changing business/consumer environment. Some interviews will be face to face but increasingly they will be conducted over the iNet. Be honest. Be open. Be clear. Be concise. How to Avoid PR Rip-Offs By : Melanie Rembrandt, Rembrandt Communications Have you been ripped off in your PR efforts? Here are some tips on how to get the most for your money as you pursue public relations and SEO activities. 3 Ways to Generate Publicity Now! By : Melanie Rembrandt, Rembrandt Communications Learn how to get publicity for your business without spending a lot of money from Melanie Rembrandt of Rembrandt Communications, www.rembrandtwrites.com. Reputation Management...One Day at a Time By : Andy Marken It used to be that a small team of people were responsible for the organization's reputation management efforts/activities. OMG those days are gone and they're never coming back. Today reputation management is a 24x7 job that is the responsibility of everyone on the team. Sure management sets the tone/direction but someone (even outside the organization who doesn't know squat) can bruise/tarnish the organization's reputation with inuendos, half-truths or lies. Publicity…Everything Changes But the Tool By : Andy Marken As the world turns so do the hot and not communications tools. We jump from print, online news; websites, blogs, microblogs. Proponents of each will swear that "this is the source, the tool that will rise to the top and become the news source of choice." But when you want to be informed (or better yet when YOU want to inform) you think of the lowly, maligned press release. It's not dead. It's just that so few can do the darn thing right. Let's look at the facts and do it right... First Step in Home Business Success Is Attitude By : Kleiner Public Relations & Web Design As means of introduction, I can relate to you since I am a bizydad, juggling work, handling the personal and business finances, the drop off and pick up of the twins ... The Secret to Getting Press By : Melanie Rembrandt, Rembrandt Communications With all the buzz about social media, networking, spending money on advertising and more, how do you know where to go and what to do to get publicity for your business? Here's a quick tip to help you start getting the free publicity you deserve! Exceed Expectations and Increase Sales By : Melanie Rembrandt, Rembrandt Communications How do you increase sales fast without spending a lot of money? Exceed your customers' expectations... and here are some tips how... How to Write Better Quotes for your Press Release By : Melanie Rembrandt, Rembrandt Communications Are you using the appropriate quotes in your press releases? If not, you may be doing more harm than good. Find out what to include in your press results for the best results here from Melanie Rembrandt of rembrandtwrites.com. Are Reporters Responding to You? Find Out How to Grab Attention! By : Melanie Rembrandt, Rembrandt Communications If you are not getting media attention to boost sales, check out these quick tips to help you use the power of PR to your advantage! Press Releases - The Two Most Common Mistakes By : Leanne Bucaro According to journalists there are two really common mistakes made by "non" PR folks when sending a Press Release. Preparing for your TV Interview By : Leanne Bucaro A brief overview of key tips for your TV interview. Out of Work, Business Slow? Dont Despair Promote Yourself! By : Leanne Bucaro This article deals with promoting yourself or your business during tough times using the tools PR firms use. The Importance of Case Studies for your PR Program By : Leanne Bucaro How to use case studies to help get PR. It doesn't have to be fancy...just easy to read and get to the point. 3 Tips to Hiring a Publicist By : Melanie Rembrandt, Rembrandt Communications Do you need to hire a publicist? Before you pick up the phone, check out these three, quick tips to find the right one for you - and your budget! Tips for your TV interview By : Leanne Bucaro A brief overview of key tips for your TV interview. Getting Your Article Published By : Leanne Bucaro Here are tips and guidelines on getting your article published. Starting Your Public Relations Plan By : Leanne Bucaro When is the right time to start your PR Plan? Right Now -- Nothing like the present to start getting exposure for your business. It's not as hard as you think. How to Get Personality Into Your Growing Business By : Leanne Bucaro Give your business a "personality" makeover More of Creating Key Messages to help get Free Publicity By : Leanne Bucaro This is the second of two parts in how to create key messages that will help you when you are talking to media, customers, investors and the public. Pitching the Media By : Leanne Bucaro This article deals with pitching a story idea to the media about you, your business or brand. Creating Key Messages to get Free Publicity By : Leanne Bucaro Creating Key Messages - Part One - puts you on the path to creating the messages you'll use when speaking with the media. Building Accountability into Your PR Plan By : Leanne Bucaro Keep it Simple! Build Accountability and Simplicity into your PR Plan this year. Stick to the "KISS" principle. Local versus National Coverage By : Barbara Spagnola, Concept Marketing Group Inc When planning for your Press Release, you decide who would be the most interested in hearing your story as well as where your audience is located. If you are releasing information about a local public event, it would seem obvious that you would want to notify the public through local newspapers, newsletters, radio and television. You would also want to make sure the Press Release includes the actual dates you want the release published. If it is not published in a timely manner, it might be to Tracking Your Media Coverage By : Barbara Spagnola, Concept Marketing Group Inc Your press release is ready to go. You have decided which audience you want to target and determined that your release is going to newspapers, magazines, internet wire services, and television and radio stations. You decided to pay the Acme Marketing firm to professionally write your press release. As a part of their writing the press release, they will also do the distribution for you. This saves you time and money. How will you know if the release was picked up by any of the media outlets? Press Release Credibility – Quotes and Testimonials By : Barbara Spagnola, Concept Marketing Group Inc Just because you are “reporting”, why should I believe you? Hopefully you have answered who, what, when, where and why and provided any facts and figures to support your statements. Providing quotes from experts in the field or testimonials from your current client(s) can give your press release the most credibility. Press Release Distribution By : Barbara Spagnola, Concept Marketing Group Inc Your Press Release is ready to go. Now you have to determine what audience would be the most interested in reading or hearing about it. But it is also important to think about where these people are located and how to best communicate with them. Press Release Key Components: Who, What, When, Where and Why By : Barbara Spagnola, Concept Marketing Group Inc Most journalists have been taught that they must be able to answer the five Ws before they have a credible piece of journalism. The five Ws are Who, What, When, Where and Why. It seems so simple, doesn’t it? Yet newspapers, magazines, television and radio stations receive many Press Releases that are not newsworthy. By answering these five, one word questions when writing your Press Release, you can be assured that your Press Release is newsworthy and written from a journalist perspective. Just the Facts Ma’am, Just the Facts By : Barbara Spagnola, Concept Marketing Group Inc There was the classic TV Show and more recently the movie, “Dragnet”. The main character, Sergeant Joe Friday, was known for the quotation, “Just the facts ma’am, just the facts.” After a few minutes of listening to a witness to the crime and their extraneous information, Joe would interject his most famous line of dialogue, “Just the facts ma’am, just the facts.” As with Sergeant Friday, journalists are most interested in the facts you present in your press release. Press Release Success Criteria – Is it Newsworthy? By : Barbara Spagnola, Concept Marketing Group Inc The Press Release is the perfect communication instrument for letting the newspaper readers and radio audience know about your lecture. There’s only one possibility that would prevent this information from getting to its intended audience. What if the paper ignores your Press Release or the Radio Station decides it is not going make an announcement? Can they do that? Yes they can, and they will if they decide the information in your Press Release is NOT newsworthy. When to Use a Press Release By : Barbara Spagnola, Concept Marketing Group Inc The most cost effective and efficient ways to communicate with the general public is through newspapers, magazines, radio and television. How will the media receive the information so it can be published? They receive Press Releases from individuals, companies, non-profits and government agencies. The Press Release is not a communication piece that is reserved only for elite, rich or prominent individuals and companies. It is for everyone who wants the media to receive newsworthy informati Publicity is Priceless! By : Barbara Spagnola, Concept Marketing Group Inc How do newspapers, magazines, television and radio stations get their news? How can they possibly know about Silicon Valley’s latest product; the promotion of Bob Smith at the Acme Company; the results of experiments conducted at Rutgers; a new book published by an unknown author or the date of the local Rotary Club’s pancake breakfast? Obviously, they don’t have reporters everywhere, all of the time. They rely on individuals, companies or the government to send them a Press Release. Using Trade Shows as a PR Opportunity By : Leanne Bucaro This article is about using trade shows as a PR tool to promote you, your business and your brand. PR 101 - Getting Started By : Leanne Bucaro So..why PR? Read on and decide for yourself. Why Doesn’t the Press Call, email, Text, Tweet? By : Andy Marken PR/publicity folks are just like every trend follower..always ready to jump to the next "new/hot" thing. In their case to prove they are like way in front of the communications curve. Blogging? Fading. Facebook Like page (Fan page is out), Tweety? Oh yeah! Writing clean/concise/meaty releases, checking the Press Web Site? That is so yesterday!!! Your Press room is absolutely the best place you have for media folks of every kind to go to get your information. It's yourbest foot forward!!! Tips for an Effective Online Newsroom By : Andy Marken Every organization -- regardless of size -- has a website. One of the goals is to attract the media to your organization -- print, radio/TV, online -- the challenge is what do you include and how do you include it? This is a no-nonsense, checklist you can use to optimize your media visibility and opportunities.