Carson and Company

If you are a pr client, and want to improve how to get more free publicity for your company, let me tell you a few trade secrets on how you can do this.

If you are a local publicity professional, like an Orange County publicity agency, or a Los Angeles publicity company, this could be a good refresher lesson for you as well. Let’s look at what your pr agency, or your in-house publicity department might be doing. Then I will point out suggestions to improve your chances to gain more free press. Has your publicity campaign consisted of this?

• After sending our a dozen or more press releases about new employees being hired, you see very little lineage in the press

• You submit articles to the media, but find the reporters do not return your calls, or emails about them and the article is never published.

• You read the local papers (like the Orange County Business Journal, or The Tribune) only to keep seeing your competitors get all the ink coverage, and not your company.

I’m sure as a pr client, this may have happened to your publicity campaign, more than once. And if you are a publicity professional and see this happening, then re-evalute your writing and research. What are the answers to making this right, to get more publicity? If you are not going to hire a good local publicity agency, like CarsonPR.com, then try these simple tasks and maybe you will finally get noticed. Or you can go to the 101 public relations site to learn more.

1- Ask yourself a few important questions. Such as, are the press releases interesting only to you, or does it really have any story angles that relate to a publications audience. Another example, if your company does something of interest to help customers, or the community, then that is newsworthy to local media. One idea would be to promote through an article or press release that your web site offers free newsletters or coupons to help customers be more informative in saving money.

2- If you want local media attention, turn the story into how it affects the local area. Interview customers in a specific area, or local retailers on how your company has helped, or improved their business.

3- Create a news event. Especially today with high costs of fuel, and food, maybe do something to make a person’s money go further. Can’t think of anything, then give George Carson a call. He has a lot of creative suggestions to get your company noticed.

4- Another suggestions is to look at trends. Can your company, or services ride that wave? Social media and networking are hot, look into your company to see how it can be more proactive to this new technology.

Overall, there are lots of ways a publicity professional will do an overview of how to modify a press release to be more interesting to the media. If your in-house publicity department can’t find a way, maybe they have become too “corporate” and can no longer think outside of the company’s corporate culture.

If these few tips can get your publicity campaign off the ground, I’m glad. If these sound like common sense, then why aren’t you doing them. When you need a local publicity professional, give us a call at 949-477-9400. We at Carson Marketing, Inc know how to get noticed, we have been doing it since 1980.

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.

If you are like a lot of media research people, or a publicity professional who is always trying to find useful web sites for your pr marketing strategy project, I have something of great value. First, realize the Internet is pack full of information that makes it difficult to find what you are looking for. Google has done an excellent job in allowing more than keywords, but allows you to use key phrases for a finer method of narrowing your search. Ever feel lost in the Internet? Im sure you have.

Publicity professionals, pr clients and all advertising companies use the web to gather information for creating marketing plans, or developing a pr marketing strategy. Knowing where to start can be a great help. But how do you do that? Is there a place that actually has grouped, or categorized sites for all us web surfers to find “stuff”?. The answer is yes. Ok, your saying, get to the point…here is a useful web site that has a good listing of subjects: PINAKES, A Subject Launchpad. The site has an array of topics to find most anything from Music, to high tech to arts and humanities to biotech and many more categories.

It may not be the super list of all lists, but as I said, you need a place to start and this is just one of the many useful sites that can get you pointed in the right direction. So the next time your pr client, or publicity professional has a research project, or you need more information to make that next presentation, check out PINAKES.

If you are really ambitious and want to dig deeper for information on a specific topic, then consider sites like DMOZ, the Open Directory, or About.com, or intute. Each has resources that will get you surfing. But beware, this can get habit forming. You might just find yourself spending hours looking and not doing the research project your had started out to do. Put a time limit on your research, and bookmark sites that could be of value. Then go back and make notes on those sites that can help complete your project. For more information on web site listings, call Carson Marketing, Inc. Ask for George Carson.

It is hard to believe that a year ago I made a presentation to the California Community Colleges on  “Job Behavior” as the first soft skills lesson. This year our company produced another lesson on Power Listening. Although many people, including pr clients, ad agencies, even many publicity professionals think this isn’t that important, or a soft skill. Well it is. In fact listening is the most important soft skill a person can learn.

Check out these facts:

Over 75% of what we learn is from listening. And get this, a person can only speak about 180 words per minute, but we hear over 500 words per minute. That means we get bored when people are talking, and therefore loose interest and miss what is said. So if you are a pr client, publicity professional, start listening, not hearing, but listen to what is being said.

It was a great presentation and many of the professors and other administrators at this conference for the community colleges were very pleased with the presentation. Several people commented that they learned a lot and will begin using this Power Listening lesson in their classes immediately.

My other point why I am telling you about this, it is an excellent publicity vehicle. Our company was well received by the 109 community colleges throughout California. This is one of the many ways a pr client can gain exposure for their company, or themselves. Give lectures; speak on topics that you know, or about trends in your industry. A few helpful hints:

• Contact your local Chamber Of Commerce to give a lecture

• Send an article to your local newspaper to the business editor and ask them to publish your article. Make sure the article is newsworthy and talks about a specific topic in your industry

These are just a few suggestions. To learn more about making presentations, or “how to listen”, give George Carson a call. He knows how to listen, and can show you how to gain favorable publicity when using this soft skill. Contact George at 949-477-9400.

This is a topic that can always be spoken about. Mainly because most pr clients, advertisers, and publicity agencies do not fully understand how to create a branding campaign, or build a brand product.

It starts with a plan. A Marketing Plan would be best. Inside the plan should be the different marketing strategies that outline in detail what your company goals are to be achieved and what will it take to attain those goals. So how does this relate to BRANDING? Glad you asked. It is just one small part of your pr marketing strategy.

When you or your advertising agency creates a campaign for your product, or company image, consider what it is you are trying to achieve. If it is to be memorable, or have humor, or be a serious campaign, then this is how the branding will start. Branding also starts from within a company. From the CEO, to the president, to the office receptionist. But that’s another area of branding that we can discuss later.

Let’s get back to your ad campaign, or publicity campaign. If the idea that is presented looks good, feels good, but you as the pr client just says “that could be our competitors ad if you take out our logo”. Well, consider this, are they using that campaign, or that slogan, or those images. If not, then maybe you are in the old school. Just as I read in Brandweek, an article called “The Doing of the Thing”, by Mike Wolfsohn, points out that this type of thinking can make you be left behind the competition, instead of being the competition. He uses several examples; one in particular is the MasterCard “Priceless” campaign. While the competition, Visa, is trying to position them as the card that is used everywhere, MasterCard takes the personal approach making it more emotional. Anyone of the other card companies could have used that as their idea, but MasterCard did it.

So don’t throw out an idea because you feel the campaign is too generic, make it your brand, make it become your slogan, or image. That is one way to start building a brand. To learn how to create a brand in more detail, give George Carson a call. He can get you noticed so that YOU become the competition. Call him at 949-477-9400.

Web designers and Webmasters already know how important Meta tags are, or can be, but are they really being used anymore? I worked with a pr client to help them promote their web site. In doing this, we had to re-educate them about the use or non-use of Meta tags.

It seems like this term has a lot of staying power. Maybe because it is one of the only words, other than “optimize”, that the average pr client, or agency hears and still believes it is the “core” to promoting a web site. Not True Anymore! Before I get too deep into Meta tags and how to use them properly, let me say that yes, we use them, but it is now a very small part of web marketing. Most of us doing web marketing for our pr clients use Meta tags as form of structure, not to generate web traffic. But that’s another topic, and one that is much more complex today than it was two years ago.

Meta tags were the hot ticket in the early 90’s (wow, that isn’t that long ago, but sounds ancient in relation to technology). When spammers and gaming sites overused this process to generate traffic to their sites, new rules by search engines began developing. Meta tags have different names such as Meta Robots, Meta Description, Meta Keywords, and Meta Content Type. Since algorithms have emerged the way you use these Meta tags still can help, but not alone.

You’re probably asking what is a Meta Robot? It is a code that tells search bots to either follow your site (URL) or you can direct it to index certain pages. I’ll explain the other Meta Tags so you can understand them better. As a pr client, it may seem a lot to learn. As a web designer, keep this in mind, as it will help a Webmaster or web marketing expert get a site listed sooner.

Meta Description. Critical in a site. It is what people type as keywords. So these are important for your product/service in identifying them correctly.

Meta Keywords. I feel these are still one of the foundations to using any Meta Tag. Be careful not to place more than 18 to 20 keywords. Otherwise it can decrease your sites position with search engines.

Meta Content Text. As important, this can hurt a site by not displaying properly in search listings.

Although there are two schools about Meta Tags, it doesn’t hurt to use them. If done correctly, it can only help to improve a search engines listing, but it alone cannot give you high rankings as it did a few years ago. If you feel you can do this yourself, visit the Search Engine Watch site about meta tags.

If your web site needs more traffic, or better ranking with search engines, give Carson Marketing, Inc. a call. George Carson will show get you noticed. Call him at 949-477-9400.

“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.

When a PR Client asks us to develop a marketing plan, we begin by understanding their core business.

That may sound obvious, but in the life of B2B clients, and B2 Consumers, it is the main ingredient that is put aside as to say, “we know what we do”. Not always, because as a company matures, or reaches different levels in its lifecycle, they tend to go into new directions. This can be a good thing, but unless you know where your core business is, how can a pr client, or any company develop a solid marketing strategy?

There are two main components, according to Michael Porter’s book, Competitive Advantage, they are:

• How your enterprise will address the competitive marketplace

• How will you implement and support your day to day operations

These are simple in terms, but can go much deeper. We dig deep into the marketing strategy to make sure it has a solid foundation before implementing. When creating a marketing strategy, you need to consider many factors. These can vary from the common sense, to more complex. Here are a few to consider:

If your market is very active, you need to make sure that you support your offerings, that is if your company is strong in the industry

On the other hand, if you are weak in your industry, you need to build on strengthening the position by developing offerings that will gradually build a solid position

Establish an effective marketing and sales effort if the market is weak. Now you need to choose a strategy after identifying these. Some may include: A Cost Leadership Strategy, A Differentiation Strategy, and finally a Focus Strategy. To go deeper and explain these I would need a lot more writing and this would be a long article. I prefer you either read Mr. Porter’s book, or call Carson Marketing, Inc. Either way, you will learn a lot about how to establish a solid marketing Plan that includes solid marketing Strategies in order to reach the next level in your business.

If you are a pr client, then take notes, this can help you get press releases published. If you are a small pr agency, make sure you know these tips.

It seems when pr clients have press releases they feel the “world” wants to know all about it and cannot understand why it hasn’t been published. To get press releases published, you should first start in your own local backyard. This means contact your local media. Local newspapers, radio shows, TV reporters, and even online eMagazines. When you do this, it will help build your company name among the media. Even local papers, and other local media get the attention of national press. So start in this manner and then follow these steps.

To find the types of local media in your area, there are many sources you can use. Since we are in the age of Internet, this should be your first place to research. It is best to Google, or Yahoo the industry you or your pr client is in. I’ll give you a few places to look, such as:

Media Post. This lists all the media in the US

NewsLin.org provides a list of countries for media sources

ABYZ News Links, this also is a directory of countries

I need to mention that you or your pr client must have a web site. Why? In today’s fast moving world, a company’s web sites are a source for media, reporters to verify information, or to collect additional information about a company. After the press release is professionally written, now where do you submit it? Begin with the local media– newspapers, magazines in your area.

Then use the online sources. Some of these are: PRWeb.com. This site allows free distribution of releases. Another Free online site is Free-Press-Release.com. Many other excellent online sources exist. But start small and build your own media list that is specific to your industry.

Remember to post these press releases on your pr client’s web site. Having a “newsroom” is what reporters; editors look for when visiting a company site. If you need more help or tips for press release distribution, call us at CarsonPR. We can get you noticed!

A retail store, Beauty Source, recognizes the need to have an eCommerce web site in addition to their retail outlets. Why? Because consumer activity of eCommerce is still growing and the need to keep customers is greater today than it was just four years ago.

Web marketing is no longer for the part-time designer, or artist. It requires savvy marketers who understand how to grow a company and what eCommerce is about. That is just one of the many reasons why the PR Client, Beauty Source, chose Carson Marketing, Inc for their web site development. Creating the site is one small segment to a successful site. You need to have a clean design, the right placement of products, create an easy navigation system, and above all establish a solid optimization program that is constantly updated.

PR Clients rely on marketing professionals, like Carson Marketing, Inc. to help guide them with their pr marketing strategies. Unlike vertical agencies who specialize in one area, such as web development, or media advertising, Carson Marketing was chosen for their complete knowledge of all areas including publicity, promotions, web marketing and the ability to recognize trends when other competitors are learning where the industry is going. Since 1980, Carson Marketing, Inc. has been instrumental in helping pr clients and manufacturers discover how to increase business. The “core branding” approach is what makes Carson Marketing successful in helping pr clients reach their goals. This includes a pr marketing strategy plan that ties directly into the overall business plan. If you don’t have a direction, it makes it difficult to know where you are going. Carson Marketing will show pr clients the path to success.