As more of your competitors venture onto the Web, you may be searching for ways to stand out from the crowd.  One way that companies are connecting with their audiences is through a “mascot”.

Your mascot may be a completely fictional character illustration that represents your product or service.  Many well known organizations from Jack-in-the-Box to sports teams, have used fictional characters to deliver their message to the customer.

Alternatively, you might use an actual company representative like your CEO to offer personal welcome messages, video intros, and other campaign messages.

Finally, there are a growing number of professional services offering interactive video features in which a hired model “walks” onto your web site to welcome you or to point you to a specific product.  This may be an affordable way to increase awareness about your site and interact with your customers without redesigning your entire business brand.

Our prospective clients often know they want a website, but don’t have any idea what they want in the site or where they should start. When telling them what to prepare for their initial meeting, we often say to just bring ideas. Often times, they actually need help generating what their ideas actually are.

Here are some quick questions to ask yourself to help bring direction to your ideas for what you want in a website.

• What is the primary purpose of my site, i.e. what is your goal that you hope the website accomplishes? (Remember, this does not necessarily need to be complicated, but you should know what you want to accomplish.)
• What is the most important piece of information I want to convey on my website?
• What are my primary products and services?
• What are my primary branding tools that can be transferred to the web?
• Are there any particular styles of design, or color choices, I prefer?
• What call to action do I want to have in my website?
• Are there any websites, design styles or color choices that I do not like?

You can also bring other marketing materials  (brochures, flyers, business cards, postcards, etc.) to the initial consultation to help illustrate your current branding to the designer, so they have a better idea of how to convey that in your new website design.

Use these questions to get your brain juices flowing and figure out what you want in your website design. The clearer the picture you have, the easier it will be for your designer to accomplish your goals.

When you write copy for marketing materials, you need to make it work. You only have one shot to grab your customers’ attention and to make them read what you’ve written. Not only does your copy need to catchy and informative, it needs to be error-free and the best possible writing you can produce. If there is a typo in your copy, or an incomplete sentence, your readers are likely going to dismiss what you have to say. These errors, while some may be minor, can damage your reputation. You certainly don’t want to hurt your reputation at the same time you are trying to sell readers on your business. It’s not smart and will likely effect the results you get.

The moral of today’s quick tip is to make sure you proofread, and proofread, and proofread, and then read it again. Be error free this Wednesday and make a lasting impression.

Media advisories are different from press releases, even though they often include some of the same information.  As the name implies, it is an advisory to give the media a heads up on something that is coming in the future. Typically, it is sent out prior to the press release (typically a press release announces something that has happened, or is happening that day). Media advisories tend to be less narrative than press releases and include more bullet points than paragraphs. Advisories are quick and easy to read.

Here are the basics for a standard media advisory.

1. Start with your contact information: You should include your name, title and company, phone number and email address. You want to make sure there are no loopholes and it’s easy for anyone who reads your advisory to contact you.
2. Standard tag line for most media documents. “For Immediate Release” (no quotation marks) should be at the top of your advisory, right below your contact information. Include the date right below this.
3. Create a strong headline. Your headline is your first chance to draw readers in. It is also the first chance you have to lose them. Your headline should be interesting and captivating. Remember reporters get hundreds (if not more) of advisories, press releases, pitches, etc. every day. If your headline doesn’t grab them, you are likely to get lost on their desk.
4. Introduction/Lead Paragraph. This is your second chance to be captivating and hook your audience. Your lead paragraph for a media advisory is the same as a standard lead paragraph in a press release. Typically, it is two or three sentences and contains basic information about what your topic is, where and when it is, and why it is important. You will want to be brief, but descriptive. You will have a chance to elaborate more about everything in the coming bullet points. (Don’t forget to include the city and state at the start of your introduction paragraph.)
5. Meat of the Matter. This is where you can elaborate and tell more about your topic. At this point, you’ve already hooked your readers, so while you still want to be interesting, you can also get straight to the facts. Here’s what you should include:

• Who: who’s involved (company/companies, individual(s), organization(s), etc.)
• What: what’s happening (an event, an appearance, a trade show, an open house, the launch of a new campaign, etc.)
• When:  on what date will this take place (be specific; for example: Friday, June 26, 2009 at 10 a.m. sharp)
• Where: where will this happen (again, be specific; for example: The XYZ Conference Center and Hotel, located on 12345 W 67th Street, Eight Floor, Ballroom 9)
• Why: this is probably the most important part – why is this event/topic happening. Your why section should highlight your cause and clearly illustrate to someone the reason behind it. If there is a good reason behind what you are doing, and it effects others, others will be able to see it (and hopefully the reporters you’ve targeted to send your release will see it’s newsworthy value too).

Finally, you can end with any additional remarks and extra details that weren’t previously covered. Remember your media advisory is to help generate buzz and interest prior to the big day (which would typically be when the actual press release is sent out). Keep it interesting and to the point.

Below is a quick sample of what you can expect your media advisory to look like.

Name

Person’s title, Company

Phone Number

Email Address

For Immediate Release

Today’s Date

Headline here. (p.s. a quick reminder: this is where you draw your readers in!)

City, State — Lead paragraph ….. 2-3 sentences.

(bullet points here).

Who:

What:

When:

Where:

Why:

Any final remarks? They go here.

###

There you have it … your media advisory is ready. Happy writing!

There was a pull at our office door earlier today. It was quickly followed by the peaking of a head through our window and me realizing their was a Domino’s delivery person at our front door. My mind was quickly perplexed. Typically I am the one who orders for our company luncheons, or I am at least aware of it, and I had no idea who or what this order was for.  Naturally, my first question (of course, that is after saying hello) was who is this delivery for? The woman quickly responded with, “It’s a Free Delivery.” I wasn’t quite sure why she was bringing us a free delivery, but welcomed her in from the hot Texas heat. She informed me they were bring by a complimentary pasta bowl for us to share amongst our office staff. She even gave us a variety of flavor choices to choose from. A handful of coupons were also left on my desk. This was a nice gesture and much appreciate by our office.

This event inspired my blog post for today. It was a fairly clever marketing tactic – give something away for free and draw in new customers. This is often used by many companies, and to be honest, it had a nice effect on me. Not only did the smell of pizza flood our office and make our stomachs growl, but it left me with a nice feeling about our neighborhood Domino’s. Honestly, I have to admit the next time we order pizza, I’ll probably drop their name in the hat.  I certainly can’t remember the last time I got something free from another chain pizza place, so it was refreshing to see this store step up to the plate.

How does this translate into marketing for your business? It shows if you give a dog a bone, s/he might just take it. Often giving away something inexpensive, yet tangible (and meaningful) to your clients (or potential ones) as a “free gift” can put an extra plus next to your name. Plus, personally delivering a freebie is another chance for you to put yourself (and therefore, your company) in front of your audience. It is a lot harder to refuse or not pay attention when someone is standing right in front of you.  Sure Domino’s could have mailed our office some coupons for cheap pizza, and as the office manager, I would have noted that we received them and placed them into my big folder of special offers and coupons. However, I probably wouldn’t have paid it much attention and would have eventually forgotten they were even there. Instead I’ve smelled their food, I’ve been greeted by a friendly employee and have had a real interaction with them. The personal visit is much more memorable.
The moral of today’s story is to make yourself memorable, and stand out from the crowd. It can be a personalized visit to a customer (or potential one) or a freebie to the same group of people. You can even do BOTH. Whatever marketing route you take, make sure to make the most of it and leave a lasting impression.

Never assume your customers know what you want them to do. You have to make it fool-proof for them. You have to spell it out for them – in black and white. Think about it like this: first, customer reads your copy; then the customer does “X” task.  X task is what you want them to do – perhaps it is for them to call your office or it could be signing up for your e-newsletter. Whatever it is, make it clear and simple. You don’t want your customers guessing. It can also be helpful to include some sort of time-frame onto special offers. This can help motivate your customers to act quickly.  An example of this would be, “Today Only 25% off your purchase.”

The more specific your call to action … the more likely the customer will do what you want them to do.

Sometimes you just have to put yourself out there! It’s that simple. We can’t walk around in a cocoon. We have to make ourselves available for our colleagues, customers, family, friends and even strangers. You never know when you are going to meet someone – and when that someone is particularly important for you to meet. Sometimes you meet these people unintentionally and sometimes its on purpose.

I go to networking events all the time, and it can be tough when you don’t know a single soul in a room of forty or fifty people. It makes you feel overwhelmed. While I am not an expert, I’ve been to quite a few of these events and to truly reap the rewards, you have to put yourself out there.  I’ve come up with a few tips that help me and make me feel more comfortable. Let’s face it … the more relaxed, comfortable and open you are, the more likely it is you will succeed. Here are three tips to take with you this Friday afternoon; these have helped me in the past.

1. Find someone who looks like your mom. Seriously, I know it sounds silly, but try to find a person who looks like or gives off a maternal, friendly vibe to you. It is always easier to walk up to a person that I get the “mom” vibe from. It helps me start the conversation loosened up. If you can’t find someone who looks like your mom, think about your dad, sister or other family members you are close to. Finding someone, even if only by material looks, reminds you of someone you feel comfortable with and it will help you talk to them with more ease.
2. Prepare ahead of time. Most networking events are pretty similar in nature. People get together, all have time to mingle and be social, then at some point you are going to talk about your business. Prepare your elevator speech (60 seconds max) about who you are and what you do. If you do this, when people ask, you will know exactly what to say and wouldn’t be stumbling over your words. The more prepared you are, the better you look. People want to know you can talk about your business on the spot, so you better be able to.
3. Be positive. It doesn’t take much to put a smile on my face, and it shouldn’t for you either. Go into these events with a positive attitude, and you’ll transform your own experience. Putting a smile on your face makes you more approachable for others. Plus, people only have a short time to get to know you, and you want them to leave having gotten a glimpse of your delightful personality.

Try these out and see if they make a difference for you.

We all have a designated contact sphere that we constantly pull from to refer ourselves, friends and colleagues to when they are in need of a specific service.  I know if I need promotional products, I call Linda. If I need my car fixed, I call Dell. You get the idea. They aren’t just another card in my Rolodex, or shoved in my desk drawer, they are part of my trusted network. Did they become that way over night? Of course not. Building trust takes time and effort.

Over the past year, I have spent a great deal of time building a professional network for myself and the company I work for. I want to share a few of the tips that I’ve learned over the last year that have helped me greatly.

• Be patient: Building a strong network isn’t easy and it does not happen overnight. You have to spend the time getting to know people and building the relationships. Until that trust is established, you can’t truly add that person to your network. They are just another contact in the never-ending pile of business cards. Often times when people join networking groups they expect immediate results. They want referrals now and are sometimes bummed (to the point of being discouraged and wanting to quit) when it doesn’t click instantly. It simply doesn’t work like that. You have to be patient and give it time. Your referral partners need to trust you and you need to trust them. Once they do, and the relationship is solid, you will see the benefits come to life.
• Stand strong: Don’t stop building your network. It’s like quitting the game in the middle of the fourth quarter and your up by seven. You constantly need to be growing and marketing within your network. If you keep constantly building, you won’t lose steam. It can be so easy (particularly in networking groups) to get discouraged. For example, you belong to a networking of about 18 people and one person drops off. Everyone is disappointed, but they are handling it. Then two more people drop out. People are starting to get discouraged and are not actively working to grow their (and the groups) network. They are just coasting by. Then three more people drop because they are discouraged by your numbers. Before you know it, everyone is down and out. No one has been actively building onto the network, and the group is about to crumble. It’s almost too late to start building now because your numbers are so small. However, the situation could have been completely different if everyone has stayed strong and been building all along. The moral is never stop building your network.
• Specifics are key: When you are asking for referrals, you must be specific. The more specific you are, the easier it will be for your networking partners to answer your call for a referral. If you say you want a small business owner, what does that mean? 100 employees or less … 20 employees or less. What is a small business owner? You need to narrow it down. The more narrow the better (in most cases). For example, a very narrow referral request would be, “A great referral for me this week would be the owner of XZY off Mopac in South Austin.” A slightly more broad (but still narrow) referral would be, I’d like a dentist office who would like to add patient forms to their website. Still specific but slightly broader. Try it next time you ask for a referral and see what a difference it makes.
• Don’t forget to give: Sure it is great to get referrals that turn into more business and money for you. But that isn’t what it’s all about. You also have to be willing to give and share with others. The only way to get highly qualified referrals is to give them. If you don’t, after awhile people will stop passing them your way because it’s not all about you. To help you do this, make sure to take notes when people in your network ask for specific referrals or connections they’d like to make. This gives you a solid, written place to go back to when you hear of something that works for them OR are just looking to generate ideas on how to help your partners out. Either way, make sure to give back. How’s that old saying go … what comes around goes around!

It is important to take time and put a great deal of effort into your network. The only way to cultivate and grow it is through hard work. The more you put in, the more you are likely to gain.

It is important to always stay in communication with your internal and external constituents, prospects and users. Regardless of what is going on (bad economy or not), it is imperative that you keep the rapport up and stay talking. You always want your brand and company to be present in peoples’ minds.

There are few simple things you can keep in mind when targeting your communication, and making the most out of it.

Focus. Your message needs to be specific and your target market defined. Decide what you want to say, and say it concisely. Your message should be crystal clear. The easiest way to get people’s attention is with a focused message.

Adapt. And quickly. You need to be able to take what is thrown at you and work with it. Times are changing and things are different everyday. Different groups of people respond to messages in different ways. You need to be able to handle that, and cater your message to different crowds.

Persuade. You still want customers to buy your products, so you need to make sure your messages still have flair. Remember, creative and functional: that is what works. Boring is boring (period). Creative doesn’t always sell. That is why you need both elements (creative & functional) to make it work.

Keep talking!

Like all good things in life, even this series must come to an end. The good news? Wacky Wednesday in the PR House will be coming at you with fresh topics next week (and every Wednesday after that). This week is a busy week and we are covering the last six elements of an effective PR plan. Strap on your boots and hang tight your PR plan is almost done!

• Strategies (one step at a time…): That’s right … wacky Wednesday always takes things one step at a time – that includes with our strategies. When devising your strategies, you want to get a general sense of how you are going to meet your goals. The key part of this is to be general. When you are done your strategies, you should be able to speak generally (it should be written down too!) about how you are going to meet your goals.
• Tactics (use only hefty-duty snow boots!): Back to Mt. Everest and we need only the highest quality, most hefty-duty snow boots we can find! I want the XYZ brand, with pink stripes. Size 9. Make sure it has long laces. I need just the right pair of boots if I’m going to climb Mt. Everest (see previous parts of the series, if the Mt. Everest game doesn’t sound familiar to you). In order to climb Mt. Everest, I need very specific snow boots, just like you need to have specific tactics to help ensure the success of your PR plan. When you are developing you tactics, it is imperative that you be specific. Your tactics are the things you will do to accomplish your goals. Make sure they make since … you don’t want tactics that are way out in left field, while your goals are hanging out in dug-out.
• Calendar (before 2015): Set a realistic time frame for yourself and your business to achieve the goals in your PR plan. They won’t happen overnight, but should take shape before we get to 2015!
• Budget (there is no price too low, or too high): This is when reality sets in – how much do you have to OR are willing to spend to achieve your goals? Be realistic.  Don’t put an enormous figure on paper to make it look good when you only have $500 to spend (you can do a lot with even small amounts of money).  Focus on what you can spend and then allocate it wisely.
• Evaluation (if we don’t make it to the top…can we take a trip to Mexico, instead?): Oh Mt. Everest – making it to the top might not be the best evaluation method. Your evaluation is all about how you determine if you have been successful. If you don’t have a way to evaluate and measure your success, you won’t know if your efforts have paid off. For example, remember before we talked about your goal being to increase your website traffic … your evaluation for success could be to break down what % of an increase you consider to be a success. Consider creating a scale:

• 5-10% increase in traffic = improvement
• 11-25% increase in traffic = somewhat successful
• 26-39% increase in traffic = marginally successful
• 40% = successful (this was your goal)
• 40+% = extremely successful

You want to be able to evaluate your campaign, so you can truly determine your success.

• Take Action (I’ll book the flights): Now that you have a solid plan in place and all of your elements are clearly laid out and defined, its time to take action!! (This is the fun part). You’ve done all the planning, now its time to get out there and implement your plan and the tactics to accomplish it. Good luck as you set sail on your journey!

That’s a wrap on this series of Wacky Wednesday in the PR house … stayed tuned for more!!

Wacky Wednesday in the PR House is a multi-part series that will be brought to you weekly (on Wednesday, of course). Over the past few weeks, we’ve developed your PR plan. Each week, Wacky Wednesdays will feature advice and knowledge on how to make your PR, marketing and advertising efforts better. Some of it will be parts of series, and others will be free-standing advice. You’ll just have to stay tuned and see what’s coming up next … there’s more to come! I promise… Until next time!