Tips for Using Social Media to Boost your Traditional PR Campaign

November 23, 2011 Leave a comment

There are times you can reach the traditional media using some nontraditional means.  Blogging, social media and online wire services can offer unique approaches to garnering coverage in print, TV and radio.  For example, sometimes the best way to contact a writer, editor or producer is through the back door.  For example, if you’re looking to garner a placement in the Wall Street Journal or Time Magazine, an approach could be to blog on one of their stories.  Newsweek and other publications have added blog round up boxes on their sites.  What they basically do is report on readers who have blogged about one of their articles.  Try picking a publication that’s of interest to you and blog on one of the articles.  Now link it using a backtrack line and then submit that to Technorati.com.  If all goes as planned, your blog will be reported and they in turn will link to you.  At least that’s how it should go.  If you’re up for a new approach, give it a shot.

Another way to keep in touch with, or at least in front of journalists is via social media sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.  Twitter can definitely be useful since it moves so quickly and new information is constantly being posted.  Some journalists will tweet when they’re looking for experts to interview.  They’ll also post articles that they find of interest or previous articles they’ve written.  This is a great way to get a real sense of an individual writer’s interests, likes and dislikes.

Twitter Tips
You can also be proactive in your approach.  Tweet stories that aren’t necessarily direct pitches but that show your interest in that particular field.  If you find something that will possibly interest a particular journalist, Tweet it.  And when he or she Tweets something you find of interest comment on it or reweet in.  Interaction is fine, just don’t spend your time trying to sell or pitch. When you find something you think a journalist might enjoy, share it. And when he or she shares an interesting article or tweets something entertaining, feel free to comment and interact.  Remember the name of the game here is connecting and sharing – not selling and pitching.  Still, on those occasions that you do find that perfect story to pitch, go for it, but present it in a way that you’re bringing value to the table.  Do not use social media as a way to constantly pitch.  You’ll quickly overstay your welcome and lose a valuable connection.

Sharing Your Press Release
Using paid wire services isn’t something I generally recommend, unless your story is amazingly timely, has a celebrity tie in, or has to do with a breaking news story.  Your best approach is to send your press releases to a targeted media list and following up with phone calls.  Still, posting your releases on free wire services, and (judiciously) posting your release on social media sites can help.  If your release has enough useable information on it, you might find that some media outlets as reprinting your release as a short article.  Articles that offer tips, or secrets or bust myths can be the most effective.  For example: 5 insider tips to a perfect body or 5 secrets to perfecting your golf swing, or The Skinny on 5 weight loss myths.  Something else to consider is offer 7 insider tips, only cover 4 of them in the release and end it with the link to your website or blog to find the rest of the tips.

All of these are different ways to get your message and pitch in front of your target media.  Using trial and error, find the methods that work best for you and then stick with them.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2011

Filed under Marketing, PR, traditional media Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

How to Maximize Local PR

August 18, 2011 Leave a comment

Whereas I’m a big believer in going national if you have a strong story, there is a lot to be said for regional and local PR coverage.  If you live in a major media city such as Los Angeles or New York, local media placement can be challenging because in a sense many of the outlets in those cities offer a more national slant; plus, simply because of the sheer numbers in those cities, the competition is fierce.  But, even in major cities, if you shift your focus from the primary outlets and concentrate on the smaller more community based newspapers and magazines you can launch a local-oriented campaign.

Keep in mind what interests local media are local stories.  You need to understand their audience and their needs.  Their focus is community based.  For example if you are based in or you were born in Boise, Idaho and you’re pitching the local newspapers or TV stations, your tie to that city is your lead.  If you were pitching the Today Show or Time magazine, where you’re from or where you were born is generally incidental, unless it directly impacts the story.

Reference local events and/or partner when possible.  When putting on your own event, use local resources.  Pick a person or a brand that is well recognized in the community.  If there is a local cause you can get involved with, do so.  Connect with causes and charities that directly impact the area.

If you have a personal story that has a local slant to it, use it.  Maybe a story as to how you built your business, or a story about how your product, service or company helped transform the life of someone else who lives in the community.  The media loves transformational stories, so offer them one with a strong local hook.

Study the local media outlets.  Research the types of stories they do, the style they use as well as their tone and approach.  You want to pitch towards their needs.  The more you study and learn about your local media outlets, the better prepared you’ll be to pitch them stories they can use.

Remember to tie in holiday oriented stories and pitches.  Do something fun or different or interesting.  Give it some thought.  Don’t just stick to the main holidays; remember St. Patrick’s Day or even April Fools Day.  But always give your pitch a local slant.  Remember you’re drilling down, pitching narrow, not wide.

And don’t forget to amplify and magnify your local media coverage using social media. Whenever you get a newspaper or magazine story, or a segment on local TV, make sure and place links to those media hits on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other social media sites.  And guess what, by posting your story on the internet; you’ve now turned that local story into a national and even international story.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2011

Filed under business, Business Strategy, Media, Media Exposure, Media Relations, PR, social media, traditional media Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Media Pitching Lessons

July 13, 2011 1 Comment

To have yourself, your service or your product featured in the media, you need to effectively pith the media.  It’s an art.  By appearing in the media you create a bridge between your company and your clients or customers.  You also build your brand by establishing credibility that only comes with being featured as a news story.  Your best bet is to hire a public relations firm or PR consultant to develop, launch and implement your media relations campaign for you.  It can be a tricky business and you can often do yourself more harm than good by trying it on your own.  But, if money is tight and you’re not in a position to retain a firm, you don’t have to wait to get started.  There are some PR tips and secrets you can try.  With that in mind, the following is a pitching overview.

One approach to pitching a story is to use statistics in order to introduce your topic.  Let’s say you represent a skin care company and are doing a pitch to beauty consumer magazines or trade publications. You could start your pitch with a stat similar to the one below:

According to Skin Inc. “The markets in both Europe and the United States have seen positive gains in 2010. Europe has recovered posting a 3.0% increase following a 3.3% decline in 2009, and sales in the United States have increased by 2.7%.”

It may or may not be the right stat to lead with because it entirely depends on the specific angle or pitch you want to present. If you’re pitching a story about how the skin care arena is growing, look for statistics that back that up.  You can use one of two angles, one being that more and more people are using skin care and your product is at the leading edge of this boom, and the other being that your product or services are unique within this growing field.  Lead with the statistics to grab the media’s attention then follow with you particular pitch or angle.

It’s now time to make your specific pitch.  Remember you are not pitching a product or a service, you are pitching a story.  Don’t approach it from your perspective, but from that of the media.  Sure you want to sell more products and land more customers, but the media wants to tell a compelling story that interests it’s readers and helps it’s ratings. So when pitching, appeal to the media’s needs.

Now that you have the media’s interest, let them know that you have an expert who can address their needs.   Give your qualifications and explain why you are indeed an expert. Even it you’re pitching a product; it helps immensely to present yourself as an expert.  Remember, you don’t want to present a product spokesperson, but a true expert in the field of beauty and skincare; one who can talk about the product but can also discuss the latest trends, ingredients and changes in the field.  If you’ve been featured in other media outlets, let them know.  It makes the media feel more confident in your abilities if they realize that you’ve been in the media before.  If you haven’t that’s fine, but establish why you are an expert.

Finally, close with other topics and angles that you can address or comment on. Who knows, they might pass on your original pitch, but book you for one of the other suggestions.  More importantly the media will begin to see you as an expert in your field.  Those are the ones that get placed in the media rolodex, and that’s just where you want to be.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2011

Filed under business, Public Relations, traditional media Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Talk Shows Rule Daytime TV – Now Learn how To Book Yourself

June 29, 2011 1 Comment

Recently ABC announced that it was canceling its long-running soap operas All My Children and One Life to Live and replacing them with two new one-hour daytime talk shows, The Revolution and The Chew.

All My Children premiered on the ABC Television Network on January 5, 1970, as a half-hour show; seven years later it expanded to an hour. “One Life to Live” debuted on July 15, 1968 and marked its 10,000th episode on August 17, 2007.   But times have changed and now reality-oriented talk shows rule the daytime.

The Revolution will be a weight-loss show co-hosted by “Project Runway” emcee Tim Gunn. The Chew have a food slant and will offer a “rotating cast” of hosts that includes chef Mario Batali, Top Chef’s Carla Hall, chef Michael Symon, nutrition expert Daphne Oz, and entertaining expert Clinton Kelly.

These two shows are just some of the more current offerings to an already crowded daytime lineup which will also include such newcomers as Anderson Cooper, Katie Couric, Rosie O’Donnell and Fran Dresher.  Add them to such returning old guards such as Dr. Phil, Ellen The Dr. Oz Show, The Gayle King Show, The Talk, The View, Rachel Ray and Martha Stewart and you have a pretty full day of talk.  Chances are not all of these shows will survive and they will all be fighting one another for the elusive ratings.

This time around there is no Oprah in the mix.  For the first time in decades, a new show truly has a chance to jump out of the pack and claim the daytime crown.  So, if you’re an expert in your field, or someone who has written a book or have a service or product that fits one of the shows’ target markets; get ready to start pitching.  The shows don’t start until September, except for a few such as the Revolution, which is scheduled to launch in January.  But by late July producers are setting up their booking schedules.

Don’t make the mistake of blindly pitching every talk show the same way.  Study each show and see what type of segments they run; then tailor your pitch or press release to meet those criteria.  Remember  follow-up calls are important. They’re the only way to know that your press release has actually been read. And, just as important, by following up, you can find out if the press release did its job and generated interest. If the release didn’t do the trick, you can now add the human touch. If the response is no, you can offer other angles, but do it lightly and then exit gracefully. Don’t waste your time trying to convince the media why you are right or trying to make a hard sale. Your objective is to meet their needs and not by pitching a product or a service, but by giving them a good, compelling story.  Work on your PR pitch before you call. Do some pitch practicing, even if it’s just with a friend. Record a call and listen to how you sound. Don’t sound intimidated and certainly don’t try to intimidate. Be upbeat and polite.   Remember study each show and pitch towards their needs.  It might take some time, but if you stick to it, brainstorm and come up with some creative pitches – we’ll see you on the talk shows.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2011

Filed under soap operas, Talk Shows, target audience, traditional media, TV, tv interview, tv shows Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Traditional plus Social Media: The Beauty Biz Success Secret

June 24, 2011 Leave a comment

According to research conducted by The NPD Group, Inc., a leading market research company, in 2010, total  U.S. prestige beauty generated $8.4 billion, an increase of 4 percent in dollars, compared to $8.19 billion in 2009.

Beauty is a huge market and that figure does not take into consideration all brands and products.  The bottom line is that beauty sells.  As with fashion and entertainment a beauty-oriented company needs to develop a strong brand in order to be truly successful and nothing is more effective for creating a powerful brand and brand awareness than PR and media relations.   Through public relations your product or service is positioned as a news story, not as an ad or a commercial.  Through the media, you are also positioned as an expert in the field, as a beauty guru.  Soon the media starts coming to you to learn the latest beauty or skin care tips and secrets.  You help define beauty and style trends, while positioning both you and your company via the media.

You can then meld a blogging and social media campaign with your traditional media campaign.  For example, if you receive coverage in your local newspaper on your salon, or your new product line, you can take that article and link it on your blog as well as on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Digg and other social sites.  You have now turned a local article into a national article.  Or conversely, you can tape a very cool, interesting segment and post it on YouTube.  In the beauty world you can be a bit outrageous, so make it fun, make it interesting, give it attitude.  Now using your blog, Facebook, Twitter and other online venues, try and create a buzz around that video.  If you generate enough interest you can then pitch your YouTube phenomena to the mainstream media and garner media coverage in print and TV.  That’s not a slam dunk, and requires work and some creative thinking, but we’ve done it, so it is possible.

The key to a successful beauty PR campaign is to create a compelling story around your product or service.  Make it interesting, stylish, and compelling.  Always keep your target market in mind. Then study the media outlets that reach your target market.  Now develop a number of different stories to pitch to a variety of different media outlets.  Each media source has needs and interests that are specific to it.  The primary secret to launching an effective media relations campaign is to focus on what the various media outlets need, and pitch each outlet accordingly.  For example, beauty trade publications will be interested in a business angle, whereas your local media will respond to a pitch with a local slant and a national TV show is going to be more willing to run with a story that has a strong visual component.  Being in the beauty field offers you strong visuals, so be creative and use them.  Also remember that the ingredients, the look and the packaging itself can offer you a compelling story.  If you use eco-friendly packaging, or if your ingredients are non allergenic, or if you utilize customer recycling initiatives, these can all be angles you can pitch to the media.

More and more, savvy beauty-oriented companies are spending zero on traditional advertising and utilizing a creative mix of traditional public relations combined with a creative blogging and social media campaign to build their business, grow their brand and achieve success in the beauty biz.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2011

Filed under beauty, Beauty Industry PR, beauty products, Marketing, PR, traditional media, TV Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

PR: The Play

June 22, 2011 Leave a comment

An office.  Two men are sitting at a table.  One is talking very animatedly.  The other is listening and occasionally taking notes.  

Client:  You don’t understand, this is a story that the media will pay you to pitch them.  Listen, I know PR.  I could probably teach you a few things.

PR Consultant:  I’m not quite sure about the way you want it presented.  I mean the fact that you can change people’s lives is great.  But we need to show the media how you do that.  We need to offer them transformational stories with a strong narrative.

Client:  Just tell them to read my book.

PR Consultant:  You can’t always count on them reading your book.  We need to give them short, concise easy to understand pitches that will offer them a good story.  We need to pitch a story that meets the media’s needs.

Client:  (Irritated) What do you mean they won’t read my book?  Do you know how long it took me to write that book?  Do you know how much time, effort, money, blood, sweat and tears went into creating that book? (Raising his voice)  And now you’re telling me they won’t read my book?

PR Consultant:   Some will, but our job is to get them to talk about your book, to get them to interest the public in buying and reading your book.

Client:  Well that’s your job.  Do it.  And besides, I’m telling you, it’s easy.  As soon as they hear about my book and read it they are all going to be begging me to go on the show or to do interviews with me.  I’m telling you.  This is basically shooting fish in a barrel.  You should be paying me.

PR Consultant:  Believe me no campaign is easy.  What we need are stories that grab the media’s attention.  The way we do that is by pitching them stories that will appeal to their readers, viewers or listeners.  We need to think backwards from their perspective.  Once we meet their needs, we’ll meet yours.

Client: (Starting to lose his patience) I’m telling you; just explain to them that I change lives.  There’s really no one else out there like me.  I can’t believe Oprah went off the air.  She would have begged to have me on

PR Consultant:   What we need are specifics.  We need specific stories that we can pitch to women’s magazines, news publications, talk shows, etc.  That’s what I wanted to go over today, specific stories on how what you do changed the lives of people you’ve worked with.  Their transformational stories are your best stories.  For example, when representing a physician, I’ll focus on patient stories, that way you can see the impact, the transformation and people relate to that.

Client:  You don’t get it, this isn’t about my clients: it’s about me!  I don’t see why you just don’t send them my book and then call them and get me on national TV.  You’re making this much more complicated than it needs to be.  I tell you once they read my book, it’s a done deal.  This is easy; I should have my own TV show by next season, right?

                                                                                                Lights Fade: End Act One

Yep, true story.  He wasn’t a bad guy, he simply didn’t understand the process or the media’s needs.  More importantly, he didn’t want to take the time to learn how the process works, educate himself and pitch towards his strengths.  What I needed were short, concise, transformational stories.  I needed to be able to show the media how he transformed people’s lives.  To him it was obvious.  It was all about him and it was all in his book.  But the story was not about him, it was about how he changed people’s lives.  His client’s stories were his best story.

As to having the media read the book, the trouble is that nine times out of ten the media’s not going to take the time to read it.  They’re going to look at the cover, read the back page and read a press release.  And you have to sell them on the story then and there.  It had a second act and a good ending.  We met again and were able to come up with some specific story ideas that grabbed the media’s interest and his PR campaign was a successful one.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2011

Filed under business, PR, Public Relations, small business, traditional media, TV Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Obama’s “Birther” PR Mistake

April 28, 2011 Leave a comment

Orly Taitz will earn a brief footnote in history as the “Birther” movement leader.  She was at the forefront of a movement of Birthers who doubt that the president’s birth place was the United States. She famously took the issue to a California court to find out if Obama was U.S. citizen and to hold a special presidential election if he wasn’t.  Since then the movement and the intensity of volume has increased.  Donald Trump took up the issue and found yet another way to get the mainstream media to interview him.

This red herring would serve as the comic relief in a play.  Trouble is that all of the players have taken it seriously and it went from a side note to a major plot point.  It is understandable that those in the Obama camp would think enough is enough; they’re going to release the long-form of the birth certificate and put an end to this foolishness.  The flaw in that logic is that there is absolutely no logic behind the Birther movement and it is not a movement in search of logic or facts.

If there was video that showed President Obama being born and that video was released to the media, it wouldn’t matter a bit.  The Birther movement revolves around accusations and diversions and you do not (and more importantly you cannot) battle that type of attack, at least via the media, with facts.  This is akin to a religious cult; you are not going to weaken their faith with something as cumbersome as reality.  This is also a politically motivated buzz.  It is a dangerous game.  Push it too far and the American middle ground is going to tire of the noise and relegate Birthers to the status of reality stars.  America loves to watch and listen to reality stars, but no one takes them seriously.

Obama’s strategic PR mistake was that he in fact did begin to take them too seriously.  He then took them on with proof and details.  A losing game: not unlike trying to put out fire with gasoline.  He hurled the long-form birth certificate at them.  He went at them with facts.  Wrong move.  It now looks as though he feels he needs to prove himself, or defend his voracity.  It would get annoying as hell to hear those charges made day after day and listen to the silence of the Republican leadership, but that’s politics.  Hey the longer his rivals focus on his birth certificate the less the focus is on high gas prices and a struggling economy.   My advice would be to hold course and let them wail.  That’s not a bad trade off.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2011

Filed under Media, Politics, Public Relations, traditional media, TV Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

How to Use the (New & Old) Media To Build Your Business & Land More Clients

March 9, 2011 Leave a comment

In the last decade the media world has changed in ways few of us could have imagined.  Warhol would be proud.   Not long ago traditional media and marketing was the only avenue to get your message out there.  When it came to the media, a handful of editors and producers decided what was covered.  Now all of that has changed, the floodgates have opened.  The internet has not only changed what the media covers, it makes news.  The media terrain has morphed.  Although there are more avenues and outlets, the market has become so diffused that it’s more and more challenging to find venues that:

1) Give real information

2) Reach a specific audience or market.

3) Have a strong audience base

4) Meet your media goals

TV shows and print publications used to be the public’s main sources for news, politics, entertainment and information.  Although they are still incredibly important, they no longer have the reach or the impact they once did.    Those outlets once served as the primary venues for exposure and media coverage. They are still tremendously important and need to be a part of your promotional or marketing campaign, but they are now only one part of the media mix.

The traditional media outlets are morphing, and online, social media avenues are growing on a daily basis.  Whereas many newspapers are folding and more information is going online, simply promoting yourself or your company on the internet is not the end-all marketing-wise.  Internet marketing and social media are important but those avenues do not offer the validation and legitimacy of appearing in the traditional media.  The net is democratic, anyone can post information online.  The downside is that there is very little vetting and fact checking.  Overall, the internet is the Wild West of information.  Marketing online may get your message out there, but simply being on the net is not enough.  That type of exposure seldom offers you the credibility or validation that being featured in a TV, magazine or newspaper news story will.

You want the reach of the net with the credibility of traditional media.  The most effective approach is a strategic marketing mix.  You can reach your target market and gain validation and credibility through effective PR, and then utilize your coverage in the mainstream media on the Internet to amplify and maximize your message. You need a comprehensive, inclusive marketing strategy that includes the new and the old media in order to build your business, land more customers and make more money.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2011

 

Filed under Marketing, PR, social media, traditional media Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

How to Find Prospects and Clients Using PR

September 28, 2010 Leave a comment

You’re looking to grow your business, build your client base, and find new customers.  What’s the best way to find clients?  Should you cold call? Use direct mail? Network? Advertise? Use social media? AdWords?  All of those can work, depending on your business.

The best way to find clients is to actually have them find you.  It’s a very different conversation when prospective clients contact you than when you make cold calls or initiate conversations with prospects who don’t know who you are.  Think of how different it would be for a client to call and ask if he or she could hire you.  That would be a truly motivated client.

But how do you change the dynamics? How do you shift the playing field so that your prospects are the ones that are initiating the conversation?  One tried and true answer is to establish yourself as an expert in your field and the most effective way to accomplish that is through an effective PR campaign. A well thought out public relations campaign can frame you as the story and establish you as the expert.  By being featured on TV and radio or in magazines and newspapers, you separate yourself from the competition; you are presented as a news story, not as an ad or a commercial.  That changes the equation.  Now prospective clients or customers who are in need of your type of service or product will contact you because you’ve established yourself as the authority, or your product has been featured as one of the best, or in a new product page, or you’ve been quoted.  On the marketing end, that type of media coverage encourages viewers, readers and listeners to take action, whether that be making an appointment, purchasing a product, or visiting a store.

When it comes to PR and media relations, bottom line comes down to offering a good compelling story that also educates and informs.  By presenting yourself as an expert, and an educator, both the media and the public will turn to you for information and advice. And, when they’re looking to purchase a product or service in your field, you’ll be at the top of the list.

It’s said that we are judged by the company we keep. By being featured in the media you’re in the company of the newsworthy, and because of your association, you have suddenly leaped ahead of your competition.  Via press coverage, you and your message will enter homes and businesses, not as an ad or commercial, but as a news story. When people seek you out, they will be seeking you out as a specialist, as someone who the media deems important enough to be featured in the press. You’ll have gained two things no amount of advertising could ever buy you – validation and credibility.

Media coverage also gives your customers and prospects a sense of urgency.   By being featured on TV or in print, you and your company will be viewed as timely and news worthy.  That drives action, which results in motivated prospects and more clients.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2010

Filed under advertising, business, Business Strategy, Marketing, marketing strategy, Media, news, PR, PR Campaign, Public Relations, publicity, traditional media Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Demonstrating Your Value to Your Prospects

August 20, 2010 Leave a comment

You know what your company’s value is.  You understand why your products or service are so important to your target market.  You understand what makes you unique, what separates you from the others in your field.  You can explain exactly what makes you and your company so amazing.  The sad truth is that your customers don’t really care about your bio, how great you are, how long you’ve been around, etc.  What your clients and customers care about is what you can do for them; how you can make their life easier, how you can save them time, money, help grow their business.  What they want to know is how they’ll be better off by buying your product, or using your service, or working with your company.

It’s important to know what your prospective client’s needs are and how you can meet them.  Focus on how you can solve their problems not on singing the praises of your company.  This sounds easy, but it can be tricky.  The confusing part is that your prospects aren’t always exactly sure what they want.  Often if you don’t ask, they won’t tell you.  If you misjudge their needs you might give a great pitch but it will fall on deaf ears.  Your job is to determine what your prospects needs and wants are and then illustrate how you can meet those.  As I mentioned, this can be a bit of a mind field.  If you’re giving a one-on-one pitch, you have the luxury of asking specific questions, but in your marketing, advertising or public relations efforts, you need to make sure you are addressing the specific needs of your target market.  Often a company can address several needs or issues, and different clients will be looking for solutions to different individual needs.

Each business meets different needs.  There are times when a business is meeting needs that the business owner is not even aware of.  For example you might think you’re selling someone a car as a means of transportation.  In fact transportation could just be an afterthought, what some clients are buying is style, or comfort, or security.  Let’s take my business for example.  Our focus is PR, media relations, blogging and social media.   Clients come to us for various reasons.

Through a PR campaign, they want to:

1. Reach their target market via the press and the media.

2. Sell more products.

3. Land more clients and/or business opportunities.

4. Position themselves via the media in front of investors

5. Introduce a new product or service to the marketplace.

6. Establish themselves as experts in their field.

7. Establish themselves as a professional at the top of their field.

8. Gain credibility and validation by being featured in the news.

9. Save marketing and advertising dollars via a PR campaign.

Those are the main reasons clients come to us, but each client has his or her main reason.  One might be focused on building sales, another might be looking to entice investors, and still another might be looking strictly to position herself as an expert in her field.  For some clients the bottom line is the primary issue, for others it’s the credibility and validation factors.  These are all values, but what is valuable to one client, might not be that important to another.  We’ve worked with clients who can’t possibly take more clients for months.  That is not their concern.  But they do want to be viewed as the best in their field and being featured in top tier media can accomplish that aim.  We work with others who want to build their business, sell more products, and land more clients.  Those are their primary goals and that is the value we offer to them.

So, make a list of the value that you offer your clients.  Make this a stretching exercise.  Move a bit beyond your comfort zone.  Are there emotional values you offer that you’ve never considered?  Once you’ve developed your list, take a look at your marketing, PR and advertising efforts.  Does your marketing address your accomplishments or your client’s needs? Once you answer that question, you’ll know what changes you need to make.  Focus on your clients, and you’ll never go wrong.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2010

Filed under business, Media, PR, PR Campaign, traditional media, TV Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

How To Identify Business Opportunities

August 14, 2010 1 Comment

Chances are you’ve been focusing on your prime business opportunities for a while.  Or at least what you think are your primary opportunities.  The trouble is business owners generally get locked focusing on what they see as their primary markets and seldom look at other opportunities.  Sometimes that means looking at ancillary markets that could possibly bring you new opportunities.

One way to broaden your perspective is by looking at sub-markets in your arena that are poorly served. Perhaps these avenues could represent a new market. Consider looking at your client’s clients.  Are there services or products that they might need that you could supply?

Is there something in your field that’s missing?  Maybe it’s something that others think could never be addressed.  Well, what if with some creative thinking there is a way to address it and help solve a problem that others haven’t thought of.

Look at your industry as a consumer.  What would you change?  How would you do business differently?

One of the most interesting approaches is to let new business opportunities find you.  You’ll never know all the opportunities that are out there, that’s just not possible.  But what if you get your story and information in front of prospects, potential clients, opportunities that you don’t even know are out there?

This is one of the most amazing benefits that traditional public relations can bring to your business. Whether you choose to hire a public relations firm, a PR consultant, or launch a media relations campaign on your own, by garnering media coverage in newspapers, radio and/or TV, your story and your business can be showcased to prospects, investors and possible business opportunities that are perfect for you.  Most of these you’d never know existed.

Via the press you’re presented as an expert, one of the tops in your field. The real plus to this is when a prospect calls it’s a completely different conversation than if you instigated the conversation through a cold call.  When they call you, it’s a completely different conversation.  As a business owner you couldn’t ask for much more.

So, start looking for new business opportunities, shift your prospective, look at your field and your business as a problem solver.  What problems are out there and how can you make money by solving them?

Perhaps most important, position your business so your opportunities can find you.  Even if you’ve never tried PR, try putting your toe in the water, give it a try.  When your phone starts ringing, you’ll know you’ve made a strong business decision.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2010

Filed under business, PR Campaign, traditional media Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

← Older posts

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 129 other followers

%d bloggers like this: