corporate identity.marketing.web.sales...results.
why.market.your.business
snooze ... and loss ... market momentum ... future sales ... real growth
strategic.tactical.marketing
Tactical Marketing: For clients who also sell products in a traditional brick-and-mortar setting, We will show them how to advertise their new website on ALL of their printed materials: Store signage, stationary, envelopes, business cards, receipts, e-mail links, billboards, radio spots, flyers, mailers, bags at point of sale, trade magazines, product packaging, etc. Generally, their online sales will be at higher margins than their brick-and-mortar sales. This tactical marketing (selection of marketing channels, media and formats) can be valuable in driving web sales.
Strategic Marketing: Even more importantly, your Account Manager will help you develop strategic marketing content for use in your tactical marketing deployment. Strategic marketing is how you say what you say, the content of your marketing message. Your personal Marketing Consultant will help you to implement effective marketing content.
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drive.traffic.to.your.door osynergyc...sales.planning
strategic identity > tactical marketing > web sales > great results
Sales Planning ... Marketing Considerations
Marketing is all about satisfying customer needs. The following represents a comprehensive list of marketing ideas; use it to help better understand customer needs and ways to satisfy those needs.
General Ideas
Never let a day pass without engaging in at least one marketing activity.
Determine a percentage of gross income to spend annually on marketing.
Set specific marketing goals every year; review and adjust quarterly.
Maintain a tickler file of ideas for later use.
Carry business cards with you (all day, every day).
Create a personal nametag or pin with your company name and logo on it and wear it at high visibility meetings.
Target Market
Stay alert to trends that might impact your target market, product, or promotion strategy.
Read market research studies about your profession, industry, product, target market groups, etc.
Collect competitors' ads and literature; study them for information about strategy, product features, benefits, etc.
Ask clients why they hired you and solicit suggestions for improvement.
Ask former clients why they left you.
Identify a new market.
Join a list-serve (e-mail list) related to your profession.
Subscribe to an Internet usenet newsgroup or a list-serve that serves your target market.
Product Development
Create a new service, technique, or product.
Offer a simpler/cheaper/smaller version of your (or existing) product or service.
Offer a fancier/more expensive/faster/bigger version of your (or existing) product or service.
Update your services.
Education, Resources, and Information
Establish a marketing and public relations advisory and referral team composed of your colleagues and/or neighboring business owners; share ideas and referrals and discuss community issues. Meet quarterly for breakfast.
Create a suggestion box for employees.
Attend a marketing seminar.
Read a marketing book.
Subscribe to a marketing newsletter or other publication.
Subscribe to a marketing list-serve on the Internet.
Subscribe to a marketing usenet newsgroup on the Internet.
Train your staff, clients, and colleagues to promote referrals.
Hold a monthly marketing meeting with employees or associates to discuss strategy and status and solicit marketing ideas.
Join an association or organization related to your profession.
Get a marketing intern to take you on as a client; it will give the intern experience and you some free marketing help.
Maintain a consultant card file for finding designers, writers, and other marketing professionals. Hire a marketing consultant to brainstorm with.
Take a creative journey to another progressive city or county to observe and learn from marketing techniques used there.
Pricing and Payment
Analyze your fee structure; look for areas requiring modifications or adjustments. Establish a credit card payment option for clients.
Give regular clients a discount.
Learn to barter; offer discounts to members of certain clubs/professional groups/organizations in exchange for promotions in their publications.
Give quick pay or cash discounts.
Offer financing or installment plans.
Marketing Communications
Publish a newsletter for customers and prospects (it doesn't have to be fancy or expensive). Develop a brochure of services.
Include a postage-paid survey card with your brochures and other company literature. Include check-off boxes or other items that will involve the reader and provide valuable feedback to you.
Remember, business cards aren't working for you if they're in the box. Pass them out! Give prospects two business cards and brochures - one to keep and one to pass along.
Produce separate business cards/sales literature for each of your target market segments (e.g. government and commercial and/or business and consumer).
Create a poster or calendar to give away to customers and prospects.
Print a slogan and/or one-sentence description of your business on letterhead, fax cover sheets, and invoices. Develop a site on the World Wide Web.
Create a signature file to be used for all your e-mail messages. It should contain contact details, including your Web site address and key information about your company that will make the reader want to contact you.
Include testimonials from customers in your literature.
Test a new mailing list. If it produces results, add it to your current direct mail lists or consider replacing a list that's not performing up to expectations.
Rather than sending direct mail in plain white envelopes, use colored or oversized envelopes to pique recipients' curiosity.
Announce free or special offers in your direct response pieces. (Direct responses may be direct mail, broadcast faxes, or e-mail messages.) Include the offer in the beginning of the message as well as on the outside of the envelope for direct mail.
Media Relations
Update your media list often so that press releases are sent to the right media outlet and person.
Write a column for the local newspaper, local business journal, or trade publication.
Publish an article and circulate reprints.
Send timely and newsworthy press releases as often as needed.
Publicize your 500th client of the year (or other notable milestone).
Create an annual award and publicize it.
Get public relations and media training or read up on it.
Appear on a radio or TV talk show.
Create your own TV program on your industry or your specialty. Market the show to your local cable station or public broadcasting station as a regular program, or see if you can air your show on an open access cable channel.
Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper or trade magazine.
Take an editor to lunch.
Get a publicity photo taken and enclose with press releases.
Consistently review newspapers and magazines for possible PR opportunities.
Submit tip articles to newsletters and newspapers.
Conduct industry research and develop a press release or article to announce an important discovery in your field.
Create a press kit and keep its contents current.
Customer Service and Customer Relations
Ask your clients to come back again.
Return phone calls promptly.
Set up a fax-on-demand or email system to easily respond to customer inquiries.
Use an answering machine or voice mail system to catch after-hours phone calls. Include basic information in your outgoing messages such a business hours, location, etc.
Record a memorable message or tip of the day on your outgoing answering machine or voice mail message.
Ask clients what you can do the help them.
Take clients out to a ball game, show, or another special event - just send them two tickets with a note. Hold a seminar at your office for clients and prospects.
Send handwritten thank you notes.
Send birthday cards and appropriate seasonal greetings.
Photocopy interesting articles and send them to clients and prospects with a hand-written FYI note and your business card.
Send a book of interest or other appropriate business gift to a client with a handwritten note.
Create an area on your Web site specifically for your customers.
Redecorate your office or location where you meet with your clients.
Networking and Word of Mouth
Join a Chamber of Commerce or other organization.
Join or organize a breakfast club with other professionals (not in your field) to discuss business and network referrals.
Mail a brochure to members of organizations to which you belong.
Serve on a city board or commission.
Host a holiday party.
Hold an open house.
Send letters to attendees after you attend a conference.
Join a community list-serve (e-mail list) on the Internet.
Advertising
Advertise during peak seasons for your business.
Get a memorable phone number, such as 1-800-WIDGETS.
Obtain a memorable URL and email address and include them on all marketing materials.
Provide Rolodex® cards or phone stickers preprinted with your business contact information.
Promote your business jointly with other professionals via cooperative direct mail.
Advertise in a specialty directory or in the Yellow Pages.
Write an ad in another language to reach the non-English-speaking market. Place the ad in a publication that market reads, such as a Hispanic newspaper.
Distribute advertising specialty products such as pens, mouse pads, or mugs.
Mail bumps - photos, samples, and other innovative items to your prospect list. (A bump is simply anything that makes the mailing envelope bulge and makes the recipient curious about what's in the envelope!)
Create a direct mail list of hot prospects.
Consider non-traditional tactics such as bus backs, billboards, and popular Web sites.
Project a message on the sidewalk in front of your place of business using a light directed through words etched in a glass window.
Consider placing ads in your newspaper's classified section.
Consider a vanity automobile tag with your company name.
Create a friendly bumper sticker for your car.
Code your ads and keep records of results.
Improve your building signage and directional signs inside and out.
Invest in a neon sign to make your office or storefront window visible at night.
Create a new or improved company logo or recolor the traditional logo.
Sponsor and promote a contest or sweepstakes.
Special Events and Outreach
Get a booth at a fair/trade show attended by your target market.
Sponsor or host a special event or open house at your business location in cooperation with a local non-profit organization, such as a women's business center. Describe how the organization helped you.
Give a speech or volunteer for a career day at a high school.
Teach a class or seminar at a local college or adult education center.
Sponsor an Adopt-a-Road area in your community to keep roads litter-free. People that pass by the area will see your name on the sign announcing your sponsorship.
Volunteer your time to a charity or non-profit organization.
Donate your product or service to a charity auction.
Appear on a panel at a professional seminar.
Write a How To pamphlet or article for publishing.
Produce and distribute an educational CD-ROM or audio/video tape.
Publish a book.
Sales Ideas
Start every day with 50 cold calls.
Read newspapers, business journals, and trade publications for new business openings, personnel appointments, and promotion announcements made by companies. Send your business literature to appropriate individuals and firms.
Give your sales literature to your lawyer, accountant, printer, banker, temp agency, office supply salesperson, advertising agency, etc. (Expand your sales force for free!)
Put your fax number on order forms for easy submission.
Set up a fax-on-demand or e-mail system to easily distribute responses to company or product inquiries.
Follow up on your direct mailings, email messages, and broadcast faxes with a friendly telephone call.
Try using the broadcast fax or email delivery methods instead of direct mail. (Broadcast fax and email allows you to send the same message to many locations at once.)
Use broadcast faxes or email messages to notify your customers of product service updates.
Extend your hours of operation.
Reduce response/turnaround time. Make reordering easy - use reminders. Provide preaddressed envelopes.
Display product and service samples at your office.
Remind clients of the products and services you provide that they aren't currently buying.
Call and/or send mail to former clients to try and reactivate them.
Take sales orders over the Internet.
(National Women's Business Center, Washington, D.C., 4/97)
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The Elements of a Successful Sales Plan
A Strategic Sales Plan è Defined
Our sales plan should be short, simple and to the point. It's basically our strategic and tactical plan for acquiring new business, growing our existing book of business and making and/or exceeding our sales quota within our sales territory. Typically, a healthy mix would include 75 percent of your sales quota from new business and 25 percent of your quota from add-on business from your existing customers.
There are four basic parts of a sales plan:
1. New business acquisition strategies
2. New business acquisition tactics
3. Existing business growth strategies
4. Existing business growth tactics
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Are you web ready? Search
Before you start, you need to get a handle on some definitions:
· Sales quota: This critical element of your plan sets the tempo of your efforts throughout the year and provides quarterly, monthly, weekly and even daily sub-goals for you to achieve.
· Sales territory: Refers to the geographic area, list of named accounts or specific market niche you have been assigned to in which you are to sell your products, services and solutions.
· Strategies: The plan necessary to accomplish your goal.
· Tactics: The steps necessary to carry out the plan.
New Business Acquisition Strategies and Tactics
Include the following four strategies in your sales plan. Remember, these strategies are all designed to capture new customers and new market share. Important note: The strategies are numbered and the tactics are italicized.
1. Exceed my quota.
· Send no less than 50 letters of introduction to new prospects each week.
· Make no less than 50 cold calls of introduction to new prospects each week.
· Make no less than 20 face-to-face contacts with new prospects each week.
· Create no less than 10 proposals each week.
· Make no less than five presentations each week.
Important note: Your numbers will, of course, vary. What's important here is that you calculate exactly how many contacts you'll need to make in order to achieve your sales quota.
2. Increase awareness in the marketplace of my products, services and solutions.
· Join and participate in no less than three professional associations and organizations that my best prospects and customers belong to.
· Attend any and all trade shows and conventions that my best prospects and customers attend.
· Purchase the mailing list of these associations and organizations and send either a postcard or a letter of introduction.
· On a regular basis, contribute articles and white papers that address the interests and concerns of this population.
3. Increase awareness in the community of my products, services and solutions.
· Attend all Chamber of Commerce networking events.
· Volunteer to speak at no less than 12 various organizations in my territory that have an interest in my product, service and solutions.
· Volunteer my time at three nonprofit organizations.
· Join and participate in no less than three networking groups.
4. Obtain referrals from all my new customers.
· Within 30 days of delivering my product, service or solution, I will ask each of my new customers for at least three names and phone numbers of someone they personally know who may have a use for my products, services and solutions.
Are you web ready? Search
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Elements of a Successful Sales Plan
Existing Customer Business Strategies and Tactics
Include the following two strategies in your sales plan. Remember, these strategies are designed to capture high-margin, add-on business from your existing customers. Important note: Here again, the strategies are numbered and the tactics are italicized.
1. Create a touch-point program.
· Contact each of my existing customers no less than once per month with a new idea they cannot get from anyone else.
· Create a noteworthy monthly newsletter.
· Create a user-group within my existing customer base.
· Create some sort of web-based seminar series for my existing customers.
· Take at least three existing customers to lunch each month and invite a new prospect to join us.
2. Prospect within my existing customer base.
· Knock on no less than three new doors, departments and divisions within each of my existing customers' businesses.
· Ask each of my existing customer contacts to introduce me to one other person within their organization.
· Personally meet the top executive at each of my existing customers' businesses.
The Time Is Now
The final part of your sales plan must detail the timeline for implementation of each of the tactics in your sales plan. It's best to show a week-to-week schedule.
Once you've created your sales plan, don't file it away! Keep it handy and revisit it and revise it on a regular basis. Stay on track with your plan, and you'll stay on quota.
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corporate identity.marketing.web.sales...results.
Elements For Online Strategic Success Search
Your Web Site
Your web site is like a mall, and like a mall it needs to be designed intelligently so that it will perform efficiently. You'll need a steady stream of visitors dropping in and browsing around, searching and shopping, and returning every so often for more of your offerings. To accomplish this you'll need to start thinking about pathways and portals. Just Ask.
strong.ebusiness.solutions...guaranteed.
A Strategic Sales Plan è Elementary Plan
A Sales Plan Defined
Our sales plan should be short, simple and to the point. It's basically our strategic and tactical plan for acquiring new business, growing our existing book of business and making and/or exceeding our sales quota within our sales territory. Typically, a healthy mix would include 75 percent of your sales quota from new business and 25 percent of your quota from add-on business from your existing customers.
There are four basic parts of a sales plan:
1. New business acquisition strategies
2. New business acquisition tactics
3. Existing business growth strategies
4. Existing business growth tactics
Before you start, you need to get a handle on some definitions:
· Sales quota: This critical element of your plan sets the tempo of your efforts throughout the year and provides quarterly, monthly, weekly and even daily sub-goals for you to achieve.
· Sales territory: Refers to the geographic area, list of named accounts or specific market niche you have been assigned to in which you are to sell your products, services and solutions.
· Strategies: The plan necessary to accomplish your goal.
· Tactics: The steps necessary to carry out the plan.
New Business Acquisition Strategies and Tactics
Include the following four strategies in your sales plan. Remember, these strategies are all designed to capture new customers and new market share. Important note: The strategies are numbered and the tactics are italicized.
1. Exceed my quota.
· Send no less than 50 letters of introduction to new prospects each week.
· Make no less than 50 cold calls of introduction to new prospects each week.
· Make no less than 20 face-to-face contacts with new prospects each week.
· Create no less than 10 proposals each week.
· Make no less than five presentations each week.
Important note: Your numbers will, of course, vary. What's important here is that you calculate exactly how many contacts you'll need to make in order to achieve your sales quota.
2. Increase awareness in the marketplace of my products, services and solutions.
· Join and participate in no less than three professional associations and organizations that my best prospects and customers belong to.
· Attend any and all trade shows and conventions that my best prospects and customers attend.
· Purchase the mailing list of these associations and organizations and send either a postcard or a letter of introduction.
· On a regular basis, contribute articles and white papers that address the interests and concerns of this population.
3. Increase awareness in the community of my products, services and solutions.
· Attend all Chamber of Commerce networking events.
· Volunteer to speak at no less than 12 various organizations in my territory that have an interest in my product, service and solutions.
· Volunteer my time at three nonprofit organizations.
· Join and participate in no less than three networking groups.
4. Obtain referrals from all my new customers.
· Within 30 days of delivering my product, service or solution, I will ask each of my new customers for at least three names and phone numbers of someone they personally know who may have a use for my products, services and solutions.
The Elements of a Successful Sales Plan
Existing Customer Business Strategies and Tactics
Include the following two strategies in your sales plan. Remember, these strategies are designed to capture high-margin, add-on business from your existing customers. Important note: Here again, the strategies are numbered and the tactics are italicized.
1. Create a touch-point program.
· Contact each of my existing customers no less than once per month with a new idea they cannot get from anyone else.
· Create a noteworthy monthly newsletter.
· Create a user-group within my existing customer base.
· Create some sort of web-based seminar series for my existing customers.
· Take at least three existing customers to lunch each month and invite a new prospect to join us.
2. Prospect within my existing customer base.
· Knock on no less than three new doors, departments and divisions within each of my existing customers' businesses.
· Ask each of my existing customer contacts to introduce me to one other person within their organization.
· Personally meet the top executive at each of my existing customers' businesses.
The Time Is Now
The final part of your sales plan must detail the timeline for implementation of each of the tactics in your sales plan. It's best to show a week-to-week schedule.
Once you've created your sales plan, don't file it away! Keep it handy and revisit it and revise it on a regular basis. Stay on track with your plan, and you'll stay on quota.
If you have a sales or marketing question that you'd like to ask me in person è 718.444.0115 for an appointment.
Calculating Your Prospect Ratio
Step One: Targets
Monitor your own sales work for one month (or whatever period is appropriate in your industry) and answer these questions:
A. If you contacted 100 suspects (via phone calls, mailings, in-person meetings or a combination of these), how many prospects would result? _________
B. How many of the prospects you identified in A. would turn into hot leads? _________
C. How many of the hot leads you identified in B. would you turn into actual sales? _________
Step Two: Ratio
Divide the number on line C by 100. The result is your ratio. _________
Step Three: Goals
1. What is your yearly quota or sales goal, in dollars? _________
2. What are your projected sales totals, in dollars, from current customers? _________
3. Subtract item 2 from item 1 to yield the amount of new sales dollars needed this year. _________
4. Enter the dollar amount of your average sale. _________
5 Divide item 3 by item 5 to yield the number of new sales needed this year. _________
Step Four: Your Bottom Line
Divide the number in item 5 by the ratio you calculated in Step Two. _________
Bingo! You're a CPA! Well, maybe not, but this is the number of new suspects you'll need to contact in the coming year to reach your yearly target. Now divide that number by 52 (unless you plan on taking a week or two of vacation), and you'll know how many suspects you must contact each week to make your quota.
Note: Aim high! I always shoot for 125 percent of quota if I want to hit 110 percent.
our.dream.team.is.growing...join.in.our.success ... see.career.avenues
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drive.traffic.to.your.door web.design.myths
strategic identity > tactical marketing >< web sales > great results
Two Common Web Design Myths
If your site has been around for a while, you'd probably have been visited by the "Web Design Police" (people who have a lot of time on their hands). In fact, depending on your site, you might have been visited by different branches of these people, both advocating opposite policies. We received an email from one of our visitors who had apparently been "helped" by some of these people [soup nazis with a grin to bear], and thought that an article on two of the myths of web design is appropriate. Enjoy!
1. The Myth of "Content is ALL > No Animation/Sound/Java/etc."
The adage that "Content is King" applies to all Web sites, and we are not disputing that. It is also true that when you add sound, animation, Java applets and lots of graphics, your web page takes a long time to load, and some of your visitors may not bother to wait for it to load; they'll just go away. However, putting those two together does not actually mean that all pages with animation, sound and applets are necessarily bad. The trick is to know when they're appropriate and to make the download speed as fast as it is reasonably possible under the circumstances. We will mention a few ways of reducing your graphics and animation file sizes later in this article. When is it appropriate? Sometimes applets are needed for some sort of processing - for example, the Sesame Street Web site has a Java applet that shows Elmo (a Sesame Street character) dancing, and the child using it can use the mouse pointer to "tickle" Elmo and he'll respond according to where he is tickled. The applet takes forever to load on a 56K modem, but you cannot say that it is out of place: the site caters to young children who are there to play. In this case, the applet is an appropriate solution. Likewise, animation and sound might be appropriate for sites that feature online comics, online gaming, etc. In fact, if yours is a Web site that sells Web site design services, that is, you want people to pay you to design their Web site, it is in your interest not to make your site too plain. Many potential customers see your site as an example of what their site can become. There's no point claiming "Content is All" at this time - they won't be around long enough to hear your claim. Such sites need a certain amount of color, graphics, etc., although of course making it take too long to load would also be a deterrent to your potential clients. Like all things, how you design your site depends on your topic and your target audience. Keep that cardinal rule in mind and you'll be fine.
2. The Big Myth of "Good Web Design is in the Graphics"
On the other end of the scale are the people who believe a good Web site must have much color, graphics, animation and sound. You might meet them, for example, in the form of newcomers or pundits who either do not have much real world web experience or who only surf on T1 connections. We encountered a personal website that had large animated graphic that was a few hundred kilobytes in size. That graphic had little function on that page - it did not provide any informative value: it was neither a logo, nor was it a photo of himself, or an image map, or anything at all. It was purely decorative. At that time (many years ago), we were using a 14.4K modem and that page took ages to load. Now don't get us wrong. Decorative graphics on a page are fine. They make a page more pleasant to look at, and hence more likely to be read. But you should at least make them as small as possible. While we're hesitant to give a hard and fast rule about how big such graphics should be, a decorative graphic that is a few hundred kilobytes in size is definitely too big to be tolerated.
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drive.traffic.to.your.door professional.media.kit.
corporate identity.marketing.web.sales...results.
web site ... portals ... search engine traffic ... public relations events ...
cd-rom advertisements ... white paper ... e-commerce ... logos ...
business cards ... promotional cards ... banners ... postcards ...
double & tri-fold brochures ... etc ... all furthers an image ...
get on board with us ...
the business world is ready ... are you ...
call for a complimentary business-web consultation - today.
12 Media Myths That Can Sink Your PR Plan By Gwen Moran
Don't let these 12 media myths kill your public relations plan. Here's what you need to know to get media-savvy -- fast.
Dan Hoffman had some bad interviews years ago, back when he was heading up operations at an ISP based in Hong Kong. He would read articles in which he was quoted and sometimes find that the published version of the interview had very different information than what he thought he'd discussed with the reporter.
So when Hoffman, now president and CEO of M5, a $10 million, New York City-based provider of outsourced telephone systems, got a call to appear on Bloomberg Television, he decided he'd better get some help. Hoffman, 36, called his PR agency, Euro RSCG Magnet, to schedule some media training.
"A lot of people think that doing interviews effectively is a piece of cake," says former broadcast reporter Barbara Laskin, president of Laskin Media Inc., a New York City media training firm. "That's why I got into this business. I was a reporter and cared about getting the story right, but with today's fast deadlines, you can't always assume that the reporter is going to figure out what you meant to say if you're not clear about it from the start."
Being unprepared is just one of a host of mistakes entrepreneurs make when dealing with the media. Whether the result of popular misconceptions, bad media training or simply having no idea what it takes to be a good source, here are a dozen of the most common myths about being media-savvy.
Myth #1: It's important to put a positive spin on everything. Not every situation is positive, says David Margulies, who heads up Margulies Communications Group, a strategic PR and crisis communications firm in Dallas. In order to be truthful, you can't always put a bullish slant on the circumstances.
"The example I use in my speeches is the airline executive who says, 'Sure, the plane crashed, but it was right on time when it hit the mountain,' " he explains. "You need to deliver the information the audience needs to know." He advises being honest and sharing the information that is necessary and targeted toward your audience. "Stating the factors that contributed to the crash and giving a careful explanation of what will be done to prevent it from happening in the future would be a better response."
Myth #2: If you don't want to answer a reporter's question, change the subject. A popular media training technique is called "the bridge," and it works like this: If a reporter asks you a question you don't want to answer, you say something like, "That's a great question, but I think the more important point is . . ." That kind of question dodging, says Laskin, is one of the quickest ways to earn a reporter's ire.
"It's not a bridge to nowhere," says Laskin. "Even though the bridge can be an effective technique to insert your key messages, you still need to answer the reporter's question. If a reporter asks about your bad sales last quarter, you can answer the question and still include the information that's important to your company by saying something like, 'Sales were disappointing; however, our new line, which we're working hard on, is going to give us returns,' and explain how."
Myth #3: You should participate in every interview that's requested of you. No way, says Margulies. Before you get on the phone or in front of the mic and start talking, you need to know the context of the story. "Find out what, specifically, the story is about," he says. "There are some stories you don't want to be involved in, and some stories where there might be legal implications."
Margulies recommends getting some background on the topic of the story and deciding if there's a good business reason for doing it. For instance, it might be a good idea to participate in a profile of your company in an industry trade publication. However, if a reporter is doing a general story that isn't really relevant to your business or your key audience, and which could position your business in a negative way, you may want to pass on participating in the story.
Myth #4: Reciting how many other media interviews you've done impresses journalists, producers and editors. "One word: overexposed," says Karen Friedman, head of Karen Friedman Enterprises Inc, a media training firm in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania. Friedman says that most reporters are looking for fresh voices and ideas. "In many cases, if you rattle off that you've been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and on all the major networks recently, the reporter might think that you have nothing new to say on the topic or that your story's been 'done.'"
Instead, advises Friedman, say that you're an experienced interviewee to let the journalist know you're familiar with the interview process. That will likely make him or her more comfortable with you as a source. If you're asked for particular outlets in which you've been featured, then provide them.
Myth #5: A good news release is the best way to get media attention for your company. Suggest sending out a one-size-fits-all news release to Victoria D'Angelo, owner of D'Angelo Home Collections Inc., a $4.5 million home accessories designer, product developer and distributor in Orangeburg, New York, and she'll give you a passionate lesson in Marketing 101. "You can't send out one news release to the media any more than you can send out one set of options to customers and expect them to purchase your products," explains D'Angelo, 49. "A number of books give you the idea that you can print a magic flier and the world will respond. The generic approach is a waste of time."
D'Angelo has found more success with creating customized pitch letters for magazines and talking points for interviews. The secret, she says, is finding out which topics are of interest to the media and putting that information in the easiest format for the journalist to use. Says D'Angelo, "If you're not willing to do the homework, you can't expect great results."
Myth #6: Mention your company, product or book as often as possible. "This is one of the examples of media training gone haywire," says Friedman. "It's annoying when the expert mentions the name of the book in almost every sentence, and I'm convinced that it usually backfires." She advises mentioning the book when it's appropriate, trying for two or three mentions in a broadcast or one credit in a print piece.
Myth #7: Whenever you don't want something printed or broadcast, just say it's "off the record." Saying something is "off the record"--usually used when a source gives background information to put something in context and doesn't want it to be attributed--is risky because a journalist doesn't have to abide by it, says Laskin. "The truth is that reporters dig. That's what they should always do. If you're naive enough to give them sensitive information that shouldn't be shared publicly, you can't be sure they won't use it. If you say it, it's fair game."
Myth #8: Answer every question so that you look like the expert. It's OK to say that you don't know something, says Friedman. "It's far better to say, 'That's a good question. Let me check on it and get back to you,' or 'I don't have that information right now, but I'd be happy to follow up and get it to you' than it is to bluff or lie. If a reporter senses that you're not telling the truth, he or she will just dig deeper to find out. And if they find out you're lying, your credibility is shot."
Myth #9: If you advertise in a medium, they'll give you better coverage. When D'Angelo founded her company, she pored over many books to learn about marketing her products. She knew the difference between PR and advertising, and emphasizes that it's critical not to confuse the two. "You'll quickly alienate journalists if you suggest they're influenced by advertising," she advises.
Friedman says that mistaking the objective of the editorial department, which is to inform readers, with that of advertising, which is to promote products and services, is a common mistake that business owners make. "Many editors will run in the other direction if you try to use that argument," she says. "Ethical media don't let advertisers influence editorial content. And it will backfire if you try to do so."
Myth #10: The bigger the words, the smarter you sound. Jargon and overblown language can get you jettisoned as a source, says Friedman. "Some people think that using conversational language is 'dumbing it down' and that they won't be perceived as smart, articulate executives."
Actually, the opposite is true, she says. Using obscure industry terminology or overly complex language increases the chance that the journalist will misunderstand the information and report it wrong. Simple language is almost always best.
Myth #11: Never show emotion. Similarly, says Friedman, it's important to appear sincere and believable, whether the news is good or bad. "Sometimes, especially in difficult situations, interviewees forget to be human beings," she says. "They forget to empathize. They forget to show concern. Or they're afraid that if they show emotion, they might be perceived as weak."
While she doesn't advocate falling to pieces in front of the camera, Friedman says that showing an appropriate level of emotion can make your message much more believable. If you're enthusiastic, show it. If you're relaying sad news, it's OK to show that, too, she says.
Myth #12: Media training is what you need most to be successful in media relations. "Probably the most common misconception I encounter is that media training is a stand-alone component," says Margulies. "The best way to deal with the media is to have a process. The interview isn't the whole event. It's the preparation you do before the interview that can make the biggest difference."
Friedman agrees. "You need to have a solid plan in place for dealing with the media, developing relationships and getting comfortable with the process. That's how you put a successful media-relations program in place."
5 Rules to Live By
While there's plenty of useless conventional wisdom about dealing with the media, there are also some rules you should never break:
1. Respond promptly. "Remember that these people are usually on tight deadlines," says Barbara Laskin, president of Laskin Media Inc., a New York City media training firm. Even if you're unable to do the interview, say so in a timely manner.
2. Never say "no comment." If you cannot answer a question, provide a reasonable explanation instead, says David Margulies, founder of Margulies Communications Group, a strategic PR and crisis communications firm in Dallas.
3. Never lie or speculate. "Aside from the fact that lying is wrong and unethical, it will come back to haunt you," says Karen Friedman, founder of Karen Friedman Enterprises Inc., a media training firm in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania. It's always better to tell the truth and explain why you did what you did, even if your explanation is shaky.
4. Know the medium's audience. Every media outlet is different, says Margulies. "Every audience wants you to address WIIFM-what's in it for me."
5. Stick to what you know. Do not try to be an expert or comment on an issue about which you are not fully informed, says Margulies.
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Track Visits ... Track Results
How your web site is accessed by potential clients is fundamental. Your sales partner at O Synergy C will set a regularly time up with a contact at your organization to review unique visitors to your site. Monthly or quarterly phone assessments and evaluations work well for our clients. What's working and what needs adjustment should be monitored and then acted upon. We only offer unique visitor information. It's about who came to see your on-line business not someone else in your industry. Learn the difference with us.
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drive.traffic.to.your.door Strategic.Business
strategic identity <> tactical marketing <> web sales <> great results
Strategic Business Solutions Are Mapped Out Short & Long Term
Corporate Identity
Competitive Intelligence
Branding
Internet Happy?
Communication Planning
Articulating The Message
Target Markets
API <> Assess-Plan-Implement <> Internet Strategies
Question
Why is Wayne Gretzky one of pro hockey's all-time greats? Gretzky says the trick is "skating to
where the puck's going to be, not where it is." Anticipating his teammates' moves and competitors'
reactions, he dynamically positions himself to take the shot. This time-tested strategy landed
Gretzky among the National Hockey League's leading scorers for over ten years.
Anticipate Your Internet Success
Your company can glide to the top using a similar approach, dynamically positioning itself to anticipate the market's direction and competitors' responses. That's one way strategic planning gives you an edge. Unlike operational planning, strategic planning focuses on where you need to be in three to five years.
Failing to look ahead is like skating blindfolded. You never know how close you are to the goal.
Understanding Industry Intelligence Evaluation There are various approaches to understanding trends in your industry-gathering and analyzing secondary data already available, for example, or collecting primary data from your customers, suppliers, and other key stakeholders.
Too many companies overlook one of the best and most convenient sources of industry insight-the management team. If your managers are up on your industry, you have a storehouse of information at your fingertips.
You can do the same Industry Intelligence Evaluation that enables our clients to tap the knowledge and expertise of their managers. Through this structured exercise the management team
Identifies and prioritizes key trends that are likely to affect the company - for all key stakeholder groups within the industry (customers, suppliers, governments, and others).
Outlines strategies to take advantage of favorable trends.
Develops strategies to minimize the impact of unfavorable trends.
If your industry is in flux, facing environmental changes that could affect your future success, try our Internet evaluation program. It will help you reach your goals as you grow and your industry evolves.
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drive.traffic.to.your.door osynergyc...e.blasts
strategic identity > tactical marketing > web sales > great results
Email Blasts ...
custom ... approach ... ask about our 6 to stick progam
Listen, it's no big secret that to be successful on the web, you must actively promote your website. And we all know that email is one of the fastest, most measurable, and most affordable ways to drive website traffic. Emails can do more than drive website traffic.
When you use email as part of an intelligent and integrated online marketing strategy, you can really maximize its power to build brands, increase revenue, and strengthen relationships.
As you embark on another year of building your business, consider some new (or some not-so-new) ways to increase your overall presence on the Web and make email marketing a successful and valuable part of your overall business strategy. Even with a tight budget, you can raise your visibility and communicate with more people in more targeted ways. How? By integrating your email marketing efforts with other online activities. Here are our top 3 ways to expand your email horizons in 2006:
Search Engines
Most people use search engines like Yahoo!, Lycos and MSN when they want to find something on the Web. Advertising on these websites — and Cost-Per-Click (CPC) search listing in particular — is a growing trend among business owners because it gives you the ability to reach prospects when they're actively searching the Internet for goods and services, and because you only pay when people actually click to your site. Here's how CPC works:
You determine common words (search terms) that are used to describe your product or service (such as "sunglasses").
Decide in advance how much you are willing to pay for someone to visit your website.
When someone searches the Web for the term "sunglasses," sites with that word can appear at or near the top of the results page under "search listings".
When someone clicks on your search listing, you pay the previously agreed upon price.
Once people click-through to your site, it's your website's job to offer them a compelling reason to subscribe to your email list (see next section).
Depending on the search terms and your opt-in list builder, you can target future email campaigns to the people who searched for a particular term, for even better email marketing results.
Another low-cost way to improve your success with search engine marketing is to optimize your website's meta tags and keywords and then proactively submit your site to the search engines on an ongoing basis. (Clients have their META TAGS updated monthly for optimization. Many of our clients are listed high in major search engine listings).
Whether you take the CPC or DIY route, make sure people using search engines can find your site — and subscribe to your email list — quickly and easily. A good ranking on the right search terms can really boost your visibility and your ability to grow a quality opt-in email list.
Invisible Landing Pages and Microsites
So what happens after someone clicks on your link? Simple: There should be a unique landing page for that particular email offer. A good landing page should be an extension of your email, a place on the Web where readers can go for more information or to take immediate action on your offer.
Microsites have been around for years, but for whatever reason, they aren't as widely used as they should be. More than just one page (usually 5 to 10) a microsite is a mini-website devoted to a particular brand, product, event, topic, etc. A microsite might seem like a lot of effort for one little call-to-action in an email campaign, but think beyond the inbox.
Every time you create a microsite, or even a landing page, your presence on the Web gets bigger and more personalized at the same time. Not only can you increase the success of each email campaign, but you can also increase the quality of leads coming in from search engines and the quality of your customer relationships. Would you develop a stronger, more immediate connection to a poodle owner if she landed on your main "pet store" home page or your microsite "poodle store" home page? Something to think about for 2006.
Online marketing is more than just email, more than a website, more than a banner ad. But if you're using email as your main online marketing tool (a wise choice), you can increase its effectiveness by increasing your overall online presence — and that takes thinking outside the inbox.
Anti-Phishing (pronounced "fishing")
OSynergyC Protects against a specific type of spam e-mail which is called 'phishing'. Phishing refers to fraudulent communications designed to deceive consumers into providing personal, financial, or account information, including account user name and password, credit card information, and social security number. These spam e-mails often create a false sense of urgency intended to provoke the recipient to take immediate action; for example, phishing e-mails frequently instruct recipients to "validate" or "update" account information or face cancellation.
Permission Based E-Marketing
OSynergyC.com is a leading provider of permission-based email marketing solutions, strategy and services, with offices throughout the United States and soon Europe. We offers one of the most complete email marketing applications, and together with its very usable interface, makes an excellent value for marketers.
OSynergyC.com helps marketers cultivate and maintain long-term strategic relationships with customers and partners by maximizing the potential of email as a relationship tool. We provide email marketing to your company's customers and potential clients. Best practices and white papers are available.
Are you web ready?
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Referral Program
corporate identity.marketing.web.sales...results.
brings.us.a.client....we.provide.you.with.one.of.the.following...
a microsite
search engine submission for 6 months
site upgrade
2 hours of web marketing consultation
a blog for generating interest.
and.always.a.thank.you...we.appreciate.you.spreading.the.news.
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