The Small Business Idea Generator

Do NOT Spam Editors: 5 Tips to Earn Their Respect

Alyssa Gregory — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 11:43:34 +0000

This is part of a series of posts by guest blogger, Jennifer Fortney. Jennifer is owner of Cascade Communications, a boutique public relations firm in Chicago. Read more about Jennifer.

Apply to be a guest blogger on SBIG.

For small businesses DIYing public relations, there are three things they have to learn how to do to be successful:

Tell their story
Effectively pitch media
Follow up with media, with respect

The last of these seems to be the one that most DIYers miss. The majority still believe that if they distribute their press release online and email an effective pitch to media, those two things alone will do the trick in garnering public relations. That may be true in some cases, but some people don’t know when to stop. Many simply SPAM media until they are completely blocked all together. In my industry, we call it blacklisting and journalists do it all the time.

The trick to good follow-up and achieving PR in general is one thing: RESPECT.

Aretha Franklin sang the song that quickly comes to mind, and people just like you seek it and demand it from others. So, why shouldn’t you give it in return? In life having respect for yourself and others will take you far. Respect for journalists comes in many forms, all of which are key to your success in achieving PR for your business.

Here are five tips on respecting media to generate stories for your business:

Understand the media you’re pitching: Deadlines for TV and print are totally different. If newspaper deadlines are 3:00 pm, don’t call after 2:00 pm. If the TV newsroom meeting is from 9:00-10:00 am, don’t call during it. They won’t have an answer for you. Have respect for their time and deadlines, and keep your pitches brief and to the point.
Know the journalist or blogger: Know what they write on, and what are they’re looking for or interested in. What is their beat? It can take time to read through their columns online, but it’s important to do so if you’re going to be successful in catering your story to their beat.
Don’t leave long follow up voice mails or send lengthy emails: They don’t have time. Get to the point and tell them why your story is perfect for their beat.
Make yourself available for an interview: If you pitch yourself, you should be available for an interview, so make yourself available for the interview!
Do not send one email over and over again: You may just be trying to get their attention, but it’s SPAM, and you will be blacklisted for it.

Respect is earned. Building relationships with media takes time and respect, and it can be lasting and beneficial for your business for years to come.

Image credit: arnold | inuyaki

Continued from above.

After a stint writing broadcast news and working in radio and sports marketing, Jennifer worked for an impressive list of Fortune 500 companies, including Jim Bean Brands, Motorola, Maytag, Milk – Got Milk?, and Kraft.

With over 15 years in marketing, Jennifer opened her business in 2001 with the goal of showing small businesses how they can achieve the same kind of quality PR as the big boys do, but more affordably and efficiently. As a journalist, she enjoys telling the truly great stories of small businesses across the country, and creating the awareness they need to blossom into highly successful businesses.

Some of her clients have tripled or quadrupled their business in under two years using PR. She has achieved media placements in The Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, Reuters, The New York Times, USA Today, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, LA Times, Shape, Bon Appetit, Esquire, Fast Company, CNN, MarketWatch, “Today”, “Good Morning America”, and Food Network amongst hundreds of placements in newspapers, TV, radio, blogs and websites across the country.

Jennifer is a graduate of the award-winning William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Kansas, and guest lectures at universities in Chicago and small business groups on PR. She is often tapped by media as a PR and brand reputation expert, is a board member of IShouldBeInTheNews.org, contributor on Small Business Daily blog and Founder of Sip & Give Networking Benefit events.

For more: http://www.cascadecomms.com, http://cascadeeffect.blogspot.com, @SmallBizPRXpert

Technorati Tags: jennifer fortney, pitching media, public relations

Cool Tool: Micromobs

Alyssa Gregory — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 12:56:41 +0000

Micromobs is the Twitter for private groups. It’s a real-time messaging tool that lets you create individual groups (mobs), invite people and chat either privately or publicly.

I tested it out briefly, and it’s an interesting take on group chatting. I intend to test it out further with my own team, but initially, I love the idea of this for several reasons:

It’s web-based, so you can login/log out from anywhere and have complete access to past threads.
It’s easy to zero in on only the content you need to see.
You can search a mob for specific information.
You can create a hidden group that’s only viewable by members.
You can modify your settings so you get an email when your name is mentioned.

Do you use Micromobs or a similar service for group communication? What are some of the top features you look for?

Introducing Small Business Reader Polls

Alyssa Gregory — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 16:33:37 +0000

As I mentioned last week, I am starting a new feature on SBIG — Reader Polls. The point is to give readers like you a chance to weigh in on a specific topic.

The voting trends will influence what I write about, guest bloggers I bring on board, and help me get a peek at what you want to see represented on this blog. After a couple of weeks, I’ll close out each poll, blog about the results and start a new one. The information gathered may help all of us get a new perspective into the collective small business mind.

The polls will always be located on the sidebar of the site (right now, it’s under the Subscribe Here widget).

To kick off our first Reader Poll, please check your biggest marketing challenges, up to three. It’s quick, easy and you can see the results immediately. Plus, I really appreciate your feedback and will reciprocate by trying to give you the content that you want. :-)

Happy voting!

Image credit: Theresa Thompson

Technorati Tags: small business polls

Got a Problem? 13 Reasons Why You Want One

Alyssa Gregory — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 22:37:36 +0000

Have you ever found yourself in the midst of a crisis, and wonder how the heck you would ever make it through unscathed? I have. And I survived each episode and lived to tell about it, as I suspect you did, too.

Problems — from the everyday run-of-the-mill variety to the holy-cow-this-is-serious kind — aren’t all bad. In fact, there are a lot of good things that come from problems, too. Here are a few:

You may learn something.
You may be forced to think in a new way.
You may find a new collaboration opportunity.
You may get shaken out of complacency.
You may get inspired to do better.
You may gain a new appreciation for your limitations.
You may finally get over a plateau.
You may have to swallow your pride and ask for help.
You may get a reality check.
You may discover a strength you never knew you had.
You may have to accept that you’re not perfect.
You may get a chance to take some good advice.
You may be reminded how fortunate you are.

While I wouldn’t recommend going out and creating a problem to enjoy some of the benefits, there is reason to let go of some of the stress and embrace the problem when you face it. After all, you never know what kind of breakthrough a problem will bring with it.

Have you experienced any powerful positive side effects from a problem lately?

Image credit: gerard79

Technorati Tags: inspiration, problems

New Position, New Product, New Plan. Oh My!

Alyssa Gregory — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 21:05:38 +0000

I rarely make general housekeeping announcements, so I figured today would be a good time to pause the posts and share some recent happenings. Well, that combined with the fact that I am nearly a crazed lunatic this week with about 7,253 items too many on my list. But I actually do have a few announcements to make, so the timing works. :-)

First, some of you probably already heard when I screamed it across social networks that I just became the Small Business Information Guide on About.com. This is a huge honor, one that I am very excited about. As a long time user of About.com myself, I can’t wait to start sharing with and learning from other readers. Pop on over there to read some of my articles!

Second, more than half of the 7,253 items on my to-do list revolve around a new product I am launching tomorrow. It’s a step-by-step e-learning system to help small business owners, entrepreneurs and other professionals learn how to outsource effectively by finding the “perfect” virtual assistant for them. If you’re interested in finding out more about working with a VA, you may want to sign up for the early-access mailing list.

Finally, I have a plan to begin incorporating more guest posts and content in other formats on this blog, but I want to know what you want to read. So next week, I will be posting a couple of polls so you can weigh in and help me ramp up this blog most effectively. Watch for those around mid-week.

And that’s it. It will be back to your regularly scheduled posts later this week. Thanks for reading!

Image credit: nem_youth

Cool Tool: Vanityvid

Alyssa Gregory — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 13:48:38 +0000

I confess. I haven’t had a chance to try this one out yet, but it seems really interesting. Vanityvid is a free service that lets you swap out your profile pic with a video of you to use on Facebook, Twitter and other social networks. So instead of having a static headshot, you can use as short video so people can get an idea of who you really are.

The benefits stated by Vanityvid include the ability to:

Breathe life into your presence online
Make a stronger-than-average impression on visitors
Brand yourself more effectively

If you give this a try, I’d be very interested to hear what the process was like and how your video looks, so please share!

Image credit: badgasten

How to Create Lifetime Readers

Alyssa Gregory — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 12:36:56 +0000

I can’t say that I know the secret formula for creating lifetime readers (if you do, please fill me in!). I can, however, share what I do to try to get readers to stick around.

Write Related Titles

I hate when I click over to a post that I think is one thing but turns out to be something completely different. Even if it’s still a good post, I get annoyed. I try not to do that on my blog. Not to say I don’t write titles to attract attention, I just aim not to over-promise and under-deliver.

Provide Good, Quality, Original Content

I’m a writer, so to me, content is king. I give a lot of attention to each of the posts I write, try to find and use engaging photos, and add value (videos, screenshots, etc.) wherever appropriate. I am also always on the hunt for exceptional guest bloggers so I can keep sharing excellent content on topics important to small business owners, even if I don’t have expertise in a certain area.

Format My Posts So They’re Scannable

No one wants to read five screens of plain text, no matter how exciting the subject matter is. Breaking the post up into sections with subheads (like this post), or using bulleted lists can make a long post much more digestible. And it gives everyone a chance to grab a piece of info, whether they have time to read through the whole post, or just do a 5-second skim.

Invite Comments

Like all bloggers, I love it when people comment, and I try to invite opinions — even those opposite of my own. But I think a huge part of having consistent commenters is responding when appropriate. The best part about a blog can be the conversation that takes place after a post, but if the author isn’t taking time to contribute, not many people will bother to do the same.

What About You?

So there you have it. My methods for trying to build a consistent readership. It’s not very complicated or extravagant, and I like to think it works to some extent, but there is always room for improvement. And I’d love to hear your opinion on that! If you think there are areas I can do better, please let me know.

In general, what makes you continue to read a particular blog? And what do you do on your own blog to get people to come back?

Image credit: pedrosimoes7

Technorati Tags: blog readership

Online Press Room: One Stop Shop for Media

Alyssa Gregory — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 12:28:26 +0000

This is part of a series of posts by guest blogger, Jennifer Fortney. Jennifer is owner of Cascade Communications, a boutique public relations firm in Chicago. Read more about Jennifer.

SEO isn’t just for your website but also your press releases (and distributing them online). I will reiterate why this is important — so that people, especially journalists, can find you online! Remember this one thing: people, even media, don’t know they’re looking for you until they find you!

This leads me to the next important element for your PR … your online press room. If you don’t have one on your website, you need to get one.

An online press room is an essential element for your website for many reasons, but mostly so that when media come to your site they can easily find your business’ latest news and contact information for an interview. Your story isn’t going to necessarily just tell itself with the basic information on your website.

Unless you paint it on your homepage, media aren’t going to know that you’ve finalized a merger, introduced a new product and more! Besides, the practice of having an online press room is becoming a mainstream practice and a necessity.

Here are some of the elements to include on your press room:

All press releases
Graphics – product shots, logo, CEO/president, interior of retail stores, etc.
Company backgrounder
CEO/president bio
Video clips – gives broadcast media a chance to see how you speak and get a feel for how you’d do on TV
Product and/or company fact sheets
Any media you’ve received
Contact information – the person a journalist should contact about a query

An online press room reflects professionalism, credibility and more importantly an understanding and respect of how media work. There isn’t one major corporation that doesn’t have an online press room news and sources. I suggest looking at some of them to get a feel for how you want to design yours and what you need to include as it relates to your business.

This is just another way of achieving positive PR for your business because some media may go to the press room, get what they need, download approved graphics and photos and run a story or mention without even contacting you. And this is why you need to take time each week to search your business online to see if there are any stories that have run, blog mentions or comments about your business on various boards, like Yelp.com.

Image credit: stroinski

Continued from above.

For more: http://www.cascadecomms.com, http://cascadeeffect.blogspot.com, @SmallBizPRXpert

Cool Tool: BagTheWeb

Alyssa Gregory — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 08:42:05 +0000

BagTheWeb.com is a new take on bookmarking what allows you to create “bags” of links and share them in a variety of ways.

A bag is simply a user-created collection of links. You can drop any pages you like into a bag to form your own collection. You can create bags on any topics you like, link to other related bags, and share your bags. There’s also a bookmarklet to help you add pages to any bag with a click.

For a great example of BagTheWeb in action, check out this Twitter 101 bag created (BagTheWeb actually calls it “curated”) by Guy Kawasaki.

I think it’s a cool idea, although I haven’t created a bag just yet. Do you have a bag?

Technorati Tags: bookmarking, social bookmarking

A Great Example of Tying in a Sale to an Event

Alyssa Gregory — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 16:50:16 +0000

Who else has received a bunch of 4th of July sale flyers and inserts in the mail this past week? It’s no secret that holidays present a great opportunity to put on a sale and lure potential customers to your store, website or kiosk. But have you considered a sale tied to another type of event, like the World Cup?

This is exactly what SitePoint.com has done, and I love the idea. They have linked eight of their ebooks to each of the remaining eight teams in the World Cup. As each team advances, the price of the ebook associated with that team drops. The further the team advances, the more the price drops until the winning team’s ebook becomes free.

Now, I’m not sure how successful this campaign will be, but given that SitePoint has a huge international following, I would assume that their readers have some interest in the World Cup. This should translate into the readers following along with the SitePoint World Cup and possibly being enticed by the falling prices to purchase an ebook that maybe they would not have considered purchasing before.

What do you think of SitePoint’s World Cup sale? What would you have done differently? Could this work for other events like Major League Baseball playoffs or the NCAA basketball tournaments?

Disclaimer: I am the business blogger for SitePoint, but I don’t get compensated for purchases made through links in this post.

Image credit: linder6580

Technorati Tags: discounts, sales