Carson and Company

Are professional publicity firms and their staff really using social networks for their pr clients? Or are the pr clients telling their publicity professionals and pr agencies to look into getting more involved with social networking. If you are a publicity professional, you will say yes. Ask a pr client, and you might get a complex answer, or just plain “no”.

If you have a pr marketing strategy plan, or a publicity plan, then include marketing to the social networks. It is more than a group of kids connecting. There are a bunch of different networks on the Internet today. If you recall from my article titled “Social Media keeps growing…” you will learn about the different types of networks. Including those that reach seniors.

Today I read an article, front page of the business section, in the LA Times. It was all about MySpace and how it is now keeping up with Facebook. At one point Facebook took the lead with the social networks. Now, the owners of MySpace, News Corp, has hired hundreds of programmers who speak to this audience to create a slew of new features to compete with Facebook. Good article. In more than just how the two are competing. It is telling publicity professionals that social networking is a mainstay and you need to make your pr marketing strategies part of the overall campaign for pr clients.

It doesn’t matter if you are a local publicity company in Orange County, or a national publicity agency, you need social media networking. I spoke about other types of business networking such as linkedIn. These are geared to business professionals, but soon you will start seeing “business networks” similar to MySpace where companies of all sizes will share their thoughts, strategies, and business philosophy. So get going and get into social media networks. Not sure how to do that? Then give George Carson a call at 949-477-9400. He can get you noticed!

This publicity program should not be restricted to local areas, such as Orange County.

Sometimes pr clients, advertising agencies, and publicity firms are too busy developing campaigns to lure new customers than using the resources at hand. The best new business approach is to establish a strong referral program.

If you have a multi-million dollar advertising and pr budget, then this inexpensive program may not be of interest to you. On the other hand, if you are a wise, local Orange County Publicity agency, or a pr client, or a national company that seeks other methods of generating additional customers, then listen up.

First let me tell you that I am not the only person who uses referral programs, nor am I the only person who enjoys telling others how to create one. You will find many other business people and consultants who do this as well. One particular person who has broken down the referral program is Daryl Logullo. His concentrates on building strategies for business people needing to develop strong referral programs. Mr. Logullo created these three key concepts for redirecting any local orange county publicity company to a national software company’s marketing efforts.

1- Ensure that your existing clients understand the full scope of your services. If you company provides several different services, or products, but certain clients only know a handful of them, you need to let those pr clients experience the other services/products. To do this, you need to have the pr clients recognize that you can improve their lives/business when they understand all that you offer.

2- Discuss the subject of growth with your pr clients. Most of the time we tend to be shy about expressing to clients about our advancing. In reality, pr clients are like anyone else. They would appreciate knowing you are positive and optimistic about expanding your company. And more than often, they become thrilled to know you are sharing your growth plans and requesting their help.

3- Reward referral-generating behavior. When you acknowledge and reward a person for a referral, it is more appreciated. But beware to not only reward a pr client when the new lead becomes an active customer. It should be done even at the early stages of giving you a name to contact.

These are just a few tips to consider when implementing a referral program. Now you can see that referrals should not be restricted to local areas such as Orange County, or publicity in Orange County, but it can be in any market that you can provide the services to customers.