Retail Marketing

Million Dollar Mistakes: 10 Advertising Blunders to Avoid

By Peter Koeppel

For any company, $1 million is a lot to lose. Companies with $100 million in revenue may spend as much as $10 million on advertising, so they need to spend it wisely. Advertising can be the biggest expenditure after salaries and benefits, as much as 5% -10% of the budget. Even if yours isn’t a $100 million company, you don’t want to waste your hard-earned advertising dollars. Nor do you want to put out the wrong message because you’ve failed to craft an ad that most appeals to potential customers.
When you watch out for these ten common advertising gaffes, you’ll get the most marketing bang for your buck.

Mistake #1: Not understanding your target audience. When determining an advertising plan, consider everyone who might purchase the product. A product for kids might focus on parents and grandparents, as well as children; they all have an influence on the purchase decision.
When you’ve decided who you’re targeting, consider how: what will best motivate a consumer to respond to your ads? Research services like Nielsen for television and Arbitron for radio can help you unearth this type of information. Competitive Media Reports can also allow you to see where your competitors are advertising.

Mistake #2: Delivering the wrong message. You can usually best appeal to your target market by clearly stating the benefits of the product and making sure those benefits are relevant to that target audience’s needs or “hot buttons”. Certain types of ads, such as for weight loss, hair restoration, and skin care products, demand “Before” and “After” shots to give the product credibility, show results, and deliver a positive message about the company’s belief in its product and what it can do for the consumer.

Mistake #3: Not running ads often enough. You’ll generally need three exposures to build awareness and motivate someone to respond to an ad. By spreading your advertising over too many different types of media, your intended audience might not get those three exposures.
Based on your budget, focus on the highest-performing media for your type of product; this will allow your target audience to see the ad enough times to build awareness. Research services like MRI research can help you with this. They survey 26,000 consumers every year. You give them information, and they give you research tailored to your needs, such as the television networks and shows your target audience watches with the highest frequency.

Mistake #4: Utilizing the wrong media to reach your target prospects. Seniors still don’t use the Internet as much as younger people do. So if you have a senior product, focusing your marketing efforts on the Internet might not be a good idea. If you’re trying to reach a niche audience, TV or radio might not be the best fit, since they reach a mass audience. Consider a specialty print publication like a trade journal or a local interest publication to more effectively reach potential customers.

Mistake #5: Choosing award-winning over results-getting. Creative people in some ad agencies can be more concerned about an ad’s concept or look than they are with whether it will actually sell. Be careful of a creative team who try to sell you on advertising that doesn’t feel right to you. An ad can be cool or “artsy,” look beautiful or be hilarious, but if it doesn’t generate results, it’s of no benefit to you.

Mistake #6: Not focusing on the consumer’s needs. It should go without saying that an ad must convince consumers that the product or service will meet their needs.  Some companies still try to dictate what they feel their ads need to communicate, often, because they are too close to the product or service.
If you feel too involved in the production of the ad, you can take the ad to a focus group. Even when you know who might buy your product, you may not know how to get them to buy it. Outsiders’ opinions can be invaluable, especially those of experts who understand how to communicate more effectively with that consumer.

Mistake #7: Not developing a complete advertising campaign. One ad probably won’t thoroughly inform your prospects. A single ad may work for a while but stops being effective as the consumer stops paying attention. You may need to develop a campaign to communicate a complete message. Also, another ad or a series can help you capture people’s attention you weren’t able to get with a single ad. Usually a campaign consists of several ads over the course of the year to appeal to people through different strategies.

Mistake #8: Not understanding the seasonality of various products and services. Consider the peak times of year for your product or services when you’re developing an advertising campaign. Products or services that change consumers’ lives or images will benefit from advertising the first of the year, as people make (and try to keep) resolutions.
TV viewing itself is seasonal. When the weather is bad, people watch more TV and response to advertisements tends to be better, whereas when the weather is better, people watch less TV. In April, we all have to pay taxes, so people generally spend less money on consumer goods. Even products that sell well all year long may do better at some times than others, so you should cut back a little when it’s slower and beef up advertising during peak times.

Mistake #9: Not incorporating your website into your advertising program. An increasingly large percentage of consumers are going to websites to make their purchases, so you must have a strong website and include its address in all your advertising. One advertiser who had a website for a high-end product hesitated to promote the site for a year, thinking their telemarketing program was superior. When they finally advertised the site, sales increased 15% virtually overnight!

Mistake #10: Copying a competitor’s advertising approach. Strive to be original, and it will pay off. By copying a competitor’s ad, you may just be building further awareness for your competitor. You need to be innovative in your advertising approach to differentiate your business from theirs if you want to gain the advantage. The AFLAC duck and the GEICO gecko are examples of ways companies were able to gain top of mind awareness with the effective use of humor. If another company were to use a goose or lizard in their ads, consumers would still likely think of the originals.

Make A Million Bucks, Not a Million Mistakes: Lots of careful research, planning, and hard work go into developing successful advertising. Your ads must be smart, creative, and well-placed to reach your desired market and make them want what you sell. By avoiding these ten common advertising errors, you can use your ad dollars more effectively, get more response to your ads, and rake in greater revenue.

Peter Koeppel is Founder and President of Koeppel Direct, a leader in direct response television media buying, marketing, campaign management and creative strategies. With over 20 years of marketing and advertising experience, Peter has helped Fortune 500 companies, small businesses and entrepreneurs develop marketing campaigns to increase profits. Peter is a Wharton MBA and improved the media buying strategies and advertising for clients such as The Hair Club for Men, Berkeley Premium Nutraceuticals, Ben Hogan Golf, H.J. Heinz and DIRECTV. For more information on his work, please call 972-732-6110.

Only Seconds

By Sandi Smith

You have only seconds to grab the attention of your Web site visitor. How are you using your time?  You've spent money and time creating a logo, letterhead, and brochures for your business. You care about your company message, and you want customers to know you care about quality. You've hired professional graphic artists, designers, and printers to do the job.

But what have you done about your small business Web site design? Does it match the quality and look of your other marketing materials? Since the Web has more reach than the rest of your marketing materials, it should demonstrate the highest quality. And yet so many business owners have hired amateurs, relatives, teenagers, or created McWeb (fast setup, cookie-cutter) sites themselves.

An important distinction about the Web is the amount of time you have to create interest for your Web site visitor. You have only seconds to make a great impression. How are you using yours? Now is the perfect time to see if your small business Web site design needs some tweaking to make that great impression. Visit your own Web site and check out our three-step approach below to see if it's time for you to consider a change.

Before you click to review your Web site home page, ask yourself what your current business goals are. Do you want to sell product? Do you want to sell services? Do you want to provide information for prospective buyers? What do you want to accomplish? Your goals and your business may have changed since you first put up your small business Web site. Deciding on your current business goals will help you to decide on the main focus for your small business Web site.

Discover what your firm's largest strengths are. This can be done through customer focus groups, surveys, interviews, or informal processes. The result should be something similar to your unique selling proposition or how customers benefit from doing business with you.

Now, visit the home page of your Web site. What is the first item that you see? Put one and two together, and shouldn't your small business Web site home page immediately feature your biggest strengths or a means to your goal (or preferably both?)

The Web is filled with what not to do. Yesterday, I saw a consulting Web site that I couldn't tell was an accounting Web site until I clicked through three pages. A speaker's Web site had a huge picture of the speaker that took forever to download and was not by any means Mr. America. And a photographer's Web site had a long, irrelevant Flash movie about the creator's dog. I don't know of any customer who is going to sit there and try to guess what business you're in. They'll just go to other Web sites and do business with the small business Web site that has a clear message for them.

If you want to make money on the Web, use your seconds wisely.

Since 1995, Sandi Smith of San Jose, CA has helped small business owners and solo-preneurs make money online through Web site design and development. Her Web sites have paid back in as little as a week for some clients. Get her free report, “The Top 10 Biggest Small Biz Marketing Mistakes” at www.sandismithdesign.com.

Advertising and Color

By Karen Saunders

What’s the quickest way to create mood without saying a word?  Color!  Before they read your marketing piece, they see it – and their feeling about your business begins.  So it’s a good idea to take some time to find out what colors mean – and how they can help sell for you.  When you learn the psychology of colors you will be able to add a whole new layer to your marketing materials.  Here’s how using certain colors will help you attract a specific target market and evoke the desired response:

• The color scheme you choose for your flyer or business cards can help or hurt the overall tone of the piece.  For instance, if you own a gift shop, you would want to work with a lot of yellows, including coral, orange, amber and gold.  Why?  Because yellow symbolizes joy.  It exudes energy and happiness, and is associated with being welcoming and homey.

• Red, which includes mauve, magenta, crimson, and scarlet, is the color of power, romance, and vitality.  It’s an eye catcher, and makes us sit up and take notice.  That’s why it’s so often used in the financial arena when the numbers are going in the wrong direction.  Red can also have a physical effect, even raising blood pressure!  Use red in your ad when you want people to take action.

• If, on the other hand, you need a very friendly, non-threatening campaign, green is your color.  Green and its shades, including lime, leaf green, sea green, emerald, teal and sage, symbolize life and nature.  It’s good for us, and your reader will receive that impression about what you are selling as well.  In contrast to red, in the business world, green symbolizes growth and prosperity. 

• When you need a more serious, classic look that conveys law and order, dependability, and trustworthiness, go for the blue and purple palette.  This includes sky blue, ultramarine, violet, purple and azure.  These colors work great in certain markets, specifically for older, more mature audiences.  It’s common in financial institutions, hospitals, and the legal and medical professions.

So what kind of business do you have?  Do you sell a product or a service?  Think about your target market, and try to determine what emotion will appeal to them the most.  Now try to match that with one of the above color palettes when you are designing your ad.  With the right colors, your marketing piece is sure to be read. Read other articles and learn more about Karen Saunders at http://www.macgraphics.net/index.php 

Using Facebook as a Business Building Tool

By Heather Lutze

Most people know Facebook as a great way to stay in touch with friends and family, and to reconnect with long lost childhood classmates. But there’s another side to Facebook – one that can help your business grow.

According to Facebook’s own compilation of statistics (found in their Press Room), more than 1.5 million local businesses have active Pages on Facebook, and more than 20 million people become fans of Pages each day. For CEOs and business owners, this means Facebook is definitely a way to spread your company’s message, build community and loyalty among customers, and ultimately increase your company’s bottom line.

If you’ve only used Facebook for personal reasons, making the jump to a business application can seem challenging. The following suggestions will help you create a business Facebook presence that generates results.

Distinguish your Facebook person and persona: Ask yourself these two important questions: “Who am I as a person outside of my business?” (This is your person.) “Who am I as a business owner on Facebook?’ (This is your persona.) Can you combine the two identities? Absolutely not! If you already have a personal Facebook page that you use to keep up with your friends and family, then keep it personal. Don’t mix your business contacts into that page.

Rather, build a new Facebook profile as the CEO and Founder of Company XYZ. This is your business persona page. You could even name it John W. Smith, CEO and Founder of Acme Corporation. On this page you’d put your corporate bio and other information that pertains to your role in the company – the persona of you as a CEO. Then you can build a Fan Page off of that personal profile that talks specifically about the business.

Mixing your personal and business pages is discrediting and unprofessional. And yes, it’s perfectly fine to have two profiles on Facebook. You’d simply have to use your middle initial or some other distinguishing information to differentiate the two accounts.

Name your accounts wisely: While your individual posts on Facebook are not ranked in Google searches (at least not yet), your profile is ranked. Simply go to your settings tab in Facebook and elect to make your profile public. How you name your business persona page and fan page is critical for ranking purposes. While you’d certainly use your name for your individual business account and use your company name for your fan page, you’ll want to tag some keywords onto each name. For example, if you as the CEO wanted to be known as a leader in internet marketing, you might name your business profile John W. Smith, Internet Marketing Strategist. Similarly, you could name your fan page in such a way that there’s no question what your company does, as in “Acme Corporation, Widget Supplier and Manufacturer.”

Think of the keywords you want to be found under and work those keywords into your tagline or title. This strategy gets your profile open to the world and helps you go beyond just building a Facebook community of friends and fans. Now you’re opening your company up to a bigger community outside of Facebook.

Post appropriate content: Once your pages are set up, encourage your current clients or customers to join your fan page. Anything that happens with the business, such as any trade shows the company is attending, new products or services you’re offering, any new company developments you want people to know about, or anything related to the company as a whole, would appear on the fan page. People read those posts and monitor what your company is doing or offering and they then invite others to become fans.

As for your business persona page – the page focused on you as the CEO and Founder – here you’d post information about conferences you’re attending, your thoughts on the industry or company, and business things related to you personally. For example, maybe you won an award or got an article published. Talk about these types of things on your business persona page.

Additionally, on your business persona page, you’d only put out and accept friend requests from people who directly relate to your business. If one of your personal friends finds the page and offers a friend request, direct that individual to your personal page.

Realize that while you can control whom you befriend, you have no control over who becomes a fan of your company’s fan page. People become fans because they are interested in your topic.

Also, it’s okay to have blatant ads, coupons, and specials for your company on your fan page. In fact, fan pages were designed as a way to give businesses a way to blatantly promote their company without getting people upset. However, don’t put ads, coupons, or specials on your business persona page. If you do, people will quickly start un-friending you. 

Finally, remember to feed your Twitter posts, blog posts, and YouTube videos directly to your fan page so you can extend your brand. You can do all this dynamically by using a tool such as Ping.fm or SocialOomph.com.

Build Community…and Profits: With more than 400 million active users on Facebook, this is one place you definitely want your company to be seen. The key is for clients, prospects, and the Facebook community at large to see your business in the most positive light possible. By keeping your business and personal information separate, building your pages professionally, and posting relevant content your audience will want to read, you can create powerful relationships on Facebook that positively impact your company’s bottom line.

Read other articles and learn more about Heather Lutze.

5 Creative And Low Cost Marketing Ideas

 by: Janice Jenkins

When you run your own business, every dollar your spend counts. But you have to remember that you do not really have to cut cost on your marketing campaign. After all, marketing is the single most important aspect in business that will help you bring your business to success. So, instead of cutting cost on it, why not reinvent your strategy and make it more effective and compelling.

The following are creative marketing ideas to help you spend your money wisely and get the most out of your investment.

1. Email marketing. It is the digital age, so if you have not been using the email to send out your message to your existing and prospective customers, then you are missing out a lot. Be sure to hook yourself with the latest in marketing today and get yourself a business email. Remember though that when using the email, your message should be catchy and direct to the point. Do not sound too pushy. Keep in mind that you will be fighting head to head with emails from other businesses, so be sure to make your message unique and do not make it look like too much advertising. When done effectively, you can be sure that your email will bring you great results.

2. The business cards. The business cards are perhaps one of the most ignored and underutilized creative tools today. There are pretty good reasons why you should use these cards. They are cost effective, creative, easy to produce, and the simplest way to introduce yourself and your business. If you simply look around, you will see a lot of great and unique cards that promote businesses effectively.

Make sure though that when you use business cards, you change the look of your card from time to time. Use different business card templates that will make your business stand out and attract more attention out there.

3. Get involved in the community. Getting active in the community can bring your business a lot of benefits. Aside from getting great exposure, it can also help increase your contacts. So, go out there and be involved in whatever group or cause you are interested in. The connections you make will be good for your business and can help boost your credibility.

4. Partner with other businesses. One creative way to market is to market with other businesses that over products or service relevant to yours. Remember that as your connections grow so does your chance to generate sales and profits.

5. Promote on the Internet. The latest trend in marketing today is internet marketing. Do not get left behind, show your face in the online world. You have nothing to lose when you promote online, so get working on it. Just be sure to learn the rules in the online market so you do not step into anyone’s foot out there. Keep in mind that the online market is a wide world, so you have to market efficiently.

These are just some of the creative marketing ideas that you can incorporate in your business as part of your marketing strategy. There are still other things you can do to draw in clients and business such as networking, publicity, referrals, and blogging. Just be sure to market consistently to keep your business on top of your customer’s mind.

 

For comments and inquiries about the article visit: http://www.printplace.com/printing/business-card-printing.aspx

About The Author: Janice Jenkins is a writer for a marketing company in Chicago, IL. Mostly into marketing research, Janice started writing articles early 2007 to impart her knowledge to individuals new to the marketing industry.
 

 

Are You Asking the Right Questions?

As a business consultant, behavioral scientist, and keynote speaker, much of what I talk about runs counterintuitive to conventional leadership thinking. Identify and discard the best practices that made you successful but are no longer relevant to today’s world.

I constantly urge business leaders to slow down to go fast.  Unlearn to learn.  Stop making stuff up (or at least be aware when you are).  Regularly challenge what you think you know about your customers, your markets, and your industry.  Here’s another one: stop trying to have all the right answers and start focusing on asking the right questions.

A generation ago, when the world didn’t move so quickly, leaders had ample time to gather information, analyze the data, and make informed decisions regarding the strategy and direction for our organizations.  Fully armed with all the information, we could look out into the future and come up with the answers needed to achieve our strategic goals. 

But times have changed.  The increasing speed and complexity of our world now makes it impossible to have all the information we need to make fully informed decisions. That’s why today’s leaders must develop the critical skill of asking questions rather than having all the answers. The trick is coming up with the right questions.

Too often, leaders ask questions that keep people focused on problems and obstacles rather than on solutions. We don’t do this intentionally.  It’s just that we almost never pause to think about whether the questions we’re asking are producing the results we want.

For example, suppose your company has set a target of 20% sales growth but the numbers keep lagging behind the goal.  The typical approach involves asking the sales team questions like:  Why aren’t you selling more?  Why can’t you work together more effectively?  What are you going to do differently to sell more and catch up to plan?

On the surface these seem like reasonable questions.  The sales team isn’t performing, so it makes sense to ask them what is causing the problem and what they intend to do about it.  In reality, these types of questions usually produce negative rather than positive consequences.  First, they focus everyone’s thinking on problems rather than solutions.  They also cause the sales team to feel attacked, which puts them on the defensive.  This, in turn, causes them to look for scapegoat answers that have nothing to do with achieving the goal.

“Customers aren’t buying right now.  We’re in a down economy.  Our competitors keep undercutting our price.  Our marketing collateral sends the wrong message.”  The litany of excuses goes on and on.  If you hammer the sales team hard enough with these kinds of questions, sales may go up.  But more likely you’ll end up with continued sluggish sales and a demoralized sales team.

How do you ask the right questions?  It starts with a process I call “success visioning.”   This involves focusing on where you want to go (your target destination) and then picturing what it looks like when you get there.  Not if you get there, but when you get there.  Once you have a clear picture of what winning looks like for your organization, ask a series of future, active, past-tense questions that presume the target has already been achieved. 

For example, ask “When we have achieved our sales growth rate of 20%:

•How did we conduct outreach to our customers?

•What channels did we use?

•What products did we sell most effectively?

•What words or phrases did we use to clearly differentiate ourselves?

•Who did we build the strongest relationships with in the market?

•What does our brand mean?

•What systems did we use to track and support our progress?

•What testimonials did we leverage?

•How did we deepen our contacts at each client?

•How did we monitor and respond to changing market conditions?

See the difference?  Asking people why they aren’t selling more focuses their brains on the problem.  It keeps them stuck on what they are doing now rather than what they need to be doing to get the desired results.  Asking future, active, past-tense questions focuses their brains on filling in the blanks of what they did to achieve the goal.

Success visioning, coupled with future, active, past tense questioning works because it shifts your attention from what is stopping you from reaching your destination to what you are doing when you have gotten there.  It asks, “When we have done this (achieved our 20% sales growth target), what are we doing and what does it look like?  How did we get here?”  Your brain then begins to fill in with all sorts of options on how to achieve success. 

So, first get crystal clear on what winning looks like for your organization.  Then use open-ended questions to get people thinking and acting like your future desired state is already happening.  This process works equally well with the organization as a whole or with divisions, departments, teams, or smaller business units.  It can also be used on organizational tools, processes, systems, customers, market share – virtually any aspect of your business.

In a world where you can no longer predict the future with any degree of accuracy, the success of your business may hinge upon your ability to ask the right questions at the right time.  What are the right questions for your business, and when do you plan to ask them?

Holly’s top selling book, More Than a Minute: How to be an Effective Leader & Manager in Today’s Changing World goes beyond the theory of leading and managing by providing practical, action-oriented information. She writes a column for the Worldwide Association of Business Coaching, and is a highlighted expert on Bizmore.  Holly has contributed to two other best-selling books, Shift Happens, and A Cup of Cappuccino, Vol. II.  For more information, please visit http://www.thehumanfactor.biz/ and www.morethanaminute.com.

The Top 5 Mistakes of Social Media Marketing

By Pam Lontos and Maurice Ramirez, Ph.D

As a business owner, you already know the importance of utilizing traditional PR – print, radio and TV exposure – to keep your name circulating in the marketplace. Now, however, there’s a new PR outlet you need to become familiar with. It’s called Social Media Marketing, and when combined with your traditional PR efforts, Social Media Marketing can help you penetrate the marketplace with your message quicker and easier than ever before.

What is Social Media Marketing? It’s utilizing the various social networking sites to enforce your brand and market your business. A social networking site is simply an online meeting place. Think of it like an eHarmony or Match.com for business people. On such sites, people can post a profile with the hopes of meeting other like-minded professionals for business reasons.

According to the Nielsen Research Group, social networks and blogs have moved ahead of personal e-mail among the most popular online activities people engage in. Additionally, USA Today reports that the time spent on these sites is growing three times faster than the overall Internet rate. More than two-thirds of the world’s online population now visits social networking and blogging sites.

Knowing this, it’s clear that if you haven’t yet engaged in Social Media Marketing, the time to start is now. But before you do, you need to be aware of the top mistakes businesses make with this PR outlet so you can avoid them and get the biggest return for your marketing investment.

Mistake #1: Having more than one face on the Internet: When you’re engaging in Social Media Marketing (called SMM from here on out) you’re really building your image from the ground up. The goal of SMM is to virally spread parts of your image across the Internet. The word “parts” is important. Basically, you’re starting with a holographic image of yourself in the virtual world. You then need to break that hologram apart and find the appropriate places on the Internet where you can frame certain pieces of that hologram.

When someone looks at all the pieces at the various sites, they should be able to put them together to see a single whole. They should not see multiple images of who you are, as that would ruin your credibility. Therefore, if you have multiple Facebook accounts, for example, your personal one has to be hidden and by invitation only. You don’t want that other image out there confusing people and possibly diminishing your reputation.

Mistake #2: Collecting friends: SMM is how you create instant buzz on the Internet by getting the same message out over and over. It’s spreading your message and getting yourself branded so you can get more business. Social networking, on the other hand, is about making friends. For example, you’ve likely seen someone on LinkedIn who has 25,000+ contacts. That’s great, but what do you do with all those contacts? Remember, just because you have a phone book in your office doesn’t mean you can open the book at random, pick a name, and call them for business.

When you collect a contact, you’re supposed to be opening the door to exchange information and build a relationship. Think of it as relationship marketing in the 21st century, and the same rules apply. The only difference is that you’re building the relationship online rather than over coffee.

Mistake #3: Putting out the wrong messages: You’ve likely seen people put posts on Twitter or Facebook that say something like, “John Smith is watching a great movie and eating popcorn.” Such messages may be fine for personal networks, but for business networks you need to put out messages that are useful to your readers. In other words, don’t talk about yourself. You want to give valuable tips and advice so that the people who read your posts want to repost them to their own sites. That’s how your message spreads virally.

The key is to keep your messages consistent. Remember that people are subscribing to various feeds in order to get your information. They are essentially saying that your message has value. That’s why you can’t do a series of sales tips and then post a couple of your favorite omelet recipes. You have to stay on message, and your message has to be for your readers.

With that said, it is okay to occasionally have a press release type message that says something like, “John Smith is speaking at ABC Convention on employee productivity today.” Such a message does two things: 1) It tells people they might not get a tip today or tomorrow because you’re busy, and 2) It shows that other big-wigs out there think your message is important. It’s a positive reinforcement that boosts your credibility, so long as you don’t do it too frequently.

Mistake #4: Posting inappropriate information: Don’t allow yourself or anyone on your site to post anything online that you don’t want your most conservative client to see. You never know where something will end up, especially since the nature of the Internet is for things to spread virally. For example, a CEO of a corporation had a picture of himself and his girlfriend on a topless beach in Mexico. In the photo she’s riding on his shoulders with her breasts exposed. For some reason, he decided to post the photo on his personal invitation-only Facebook site.

The only problem is that he was married. His wife (or rather, his now ex-wife) saw the photo. How? Someone on his invitation-only Facebook account thought it was a great picture and decided to repost it on the public Internet. To top it all off, his board of directors got wind of the photo and fired him. Now he’s no longer employable in that field or that position again. The moral of this story: Never post anything on any site that you wouldn’t personally show your own grandmother. 

Mistake #5: Assuming that it is better to have your message in only one place on the Internet: In the “old days” of the Internet, people believed they had to keep all their content on their own Web site. The theory was that spreading it out ruined your credibility and diminished your reputation as being a unique speaker. Not so today. In fact, with SMM, the opposite is true. The more places you can get your message to appear simultaneously, the more effective your message will be.

Think of it as constructing a funnel. You want to lay several trails of information, all of which lead to your main site. Therefore, no matter how someone stumbles upon you, as long as they “follow the trail,” they’ll eventually find you. That’s essentially what you’re doing with your Twitters and other SMM messages. You’re putting out kernels of information. If someone wants the next kernel, they have to follow the trail. Eventually it funnels them to one Web site, which is where you wanted them to be anyway. You’re creating an environment where people see your message everywhere. As a result, you now have their attention and you have the opportunity to sell your product, your services, or whatever you’re selling at that point of distribution.

Here’s an example of the power of funneling: Recently Aaron Chronester posted a message on Twitter. Someone saw his post and reposted it on their blog. CNN and the New York Times found the post interesting and reported on it. Because of that exposure, Chronester got a book deal from Simon and Schuster. So, what was his post about? Current events? Global warming? A tell-all celebrity biography? Nope. It was a Twitter post with a unique bacon recipe, as Chronester was trying to get publicity for a barbeque club he belonged to. That’s how powerful funneling your message can be.

Get Noticed with SMM: The marketplace is changing, and you have to change with it. Your name has to be everywhere – in print, on radio, on TV, and on the social networking sites. The more you can get your name and message circulating in the various mediums, the higher your chances of clients seeing your information and ultimately hiring you. Thanks to SMM you can get your message out to thousands of people in an instant. And the results are greater credibility, more exposure, and higher sales – all of which positively impact your bottom line.

Pam Lontos is owner of PR/PR, a public relations firm based in Orlando, FL.  A past vice president of Disney-owned Shamrock Broadcasting, she knows the media and how to get good publicity and how to use it to really boost your profits. Call for a free consultation at 407 299-6128 or see www.prpr.net.

Dr. Maurice A. Ramirez is co-founder of Disaster Life Support of North America, Inc., a national provider of Disaster Preparation, Planning, Response and Recovery education. Through his consulting firm High Alert, LLC., he serves on expert panels for pandemic preparedness and healthcare surge planning with Congressional and Cabinet Members. Board certified in multiple medical specialties, Dr. Ramirez is Founding Chairperson of the American Board of Disaster Medicine and a Senior Physician-Federal Medical Officer for the Department of Homeland Security. Cited in 24 textbooks with numerous published articles, he is co-creator of C5RITICAL and author of Mastery Against Adversity.

The Top Twelve Business Etiquette Tips for Social Media

By Lydia Ramsey

There is no doubt about it-social networking, or social media if you prefer, is all the buzz. A report just out by Forrester's Research indicates that 51% of online Americans have joined a social network. Another 73% are consuming some form of social content on a regular basis. People are connecting with, listening to, following and collaborating with each other online at an amazing rate.

Some people are using it for personal reasons. They are sharing their recipes, their photos and their ideas to stay up to date with their friends and family. Business people are using social networking sites to build their careers, promote their business and grow their reputations.

The most popular social networking sites are Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and Twitter. Each one of those sites is uniquely positioned and serves a particular population or purpose. There are other online networking sites, numbering in the thousands, so at this point, they shall remain nameless.

The purpose of this article is not to provide information on which networking sites you should choose and why, but to provide you with tips on the etiquette of social networking. Once again, as with e-mail, cell phones, Blackberries and other technological devices or technologically driven communication, we got the technology up front and we have backed into the rules for using it with courtesy and consideration.

I am starting with a list of twelve tips on the etiquette of social networking for the polished professional. The list will, no doubt, grow with time.

1) Fill out your online profiles completely with information about you and your business. Use your real name and your own photo. Your cat may be adorable, but unless you are a veterinarian specializing in the care and treatment of felines, don't get cute.

2) Use a different profile or account for your personal connections. Business and pleasure do not mix in this medium.

3) Create a section on your main profile detailing who you are seeking to befriend and ask that visitors abide by that information. Everyone need not apply.

4) Offer information of value. Don't talk just about yourself and your company.

5) Don't approach strangers and ask them to be friends with you just so you can then try to sell them on your products or services. You will quickly lose credibility and your so-called "friends."

6) Pick a screen name that represents you and your company well. Don't call yourself "Loser1" unless you want to be known by that name.

7) Don't send out requests for birthdays, invitations to play games or other timewasters for those using the site.

8) Don't put anything on the Internet that you don't want your future boss, current client or potential clients to read.

9) Check out the people who want to follow you or be your friend. Your mother was right when she said that people will judge you by the company you keep.

10) If someone does not want to be your friend, accept their decision gracefully. They have the right to make that choice and you have to accept it.

11) Never post when you're overly-tired, jet lagged, intoxicated, angry or upset.

12) Compose your posts, updates or tweets in a word processing document so you can check grammar and spelling before you send them.

The world of online networking is new to most of us, but there is little difference in connecting with people online and offline. The same basic tenets hold true. Trust and authenticity remain high on the list.

Lydia Ramsey is a business etiquette expert, professional speaker, corporate trainer and author featured in the Wall Street Journal and many other off-line and on-line publications.  Lydia shares her business etiquette tips in her monthly e-zine, her blog, and on Twitter.  To register for these free services visit www.mannersthatsell.com today!

Seven Publicity Myths That Can Hurt Your Business

By Pam Lontos

Every business needs a cost-effective way to keep their name, their products or their services in front of their prospects and customers. For many business owners, publicity is the key to such recognition and awareness. When done correctly, publicity develops your name recognition, gives your business instant credibility, and ultimately leads to increased sales. And best of all, publicity is absolutely free.

Publicity can come from anywhere and in many different forms. It can be as simple as having your product reviewed by a blogger, or as dynamic as having your company’s name splashed across the headlines of a magazine or newspaper. Unfortunately, because of the many myths that shroud the concept of publicity, many business owners fail to seek it out.

Before you can get your business the publicity it deserves, you need to separate the PR facts from the fiction. Below are the most common publicity myths and the truths behind them.

Myth #1: I need to own a “big” business to get the media’s attention: While it’s true that big business names are common in magazine and trade journal articles, the fact is big business makes up only a small percentage of the American economy. Most readers know the big business names, but they often can’t identify with them or their challenges. That’s why many magazines and trade journals are eager to hear the opinions and perspectives from owners of small and medium-sized businesses. So whether you’re a solo entrepreneur, a franchise operator or a family business owner, find out what the reporters want and then enthusiastically give your slant on the topic.

Myth #2: My business will be a household name from one big hit: Getting mentioned in or interviewed by a major national publication with a circulation of over one million readers is certainly impressive. But will such a stroke of luck make your business a household name? Not likely. To become a household name, you need to develop “top of mind awareness.” What is top of mind awareness? It’s when people think of you first to fulfill their product or service needs. It’s when publications of all sizes quote you and publish your articles. It’s when customers and prospects say, “I’ve seen your company everywhere.” Most important, it’s when people purchase your products or services because they know your company’s name and they perceive you as the marketplace leader. The only way to get top of mind awareness (to become a household name) is through constant exposure in a variety of publications, not just one big placement.

Myth #3: I need to use big words to impress the interviewer: In most cases, the person interviewing you, as well as the publication’s readers, are not as intimate with your industry as you are. Therefore, they need the information you give them to be understandable and at a layperson’s comprehension level. The best approach is to avoid speaking with industry jargon or using techno-terms. Instead, speak as if you were explaining something for the first time. The simpler you can make your information, the better your chances of being quoted as the expert source.

Myth #4: I need a unique theory or insight: While you don’t want to rehash old news, there’s no need to rack your brain for a totally new theory or perspective. The best approach is to present your findings, opinions, or topic of expertise in a new light – one that may be close to someone else’s, but that catches the reporter or editor’s interest. Perhaps you have information that can refute a recent claim or shows how a current business challenge is affecting the publication’s target readership. When you simply put a new spin on a current theory or insight that interests the publication’s readers, reporters will want to present your findings.

Myth #5: I can’t get my business into that publication: It’s common for small and medium-sized business owners to feel intimidated by the big name publications. They envision high-powered magazine editors schmoozing with big company CEOs and lining up interviews with well-known figureheads for the next six months. In reality, editors scramble daily to find people to interview who have knowledge on the latest trends and topics. Realize too that editors must find new and exciting people to interview either weekly or monthly, so the more knowledgeable people they can add to their database, the better. Make yourself stand out as a reliable information source and you will get the media’s attention.

Myth #6: Small publications don’t matter: Small publications are just as important as the big ones. Why? Because you never know who reads them. You may think that a magazine with a 10,000-15,000 circulation could never get your business the kind of publicity you want, but what if half of those readers were your target customers? Even better, what if your interview or article in a small publication prompted an editor from a large publication to call you? So target small publications as well as the large ones. As long as your information is interesting and accurate, you will gain more attention and get the publicity you need.

Myth #7: I don’t need print publicity now that I have profiles on social media sites: Don’t assume that you can abandon traditional PR tools just because you start having some success with social media marketing. It’s a useful and inexpensive element of publicity, but you also need the credibility and marketing from other traditional tools, such as print publicity in newspapers and magazines. In addition, some online reputation sites will give you a lower ranking if you don’t have anything in the “real world.” Just remember, you still need media exposure and a physical presence, in addition to your online presence.

Getting publicity is the best way to promote your business. And when you know the facts of the PR business, you can attain the publicity you need easily and then use it to your best advantage. With a constant stream of good publicity, your business is destined to grow.

Pam Lontos is owner of PR/PR, a public relations firm based in Orlando, FL.  A past vice president of Disney-owned Shamrock Broadcasting, she knows the media and how to get good publicity and how to use it to really boost your profits. Call for a free consultation at 407 299-6128 or see www.prpr.net.

The Top 5 Mistakes of Social Media Marketing

By Pam Lontos and Maurice Ramirez, Ph.D

As a business owner, you already know the importance of utilizing traditional PR – print, radio and TV exposure – to keep your name circulating in the marketplace. Now, however, there’s a new PR outlet you need to become familiar with. It’s called Social Media Marketing, and when combined with your traditional PR efforts, Social Media Marketing can help you penetrate the marketplace with your message quicker and easier than ever before.

What is Social Media Marketing? It’s utilizing the various social networking sites to enforce your brand and market your business. A social networking site is simply an online meeting place. Think of it like an eHarmony or Match.com for business people. On such sites, people can post a profile with the hopes of meeting other like-minded professionals for business reasons.

According to the Nielsen Research Group, social networks and blogs have moved ahead of personal e-mail among the most popular online activities people engage in. Additionally, USA Today reports that the time spent on these sites is growing three times faster than the overall Internet rate. More than two-thirds of the world’s online population now visits social networking and blogging sites.

Knowing this, it’s clear that if you haven’t yet engaged in Social Media Marketing, the time to start is now. But before you do, you need to be aware of the top mistakes businesses make with this PR outlet so you can avoid them and get the biggest return for your marketing investment.

Mistake #1: Having more than one face on the Internet: When you’re engaging in Social Media Marketing (called SMM from here on out) you’re really building your image from the ground up. The goal of SMM is to virally spread parts of your image across the Internet. The word “parts” is important. Basically, you’re starting with a holographic image of yourself in the virtual world. You then need to break that hologram apart and find the appropriate places on the Internet where you can frame certain pieces of that hologram.

When someone looks at all the pieces at the various sites, they should be able to put them together to see a single whole. They should not see multiple images of who you are, as that would ruin your credibility. Therefore, if you have multiple Facebook accounts, for example, your personal one has to be hidden and by invitation only. You don’t want that other image out there confusing people and possibly diminishing your reputation.

Mistake #2: Collecting friends: SMM is how you create instant buzz on the Internet by getting the same message out over and over. It’s spreading your message and getting yourself branded so you can get more business. Social networking, on the other hand, is about making friends. For example, you’ve likely seen someone on LinkedIn who has 25,000+ contacts. That’s great, but what do you do with all those contacts? Remember, just because you have a phone book in your office doesn’t mean you can open the book at random, pick a name, and call them for business.

When you collect a contact, you’re supposed to be opening the door to exchange information and build a relationship. Think of it as relationship marketing in the 21st century, and the same rules apply. The only difference is that you’re building the relationship online rather than over coffee.

Mistake #3: Putting out the wrong messages: You’ve likely seen people put posts on Twitter or Facebook that say something like, “John Smith is watching a great movie and eating popcorn.” Such messages may be fine for personal networks, but for business networks you need to put out messages that are useful to your readers. In other words, don’t talk about yourself. You want to give valuable tips and advice so that the people who read your posts want to repost them to their own sites. That’s how your message spreads virally.

The key is to keep your messages consistent. Remember that people are subscribing to various feeds in order to get your information. They are essentially saying that your message has value. That’s why you can’t do a series of sales tips and then post a couple of your favorite omelet recipes. You have to stay on message, and your message has to be for your readers.

With that said, it is okay to occasionally have a press release type message that says something like, “John Smith is speaking at ABC Convention on employee productivity today.” Such a message does two things: 1) It tells people they might not get a tip today or tomorrow because you’re busy, and 2) It shows that other big-wigs out there think your message is important. It’s a positive reinforcement that boosts your credibility, so long as you don’t do it too frequently.

Mistake #4: Posting inappropriate information: Don’t allow yourself or anyone on your site to post anything online that you don’t want your most conservative client to see. You never know where something will end up, especially since the nature of the Internet is for things to spread virally. For example, a CEO of a corporation had a picture of himself and his girlfriend on a topless beach in Mexico. In the photo she’s riding on his shoulders with her breasts exposed. For some reason, he decided to post the photo on his personal invitation-only Facebook site.

The only problem is that he was married. His wife (or rather, his now ex-wife) saw the photo. How? Someone on his invitation-only Facebook account thought it was a great picture and decided to repost it on the public Internet. To top it all off, his board of directors got wind of the photo and fired him. Now he’s no longer employable in that field or that position again. The moral of this story: Never post anything on any site that you wouldn’t personally show your own grandmother. 

Mistake #5: Assuming that it is better to have your message in only one place on the Internet: In the “old days” of the Internet, people believed they had to keep all their content on their own Web site. The theory was that spreading it out ruined your credibility and diminished your reputation as being a unique speaker. Not so today. In fact, with SMM, the opposite is true. The more places you can get your message to appear simultaneously, the more effective your message will be.

Think of it as constructing a funnel. You want to lay several trails of information, all of which lead to your main site. Therefore, no matter how someone stumbles upon you, as long as they “follow the trail,” they’ll eventually find you. That’s essentially what you’re doing with your Twitters and other SMM messages. You’re putting out kernels of information. If someone wants the next kernel, they have to follow the trail. Eventually it funnels them to one Web site, which is where you wanted them to be anyway. You’re creating an environment where people see your message everywhere. As a result, you now have their attention and you have the opportunity to sell your product, your services, or whatever you’re selling at that point of distribution.

Here’s an example of the power of funneling: Recently Aaron Chronester posted a message on Twitter. Someone saw his post and reposted it on their blog. CNN and the New York Times found the post interesting and reported on it. Because of that exposure, Chronester got a book deal from Simon and Schuster. So, what was his post about? Current events? Global warming? A tell-all celebrity biography? Nope. It was a Twitter post with a unique bacon recipe, as Chronester was trying to get publicity for a barbeque club he belonged to. That’s how powerful funneling your message can be.

Get Noticed with SMM: The marketplace is changing, and you have to change with it. Your name has to be everywhere – in print, on radio, on TV, and on the social networking sites. The more you can get your name and message circulating in the various mediums, the higher your chances of clients seeing your information and ultimately hiring you. Thanks to SMM you can get your message out to thousands of people in an instant. And the results are greater credibility, more exposure, and higher sales – all of which positively impact your bottom line.

Pam Lontos is owner of PR/PR, a public relations firm based in Orlando, FL.  A past vice president of Disney-owned Shamrock Broadcasting, she knows the media and how to get good publicity and how to use it to really boost your profits. Call for a free consultation at 407 299-6128 or see www.prpr.net.

Dr. Maurice A. Ramirez is co-founder of Disaster Life Support of North America, Inc., a national provider of Disaster Preparation, Planning, Response and Recovery education. Through his consulting firm High Alert, LLC., he serves on expert panels for pandemic preparedness and healthcare surge planning with Congressional and Cabinet Members. Board certified in multiple medical specialties, Dr. Ramirez is Founding Chairperson of the American Board of Disaster Medicine and a Senior Physician-Federal Medical Officer for the Department of Homeland Security. Cited in 24 textbooks with numerous published articles, he is co-creator of C5RITICAL and author of Mastery Against Adversity.