Write Ahead, one of my followers on Facebook, recently asked:
This is such a good question that I decided to make a blog post out of it.
As a matter of fact, Write Ahead, there are a number of ways you can find out what stories journalists and media currently or will be working on.
Below are four ways to get you started.
The Associated Press Stylebook is every journalist’s bible when it comes to writing their articles. As an entrepreneur there’s no need to be intimidated by this, but you’ll get better results by following the AP style in your news and media releases.
Nobody expects you to be a master of the AP style, but below are some quick tips for your press releases. Run over this list before you send off your next release:
I’ve been sharing information about the recently concluded Online Marketing Conference in San Diego. In case you missed my earlier post, you can read it here.
Today, I’d like to share some takeaways from two presentations about social media marketing. Social media changes so fast, and it helps to learn about “big picture” trends from those who are in the trenches day in and day out.
First up is Rebecca Corliss’ presentation “How to Improve Lead Generation Using the Social Media Advancements in 2012.” Corliss is the head of Social Media & Content at Hubspot.
The Online Marketing Summit 2013 was recently concluded in San Diego, CA. In this and future posts, we’ll be sharing with you some of the most important takeaways from the presentations and workshops there.
Daryl Colwell, Vice President at MediaWhiz, gave an excellent overview of content marketing in his presentation, “Content Marketing Like a Pro: Tactics and Techniques to Increase Search Engine Visibility.”
Colwell has been marketing online for 12 years and using content marketing extensively as part of clients’ integrated marketing campaigns. Entrepreneurs and beginners in content marketing have a lot to learn from Colwell.
Having worked in three continents and coming from an entrepreneurial family, I’ve had the privilege of being directly involved in, or being on the periphery of, several businesses ranging from cars, clothing, technology and professional services.
I’ve learned many business lessons that otherwise would take years of experience to acquire. I’ve talked about some of those lessons here and here, but in this post, I’d like to talk specifically about going global.
As some of our companies established themselves locally, it was only natural that we look for expansion elsewhere. Entering new markets in strategic geographic locations can offer your small business attractive growth opportunities that will help fulfill your long-term vision.
While that may sound exciting, it’s also easy to forget that it can be very challenging to work in countries other than your own, and navigate through cultures you aren’t familiar with. Below are a few pitfalls you’d want to avoid when ramping up your small business for global success.
The foundation of successful PR is a sound message strategy. In this post I’m going to share with you the why, the how, and at the end, give you an in-depth worksheet you can download to help you do this yourself – whether you are a kitchen table entrepreneur or technology start-up, you’ll benefit from this exercise.
There is so much “noise” out there that even if what you’re doing is a game-changer in your industry, it can be very hard to get stakeholders to listen. You have to tell your story many times, using multiple communication vehicles in order to get attention.
Developing consistent, impactful key messages – of what the company does, what value it offers, what sets it apart from competitors, and why their target audiences should take notice is so important – it’s one of the first things we do for our technology PR clients (especially start-ups).
Measuring PR can be tedious, time consuming and expensive.
And the fact that many PR professionals are not numbers people only makes matters worse.
The old way of counting and measuring exposure (column-inches) and monetizing them is no longer enough. They don’t adequately tell us the results our PR efforts bring. So what if that print interview has a potential readership of 500,000? We still don’t know exactly how many eyeballs we reached.
However, since PR has moved into the realm of social media, we are able to take advantage of the measurability of social media. This helps us put hard numbers on the work we do and the results we bring.
Take Google Analytics for example. Google Analytics is a free yet robust web performance analytics tool that can tell us a lot about how well our PR efforts are doing, particularly our PR efforts in social media. You install the GA code in your website, and Google crawls your site and records your site visitors’ activity.
2012 was all about social media in PR. However, traditional PR skills and strategies remain essential. This emerging dual nature of PR was evident in our readers’ favorite posts for the year:
1. Social Media Fails: The Worst Case Studies of 2012 (So Far)
We’re still grappling with social media, and this post shows how some marketers have blown it big time. But the rest of us can learn from their mistakes.
2. 7 Press Release Mistakes PR Newbies Make
A well-written press release is still an indispensable ingredient in your PR recipe. Learn how to make a press release help instead of hurt your PR efforts.
3. How to Write a Media Pitch Journalists and Editors Will Love
Let’s go back-to-basics with simple ways to write an effective media pitch.
I’m in a unique position where I straddle two very different business worlds.
On the one hand, I’m a small business owner myself, and my blog helps solopreneurs and small businesses thrive with do-it-yourself PR and marketing efforts.
On the other hand, my PR agency specializes in working with high growth technology companies. My team and I have worked with startups to billion dollar companies and in this arena, the mantra is often “go big or go home.”
For small businesses that’s not always the right mantra. We lack resources — time, money and people — to go really big, really fast and do it well.
Instead, we should focus on becoming the next “10-year overnight success” story… one that builds consistent value in small ways, brick by brick, person to person, tweet by tweet… a business that grows organically, sustainably and without losing the essence of why you started it in the first place.
As you plan for next year, why not make a conscious decision to redefine what success is going to look like for you? Part of that may involve “cleaning house” in order to build a business that honors your personal values or brings more work-life balance — but at the same time may actually increase your profitability.
Here are some ways “small can be the new big” for your business next year:
Choosing the right PR agency or consultant has been compared to choosing a spouse.
It’s a crucial decision. Your PR agency will be a close partner and one of the key ingredients to a successful marketing program.
However, asking the right questions during your selection process will help you make a better choice, and make sure you are comparing apples to apples.
Below is our list of the 7 most critical questions to ask your candidate PR agencies or professionals:
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 Elena
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