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Lisa Orrell, The Promote U Guru 
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Posts Tagged ‘budget’Do You Know How to Pitch the Media Your Ideas? These Tips Can Help!March 09th, 2010Hi All! I work with my clients (small business owners, entrepreneurs, speaker and authors) a lot on formulating “story” ideas to pitch the media (radio, tv, magazines, newspaper, blogs) as part of our PR and brand building strategies. Prior to working with me, many of them have either never done media pitching, OR they have sent general info out like: “I’m a small business owner who owns a flower shop, interview me!” (and they wonder why they never get call backs). The key to pitching the media for publicity is giving them easy-to-digest “nuggets” that will benefit their target audience. GIVE THEM the article/segment idea, don’t give them “general” info and hope they’ll think of a reason to interview you. Even on a tight marketing budget, here are 3 solid tips that can get you publicity: TIP ONE: Make sure the media you pitch actually reaches the target audience YOU want to reach! Sounds like common sense, but…I have one client who spent tons of time issuing press releases and ideas to media contacts and when I looked at his list, only about 50% were even worthwhile. If you’re a corporate Executive Coach, don’t waste your time pitching ideas to the “morning zoo” Top 40 radio stations that primarily reach young people between 14-21 years old! TIP TWO: Create a compelling segment/story idea. Let’s say you’re a divorce attorney who wants to get media coverage for yourself and your practice. An angle could be: Is your wife cheating on you? 4 ways to tell. Or if you’re a financial advisor, an angle could be: Is your current retirement strategy really working? 3 ways to tell. The media loves “quick hit tips” segments and articles, so approach them with this type of strategy. And the “posing a question” will grab a producer’s or guest booker’s attention. TIP THREE: FOLLOW UP! Sure, if you have a media contact’s email, you can start by sending your idea that way. But you’ll typically have to follow up with a phone call because producer’s or (editor’s of mags and newspapers) get swamped with media pitches. HOWEVER, if you have a decent (or great!) idea, the squeaky wheel approach helps. Don’t just send one email or make on phone call and let it go. Sometimes 3-4 follow ups are required to get the yes/no answer you are seeking. Okay! Start thinking of your media pitch ideas and start pitching!! These tips have gotten me interviews on ABC, MSNBC, TIME, WSJ, NPR and many others! Cheers & Happy Marketing! Lisa  Want to Build Your Website Using WordPress? Great Info Here!February 20th, 2010Hi All! Many people don’t know that you can actually build a website using WordPress. Yes, WordPress is not just a blog tool anymore. As a matter of fact, my new website, PromoteUGuru.com, was built in WordPress so that’s a great example of what is possible with using it as your web building tool! I love having my new website built in this platform! Why? Because I can up-date my content as often as I want without having to contact my webmaster for every little change, and I don’t need to know html. Being able to make the content up-dates myself saves me time AND money…no more monthly web maintenance bills from my webmaster. Woohoo! Making up-dates to the pages within my website are as easy as writing a blog post! I love that. Plus, my WordPress blog (the one you’re reading right now) “lives” within my website because it’s all done in that platform. Another benefit? SEO! WordPress has a very easy-to-use, free, SEO widget that easily allows you to add keywords and tags to each of your pages, so that helps your search engine rankings and traffic. If you want to tackle designing and building your new website using WordPress, here is a great article that takes you through the steps. Builing A Simple Website Using WordPress. This article also outlines other benefits, as well as outlines the process. Or, you can go the really easy route (like I did) and hire a webmaster who knows how to do it. Plus, I’m not a “designer” and I wanted my site to look nice. If you want to hire someone, I recommend contacting Kristin Craig, owner of 428 Designs. She has a lot of experience creating sites in WordPress and her pricing is very reasonable. Okay! Go for it! I think you’ll be really happy creating your website in this tool and you’ll love how easy it is to maintain it! Cheers and Happy Marketing! Lisa Why Doing Your Own Small Biz PR Can Hurt Your CompanyFebruary 17th, 2010Hi All! I know that budget is an issue for most small business owners, so it forces them to assume the role of Director of Marketing for their own companies. But, and I can say this with authority after having worked with hundreds of companies, their results are normally dismal. Why? Because! Unless you have a strong marketing background, you won’t do it well. And ultimately the time, effort and money you spend will be more than if you had hired a seasoned professional to help you. The speakers, authors, small business owners, and entrepreneurs who come to me, have typically spent endless amounts of their valuable time and money trying to market themselves effectively…and they are totally frustrated by the time I hear from them. It’s at that point that they “get it”, and see the value in what a 20-year professional like me (and others) offers. To that point, I came across this great article today on American Express’s OpenForum.com website, entitled “Think Twice Before Doing Your Own Small Biz PR”, written by Steve Viuker. Here’s an excerpt: Should you be your own PR person? Many small businesses might think that doing their own PR is a good cost-cutting decision; however, the real cost might be to your business’s success. To a degree, you can do it yourself — but amidst all the demands of running your own company, hiring someone else with real experience to take care of your publicity might be the better option. While saving money by doing it yourself is appealing, Linda Alexander of Alexander Marketing. says, “Most people are too busy running their companies to spend the hours required for research, pitching and follow up.” “When you’re sick do you go on the Internet to cure yourself, or do you see a doctor?” asks David Grant of LVM group. “PR is not as simple as it looks, and we know journalists and their deadlines. That is vital in promoting a client.” (Grant was a former journalist, as are many people in the PR business). Click here to read the whole article! Cheers & Happy Marketing! Lisa |
