Hi All!

I came across this helpful info written by the HUGELY popular Web Strategist, Jeremiah Owyang. The guy travels all over the world consulting with corporations on their web and social media strategies, plus he’s also an in-demand speaker globally and frequent media guest.

He recently wrote an article outlining the Ten P’s that he recommends following to produce a successful webinar.

Here’s 5 of the 10 tips:

1) Philosophy: Most approach webinars realizing they are different than all other mediums.  Despite being primarily one-way they have a social element as attendees will interact with each other in the provided chat features, or on tools like Twitter.  Secondly, many webinar producers don’t offer helpful content to the audience, and instead treat it like a sales pitch.  Lastly, speakers that are great on stage in the real world, may fall short and appear lackluster in an online faceless webinar.

2) Purpose: Many webinar producers fail to pick a succinct goal, in fact this is key as it will define how you measure success. Some objectives can include: Thought leadership, association, customer references, lead generation, sales material, accelerating the customer life cycle, or education.

3) Planning: There are many decisions and steps that need to happen in this crucial phase. From deciding if the event should be recorded in advance, or done live, when to schedule the event (taking into account a global audience and conference and travel sesaons) and then selecting the right platforms between Adobe, Microsoft, WebEx, and Go To Meeting. One biggest fail point is not having the right hardware and software (including compatible browsers) and waiting to the last-minute-scramble to get this done. The truly savvy producers will integrate the webinar with existing community and tie with direct marketing systems and then funnel leads to the CRM system.

4) Professionals: There are many talent considerations to make during this performance. Just as you would bring forth the best speakers at your customer conference, you should apply the same thinking here. Your internal team will include the following duties, but keep in mind, often one person will conduct multiple duties such as: Internal Stakeholder, Webinar Producer, Coordinator, Marketer, Community Manager, and Technical Support of both the platform, hardware, and software. The performance team will include any of the following: Speaker, panelists, emcees, and should have a backup speaker.

5) Programming of Content: Once a kickoff meeting has been set in place, the internal and performance team should discuss content. The producer should offer details about the event, goal, audience, and suggest topics. Decisions around this being a one-off event, or an ongoing series needs to occur, as well as the presentation style (keynote vs panel, or some type of hybird). The hosting company needs to clearly think through the risks of ‘pitching’ wares as it will have both negative and positive impacts.

BUT, don’t stop here! CLICK HERE to read his entire article and read the last 5 P’s!!

Cheers & Happy Marketing!

Lisa

Hi All!

This is a blog post for a bit of self-promotion. Hey! I gotta spread the word, right??

Here’s info about the really cool teleseminar series I’m doing in June…pulled from a Press Release I’m sending out to promote them:

Lisa Orrell, The Promote U Guru, is conducting three teleseminars in June for small business owners, entrepreneurs, speakers, industry experts, and authors who want to build their brand awareness and increase sales. The three teleseminar topics are: Brand Building, PR & Publicity, and Social Media. Each one will provide attendees with tips, strategies and advice they can implement immediately, even on a tight budget.

The Promote U Business Building Teleseminar Series will be conducted in June 2010, and the dates are: Promote U Through Brand Building, June 8^th; Promote U Thru PR & Publicity, June 11^th; and Promote U Thru Social Media, June 16^th. Each teleseminar is from 10:00 am to 11:00 am PST. And, because these are teleseminars, attendees can attend from anywhere from their phone. Internet and computer access are not required.

The event website with details of each teleseminar: PromoteUGuru.com/teleseminars

“Lisa knows her stuff and so much fun to work with! I can’t believe how much she has improved my brand positioning, sales, marketing and social media strategies, and PR efforts,” shares one Orrell client, Karin Piper, Author of Charter Schools: The Ultimate Handbook for Parents. “So I can tell you the content she’ll offer in these teleseminars is going to be very helpful…no fluff!”

The upcoming teleseminar series is being sponsored by: PersonalBrandingBlog.com, WeMeUs.com and 428Designs.com. And the cost to attend individual teleseminars is $29, or people can choose to attend all 3 for a special package price of $69.

“Prior to launching my Promote U Guru business, I ran an award-winning ad agency in Silicon Valley for 20 years. So I have been helping larger companies with branding, marketing, PR and social media for a long time. But now I focus on working with small business owners and individuals, and my vast experience benefits them immensely,” explains Lisa Orrell, a Branding Expert, Marketing Consultant and Business Coach. “Plus, aside from being a business owner for over 20 years, I’m the author of 2 books and a professional speaker myself. So I understand the challenges of those individuals who are trying to promote their books, build a brand platform for speaking, and/or who are trying to grow their small business (in any industry).”

Based on her 2 decades of business and marketing experience, Orrell has been interviewed by, or written articles for, a wide variety of media, including: ABC, MSNBC, NPR, The Wall Street Journal, NY Times, WomenEntrepreneur.com, U.S. News & World Report, The Silicon Valley Business Journal, China’s Her World magazine (for professional business women), PersonalBrandingBlog.com, BNET.com, and countless others.

I hope to see you in my “virtual” classroom for 1, 2 or all 3 of my teleseminars!

Cheers & Happy Marketing!

Lisa

Hi All,

An in-depth (free!) Special Report was just released by Michael A. Stelzner, Executive Editor of Social Media Examiner. It’s entitled: “2010 Social Media Marketing Industry Report: How Marketers Are Using Social Media to Grow Their Businesses”.

But don’t let the word “marketers” deter you! In this context it simply means ANYONE responsible for the branding and marketing of their business. So whether you’re a speaker, author, small business owner with ANY type of company, or entrepreneur, you will benefit from the info in this Special Report. AGAIN…this is NOT a document just for marketing experts seeking recent statistics and strategies!

Here is a brief overview about it and why you should check out this FREE Special Report:

Have any of these questions crossed your mind? “How much time do my peers invest in social media marketing? What benefits are they achieving? Where will they focus their efforts in the future?”

If you’ve pondered any of these thoughts, look no further.  All the answers are right here in this free report.

To understand how marketers are using social media, Social Media Examiner commissioned the 2010 Social Media Marketing Industry Report. We set out to uncover the “who, what, where, when and why” of social media marketing with this report.

A significant 1900 of your peers provided the type of valuable insight you won’t find elsewhere. In this free report you’ll discover:

• The top 10 social media questions marketers want answered
• How much time marketers invest with social media activities
• The top benefits of social media and how time invested impacts results
• The most used social media tools
• Marketers future social media plans
• And much more!

If you’re in charge of marketing for your business, you’ll want to closely analyze the pages of this report and use it to persuade others.

This is FREE and filled with 33-pages of great info!

Enjoy!

Lisa

Hi 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

Hi 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

Hi All!

Welcome to my blog. For 20 years I owned an award-winning marketing agency in Silicon Valley where I developed brand platforms and marketing strategies for some of the biggest names in technology (Sony, SanDisk, HP and many others).

Now, as the Promote U Guru, I offer all my knowledge and expertise to small business owners, entrepreneurs, authors and speakers. As a Publicist, Marketing Consultant, and Business Coach, I offer a unique blend of real-world experience to my clients. Have I written books? yes, I’ve written 2. Have I owned a business? Yes, I have been self employed for over 20 years. Have I had to launch and create a brand platform for myself? Yes, on several ocassions.

So, I know what it takes. I’ve been in the trenches. And my clients benefit because of it.

I encourage you to follow my blog…I’ll post guest blogs from other marketing experts, as well as offer helpful info about book writing, brand building, social media and much more.

You can also follow me on Twitter for great tips and resources: @PromoteUGuru.

I look forward to meeting you online or in-person…and helping you achieve the success you want.

No hype. Just results.

Cheers!

Lisa