Free PR/Branding/Writing/Social Media Advice -- Just Ask!

                     

Friends, I'm planning and plotting and writing the second edition of the Amy Mac PR Newsletter. (What's this? You know not of what I speak? Please click here for the last issue!)

Here's your opportunity to get a little publicity, branding, social media and writing advice for free. Send me your question by clicking here. It doesn't have to be limited to the above categories, either. If you have a question about working from home, running a small business, writing your resume, working with a printer, setting up a blog ... whatever, just send it along. You can also leave a question in the comments, if you prefer.

Be sure to give me your contact information (just an email address will do, though a first name and  your industry will allow me to be polite (hi, Mom!) and give you the best possible answer) in case I need to get in touch.

For the next issue, I'll need your questions by Monday, April 22. Make sure you're signed up for the newsletter by clicking here!

How to Convert Media Coverage Into Sales? Carpe Diem, Folks.

Two questions I'm frequently asked: how do I get more publicity, and once I do how do I convert the publicity to sales?

To answer the first question: be nimble.

The answer to the second: be nimble.

There's a tendency with publicity to become so busy creating newsworthy items, we are woefully unprepared for the opportunities that fall into our laps. The result being we are stuck in a conference room debating metrics or in back-to-back sales calls ... while a golden opportunity languishes, then disappears. We may make one sale, but we've let scores more slip away.

So how do we seize the day when it comes to a plum marketing opportunity? Like when a celebrity is photographed using your product, or a client demonstrates your product on a national news program, or you're quoted as an expert in the local paper? Here are 5 tricks to being ready to convert publicity into sales:

1. Look for opportunities. Read the paper, read blogs, watch the news and be a trend observer. You'll be surprised at how many possibilities to link your product with a leading news organization or personality lurk out there if you're just paying attention.

2. Have a template news release and email at the ready. If you're trying to write general company information for a news release or you're uploading client email addresses at the last minute, you're wasting precious time connecting with the story. Set up these essential building blocks now so when the time comes you simply drop in the relevant information and hit send.

3. Drop everything and PUSH. I know. You have a packed day. Meetings. Sales pitches. 175 emails to comb through. Figure out which of those things will be there tomorrow and reschedule. Go in early. Stay late. Do whatever it takes to capitalize on a real publicity opportunity. Trust me, this is your priority for the next 24 hours.

4. Hire help. If you don't know how to craft an eye-catching headline and news release, hire someone who does. Seriously. Anybody. Hire someone in direct competition with me for all I care but please, please don't squander an opportunity to build your loyal customer base because you didn't take the time to do it well.

5. Reuse and recycle. Post the information to your website, blog, your newsletter, all your social media, print it on pretty little postcards, make bumper stickers ... whatever floats your boat, but don't send a news release to the media and call it a day. Take the time to package your publicity success, then maximize your exposure through whatever channels possible.

If you consistently use these five steps of seizing publicity opportunities, the sales will follow. Why?  Because positive media coverage is one of the best third-party endorsements you can get, even if they haven't specifically endorsed your product. Endorsements build credibility, credibility builds trust, trust builds loyalty, and having a loyal customer base singing your praises will increase your sales.
Amy M. Dawson is a PR & brand strategist, business writer, newspaper columnist and humor writer. She’s helped hundreds of professionals — from Fortune 500 CEOs to politicians and entrepreneurs— craft their brands. For more information, contact her at amy@amymacwrites.com.

Photo Source: 9gag.com via Judith on Pinterest

News You Can Use

When someone finds out I'm a writer with a background in branding and publicity, lots of times they'll have a related question for me. Sometimes it's about how to get better rankings for their website on Google searches, sometimes it's how to improve their staff's writing skills, and sometimes it's how to give their resume a boost.

These are always smart, professional folks who know getting a little advice can be a cost-effective way of building their business or personal brand. So in 2013, I'm going to start gathering up the most commonly asked questions, formulating my very best tips and pointers, and sending out a quarterly newsletter. It's my tiny way of helping my favorite small business owners and folks building their personal brands with a free resource for their marketing needs.

The newsletter will differ from the Amy Mac blog in that it will focus entirely on publicity, marketing, branding and business writing tips. So, ya know ... no stories about the kids, dogs, the hubby, or me accidentally trying to destroy the earth. But genuinely relevant information nonetheless.

I'd love it if you'd sign up! You'll get four emails in 2013, chock full of information. (This is an entirely different list than the blog subscriber list, so even if you already follow the blog ... please sign up for this, too!)

I expect the first issue to be ready in the next week, so sign up on the email form below soon! (You can also find the link on the sidebar of the blog.)

Subscribe to the Amy Mac Quarterly Newsletter!

Done? There now, wasn't that easy?

Muchos gracias....see you soon!

PS -- Have something you'd like me to address in the newsletter? Leave a comment!

This is the Real Situation, and He Cannot Be Bought

This is Watson "The Real Situation" Dawson, and he will wear whatever he pleases, thank you very much.

So Abercrombie & Fitch, the store that stuns you into an olfactory stupor wherever you are in the mall by requiring their employees mop the floors with a bucket of their undiluted cologne, has requested that The Situation from MTV's Jersey Shore stop wearing their clothing as it misrepresents their brand. Basically, they think he's tacky.

This is exquisite in so many ways. According to A&F's "Brand Senses" department (seriously, I could not make that up) "this association is contrary to the aspirational nature of our brand."

Quite interesting from a company which produces shorts SO SHORT that when my daughters tried them on I had to assume an assault was underway. Seriously, when I have to ask "don't those HURT?," the shorts are too short. They also produce an entire line of clothing called "Perfect Butt." And padded bikini tops for seven-year-olds.

Hey A&F - my kids are right in your target demographic, but I'm wondering ... could you pay them to NOT wear your clothing?

I Heart Magazines (Especially Ones With Hearts on the Cover)

This being February, the month of love and whatnot, I thought I'd confess - I love, love, love magazines. Love them. Love the waterfall of colors jumping out from each page, love the way a funky font can set the tone for a whole story, love the inspiration from well-written editorial.



That giant stack you see above? Those are just the magazines in the family room by the fireplace ... there's another stack on my bedside table, yet another in a basket in the living room, and a couple in the front seat of the car to entertain me while waiting in the carpool line.

Magazines are also a wonderful spot to get a little inspiration for stories to pitch. It's like a little focus group, free of charge, about what your target audience is reading.

What's your favorite magazine for inspiration?

Oprah's Pretty as a Picture

All you budding photographers out there, take note! Oprah is looking for beautiful photographs of nature to post on her web site. I don't have the statistics, but I am going to guess her site gets approximately five kajillion hits every day. If you're a photographer looking to get some exposure (pun totally intended), this is a perfect opportunity. If you are an amateur looking to drive traffic to your own web site, here's your shot.

I'd send in that rainbow shot, but I'm afraid I'd get some sort of retroactive traffic citation.

XO-Amy Mac

You, Too.

I was in ninth grade when U2’s The Joshua Tree was released, and while they’d released a few albums before The Joshua Tree (and given a phenomenal performance for the Live Aid concert), this was the one that launched them into the stratosphere in the United States.

And here they are, not only still chugging along, but selling out huge arenas during every leg of their last concert tour. All over the world. I was lucky enough to see their last tour thanks to some kind friends with a corporate skybox at Phillips Arena and believe me, it was one amazing show (worth every penny I didn’t actually have to pay.) I’ll be happy to pay top-dollar for their upcoming tour to promote their new album No Line on the Horizon. Which begs the question –

How does U2 stay relevant after 30 years?

I have a couple of theories – and one of them is they use marketing to their utmost advantage. I think we could all take a page out of their book (or liner notes, so to speak):

If you’re launching a new product, be everywhere. Just last week, U2 played five nights in a row on the David Letterman Show, performed on Good Morning America, is playing a “secret” show in Boston March 11, and has been featured in countless magazines (Rolling Stone and People, to name a couple.) As of today, U2 is on track to have its seventh number one album on the Billboard 200 charts, and NLOTH debuted at number one on the London charts, where they launched a similar publicity blitz.

Be relevant – and attract new audiences. The Good Morning America appearance took place at Fordham University. I am sure a majority of the students at the concert weren’t even born when The Joshua Tree was released. U2’s live performance introduced a whole new audience (and age demographic) to their music, but they couldn’t have done that without making sure their music would connect with that age group. My guess is there’s not a kid at Fordham who hasn’t downloaded the album.

Get out of your comfort zone – U2 has been playing stadium-size concert venues for 20 years now, but even they still get a case of the nerves. Last week, Letterman had them read the Top 10 List for the evening, and a couple of the guys were visibly nervous. Interesting, isn’t it – play in front of 20,000 screaming fans? No problem. Read a list in front of a small studio audience? Not so much. They did a great job, and reinforced their reputation as genuinely nice guys.

Produce a great product, every single time – this is the key. If the band didn’t produce great music, they’d be on an episode of VH1’s One-Hit Wonders. Except for a couple of slips in the mid-to-late 90s, their albums are critic and fan favorites alike …. the music is great because U2 sets the bar high and exceeds expectations.

Ask yourself how you can borrow a few of these marketing ideas from one of the greatest bands in the world – and make your product or service stand out. You might not land on GMA or Dave, but even a small-time publicity blitz can pay big-time dividends.

First Pitch

I recently got a call from a colleague with a question about reporters – specifically, if there are two (or more) covering your industry – a common occurrence with major metropolitan newspapers - how do you determine which reporter to send your news release?

There’s a simple solution: go to the media outlet’s web site and do a search for the reporter’s name. Read her last five articles. Then go to the next reporter and do the same, and keep going until you start to see a pattern – and you will start to see a pattern. Most reporters have their “hot spots” within their industry, a topic they write about often, a cause they are quick to cover, types of events and news they seem to prefer.

Your job is to determine which reporter your piece of news fits best, and craft a pitch that lets the reporter know you’ve been reading his articles (you know what they say about flattery.)
A well-written news release sent to the right reporter with a succinct pitch will go miles toward getting favorable publicity, so remember to do your due diligence before you hit send on that e-mail button!

Fast Pitch

I recently pitched and landed a cover story in a local publication for a client. The cover picture is beautiful, and the article is well-written, and it will likely garner additional attention and business for this client.

So the big question: what can this client do to really maximize all the terrific publicity from this one article?

My advice to clients who have landed the publicity they’ve been seeking is to make sure their coverage gets into the hands of everyone you want to see it – not just the folks who happen to pick up the paper that week!

· Send a copy of the article, along with a cover letter, to your mailing list of your best customers, potential customers, business associations, alumnae magazines, mentors – pretty much everyone on your list (you’ll need to get reprint permission from the publication before making copies of the article. Some publications charge a nominal fee for this, and if you’ll just be mailing a few you can always purchase extra copies. )

· Post the article on your web site

· Create an e-mail signature with a link to the coverage

· Take a color copy of the article and adhere it to a fiberboard stand (you can buy these inexpensively at office supply stores) and place it wherever your customers will most likely see it, or frame it and hang it in a well-exposed spot

· Create small labels with the web site address to adhere to the back of 30 to 40 business cards

If you are wondering how I landed this article, stay tuned. I’ll post the pitch I wrote to the editor and point out a few key items, so if you are planning to pitch a story to your local paper, follow my tips and you’ll increase your chances of success!

Peppermint Mocha Propoganda

I recently had the exciting opportunity to write an article about the holidays for Northside Woman, a local publication here in metro-Atlanta. If you'd like to read it, follow this link!

Color Me Surprised

In my most recent post, I rambled about how technology can be tricky for those of us who do not hold advanced degrees in computer science. One situation I briefly touched on was how my entire e-mail address book was briefly lost when Comcast transitioned to a new server.

Imagine my surprise when, less than 24 hours later, an e-mail arrived in my inbox from a woman named Melissa that works for Comcast in their Customer Connect division. She was just checking to make sure there was nothing they could do to ensure my ongoing happiness.

Huh?

I told my sister last night about the e-mail and her question was “how on earth did she find your blog?” I told her I figured Comcast had folks whose job was to monitor e-mail blogs and chat rooms to find people that were unhappy with their service and endeavor to clean up any messes.
Sure enough, Melissa e-mailed me back this morning and said: “Our team aims to find customers online and in social media web spaces who may need our help. In today’s technologically driven society, many people will blog about a problem before they call in.”

The people at Comcast sure are smart. Think about it, what’s the first thing you do if you have a sore throat, want to unclog your kitchen sink, or are wondering what is the number one album on the Billboard charts? You Google it, of course. So imagine what might happen if you Googled a business and there were lots of bloggers out there complaining. You’d likely decide against that cough medicine, that brand of drain unclogger (yes, it is unlikely that is a word, but go with it) or a badly reviewed album – no matter where it is on the charts.

My kudos to Comcast for managing their online presence. If you have an online business, consider setting up a Google Alert so you’ll know if someone is posting something about you. Good or bad, it’s better to know where you stand so you can make improvements while you grow your business.

And thanks, Melissa for the tip on my e-mail signature line. I’m going to try to get that fixed up tonight, right after I throw my Blackberry out the window (just kidding, Sprint.)

I'm Amy Mac, and I Approved This Message

Just when you thought people clamoring for your vote had come to an end, I am here to say …. not so much.

As you might have noticed at the top right section of my blog, the Amy Mac blog has been nominated for the Best Blog Ever. How exciting! How exhilarating! How annoying for those of you who tried to vote then gave up in a fit of frustration because of technical difficulties!

I promptly emailed the folks at the Bloggers Choice Awards and informed them my faithful followers were having trouble voting for a variety of reasons, including not letting you sign up for an account, and then not letting you vote once you did get signed up.

Here’s the direct response:

Without knowing what accounts they are trying to access, I really can’t tell you much. Please have them contact us with the email they originally used to sign up to the Blogger’s Choice Awards so we can further research – Karen Allen, director of Customer Love.

You can email Karen at Karen@bloggerschoiceawards.com if you are having trouble and I know she’ll solve the problem. And no, I did not make up her title to be funny, that really is her title.

One of my successful voters said she had to sign up for the account then log back in before she could vote, so try that trick, too.

So, please don’t give up! The current first-place blog has only 47 votes, and I know we can do way better than that. We’re smart, we’re tech savvy, and we are determined! No one can stop us now! (Are you humming “I Will Survive” in your head?)

So follow this link, and we’ll share a bottle of virtual champagne if we win!

A Gap in (Advertising) Time

A few weeks back I read an article about the Gap eliminating its television advertising for the remaining months of 2008, and their plan to shift to “traditional and non-traditional” marketing tactics.

I will miss the Gap ads this holiday season. Remember the ones from a few years back where the models danced choreographed dances to festive holiday music? I loved those, and bought a few sweaters and pairs of mittens because of those catchy commercials.

So why the sudden turn from traditional advertising? The answer is simple: it is expensive to run television advertising consistently enough to reach your target audience effectively. Really, really expensive when you factor in paying an advertising agency to concept the commercial, make the commercial (and all that entails, from paying the models, stylists and photographers to scouting and paying for locations), to paying for the “spot” – the actual advertising air to run the ad during The Oprah Winfrey Show, Good Morning America and Grey’s Anatomy -- and any other show the Gap’s research reports its target market is watching.

So exactly what does “traditional and non-traditional” marketing tactics mean? Most likely they will be launching a full-scale publicity campaign, complete with publicity events with high-profile celebrities, giveaways -- and I’m keeping my eyes peeled towards the Oprah’s Favorite Things show. Whether or not they actual land one of those coveted spots remains to be seen, but they’re good marketers over at the Gap. And the smart marketers are pitching (and have been since July) their little hearts out to Ms. Winfrey’s producers.

While I’ll miss those fun commercials, I’m glad for the reminder for all of us small business owners. What reminder? That a giant advertising campaign isn’t necessary to launch an effective marketing campaign. And while smaller businesses are unlikely to hook a big-name celebrity to promote our products in the press, a few news releases can go a really long way toward building your brand in your community.

Let’s all stay tuned on who has the best holiday commercials this holiday season (my money is on Target. You?)

Happy Holiday Marketing!

Sprinkles and Caffeine: What Every Voter Needs

I have written before about the importance of tying your publicity efforts into the current headlines, and today I witnessed a perfect example of how three companies (and I am sure many, many more) are taking the Election Day headline and using it to their advantage.

The question of the (election) day: what do donuts, coffee and ice cream have to do with the election? And, no, the answer is not “the new president will need caffeine and comfort foods to deal with the stresses of his new job.” But that was an excellent guess.

The answer is … if you are voting in this election, swing by Krispy Kreme for a free star-shaped donut with sprinkles, hit your local Starbucks for a gratis cup of coffee, and stop at your local Ben and Jerry’s for an on-the-house scoop of ice cream.

None of these companies has a direct connection with the election, public policy, voting, candidates, or drawing party lines – but each received a high-profile mention on The Today Show. Connecting their product with THE headline of the day will drive traffic into their stores, will likely increase sales, definitely saved them thousands of dollars in advertising, and is building goodwill with lots of Americans who’ll need a little boost after standing in line for hours to do their civic duty.

In the south we advise our children never to ask someone how old they are, how much they weigh, or for whom they will cast their vote. All I know is that I’m old enough to vote, so I did. And I will likely weigh more after a scoop of ice cream and a donut. And I’ll probably be up late watching returns, so I’ll wait until this evening for my free cup of coffee.

Happy Voting!