Today's Marketing Topic: PR

That's right, today we're talking about public relations. It's amazing to me how little marketing professionals and small business owners know about PR. In fact, PR is largely becoming one of the most ignored marketing disciplines. When speaking about PR to one of my marketing buddies he said, "no one reads anymore.. so PR is basically dead!"

Honestly, I pretty much laughed in his face. "Dead! PR? You've got to be kidding!" I said. The reality is that today's news, social media, and email are all a forms of PR. Sure, I agree that the traditional practice of "getting ink" is old school, but the concept of pushing out a message or creating interest in what you have to offer is just GOOD MARKETING.

Using PR Today

I recently listened to a talk from Tim Ferris, the author of the popular book "The 4-Hour Work Week". Tim went from being unknown to one of today's most recognized authors in a very short time. How did he do it? You guessed it, PR. However, Tim's public relations approach was slightly different than the norm.

He contacted influencers within his area of expertise and let them know about his book. Even a slight mention from market leaders like, ".. taking a trip. Picked up a copy of 'The 4-hour Work Week'.." had a ripple effect that has grown into a phenomenon. In about a week, Tim's book went form nowhere to the New York Times best seller list.

If You Think PR Is Dead, Think Again

So if you're not Tim Ferris and you're not well connected, can PR still work for you? My answer is still yes, you just need to think about it differently. Whether your are targeting bloggers, Tweeters with a huge Twitter list, or other social media, public relations is about distributing your message for others to hear.

If you've done a Google search lately you'll notice the press releases are gaining exposure in search results. This is one of the ways that a well distributed message can appear before prospects and buyers. The next time you do a search check out your results list. You'll notice quite a few listing from PR and other media outlets.

Don't Lose Sight Of Public Relations

Whether you have a robust PR program or are just starting out, learn what you can about public relations. Anytime you want others talking about your product, services, or brand, think PR. Begin with media releases, talking to bloggers, and even reaching out to traditional media outlets.

Think new media too. Video and image are integrated into more and more PR efforts than ever before. Use everything at your disposal to communicate effectively with your audience. PR is far from dead!!!

The 30 Day Marketing Challenge: Game On!

This may appear to be my most ridiculous Marketing Blog post of all time, but in just a few short minutes you'll discover how this Internet marketing challenge has everything to do with marketing and little if anything to do with how to get rid of abdominal fat.

A number of weeks ago I was doing a Webinar on how to drive traffic to your web site or blog for little or no money. After the webinar I received a number of marketing related questions via email from seminar participants. I was pleasantly surprise when Internet marketing legend and guru Greg Cesar connected with me. Greg is not only a marketing genius, but he's also a great guy.

We got to talking and Greg gave me a challenge that was too good to give up. He asked, "How quickly do you think you can get a web site ranked #1?" Without giving it much thought I responded, "..about 30 days". And from that simple question the 30 Day Challenge was born.

What This Has To Do With Getting Rid of Abdominal Fat

Okay, so when a guy like Greg challenges someone like me to a seemingly impossible task, you've got to be on your toes. And honestly, other than getting on an exercise machine, working out with an exercise ball, or doing some jogging, my knowledge of six pack abdominals is pretty limited. However, I decided to find an affiliate product to promote and work with over the next month or two and discovered the popular ebook called Truth About Abs.

After conducting some basic keyword research using the Google AdWords tool I landed on the keyword phrase,"get rid of abdominal fat." The keyword gets over 1,300 monthly searches and, believe it or not, the URL wasn't taken. I couldn't believe it either given the fact that exercise and abdominal information is very popular. I bought the domain and started the 30 day challenge to get the site ranked on top for my chosen keyword.

I'm in the process of documenting and recording all of the steps that I'm using to achieve my goal.  When finished, I plan to post the video here and show you step-by-step how I did the research, focused on the exercise niche, chose the abdominal product, selected the keyword phrase "get rid of abdominal fat", and optimized the site for search engines.  I

Now you can see that while the rest of the world is thinking about the holidays, I'm thinking about losing belly fat - I know, an odd thing. But I guess that's what makes marketers like me so strange. Happy holidays!

Add Integrated Marketing To Your Marketing Mix

The combination of online marketing and offline marketing can give you a real bang for your buck. It’s pretty common today to find companies running well integrated marketing campaigns that include online advertising like PPC with offline campaigns. This combination is ideal for anyone who is building their brand and driving leads for a particular product or service.

Getting Started With Integrated Marketing

Perhaps you’re running marketing campaigns across multiple media. Even if you’re using something as simple as the Yellow Pages from a print perspective, there’s usually a corresponding form of online marketing that can enhance results.

One of the easiest ways to take advantage of an integrated campaign is use direct mail with a corresponding landing page. For example, I recently worked with a local retailer who was trying to bring more people into their store during the holiday season. My recommendation was to mail out post cards to past customers and nearby prospects that contained an offer.

The post card contained a special offer on select merchandise available in the store. To get a full list of applicable products that could be purchased during the promotional period, users were given a URL to a specially designed landing page. They could print a special coupon by visiting the URL included on the postcard. The web page included additional merchandise, specific information about the promotion, and an opportunity to sign up for special offers. This resulted in a number of outcomes including increased foot traffic and a list of emails that could be used for promotional purposes.

Start Small and Build From There

Creating an integrated marketing program is not an easy thing. All aspects of your campaign need to be well planned and tracked. Often times I see companies working towards integrated marketing only to give it an effort that is partially thought through. When asking consumers to go from an off line piece of marketing (an ad, a post card, a brochure) to an online information or offer, marketers are wise for focus on their audience and product or service benefits.

The best thing you can do is to start with a small campaign. Perhaps your campaign is similar to the retail example above. Or, perhaps you start with a special offer that is communicated via a flyer or newspaper ad. Your landing page needs to be designed with the specific offer in mind. Driving individuals to your home page is a waste of money.

Integrated marketing is only successful is you are relevant. Your messaging must be consistent both online and off. In addition, the look and feel of your offer and landing page should be as consistent as possible. This improves the user experience and enhances conversion rates. When beginning with a small campaign, it’s easier to get the details right and see success.

Split Test and Tracking

Whether you’re running a traditional print campaign or an online marketing program, it’s best to be in a mode of continual testing. Start with a split test. Change your headline, experiment with a different offer, or change your copy. Regardless of which element you choose, split testing sets you up for future winning campaigns.

Track your results using basic web tracking like Google Analytics. To make the most of your integrated campaign, you’ll need a way to track whether your web visitors arrived directly from your promotion. By driving users to a specific URL identified in your direct marketing piece or ad, you’ll be able to measure web traffic. Additionally, require a special promotional code to be entered on your order form. In combination, you’ll have a number of data points that provide valuable information about your promotion.

Integrated marketing can work extremely well if your concept is simple and well executed. Start with a well thought through plan that is easily implemented. The effectiveness of any direct campaign is largely based on the offer and you’re list. Creative has less impact on the overall success of your campaign. So get started and be sure to test your campaign, comparing it to the effectiveness of your other marketing initiatives. You may find that integrated marketing has a better result than other forms of marketing on their own.

Why Gen-Y Is Going To Win The Branding War

When Michael invited me to write a post on his site, I wanted to talk about some of the changes that are happening online and the speed in which everything is moving. As an outspoken member of Gen-Y (you know the Under 30 crowd), we are experiencing this change and adapting quicker than ever. 

The Million Dollar Mint

Take a look at young entrepreneurs like Aaron Patzer of Mint.com who recently sold out to Intuit, maker of finance products like Quicken and Quickbooks. Aaron saw a gap in the way personal finance was being handled and created a solution. A good solution. And he did it fast. He did it using technologies like the iPhone, where the Mint.com app is regularly in the top 10 free finance apps. He did it by using customer service through Twitter. And the older generation had to play catch up, or rather buy out the fast kid with the great ideas.

Next on the list are heavy hitters like Matt Mullenweg, creator of Wordpress. This young gun changed the way many people develop websites, manage content and keep clients, fans and web browsers up to date on happenings in the world of the content creator. Next to him is Mark Zuckerberg, king of social networking after besting Myspace sometime last year.

These young people understand the information age in which we live, where information is extremely valuable and the price tag on data jumps significantly higher than the $15 for a CD or $20 for a DVD model that is slowing fading away and crushing long standing business models.

Gen-Y Speed Branding

With the increased speed in building a brand, the way in which people find you in more important than ever. There is no better way to be found, both cost effectively and conversion wise than from the Google. I say the Google, because they have more than transformed the way the web works. From simple searches back in the early 2000's to buying video sites, serving more ad dollars than any company on the planet and having more access to data than the government (opinion, but I really do believe it).

Young people have found that being on Google's good side can bring more than traffic to their website. Through topics like personal branding, college grads are starting to make a name for themselves that will have employers calling them before the ink dries on their diploma, getting clients without much work experience and having the opportunity to network with people all over the world, due to niche writing, blogging and having a case of the "curious."

The Internet has been around for nearly the entire lifespan of younger Gen-Y's and mobile technologies are in more hands than anyone could have ever imagined, to the tune of 4-1 over internet enable computers.

How To Rock Google In The Branding Space

Get a great domain name. With the availability of vanity names (facebook.com/yourbrand. twitter.com/yourbrand), it is more important than ever to have a home base that you control. Buy a domain and send all your traffic there. Build it as a home for recent articles, your products and services and use it to build your brand, your email list and RSS subscribers.

Grab up the vanity URL's. If you want to own a brand name, than you really need to own it. After you grab a rocking domain, go and signup for the popular social networks and start getting active. This includes YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Brazen Careerist (the latter for the Gen-Y crowd). By getting active on these platforms, you will build a fanbase, great links back to home base and start to dominate the top page in Goolge.

Create killer content. The last step is to get out there and create great content that people are going to want to share, link to and tell their friends about. This should include videos, audios (Podcasts), reports, presentations, images and blog posts. Share them with your followers, your customers, your mailing list and anywhere else that people would find value. Good content spreads. Good content is found by search engines and good content can make your brand stand out!

Your brands can compete with Gen-Y! The challenge is to get out there and outperform us. Work harder. Work smarter. Then cash out for $170 million to an older, slower company like Aaron from Mint. Not a bad exit strategy, huh?

This post was written by Greg Rollett. Join the Rock Star Business Series to learn more about branding yourself or your business. Greg blogs about lifestyle design.

Alternatives To Discounting: How NOT To Lower Your Price This Holiday Season

This holiday season, everyone is looking for a bargain.  Or at least it seems like discounts are driving the economic train.  From a marketing perspective, nothing is more frightening than an endless loop of discounting.  Take stores like Bed, Bath, & Beyond.  Chances are that you’ve been hit with more than one of their 20% discount coupons.  What if all the coupons were to stop?  You might consider going to their competition.  This is largely because you’ve been conditioned to shop at that store using a coupon.

What’s the alternative?

I’m often asked, “What is the alternative to discounting?”  I think the more important question is, “How can I create more value?”  By creating more value for your prospects, and ultimately your customers, price becomes less significant.  For example, let’s take store A.  Store A is offering a 20% discount on a towel set.  These towels are available at just about any kitchen or bath store and even the big box retailers.  Store B decides they want to move quantities of the towel set as well.  But instead of discounting, they bring in an interior decorator to give a free “color match” seminar titled, “How to choose the right towels that make your home look like an expensive spa retreat!”

Assuming that Store A and Store B spend the same on advertising to promote their offers, store B will likely attract a similar quantity of prospects and may even have a higher percentage of sales.  Regardless, they are building a pattern of value versus a pattern of consistent discounting.  The endless loop of discounting is just that, endless – reducing margins and increasing prices.  Very few retailers or online service providers can sustain the discounting tactic. 

Think of ways to provide value to your audience.  Yes, some people are solely motivated by a discount, but these aren’t the types of customers you truly want.  Customers who see the value in what you’re offering and are willing to buy without added motivation become loyal repeat purchasers and advocates for your product, service, or store.  Get creative, experiment with new and different ways to create value for your customers.  The result will be long term customers who help you grow your business.

Internet Marketing: Begin From Where You Are

Last week I did a Webinar on "How to get your first 1,000 visitors for free". Special thanks for Mark Roth from Offer Vault who had me on as a guest. As an experiment, I gave my email out to participants so they could ask Internet marketing questions. I received about a dozen or so questions and came to an interesting conclusion.

Each of us is in a different place when it comes to Internet marketing. Some people are just starting out while others are much more advanced. For example, in the area of SEO, I was asked, "where is the best place to buy a domain name" to "does having an individual IP address for each affiliate web site have a direct impact search rankings?"

It just goes to show that each of us may be at a different stage in our online marketing career(s). As a result, it's my advice to find resources that are appropriate for different stages of marketing. Whether you are focus on marketing as a whole (American marketing association) or SEO (SEOmoz), there are plenty of resources targeted to your current level of expertise. 

Always keep learning

I think the most important thing to keep in mind is to always keep learning. Even as someone with 13 years of internet marketing experience, I am still listening to other people's webinars, reading their articles, and blog posts. This is important because one person can't know everything there is to know about Internet marketing. 

Ask for help

Sometimes, even I get stuck. That's why I depend on resources like the Internet marketing forum to get answers to my most difficult marketing questions. Not only can I ask questions, but contribute on topics aligned with my expertise. 

Learn from doing

The best thing you can do for yourself is to learn by doing. Today, marketing online doesn't take much of an investment. I have learned the most by listening, reading, and then doing. It's great if you have help, but if not, don't hesitate to try something online. Whether it's SEO, PPC marketing, or affiliate marketing, you're going to gain valuable insight into what you're trying to accomplish.

Don't be concerned if you're just starting out. Now is the best time to be engaged with Internet marketing. Find a resource that works for you and engage. Over time, you'll be so knowledgeable about Internet marketing that others will seek out your advice!