Carson and Company

With all the activity and “publicity” that business blogging has received this past year, pr clients, and publicity professionals are clamoring to get a blog site for themselves and companies. Is having a business blog the best choice or just a publicity campaign the way to go?

Good question, but there isn’t one answer. First you need to do some soul searching about what it is you are trying to achieve. If you are a pr client that has a product to launch, or a service to promote, then a publicity campaign is what you need. With that said, let’s back up a second. Keeping in mind that publicity press releases are good, an article is best. Look at your pr marketing strategies that you are developing. While you may not get an article in a publication, or it may be a few months before that reporter gets your article published, then consider incorporating a business blog site to further the exposure. The blog will also get you noticed sooner. And you have more control as to what can be said. Unlike an ad, you don’t want your business blog site to be all commercial. Keep to the facts, make it interesting and give some examples as to why this new product can improve things like a person’s lifestyle, or a company’s profits. Basically, make it productive, not a sales pitch.

This brings us back to creating a solid pr marketing strategy for your pr client, or company. Make sure that your pr marketing strategies include a well-planned publicity campaign. This should consist of a business blog, a promotional program, a series of press releases and an article that can be submitted to reporters, editors and publishers in your industry. I read an article called “Is your press release passive?” Other tips on good pr writing can be found at their main site. This touches on a few important issues in writing releases. This can also be a simple guide in writing your blog for that new product or service.

So what have you learned in this blog? Hopefully that a business blog is as important as your publicity campaign. Ok, I need to now explain that just having a blog on the web doesn’t get you noticed. It requires a lot of backend marketing. A couple of years ago, a simple blog site was all you needed and it got a lot of attention. Today, you need to market your business blog site. That brings me to our company, Carson Marketing, Inc. We can market your business blog site. If you do not have a business blog, then we can help put your company into the blog sphere so that you get noticed. Give us a call. We’re just 10 numbers away at 949-477-9400 to making you a successful blogger.

“Do a press release on the expansion of our company, and another on the new products we offer”. If this is what you think is a pr marketing strategy then get ready”to-fail”.

The reason to do press releases is to enhance an already existing publicity campaign. Just as a pr client would not produce one item or two and think they will sell millions and become rich…with very few exceptions, this isn’t how to run a business. Neither is it right to have a pr marketing strategy be a once or twice a season of submitting press releases.

If you want to get noticed, or be along the same playing field (in pr terms I mean) with your competitors, then you need a solid pr marketing strategy. To create a pr marketing strategy you should include a lot of press releases, a press kit to be distributed at trade shows, promotional programs (these could be charity related, community projects, sponsorship of events, etc), articles for publication, get into the social media network, start blogging about your company, and many other campaign elements.

It seems that pr clients think of sending a press release to keep costs down, when in reality it can cost you more because the release may or may not get published, or posted online at Yahoo News, then what do you do? Send another press release? Yes, but it should be part of your overall pr marketing strategy. Follow up with related articles for submission, comparisons to show how your new product changes what was to how it makes things better, or more profitable. Getting your company name in front of potential customers is another part of a good pr marketing strategy. Again, it is only part of the overall campaign. Try contacting other related businesses, ask if they would participate with your company by creating an event, or develop an awareness campaign by co-sponsoring an existing event. These can be local, regional, or national, all depending on your objective that is in your Marketing Plan. What? You don’t have a marketing plan. Then maybe you need to get it all together now, while the year is still new and help your company survive with a smart marketing plan. Need help? Give me a call, at 949-477-9400. I’ll make sure you have the campaign to get your company to the next level, and be successful this year.

Many of you still do not see the power in blogging. It can be one of the best pr marketing strategies you can use. For businesses, it is the best source to get the word out as well as get your company’s web site rank higher. If you feel that there are too many blog sites, then yes, there are. But the fact still remains, blogging can enhance your image, and can get you listed higher with the search engines such as Google and Yahoo.

Marketing is a very broad term. In some industries, it relates to tele-marketers, those who call us at the most annoying hours. But the true meaning of marketing is getting a product or service to customers. This can be Business to Business (B2B), or Business to Consumer (B2C).

If you are looking for information on marketing, then visit the different blogs that speak about all types of marketing, from pr marketing, to sales marketing to industrial marketing and so on. A good place to start when you want to learn more about marketing blogs is at Online Marketing Blog. You will find a list of over 350 on-line marketing blogs that cover most topics like search marketing, social media, and new media public relations. The list is updated weekly, so visit the site often.

When you want to do some search engine marketing, then you need to check out the Google Directory. A list of weblogs and Directories will pop up. Almost too many for the average person to view. These are just a few things I wanted to share with you to show that blogging is not going away, instead it is becoming a serious part of the business method of communicating today.

Create a good RSS Feed to get more attention and recognition

By now everyone is realizing the power of online marketing. Although our agency has been doing this for over five years, I am now seeing publicity agencies, pr clients and the traditional media getting more involved with the Internet.

We know that blogging has helped jump this attention to become a useful marketing tool. Now we are seeing how RSS Feeds can further expand your exposure. Whether you are a sporting goods company, an auto dealership, a retail outlet, a snack food company, you should consider adding RSS Feeds to your current web site.

Plus, a "press room", or Newsroom should also be part of the web site. Why, because it is becoming a place where the media can learn quickly about your company, the products and services you offer.

When you send press releases, articles or other important materials to the publishers, editors, or freelance writers, they will want to know more about you. The web site is a perfect place for them to update themselves. So make sure your pressroom has current information.

See Also

• Get Your Releases and Articles Online
  How to make an online appearance and get media attention

Are Chat Rooms good for publicity?

We all know about these little rooms called "chats". Unlike blogging and blog sites, chats were here years before and seem to still be going strong.

Not sure what power the chats have over other forms of communication, but publicity is not in-tune with this media. I am not saying that pr clients, or publicity firms need to get into chat rooms. What needs to be done? A study of these chats in your specific market.

For example, if you are selling Hair products, you might want to know what people are saying about the use or non-use of hair products. Yes, this is marketing, but it relates to publicity as well. How? Glad you asked.

Professional PR agencies can use this information to direct the activity of a campaign. If you find that most hair products are used at a specific time of day, you might market the product when the consumer is NOT using the product to make sure your message is reaching the audience. And you might learn how they are using products. Publicity can then be directed to the places they frequent most to learn about hair products, or you might discover a way to reach these potential consumers when studying these chats. Be careful to not be a sales person in a chat room. Otherwise you might get flagged as a company, not a person in the chat room.

This example can apply to any product just by visiting chat rooms that relate to your market. If you want to know where is a good place to find these different chat rooms, try this link. You’ll be surprised at how many different topics there are. You can also do a search on Google, or any of the search engines as well.

See Also

• Understanding how marketing works with PR
  Get more from your pr activities by using chat room research

Twelve reasons to use RSS

RSS is here and you need to make this tool part of your business plan. Why?

If you need to ask, then maybe your company or pr agency is not ready to become a leader in your industry.

But if you are considering the advantages, I’ll give you about twelve reasons how RSS, Blogging, or a Blog site can improve your image, and gain favorable pr AND increase sales. Now remember, that publicity or an ad campaign cannot close a sale, but it can bring traffic to your site, or to your office.

Reasons to get a blog started:

• Because blogs are short articles, they are best read when you have a strong headline.  Create news type headlines and make the article a story…but short, about 300 words and not more than 750 words.
• Tell pr clients, or customers about upcoming events through your blog
• Choose a specific day that you just have your thoughts expressed. It can be about a competitors product, or about the industry in general. All from your point of view
• It’s a great way to announce new products, or the addition of staff
• Tell potential and current clients about unique sites that they can benefit from, show the links to these sites

• Newsletters. You probably do one now, or have a lot of saved information that can be written easily in short articles. Share that information and become recognized as a company helping customers, or pr clients with problems that usually arise in your industry

Well, I only have time to give you six of the twelve. Need to know the rest. Contact me and I’ll share that and more with you.

See Also

• How to make RSS work for your company
  Blogging is a powerful tool, know how to use it

Your Customers Are Probably Going To Your Competitors Site

Ever wonder why your site isn’t getting all the traffic you want? Notice that your competitors are listed higher in the search than your site? How can this be when it is your key words?

A recent study found that "Fifteen percent of people who search for a company’s brand name end up going to Web sites of the brand’s competitors, affiliates or to price-comparison sites because those sites rank high in the results, according to a study to be released today by online competitive intelligence firm Hitwise, New York."

The study goes on to tell you that you need to buy more of the keywords that fit your company description. But what if your competitors are already paying for those key words?

In my opinion, that’s the problem with bidding wars for keywords.

Ms. Prescott, a senior analyst for Hitwise, said. "People are searching more navigationally than they used to."

Some even suggest buying your brand name that might be spelled incorrectly. This actually helps customers find you. People don’t use a spell checker in the search navs for Google, or Yahoo. So this could be a good suggestion.

Unfortunately, you can be spending a lot of money bidding for your brand name, or words that relate to your brand. Is there another solution? Yes!

I’ve said this before, blogging. But not just a blog site. You need one that has the muscle and wisdom behind the site. It is the special ingredients of how the site is structured, how the key words are inserted into the daily blogs, how it is found by search engines.

Let your competitors pay for the keywords and phrases, while you establish a blog site that will get your company, brand name, listed at the top of the searches. It’s time to let blogging work for you!

See Also

• Learn How To Get a Professional Blog Site
  Blogging is the solution for SE Optimization

Branding is important so is blogging

All companies are fighting for the same thing. An Identity.

Without this, you can’t be visible, you will have a difficult time selling a product or service, and it will be very difficult to stay in business.

Today’s competitive market (in all industries) is looking for better and more efficient methods to creating this identity.

The word "Branding" has become a popular term in our business language. This is what an identity is for a company. Although branding does encompass more than the traditional identity program. All businesses need to have a serious look as to how they are perceived by customers, competitors and the media.

When developing a branding program, you need to look at all aspects of the company. When you have placed a true branding program in place, you then need to get that image, brand into the marketplace.

Doing this can be done in several ways. I strongly recommend that companies include with their Publicity Campaign a business "blog site".

Blogging is more than a term; it is now part of our daily lives. Even more so in business.

A good blog site will consist of RSS feeds to attract news about your industry, and market. It will also be created in a fashion to reflect your image–BRAND. In addition it needs to be monitored and produced by a professional blog company that knows the "back end" of the marketing. Doing a blog is only one small part of blogging.

Writing and using links, images, keywords, phrases and many other unique techniques can be a very productive site to make a company gain visibility and brand recognition within 90 days.

So be careful before you just plunge into a blog site. Make sure you work with people who know the techniques of the business side. These are the people who can make things happen for you and your company.

See Also

• More on building a brand
  Get noticed and build sales
• What makes a blog site
  Creating a successful business blog

More than a fad, blogging is a business tool

It is still amazing that clients tend to back off when they hear the word blogging. Why? Probably because they recall stories about bloggers writing about their jobs, venting about bosses, or friends.

Most company CEO’s and presidents do not yet understand the power of this marketing tool. And by the time they do, some other techno development will become the new marketing tool.

For today and many more years ahead, in my opinion, blogging will be the exciting marketing tool to help companies gain awareness faster than traditional publicity.

Don’t get me wrong; you still should maintain a solid pr program contacting the various media. But you should include a blog program to enhance the efforts.

To prove my point that blogging is a serous business tool, look at the University of California, Berkeley’s new course. It is "Blogging". The course is incorporated into their journalism classes. Now you know the world of blogging is part of our lifestyle.

In addition, pitching publicity is being done through blogger’s writing about company’s products, or the company themselves.

An article by Loyd Trufelman and Laura Goldberg, titled, "Pitching Blogs: Latest Type Of Online Media Vehicle May Provide Valuable PR Opportunities", discusses the ways bloggers are being called by journalists, reporters about story’s. In the article Loyd and Laura state:

"…many bloggers have no experience at being pitched by publicists." And continued saying, "What was striking throughout the pitching process was the discovery that most bloggers were rarely, if ever, approached by PR professionals."

The article is a good read, so check it out. And remember to give blogging serious thought as how it can impact your company. Contact us if you want to discuss this marketing tool.

See Also

• Berkeley
  College courses for blogging
• Poynter Online
  For journalist
• B2B magazine
  Blogging — what works and doesn’t

A PR effort is needed

It is always interesting to see that what you have been telling clients finally gets support in the media.

Publicity is and will always be the backbone to gaining any recognition (favorable, not favorable) for a company or its products.

I was reading a posted blog that supports one of my many convictions. It was titled "Power Law Blogging". In this short blog, he states that another article he read, the writer had this to say about blogging:

“The good news is that it’s still possible to create a top-ranked blog,” says Shirky. “The bad news is, the way to get into the top ten now seems to be public relations.” Just posting witty entries and hoping for traffic won’t do it. You have to actively seek out attention from the press. “That’s how they’re jump-starting the links structure. It’s not organic.”

As you can easily see, you need a strong media mix to become successful. One marketing tool is not enough. Starting a blog is and should be on your list of good resource tools. Be sure to add, or expand further a publicity program. Together these will help your company get noticed!

Take it a step further and make sure you have a complete marketing plan. The plan does not need to be complex. It can be designed to work within a limited budget. The plan will give you a direction and establish guidelines. After a few weeks, review the plan. See if it still meets your goals and objectives.

Now back to blogging.

See Also

• Pub Sub
  PR subscription feedback
• Google
  Blog marketing
• Carson and Company
  Publicity with Blogging