First, you need to target your sources. You can go to the library at UMKC and get a media contact list. This will tell you who you need to send your Press Release to at which publication. Next, you need a good story. It must be real news, such as an award you’ve won, new service you provide, new member of your staff, etc. It also should tie into current events such as the economy or solve a common problem.

You will need to put together a pitch letter, the press release and a media kit or fact sheet about your company. You can see a template for the press release here. The fact sheet should cover, in one page, contact information, company overview, client description, service description, etc.

Now, you send your pitch to your targeted journalist. Make sure to contact them by phone as well. You might not get it printed, but keep at it. You can build relationships with journalists who might begin to call you as an expert on a story they’re writing. This means even more free publicity. There are also a number of online places you can submit your press release to as well such as PRweb.com.

I have merely scratched the surface of the techniques, resources and benefits of Press Release. For more information, you can read Duct Tape Marketing or employ a coach, such as Bill Brelsford. Or you can contact Kristin Wing of the firm AccelerAction. Both are experts and would be glad to help.

Now get out there and look good!

Chris Motley
Motley Creations

©2010 Motley Creations. All rights reserved.

Experts say that for social media to be effective, you need to spend about an hour a day on it. There are several companies around that can service your account for you at a cost. But there are ways you can get your feet wet by yourself.

One practice that will serve you well is the advanced search function. Let’s use Linked in as an example. Log in to your account and go to the search in the top right of the page. Change the word “people” to “Answers” in the drop down, then click advanced. Now type in keywords that have to do with your product or service. If your company sells cell phones, it might be “blackberry” or “battery issues”. I usually check “questions only” and all categories and then do a search. Then provide honest and helpful answers to the questions posted.

In this way you build trust and qualify a prospect who has shown that they have a need. Once you have done this for a while, you will build enough relationships to form your own group. You can then invite people you have helped to join. Now you are seen as an expert, you have found an audience in need and you have a way to contact each one.

This is one way to get your name out and build a reputation. But be careful. Don’t try to hard sell, censor comments or post false information. And especially don’t use it as a way to spam - you’ll drive people away.

Now get out there and look good!

Chris Motley
Motley Creations

©2010 Motley Creations. All rights reserved.

You’ve already qualified them according to my previous article “Referral Partners“. How do you go about preparing for that meeting?

1. Make a list

Figure out what companies or Industries are great clients for you. In Motley Creations case, it would be telecom companies, or more generally, businesses that sell a technical product to the general public that need user guides and getting started guides. Look at your current client list and draw your answers from there.

2. Social Media

Look up the person you are meeting on LInkedIn, Plaxo, and even facebook. What you are looking for here is their connections. Look through every person they know and compare it to your list of potential clients. Find specific contacts that can get you in the door at these companies. Make a comprehensive list to present to your referral partner. Don’t ask for all the contacts at once – You don’t want to show up with 50 names – Let’s say 10 is a good number.

3. Reciprocate

Be prepared to do the same thing you are asking of your referral partner. It MUST be a 2-way street to be successful. You might even share this article, so they can be prepared as well.

A well maintained relationship with a referral partner can be a gold mine for both businesses. It takes very little time or money, and the chances of closing the sale greatly improve. As with anything, you get what you put into it. If you expect to get; you must give. Spend the time, and the rewards are fantastic.

Now get out there and look good!

Chris Motley
Motley Creations

©2010 Motley Creations. All rights reserved.

Let’s cover some basic principles of advertising that will help with your ads:

1. People are walking around think about 1 person - not you.

While there is a time and place to extol your virtues, your ads are not the place. Consumers want to know what’s in it for them. Address a pain or pleasure and provide a solution for them.

2. Purchasing is an emotional decision.

If this weren’t true, credit card companies would go out of business. People respond to images and text that pull their heart strings. If you are selling widgets for kids, rather than just show the widget, show a happy child playing with the widget. this is more likely to get the parents attention. Pleasing or stirring images will catch consumers attention more than plain photos of your product and droning text about all your features and benefits. Make them comfortable with you.

3. Keep it simple

If an ad is inundated with offers and other services you provide, there will be confusion and ultimately no action will be taken. Be direct. Clever and surprising messages can be effective but not if the message is lost. Focus on one product or service. Tell them what they receive by acting now. Make this action trackable. Point them to your website for more details about you and other services you provide. You can develop a special landing page to keep track of who responds.

You need to be attuned to who your target audience is and what makes them tick. You need to know their likes and dislikes, what clubs they belong to, where they get their news, and what political and religious beliefs they adhere to. The more you know about them, the easier it is to appeal to them.

Now get out there and look good!

Chris Motley
Motley Creations

©2010 Motley Creations. All rights reserved.

Wikipedia states that content marketing is the creation or sharing of content for the purpose of engaging current and potential consumer bases. It subscribes to the notion that delivering high quality, relevant and valuable information drives profitable consumer action.

Producing compelling and entertaining video content allows you to publish not only on your site, but on several free portals available including Facebook, Linked-In and Youtube to name a few. A McCann Worldwide survey in 2007 found that active Internet users are 82.9% likely to watch videos - more than read blogs. This presents very real opportunities for you.

These videos are an effective method for providing insight on a company’s culture, products and people - there by raising a prospects comfort level. As purchasing is an emotional decision, this is of great value to every company.

Because of the social nature of the Internet, clever videos can become viral videos and be passed around - reaching a much larger audience. In other words, thanks to social media, you no longer have to pay for the delivery method.

I recently became acquainted with a video company called, Proffer Productions, that I believe will be a valuable asset to any company. Don Proffer, the owner, was gracious enough to provide content for this article. You can learn more about Proffer Productions at www.ProfferProductions.com.

Now get out there and look good.

Chris Motley
Motley Creations

Recently, DARPA (The agency who should actually take credit for inventing the Internet – 40 years ago) held a contest to see if networking over the the Web could actually enable a group of people to collectively solve problems.

The premise was fairly simple. 10 red weather balloons were  “hidden” in various spots across the United States. To win, a team had to locate all 10 balloons using social networking over the Web. The first team to do so would receive 40 thousand dollars.

And here’s where the story gets interesting. How long did it take for the winning MIT team to solve the puzzle? A couple months? Nope. A couple weeks? No – Less than 9 hours! Not only did they manage to cover a search area totaling 3,537,441 square miles to locate all of the balloons, but they did it in the amount of time you spend at the office. How’s that for a good days work?

Twitter and Facebook can actually be used to mobilize a group to solve problems over massive distances and act in a mutually beneficial way. Case in point, MIT took half of the proceeds from the win and paid the collaborators, who helped solve the puzzle, a set sum for each balloon and donated the other half to charity. So, with a strong reward/benefit message you can reach millions of people and produce results.

The fact of the matter is that we, as a community, are only using the smallest portion of the Internet’s true potential. With creative thinking and problem solving, we could do so much more.

Now get out there and look good!

Reference:

https://networkchallenge.darpa.mil/default.aspx
http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/tech/2009/12/05/intv.long.balloon.hunt.cnn.html
http://civic.mit.edu/news/media-labs-riley-crane-on-colbert-report

©2010 Motley Creations. Use by permission only.

While all of the above are important, I want you to consider the 80/20 rule. 80% of your time should be spent in contact with your current clients. Not only meeting their needs, but asking for referrals. Let your satisfied clients become your biggest advocates. 20% of your time can be used in finding new clients.

There is a marketing principle you should understand. Finding new clients is what’s called unknown to unknown - you don’t know them, they don’t know you. While you should spend time in this endeavor, your success rate will be much higher with known to known. That is, you know them and they know you, perhaps through one of your satisfied customers.

It could sound something like this:

YOU: Hey Joe, can I ask you why you hired us in the first place?

JOE: Your pricing was fair and you came highly recommended.

YOU: Thanks Joe. Did you receive anything from our company that surprised you? Maybe above an beyond your expectations?

JOE: I was pleasantly surprised with your responsiveness. You handled all our issues in a timely manner. I also liked how you really listened to us and focused on our needs.

YOU: Thank you Joe for the kind words. Can I ask you one final question?

JOE: Sure.

YOU: Do you know anybody who could use a highly recommended, fairly priced service like ours that listens to their clients, is focused on meeting their needs and is very responsive?

Let your client become your advocate. As a consumer, I’d rather hear your clients say you are good rather than you say it. Your chance of closing the sale goes from 10% (cold call) to anywhere from 70% to 90% with the right kind of referral.

Now get out there and look good.

Chris Motley
Motley Creations
©2009 Motley Creations. Use by permission only.

Consider sites like Apple. They are a computer/phone hardware and software company; Yet their site is filled with items like movie trailers, training, news, forums, stores, free downloads and several other incentives to get you to come back. In this way, they generate more traffic that will learn of their new products and services with little money spent. Pretty smart, I’d say. The worst thing you can hear from a client is “I didn’t know you provided that product/service”.

Some of the fundamentals are just plain horse sense. For instance, easy navigation and clean design are essential. People must be able to scan and find what they need quickly. Drop the spinning whirly gigs unless that’s what you’re selling. Many people want a large amount of “action” on their page. I liken it to trying to read a book while a 3 year old is running back and forth in front of you. Not good.

Know your audience and what they like. Use Google analytics (free) to see what content they interact with on a consistent basis. Use this to help you plan for updating your content. Updating is essential. If nothing changes, there is no reason to return.

There are several weapons to choose from when adding to your site. Video content, which is the most searched item on the internet, is a great plus. You can add training and product videos and even funny videos from places like youtube.com. Content is king – so fresh articles, news and RSS feeds are a great addition. Interactivity in the form of blogs, forums, widgets, games and tools are also good. Finally you might consider having a list of helpful links for your clients to choose from. If done right, this list will also help with your standing in search engines.

Now get out there and look good.

Chris Motley
Motley Creations
©2009 Motley Creations. Use by permission only.

1. Know your audience: Know who buys from you. Know where they shop, what clubs they belong to, how they get their news, what they read. This will help you decide where it the most effective place to spend your money.

2. Plan the work and work the plan: You have a marketing budget right now whether you know it or not. You buy business cards, you network, you have a website, etc. Instead of randomly spending money as the need arises, figure out what that budget is. Take the results from #1 and your budget and develop a plan to reach your target audience. In this way you will be able to make better decisions about when and where to spend your money.

3. Use integrated marketing strategies: PPC, SEO, Link trading, ads, signage, media, social media, blogs, article writing, public speaking, banner ads - these are just a few of the ways you can build brand recognition. The more the public hears about you, the more credibility you have.

4. Measure everything: There are services that can generate phone numbers that will ring in your office. These services can record the calls to evaluate your staff, keep track of who calls from what ad and even give you information on someone who hangs up before you answer. There are also several free tools including google analytics that can show you ROI on your web marketing results. Technology these days makes everything measurable.

5. Strategize: Take the results of all of the above and make smart decisions on where your marketing dollars are most effective. Set time aside on your calendar to look into your results. Do this monthly, quarterly and annually. Make adjustments where needed. There is no magic bullet. You have to change with the times.

Now get out there and look good.

Chris Motley
Motley Creations

©2009 Motley Creations. Use by permission only.

I’ve been in your shoes. It’s a little like a dog trying to run on linoleum. A lot of action and no progress.

Networking groups aren’t bad, it’s just that there are companies that are not tapping into the same client base as you. And, there are a lot of members who don’t know the difference between a referral and a lead. No fault of there own, they just haven’t been trained.

Let me introduce you to a concept that will use your valuable time more efficiently. It’s called “Referral Partners”. This is something I learned from taking “9 steps to productive prospecting” from SalezWorks. I’m going to cover a few basic principles in this article.

1. BIRDS OF A FEATHER: Nobody comes to me and says “hey Chris, that was an outstanding on-line campaign you set up for my company, where can I get my home refinanced?”. Find companies that stand right next to yours but that don’t step on your toes. In my case, It’s easy for me to refer clients to sales training, specialized marketing consultants, printers, media buyers, etc. They are related industries but not competitors.

2. TIME IS MONEY: I can have lunch with one of my referral partners once a month at a fraction of the time and cost it takes to go to a networking function. And, we know exactly how to give referrals to each other. We train each other on the best methodology. The time spent is very productive and profitable for both.

3. CHOOSE WISELY: If you are meeting with a potential referral partner, give them your elevator speech, and then, tell them to tell you more about their company. If they talk for the rest of the hour without getting back to what a good client for you is, they are going to take more than they give. Run, don’t walk, away from that meeting.

The facts above barely scratch the surface of the total concept. I highly recommend contacting Breanden Filbert or Greg Furstner to find out more. The classes are high impact in a short period of time - much like drinking from a fire hose. You’ll have to contact SalezWorks at www.SalezWorks.com to find out about scheduling so you can take the class yourself and learn the actual methodology.

Now get out there and look good.

Chris Motley
Motley Creations

©2009 Motley Creations. Use by permission only.