How to Get PR for Your Business -- Without a Publicity PR Company

If you've been wanting to get as much press as you can for your business without busting your bank by hiring a public relations firm, read Jason Calacanis of Silicon Alley Insider's 10 tips on how to get PR for your startup. His tips, though, are not for the faint of heart or the introverts (well, if you are seeking PR, chances are that you are not the shy type).

One of his amusing anecdotes is when he climbed down the stadium during a Knicks game in order to hand a copy of his Silicon Alley Magazine to John F. Kennedy Jr. That's chutzpah at its best! Though I don't think I would do that personally, his passion, confidence and belief in his business is worth emulating.

Your job is to transfer the enthusiasm you feel for your brand to everyone you meet.

His tips are:

1. Be the brand = you must be in love with your company, and proud to show it off to anyone and everyone. Wear tshirts with your company name. Talk to people about your business - all the time.

2. Be everywhere = go out and network, all the time. Attend industry events. Meet people in your industry. Of course, with your company name always visible in your person whether stickers in your laptop or wearing a company tshirt.

3. Always pick up the check = They say that the best way to a man's heart is through his stomach. And apparently, the same holds true when the best way to network is to pay for dinners. As Jason said, "In the real world break bread, don't trade contact information."

4. Be a human being = Understand that journalists and bloggers hate being pitched to. A better strategy is to develop relationships with the media organically and slowly.

5. How to bond with a journalist = If you want a journalist to take interest in you, take interest in them. Read their stories. Know what they write about. Even pronounce their name properly!

6. How a CEO should e-mail a journalist = Create direct, personal and honest relationships with journalists.

It's a very long piece, but well worth the time you'd spend reading it. Read the full article.

Choosing the Right Product Lines

When you open a store, whether brick and mortar or online, you start by thinking your store's concept. What is your store going to be? What image do you want to convey? What type of consumer do you want to reach? Then you move on to what products will you sell to convey the concept and image you have in mind.

Or at least that's how it is supposed to be.

I came across someone who wanted to open an online store selling military coins and eco-friendly stuff for babies and adults.

My first reaction was "Whaaaaat?" Military coins and eco-friendly items do not match at all -- they have two different markets, where a buyer of military coins may not even give a hoot about buying eco-friendly items. They are just so different from one another where it doesn't make sense to combine the two together.

It's one thing to launch a store where you offer anything and everything for one group of audience (e.g. store for women where you offer shoes, clothes, accessories, makeup, etc); or you are everything and anything for everyone like Amazon.com. But to offer two mismatched product lines with no common elements together is just courting for disaster.

When choosing the product lines to sell, the rule of thumb is simple: does it make sense to the customer?

If it makes sense to the customer, then you've won half the battle. The last thing you want is for a customer to go into your store, especially online, and get confused as to what you are really all about. You want products that your target market is interested in, so you won't have to work twice as hard and spend twice as much to reach two different clientele.

Take pregnancy mom clothes and baby clothes and baby accessories -- those two work well together. Your client -- the pregnant mom -- is highly likely to be interested in baby stuffs. So with one customer, you have a higher chance of getting more per sales from that one single person

If you sell eco friendly stuff for babies and adults, extend your product line to eco friendly and baby friendly home furnishings. Or even eco-friendly home cleaning products. You want to get more from each customer that goes into your store to help maximize your marketing expenses. A customer who wants eco friendly items for themselves and their babies is more likely to be interested in eco friendly items for the homes. If a person can buy 5 items from your store instead of just 1, then so much the better!

If you want to sell two mismatched items, it is better to create separate stores for them, and not shove them together in one store in an effort to save on domain name registration, hosting or other online store operating expenses.

Otherwise, you'll end up confusing the customer: what is your store really about? Why would I buy from you when I don't know what you are really selling? And you dont want that. This is basically the essence of branding, where you convey to your customers who you are and what you are about.

How to Build Your Brand

Many small and home-based business owners consider branding to be an exclusive domain of big companies. It is something that Coke, Nike, Apple, Disney and other companies with big marketing budgets engage in.

And this is often a big mistake. Many small businesses unfortunately fail to reap the benefits of having developed a strong brand -- or the process of establishing an emotional connection between the business and the customer.

Jeffrey Gitomer, in his book "The Little Red Book of Selling" has identified several ways a business can build a brand, even for 1-person businesses, and these are:

• Create demand for your product or service indirectly (through means other than direct advertising)
• Get the business community to have confidence in your business. Earn a reputation for quality performance so good that it’s talked about.
• Establish yourself as an expert. Why just be in the field, when you can be perceived on top of it?
• Register your name.com. Go to some name registration site and register your name as fast as you can.
• Dedicate time to make it happen. Or it won’t happen. If you want to make a lasting mark, it must be preceded with a master plan
• Get others to help you. List the people you think can help you or help you connect – and ask for their support. (The easiest way to get support? Give it first – without keeping score.
• Stay in front of the people you want to do business with. By combining your outreaches, you can create a steady flow of images to your target market. It takes between five and ten images to create awareness great enough to make a buying decision
• Become a resource. It’s much more powerful than someone perceiving you as a salesman or entrepreneur.
• Persistence and consistency are the secrets. If you’re good, have patience. Your phone will ring.
• Ignore idiots and zealots. There are a lot of jealous people and naysayers in the world.
• Become known as a person of action. The result of these actions will be a person who is known for getting things done – a leader.
  

Time to Start Thinking of a Strategy to Tap Social Networking Sites

Social networking is growing huge -- and it is only going to get bigger. In fact, according to Nielsen/Netratings , the darling of the social networking genre, MySpace, is the fastest growing Web brand in the US. Traffic of MySpace grew from 16.2 million unique visitors in July 2005 to 46 million in July 2006.

Looking at those numbers, you can’t help but think – is there a way to bring a slice of that huge pie to your site? How can you tap MySpace to further your business and bring traffic to your site?

My first impression with social networking sites is that their users are teens and youngsters; but I was actually surprised to learn that some sites attract a more mature audience. According to Comscore MediaMetrix , visitors to MySpace.com and Friendster.com are generally older, with people age 25 and older comprising 68 and 71 percent of their user bases, respectively. In fact, 40% of MySpace users are aged 35-54 (my age group!).

I’ve poked around MySpace to see how businesses are using the site. The artists have been among the first who saw the potential of social networking, with musicians and videographers posting their music and videos, and artists showing their paintings. I’ve seen some business coaches who are using the site to post their credentials with an invitation to meet those who “want to be millionaires” as they can definitely help achieve in achieving this goal.

Big businesses are also on board. Burger King has a MySpace profile for their mascot. Automobile manufacturers have pages for some of their brands such as Honda Element, Scion and Toyota Yaris.

One thing is common, though – their MySpace profiles are all about branding (after all, you can’t use MySpace to sell directly). More than that, these businesses do not use an “in your face” type of selling, but uses a more subtle and softer approach. It’s not “buy me, buy me, buy me” but more “get to know me and you’ll like me.”

I am not the MySpace crowd; I’m at the age when I don’t need to post my profile to meet new unseen friends on the Internet. But the question of how to capture the attention of social networking users for a product or service is something that every small business needs to start thinking about.

10 New Rules of Branding

Branding may be a marketing concept that is more commonly used by the big boys rather than small businesses, but it is an important ingredient in the success of a product. ChiefMarketer.com has an interesting article on the new rules of branding that even small businesses should consider:

1. Brands that influence culture sell more; culture is the new catalyst for growth.
2. A brand with no point of view has no point; full-flavor branding is in, vanilla is out.
3. Today's consumer is leading from the front; this is the smartest generation to have ever walked the planet.
4. Customize wherever and whenever you can; customization is tomorrow's killer whale.
5. Forget the transaction, just give me an experience; the mandate is simple: Wow them every day, every way.
6. Deliver clarity at point of purchase; be obsessive about presentation.
7. You are only as good as your weakest link; do you know where you're vulnerable?
8. Social responsibility is no longer an option; what's your cause, what's your contribution?
9. Pulse, pace, and passion really make a difference; had your heartbeat checked recently?
10. Innovation is the new boardroom favorite.

Read the full article

Brand and Marketing Trends for 2007

ChiefMarketer.com has an interesting article on brand and marketing trends for next year. The trends are more relevant to big marketers, but we small businesses can always learn from the big boys.

Here are the seven trends that marketing firm Brand Keys predict:

1. An ongoing emphasis on “engagement,” which is defined as “turning on a prospect to a brand idea enhanced by the surrounding context.”
2. More reliance on consumer-generated content.
3. More, more branded entertainment.
4. Media planning will become more “touch point” focused.
5. Using technology and engagement to better communicate with consumer expectations.
6. Expanding the potential of Websites, blogs, and the digital world.
7. Innovation and loyalty will matter more.

Read more about marketing trends from ChiefMarketer.com