Choose Your Words Carefully from Beth Andrus on Vimeo.
Posts Tagged ‘marketing’
Thursday, March 11th, 2010
Choose Your Words Carefully
Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010
Listen To The “Experts” But Don’t Lose Sight Of Your Path
Whether it’s marketing, social networking, PR, or sales, there are a lot of experts out there. And every 12 to 18 months, a new star is born. Everyone worships at their altar – for a while, anyway, until the next “business genius” steals the spotlight. I believe many of these people have a lot to offer. Their experience and knowledge gives them a certain perspective, and this insight helps people who are trying to get their business up and running.
But I believe we all need to be selective when taking the advice of others. Not necessarily everything someone else has done will work for you. Your business and goals are unique, so an approach that propelled them toward their goal could actually put you on a detour away from your goal.
So how can you avoid that? Get clear on what you want your business to look like and what you want it to do – for you and for your customers. Once you know what this means for you, step onto your path with confidence. Then you can easily determine what will assist you in reaching your goal. There is so much good advice out there, but treat it all like a buffet or dim sum. Take only what will work for you.
Wednesday, February 24th, 2010
You Need To Have A Website & ChooseWhat.com Makes It Easy
If you already have website, go back to what you were doing. If you don’t, there is a site that can help you get set up. Like anything else that’s new to us, setting up a website can be intimidating, and frustrating. If you have a business, though (any kind of business) you need to have a website. It gives you credibility, and will help you market your product or service. There, your customers can find out about your company, get contact information, etc...
ChooseWhat.com offers a “build-your-website” option that is incredibly easy to use. You start by selecting an “information only” site ($9.99/month) or a web store ($24/month). You are then literally stepped through the process. The price includes a domain name. And the first 30 days are free, so check it out before committing.
Here’s what you’ll see:
Get Started.
a) Create a free account.
b) Choose your layout and color scheme.
c) Choose your domain name.
Add Pages to Your Website.
a) Customize your Home page.
b) Customize your Contact page.
c) Add supporting pages
Create Logical Navigation.
a) Create main navigation links
b) Create secondary navigation.
Enhance Your Website (optional steps).
a) Customize your header and logo.
b) Change your layout.
c) Change your color scheme.
d) Get your website listed in search engines
e) Add images, video and other multimedia.
Everything in this guide is straightforward and easy to understand. As you click on each task, you are given a full, clear explanation of what you are doing, and why. You should be able to create your website in an afternoon.
Having an online presence is so important. You are missing out on opportunities each day that you wait. So give it a try, because the need for a website is not going to go away.
Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010
Don’t Get Ahead Of Yourself
Getting caught up in the excitement of starting your own business can cause you to get ahead of your self. It’s a common mistake, but you may pay dearly for it.
Starting a business is part hard work, part lots of fun. Unfortunately, in the beginning, there are bigger doses of hard work – getting your website up and your shopping cart in place, registering for tax ID numbers, not to mention preparing your product or service. So it’s understandable that people want to jump into the much more satisfying activities of marketing and PR, but don’t take these steps until you’re ready.
First, if you hire a marketing or PR person before you’re ready, you’ll be wasting your money and their time. And, second, even if you’re doing these things on your own (I love DIY!) you could be caught with your pants down, so to speak. If clients, journalists, and sponsors coming knocking before you’re ready, you will look amateurish and create a reputation for being unreliable.
I once jumped into a marketing opportunity before I had my vendors lined up. A huge order came in from this and I suffered a sleepless week getting the work done for my new customer, with the added pleasure of paying a subpar vendor a fortune for a “rush” job.
If your dream client/PR contact called you, would you be ready? If the answer is, “Yes, but I just need to ______”, then the real answer is no.
I get it. It’s thrilling to go full steam ahead, but you have to make sure you have something to offer before inviting the world in. It is easier to build a strong reputation from a clean slate, than it is to repair a damaged one. So clean house, get your ducks in a row, or whatever other metaphor you would like to use, then get out there and show the world what you’ve got.
Thursday, February 18th, 2010
Stand Out With Your Message
Stand Out With Your Message from Beth Andrus on Vimeo.
Thursday, February 11th, 2010
Flattery Will Get you Everywhere
Wednesday, February 10th, 2010
Video As A Marketing Tool
I can feel some of you cringing as you read this, but I think you should at least consider incorporating video into your marketing plan. Video can be used in a lot of ways, and it’s very effective. That’s one of the reasons HSN and QVC are so successful. They are constantly connecting with their customers with conversation and demonstrations. Video can do the same for you.
I love fresh pineapple but never bought it because it’s such a mess to slice up. Then I came across a video of the Vacu Vin pineapple slicer. The 2 minute demonstration showed how easy it was to use, so I purchased one. It worked as promised, and now I would try other products from this company. So, if you have a product that has a function you can demonstrate, video is a great way to go.
If your products that don’t lend to an instructional video, you can still show your products in motion, whether you sell apparel, makeup or jewelry. This also gives your potential customers a chance to get to know you. And if your company offers a service, video is a great way to build trust. People will start to develop a relationship with you before even meeting you.
Getting started is easier than you may think. You don’t have to spend a lot to get a decent camera, and they all come with software so you can do some basic editing. Then you can set up a YouTube channel and link from your blog, or you can put your videos on Vimeo and imbed the videos in your website, which is what I do. Here’s a list of other video sites, if you’re interested in doing a little research on your own.
If you’ve never done anything like this before, practice. You will definitely get more comfortable with each try. In the beginning you may feel embarrassed watching yourself, but keep practicing. Sometimes I still cringe a little, especially if my lighting is bad, but I re-do it if I have time. (You can find a few examples where I ran out of time – not good, but, oh well.) Like anything else, the best way to get started is to jump in with both feet. Let me know if you have any questions.
Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010
AwardSync Will Help You Get The Attention You Deserve
As we all know, PR and marketing plays an essential role in the growth of your business. One thing that surely brings attention is a special honor for your company. Awardsync is an online resource that lists awards programs. Whether you are posting and promoting awards programs, or looking for award programs for your company, registering is free.
As you market your company, it definitely helps if you have something that sets you apart in your field. An award as one of the top new eco-friendly companies, for example, adds to your company’s positive reputation and builds your customers’ confidence is what you have to offer.
Make sure you only submit for award programs that are appropriate for your company. This will enhance your chance of winning. Also, make sure the award program reflects the values of your company. Winning just to win is not the point. The potential award should strengthen your brand identity. You can read more at AwardSync.com
Wednesday, January 27th, 2010
Lessons From Dominos Pizza’s Ad Campaign
I know almost everyone has seen Dominos Pizza’s new ad campaign. The company is painfully honest about people’s comments about their pizza, which include comparing the crust to cardboard and the sauce to ketchup. They are offering a 100% money-back guarantee on their new and improved pizzas. They also have a website with a live feed of Twitter comments about their new pizzas.
The internet is filled with people’s opinions about this approach and its potential success or failure. This may or may not help the company overcome its many recent PR nightmares. But it has been reported in The Brandweek Buzz Report by YouGov that Dominos’ positive buzz score has increased from 2.3 to 35.3 (out of 100), since the campaign began. Whether this leads to a permanent shift in perception for the brand is yet to be seen.
What is interesting, though, is that Dominos is taking this risky approach. I think they realized they had to. Since the dawn of man, bad news has always traveled a million times faster than good news. Dominos experienced this with the unfortunate YouTube experience last year. Maybe that social media lesson is what led to their current campaign.
Beyond the stark honesty, they are actively incorporating social networking sites into their ad campaign. While many large corporations have a presence on Facebook and Twitter, the communication is frequently one-way – toward the customer. Dominos is encouraging communication from the customer, and they are acting upon what they are being told. As things continue to evolve, companies are going to have to interact this way. If a customer feels screwed over, trust me, everyone that follows them and has friended them, will hear about it.
By going on the offensive, Dominos is giving the customer (or potential customer) the chance to support them with positive comments. If that’s what happens, it will should help Dominos, because a third-party endorsement carries a lot of weight. If it goes the other direction the damage will be huge.
The world is continuing to change. Keep this in mind when making decisions or reacting to problems. If your company does everything right, people may tell their online community, but if you do something wrong, they will tell them.
Wednesday, December 16th, 2009
Use Pitch For PR To Get Your Story Out There
Pitch For PR ™ is a site that helps to get your pitch in front of reporters, bloggers and website managers. It is completely opposite of HARO (a service I love), because you submit your pitch to Pitch For PR and they send emails of the pitches to the reporters, instead of sending reporters’ requests to you.
Here’s how it works:
1 Submit your pitch (max 350 characters) using Pitch For PR’s form.
2 Submit a least one story topic, and no more than three, along with your pitch. Make sure these topics relate to your pitch and will showcase you as an expert.
3 Pitch For PR ™ emails 10-15 new pitches each weekday to their subscribers - legitimate media and website outlets.
4 You will be contacted by anyone who is interested in your story.
It is costs nothing to submit your pitch and it’s free to subscribe to their emails. If you are looking for content, sign up for their emails. And if you want some PR (who doesn’t?) polish up your pitch and send it in. Pitch For PR
