Carson and Company

Web Marketing may not be new to pr marketing people, or web developers, but pr clients do not truly understand the power it has. For example, it takes weeks sometimes months to get a press release published, or even an article in a trade or consumer magazine. When you use web marketing correctly, your publicity efforts can happen within days, sometimes hours!

It is important if you are a pr client to not forge ahead and start calling your publicity agency to do web marketing. That’s not their strength. What you need to do is have your pr marketing strategy team develop a solid web marketing campaign that targets your specific audience. If you do not know how to implement a web marketing campaign, who do you call? Web designers are not likely to know or want to do this. Your publicity agency isn’t prepared to create online campaigns; they are best at submitting traditional media. It is best to contact a company that knows what and how to get your company noticed.

Web Marketing is more than sending out press releases to online newswire services. It is a complete program that analyzes your web site and does more than optimize it. Knowing the language on each page that has links to those sites and pages within your site is critical in optimizing a site. Keywords are not the big thing anymore. You can include them, but keywords or key phrases alone will not get you noticed. What about buying adwords? I prefer to not do this. Yes, we would consider buying some adwords for clients that really can afford it, we prefer to use specially designed programs at Carson Marketing, Inc. to include a vast array of elements. These may include the optimizing I just mentioned, marketing to social networks, writing blogs, to publicity releases, links with credible sites that are ranked high, to an on-going publicity program for online media. These are just a few examples to let you know that web marketing isn’t the simple task of sending a bunch of press releases to the online media. It’s time to get noticed so that you survive this slow time in order to be on top of the competition. Let us show you how without burning a whole in your wallet. Call us at 949-477-9400.

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.

PR Clients should use their web sites more often as a publicity tool. If you are a pr client and you have a publicity agency, then be sure to include web marketing into your pr marketing strategy campaign.

Why do publicity professionals choose to not use a pr clients web site in their publicity strategy just doesn’t make sense to me. Maybe publicity professionals are not secure with cyber marketing. Or they feel more in control doing traditional publicity such as press releases, articles, press conferences, or other promotions. These are great, but if a pr client has a web site, why not include that as part of the pr marketing strategy? Yes, it does take a lot of work, planning and coordinating the web marketing of a web site. But then again, like I said, many pr companies, or publicity professionals rather not go into areas unfamiliar because it takes more work than they want to do.

I’m not saying that all publicity firms do this or ignore a pr clients web site. It just seems common business sense to me to include cyber marketing to drive traffic to a site. This in turn will build awareness, increase sales, and will build branding for any pr client.

Ok, let’s get to some things you can easily do to market your web site as part of your publicity campaign.

First, are you a local company, such as a local Orange County, or Chicago business? If so, you can target regional customers by using Google’s “geographic box”. The Google algorithm has the smarts to determine the query calls for results that are local. If you have several locations across the US, this works for each area you have a location. An example would be if you type the words “Orange County Publicity Agency“, or “Chicago gyms”, you will see at least 10 results with maps showing these businesses.

Second would be do a series of press releases to reach specific local areas. This sounds like more work to write a main release, then custom tailor it to fit different geographic regions, but it works.

These are just two ways to do web marketing. There are many others, including, business blogging, article submissions, offering webinars on your web site, and more. Try these, if your publicity professional just isn’t ready to make this work for you, call me, George Carson. I’ll make sure you get noticed! Carson Marketing, Inc, 949-477-9400.

It seems like everyone is writing something. Either in a blog, or a social media site, personal web sites, and of course business newsletters. Does this mean that companies, or businesses should not have a newsletter because there is too much to read? Simple answer-NO. Whether you are a pr client, a local publicity agency in Orange County, or a national food manufacturer, you need to have a company newsletter. Not just a newsletter, but one that your clients, customers, or prospects can read because it has value.

That is the keyword. Your business newsletter (sometimes referred to as a company newsletter) should become a must-read publication. Using the Internet, this is a cost effective and affordable way to promote your company. PR Clients as well as professional publicity people know that writing to their industry can be rewarding. Your newsletter needs to have rich content. Make the newsletter entertaining. Possibly consider having a questionnaire, or take a poll about a topic that relates to your industry. This gets clients and customers involved. And it is one of the best publicity programs that any pr client can produce in-house.

If you are a pr client, or a publicity professional and are not comfortable in writing newsletters, just Google the words “how to write a newsletter’ and see all the resources. One site in particular is called right-writing. You can start with any of these sites as a guide to get the process going for your company. Having a newsletter available for download is much easier than writing a blog everyday. It may not be as strong of a marketing tool for pr clients as a blog site, but it is better to have one rather than nothing.

For those publicity professionals who are creating pr marketing strategies for pr clients, then consider writing a monthly business newsletter for your pr clients. I also recommend that all clients begin with a business newsletter, and then develop a blog site. This can be an internal, or external site. Remember, if you are unable to produce your own in-house publicity newsletter campaign, then give us a call. We will get you noticed.

Writing a press release is much different than writing an article, or a script, or copy for an ad or brochure. A press release should be written to a specific audience, or market. If you are a PR Client, then make sure that your in-house pr department or your publicity agency understands the importance of targeting a specific audience for each press release.

PR Clients need to understand that publicity is an art. It doesn’t just happen in the media. To get a press release published, you need to follow a few points. Besides writing it in the correct format, which you can check out this site to help you understand how to write a press release. What you need to also do, make the press release fit your specific audience. Don’t try to be general and reach the entire market. No matter how generic your product or service might appear to be, you can target specific markets and revise the release to target other markets.

One way to get your press release published is to see what you are saying. If you are opening a new office, or moved to a new location, then the release should be targeted to local media. It is also good to mention how this move, or new office will impact the area. For example, will you be hiring new people, how will your company affect the new area? Think in this manner and you have a good chance of getting published.

If you are a medical company, then ask how it will affect that industry. Does your release explain how your company (or what the release is about) changes anything in the industry? Of course, this release should target medical publications, and local newspapers that have a Health section. A short article on “Reaching the Right Audience” explains more ways of identifying how to understand your market so that your press release targets the right audience in order to get published.

Follow these simple steps and you will have a better chance of the media running your next release. If you need professional pr help, give George Carson a call at 949-477-9400.

Companies still think that publicity is only for those large companies, or pr clients that have offices all across the country. No True!

The size of your company should not be a factor in developing a pr marketing strategy. What you need to understand is that publicity when implemented correctly, can actually help any size company grow. When you see articles on the larger corporations, like Microsoft, pr clients tend to feel that only “those guys” get all the glory. If you have a solid pr marketing strategy, and your publicity agency is equipped to implement a pr campaign, then you too can be “in the news”.

Just make sure what you offer is newsworthy. And above all, keep your company away from legal issues or personnel issues that can have a bad reflection on your business. For years we have provided pr clients with a host of programs designed to accomplish their goals. Here are a few tip that you should include into your pr marketing strategy campaign.

1- Put together an eNewsletter. This can be monthly, or bi-monthly. Write informative “how to” or “tips” that your customers will enjoy and learn from

2- Get involved in community programs or events. This is what the press are looking for. You can submit your photos of an event your company sponsored or created and invite the press to attend. If they don’t, send photos of the event to the reported covering community stories in the newspaper.

3- Become a guest speaker. Look at local Chambers of Commerce, community and civic groups to see if they will let you speak on topics you know. It makes sense to discuss about your industry. But don’t SELL your services or products. Instead, discuss how your industry, and your company) is improving the area, or helping to change things for the better.

Many other tips can be found in various articles that discuss publicity. One in particular is an online site called Direct. You can also find tips at the PR Insider. And if you want to get a professional group to get your small business noticed, give us a call. We can show you how to make your company grow using publicity. It is an affordable solution for small businesses.

The goals for any pr client is to get local publicity first, then get as much pr attention as you can later. Why is that important? Because without achieving local recognition, you allow any competitor to take control of your back yard. So what are the secrets to getting local publicity? For example, if you are a pr client in Orange County, you want to begin by getting involved with community programs, or local events.

If you are working with a local publicity agency, such as CarsonPR, or one of our divisions (Carson and Company or Carson Marketing, Inc.), make sure you notify the pr agency of any activities, events, community programs that your company becomes involved in. In turn, think about getting more visible by lecturing at different events, or sponsoring small programs, such as the YMCA.

Other ideas to get noticed are: Press releases. These are always a good suggestion. When your company hires an executive person, or contracts with a new client, or moves to different offices, it is always newsworthy. It might not get complete publishing in all the local newspapers, or local magazines, but your name becomes familiar with the media. The next step is to hold a press conference. This isn’t as easy, but when you have something of value to your industry, or the community, get the press to know about it. Another great publicity method to get noticed is to submit articles. These can be company related. In other words, don’t sell yourself or the company, but write an article about the industry you are in and provide information, or suggestions on how to improve that industry. Publishers, editors like these types of articles. It attracts readers to their media, and you might just become an expert in you market that the media will turn to for information.

There are many other easy publicity techniques to get noticed. If you still need more suggestions, give us a call. We’ll be pleased to show you how to get your publicity campaign noticed locally, then nationally.

Building a brand takes a well planned and coordinated effort by the publicity agency, the pr clients and in most cases the marketing department who develops the pr marketing strategies. But when you need to re-establish a name, that can become a different challenge.

Recently we were contracted to help market the Laura Scudder’s brand. Many of you may not remember this name, but it was one of the best known brands in Snack Foods during the early 50’s through the mid 70’s. Although the original company started in the late 1920’s, it wasn’t really popular until the early 50’s. If you are a PR client who was in business during that era, or publicity agency in Orange County during the 60’s or 70’s then you know the name.

In order to re-build back the name recognition, we began with the logo. Keeping the scrip style type is important. The style that is used today is a modification of what was used in the late 80’s. The publicity it garnered over the years was positive, so it was decided to continue with that font. The images will now include many of the “past” illustrations, such as the Mayflower sailing ship, which was used during the 60’s. Other designs will also be picked up from the era past.

No matter the product, re-branding a name requires the same tactics as it would when building a new brand. The only advantage, the name Laura Scudder’s had a position in the marketplace, we just need to re-ignite that name and image through a publicity effort. The literature we created for the newer items, such as the dry dip mixes capitalized on the freshness and the original illustrations from the packages.

As we progress further with the branding of the Laura Scudder’s name, I’ll keep you posted with the pr marketing strategies and creative we use.

All pr agencies, whether local in Orange County or national will tell you that one of the best ways to gain publicity and become recognized as an expert is to be a guest speaker.

For example if you are interested in finance, investing or retirement programs, or need legal guidance, you always look to the “speaker” as an expert. More often than not, that person usually gets accounts from those presentations. So if you are a pr client, or a publicity agency in Orange County, it is time to get out there and start speaking. First you do need to get prepared. So what do you do?

As with anything, you need to do your homework. Choose a topic that you have a vast amount knowledge to tell your audience. But before we go too far, here are a few tips on public speaking.

• Practice in front of a mirror. Check to make sure your posture is good. Have good eye contact.
• Do your presentation in front of family, or friends. Ask for criticism.
• Practice, practice what you will say. It is good to be prepared with a speech, and it is best to be comfortable to inject some humor, or “live” comments to keep the speech fresh and entertaining.

Get more tips from other sources like Public Relations 101.

Prepare a list of different topics. Look at your market, or industry. If you have been in your industry for several years, you probably gave a lot of advice to customers or your staff over the years. Some of those pieces of advice can become great topics.

Work with your publicity agency to polish them up. If you do not have a local publicity agency in Orange County, then hire a consultant for a few days. It will be money worth spent. Get some additional points from other pr clients, or other publicity professionals. Getting people to listen will be easy once you are in front of them. So make the best of it and get out there!

PR Clients need to look at their web site for media attention and traffic

Publicity, publicity! All you want is some FREE pr, but your pr agency is just not getting the job done–as least you don’t feel they are.

If you want to get attention, then consider using your web site. This can be a powerful source to building a company’s image, establish a position in the market and can generate massive awareness. How? I’m glad you asked.

Whether you are a pr agency, or if you are a pr client who handles all publicity activity in-house, then it’s time to put some serious action in making your web site become part of the publicity team.

There are some current changes in SEO’s (search engine optimization) that are making it more difficult for company’s to get listed, but at the same time, it has opened a wide door for publicity.

Remember when I spoke about keywords? Well, I did. The fact remains that if done correctly, you can get your web site listed at the top of any category your company is doing business. Yes, I can assure you this is possible. We have been working with several SEO people and have tested and re-tested our secret strategies and it has worked every time.

If your publicity agency isn’t performing, or you’re a pr client who just needs some outside objectivity, give us a call. We have the secret tools to get your company at the top, which will get media attention as well as making it easier for reporters, editors, and publishers to find you. So give us a call.

We are not going to offer this to every company, so call to see if you qualify.

See Also

• Using your web site as a Publicity Tool
  Learn how to get more publicity without increasing your budget