Carson and Company

Blogging is still one of the most required media when creating a social network program. PR Clients need to make sure their blogging is done on a regular basis. Business blogs are necessary and helpful. Companies can control what is said about their people, products and services and can use their business blog sites to better understand the needs of employees. When done correctly, business blogs can help pr clients target thier customers needs by “listening’ to what is said. In turn, pr clients should respond to any negative or positive comments so customers feel a connection, which builds trust.

So what is different from a business blog vs a typical blog site?

This important pr marketing tool helps you to communicate more effectively to customers and potential customers as well. Last year in April, a blog I wrote listed of a few companies’ that have business blogs. These will give you an idea of how other company’s use blogging to improve their position and image:

• Gizmodo

• Google Blog

• Loosetooth.com Shop Blog

  If you need more reasons why a business blog can improve your company’s position and image, give George Carson a call at 949-477-9400. It could be the best call you make this year!

Publicity is everywhere! And that is why social media is one of the most successful resources to get publicity quickly in front of your potential customers. Ok, I will now get into why LinkedIn has actually become a solid pr marketing tool.

Unlike Twitter (which should be part of your pr marketing campaign), LinkedIn is purely a businessperson’s social media. Yet, too often it is thought of as a place for job hunter’s or those looking for people to add to their company. In the past this was how LinkedIn was used, but it has grown more as a means to build traffic to your web site. Why is this a good thing? If you own a business, or are a VP or manager of a company, it can be a place to create topics, and discussions among peers. It can direct them to your site and establish business relationships that can lead to more networking and sales.

Without trying to give you many examples, just visit Chris Crum’s article on this topic. I was glad to see and read his article because finally someone else recognizes the value and maybe pr clients will listen to a different person who sees this as a major opportunity to build traffic to your site. As many of you may know (at least I hope you know) LinkedIn announced it is now integrated into Microsoft Outlook. This is a big deal for LinkedIn! So now you should more than ever take advantage of this powerful social media and add it into your pr marketing strategy campaign.

If you do not have the time, or the staff to handle a social media campaign, then contact a social media company that could get you started. Don’t know anyone? Then call George Carson at Carson Marketing, Inc. - 949-477-9400.

Press releases need to be written as a newsworthy article, but in one page. Too often pr clients, or even professional pr writers put too much fluff into a press release and not the facts. Maybe it is because the pr client wants to believe that their news is more important than those published. That isn’t a reason to not follow the unwritten rules of writing good press releases.

Here are a few tips that we follow in the industry. Follow them, and you will have a better chance to get published.

1- Is the topic newsworthy? Announcing the new position of a person in your company may be news to you, but not to the reporters or editors. Even an open house isn’t “big news”. This doesn’t mean those releases won’t be published, but the odds are not very high they will. Try putting something exciting into these. For example, for an open house, announce that you are having a guest speaker, or will be offering something to the community.

2- Make your intro paragraph interesting, not a sales pitch. Give the reporter/editor something that wants them to read more.

3- Be sure you follow the AP style/formats and that it is grammatically sound.

4- Is the release fact based and well documented?

5- Make sure the message matches your target audience.

6- Be sure all the proper contact information is listed.

These are just a few of the important tips you need to write a good press release. Also, keep it to one page if possible.  Your list of media needs to be considered when submitting the release. But that’s another topic. If you search Google for “writing press releases” you will see that these tips are mentioned by most all professionals and editors in the industry.

Seems the popularity of Twitter is slowing becoming a follower’s site rather than a business site. Let me explain. Yes, Twitter is great for those who want to know what celebrities are doing, or what your friends are doing at the time. But for pr clients, it can be a great marketing tool to get higher rankings in Google, as well as get more traffic to your web site.

The great thing about Twitter, you can be a local orange county business, or a national company, even a global business and get people to follow you. So why, if you are a pr client, wouldn’t you want followers? It is a great pr marketing tool! When done correctly, you can actually increase traffic to your site. But remember, the content in those 140 characters need to be inviting. Don’t try to sell junk, or build traffic to only sell ad space on your site. Followers can be an important factor in growing your twitter name and your business web site.

I read a study by Rapleaf stating “active” Twitter users studied (40,000) had this in their report: “The most followed users gained followers at a faster rate than less popular users, contributing to a growing ‘popularity gap.’”  Also, “Users in the top 0.1% have around 5x as many followers as users in the top 1% and about 40x as many followers as users in the top 10%.”

Basically this is saying that many top celebs are being followed faster, and that people are more interested in the following than building their own followers. One writer uses the words “popularity gap” to explain this. That’s where the business part is loosing ground with this powerful pr marketing tool. If you understand this, it can actually be a good thing. Because you can use Twitter to build an awareness campaign for your service or business before too many companies realize the “gap” in their pr marketing strategy. So all you pr clients, wake up. Now is the time to improve your branding and increase traffic with Twitter. If not, your competition will just “twit” past you and gain more market share.

If your pr marketing strategies do not include using Google News, then your pr client will not get that needed exposure they deserve. What, you are not sure how to make Google News work for your pr client? I will give you some advice on making your pr marketing strategy work best when you use this tool.

If you are somewhat familiar with SEO, then you may be aware of the Search Engine Strategies that was held in San Jose sometime back. The main thrust of the meeting/event was directed toward Google. One writer said that if the publishers would listen better, they might just realize how Google and Google News can help them. But that is another topic.

One of the neat things is the “real time search suggestions” with Google Suggest. For those writing in foreign languages, like French, Italian German or Spanish, Google News has added this feature as well. The best way to explain how this feature works was said by a Google spokesperson statement: “The feature can make your experience searching Google News better by helping you formulate queries, saving you keystrokes, correcting spelling mistakes and exposing you to queries you might not have thought of,” says Google. “The goal of all that? To get you to the articles you’re looking for as quickly as possible.”

Get your pr marketing strategy going in the right direction. Start using this tool. Just like a reporter, you then can get real time stories to be better targeted when you have the right tools, the Google Suggest tool that is. Get more tips on SEO’s with Web Pro News.

If your pr marketing strategies need help, or if you are a pr client that would like to explore this option to get more awareness, give Carson Marketing, Inc a call. Ask for George Carson. He knows SEO’s and can get your publicity marketing campaign ahead of the competition.

Contact George at: 949-477-9400.

Recently our advertising company, Carson Marketing, Inc. was awarded two new accounts. They are: Yamaha Music Centers and Spa OTANI. Both pr clients understand the power of branding as a key ingredient for a successful marketing and advertising campaign. We presented our pr marketing strategies to these pr clients, and they quickly noticed how we incorporated the branding as an integral part of the overall advertising, marketing and publicity campaign.

Yamaha Music Centers are known worldwide and have the highest percentage of graduates who have become famous songwriters, musicians, and composers. Not all schools understand the Yamaha philosophy. That’s why the campaign we developed will further explain how children at a young age (from 18 months to 8 years) can improve their learning skills when music is part of their education. It is a fact that students who take music lessons have higher scores in math, and written skills. Carson Marketing, Inc. is now completing a new web site for the Yamaha Music Centers locations and creating various promotional, collateral materials for the schools. A publicity campaign is currently being developed as part of the complete branding program.

For the Spa, our company analyzed the current spa and found through research and a sampling focus study the former name (Spa Da Vinci) was not as appealing as once considered 8 years ago. Our client had recently acquired the company and was looking to increase its customer base. By changing the name (which our agency developed) to Spa OTANI and adding the tag line “Treat Your Body”  helped to establish the new spa as a place of enjoyment and relaxation. As part of our overall pr marketing strategy, we designed the logo for the new name, created a web site and developed all the sales materials for the spa. To further change the old image and to build a new branding image, we worked with the client by re-designing the interior rooms and selected new paint colors. A tie-in promotional campaign with hotels, and businesses is already in the works.

As you can see, sometimes branding could include a new name with a full image campaign or just a re-positioning of an existing name as in the case of Yamaha Music Centers. If your company isn’t sure of how to increase sales for the coming year, it might be time to contact George Carson at Carson Marketing, Inc. (949-477-9400) and get his expert opinion as what is needed for your company.

Part of a publicity campaign includes someone to be appointed as the company spokesperson. Most pr clients do not take this seriously. By that I mean, pr clients think the media, or reporters should only call them when they are available. This is the first rule in What NOT to do! Make sure your pr marketing strategy includes this in the plan.

Ok, let’s go through a few tips as what a pr client should do to become a great spokesperson.

1- Make yourself available.  You, the client should be easily reached, and always be prepared to speak with the media. It might be a good idea to have an “elevator speech” ready so when the media calls, you can quickly tell your story.

2- Know that your main objective to get media exposure is to gain more visibility for your company. Don’t try to “sell” reporters. Instead, make your story relate to something of current interest. If you know the publication, or the media that is calling, make your story (or angle) relate to that industry.

3- Elevator speech.  As mentioned earlier, have at least two of these prepared. One will be a short intro about your company. The other is a summary of what you want to tell the media. It could be about a new product/service, expansion, new contract, etc. Just keep it short and interesting. The reporter will ask questions if your story is of interest.

4- Support facts. This is important. Having tangible facts to back up your claims will show reporters you are knowledgeable of how your products improve customer’s daily lives, or how it helps businesses become more efficient.

5- Have your publicity professional outline a few of what are called “difficult questions”. By practicing the answers to these questions, you will feel more comfortable when asked.

6- Reference cards. You never know when a reporter will contact you. So in order to be prepared, have all the information I discussed on reference cards. This will keep you from trying to remember what to say, or how to handle those challenging questions.

These are just a few tips on how to become a great spokesperson with the media. If you need further coaching, give George Carson a call at Carson Marketing, Inc. 949-477-9400.

Sometimes we write like we talk. This is becoming a problem with press releases, articles and how we write emails. Even savvy publicity writers who write for pr clients, or publicity professionals will usually fail once in awhile with grammar in their releases.

You may not think it is important, but editors, reporters write and read for a living and they do not tolerate poor grammar, or the use of conjunctions to make long sentences. I read an article in Press-Release-Writing titled “Get a Grip on Grammar“. It has a lot of the tips I give my pr clients. Let me share with you a few of these from the article.

Q: I’ve heard the terms biweekly and semiweekly used interchangeably. Are they really synonyms?
A: A bimonthly appointment occurs once every two months. A semimonthly appointment occurs twice a month. If you’re a gardener, it will be easier to remember the difference between “bi” and “semi” - just think of the term “biennial” and it’ll be a cinch to remember.

Q: When is a comma used before the conjunction “and”?
A: A comma should be used before coordinating conjunctions (e.g., and, but, or) to join closely related sentences. A comma is optional, but recommended, with and before the last item in a series of three or more items. In most of their other roles as joiners (aside from joining independent clauses), coordinating conjunctions can join two sentence elements without the help of a comma…

Q: When are “state” and “federal” capitalized?
A: State and Federal are capitalized when they exist as part of a proper name such as “Federal Reserve Bank”; however, “state law” is not a proper name, so it is not capitalized.

These are just a few common problems that any pr professional, pr client, or novice writer should keep in mind when writing any releases, or articles. If you need further help with your current publicity campaign, give Carson Marketing, Inc a call at 949-477-9400. Ask for George Carson.

Scary thought, but we are getting closer to this reality. Well, sort of.

If you are a pr client wondering which pr marketing strategy is right for your company, then you just might want to ask that question to “hunch“.  What is hunch? Although it is still in beta test, this is the first sentence in their description– “Hunch is a decision-making site that gets smarter the more it’s used”. Ok, if that isn’t enough of an answer, this further description might give you a better answer: “After asking you 10 questions or fewer, Hunch will propose a concrete and customized result for hundreds of decisions of every kind: What kind of car should I buy? Should I switch to a Mac? Should I dump my boyfriend? Where should I go on vacation? Should I get a tattoo?“

Do you now get the point of my headline? Are we becoming that lazy or not willing to use our brains that we want a computer program to help us make these types of decisions? What happens in the next 10 years, or sooner, is going to be really interesting.

But not to be overlooked, Microsoft is still pushing to be king of search. They too have revamped their ZUNE seo for the new Bing. Know what BING stands for? Get this, But Its Not Google. Sorry Microsoft, the “but” is still Google. Although the graphics might give BING a new look,  Google will easily overshadow any changes Microsoft makes, quickly with their development team. Remember, we just saw the WAVE recently. Well, I am sure Google has a few other wild tricks in their lab that will launch soon and take the thunder away from BING, and possibly from hunch, after it launches.

So, listen up all you pr clients, publicity experts, and novice publicity people. Keep using these tools as they become available. Because when you use them for the advancement of your national pr campaign, or local publicity event, it could just get the attention you need, or learn something to make that pr event a success. When you need a web marketing pro to keep your publicity campaign in the front of your competitors, call George Carson at Carson Marketing, Inc.– it could be the best call you make this year!

It’s great to see when competition helps to change the Internet landscape. Since Twitter became an overnight smash, the big SEO’s like Google, and Yahoo are now learning their “searches” need to be more targeted. This is good news when developing pr marketing strategies, or a marketing and advertising plan. Have you checked out some of the new features that Google has added? If not, it is worth it.

Basically, you can now get more indepth info rather than surfing hundreds of  web pages. The new feature, listed near the top and next to the word “Web” is called Options. This neat feature will give you more options for your search. Such as, videos, forums, results in the past 24 hours, or up to a year ago. Then there is the wonder wheel. This is a circle with spokes that give you further areas to review and develop your pr marketing strategy. Let’s say you type the word “encryption”. With the Wonder Wheel, it gives you options that read: encryption samples, history of encryption, java encryption, and several others. If you don’t want all of these “options” you can click “hide options” and it brings you back to the normal Google search of web sites.

A writer pointed out that even Facebook is looking to Twitter to see how they can improve their pages to be more real time and usable. A WebProNews Blog Partner, Bill Hartz, commented “From what I am seeing, the ’search engine optimization’ industry is actually turning back around to what it used to be: good old fashioned website marketing.” This again is good news. Search was getting confusing, because the way you received results was ovewhelming. Now the SEO’s are answering our needs, finally.

I have said this in past blogs, we are just starting to open the door of the Internet Future. Who knows what we will be saying and using in the next 12 months. I don’t know about you, but I sure am looking forward to this new passage.