Developing a Small Business Marketing Plan? Tips to Think About

Posted on December 13, 2011 by tilsonpr

Marketing your small business takes time, money, and lots of preparation. Developing a solid plan is critical to your marketing and business’ success.

A marketing plan will take into account your target market, competition, to how to reach your market with appropriate tactics and how you differentiate your business from the competition. Here are 10 tips to keep in mind when developing a plan:

• The most important order you ever get from a customer is the second order.

• To survive and thrive, it’s imperative that you understand and adapt to your customers motivation and behavior.

• Make sure your message is consistent and repeat it often.

• Increasing profits should be the goal of marketing activities, not increasing sales.

• It’s much more expensive to sell to new customers, five times as much, than to sell to an existing customer.

• Sell what your customers want, not what they need.

• A superior product, technology, innovation or company doesn’t sell itself, you have to do it.

• People buy the benefits and solutions that products can provide.

• Spend 10 percent of your budget on testing when it comes to direct mail.

• From the boss on down to the typist, everyone in the company should part of marketing efforts.

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Ratings and Review of Your Business

Posted on October 14, 2011 by tilsonpr

 When it comes to making a big purchase or before buying a service, we often depend on referrals from friends or family. Beyond that, today many of us turn to the Internet before we ever visit a store or decide on a service. That’s why it has become essential for businesses, in particular small businesses, to be listed on ratings and reviews sites.

What’s said can be a valuable marketing tool especially if your business relies on local customers, such as a retail store, a food establishment, a hair salon or any tourism-related business.

With a quick Google search, find out if your business is already listed on these review sites. Many of them allow you to add information, and to correct misinformation, such as the wrong address, business hours or phone number.

Since you are using the site for marketing purposes, make a good impression. Add images of your store or restaurant, a picture of your staff, a detailed description of your business, directions to your location and any other information that will appeal to customers.

Consumers are looking for good deals and something special, so make sure you include descriptive menus, coupons or specials you are running.

Monitor your listings regularly, paying special attention to negative reviews. Responding to these can be tricky. You don’t want to seem too defensive, and you don’t want to start an online war with a customer. Keep the responses short and simple: Thank the customer for their opinion and ask how you can remedy the situation.

Review sites are also a market research tool to learn what your customers like and don’t like. Most sites also have free tracking and analytics tools. Use these to learn where users come from and where they go online after reading a review of your business. Check out these review sites:

  • Ask.com Local Search
  • Bing.com
  • CitySearch
  • Google Places
  • Insider Pages
  • Local.com
  • LocalSearch.com
  • Merchant Circle
  • RatePoint.com
  • Yahoo! Local
  • Yelp!
  • Yellow Page

 

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Using Your Website to Drive Sales

Posted on October 12, 2011 by tilsonpr

Many businesses put a website knowing that it has become as essential marketing tool in today’s world. But putting up a billboard in cyberspace alone doesn’t benefit your business. To

grow a small business and drive sales, a well-designed, well-thought out website strategy must include a “call to action” to make it easier for customers to interact with you –  and take

action, such as making a purchase of your product or service.

Each page on your website should have a goal. For example, do you want that page to generate leads, or to increase exposure for your brand or company, or do you want it to get people to buy. Based on that goal, decide on the action that you ask customers to take. Subscribe to a newsletter, make a purchase, schedule a service, download a coupon, visit your location or contact us with questions.

From there, the call to action becomes clear – Hurry In! Buy Now! Call Today! To drive sales, each page on your website should include at least one clear call to action. Here are some examples that can be used to drive sales:

  • Give customers as many ways as possible to buy from your business with contact information. Call to action: “Contact us today!”
  • Ask customers to sign up for emails from you. Even if they don’t buy today, your emails will drive sales in the future. Call to action: “Sign up now!”
  • A link or button for special deals is a great sales driver. Call to action: “Today’s Deal”
  • An online appointment scheduling tool that lets customers set their own appointment times for services or consultations can speed the sales process. Call to action: “Schedule an appointment now!”
  • Podcasts, webinars and videos can provide more information and suggest solutions to common customer issues. Call to action: “Call this number now!”
Posted in Call to Action, Sales, Small Business, Website | Leave a comment

The Power of Twitter

Posted on August 12, 2011 by tilsonpr

If you’re anything like me, you are always looking for things to do on the weekend.  But do you ever wonder how people find out about upcoming community events.  There are the event listings found in your local newspaper and online calendars – those are the ones that I generally look at – then there are the community news briefs, paid advertisements and then, believe it or not, there is the power of Twitter.

We had the pleasure of working with a South Florida Dunkin’ Donuts franchisee in planning an event to draw in new and old guests to the newly renovated restaurant at 11506 Quail Roost Drive in Miami, Fla.  On Saturday, August 6, the restaurant hosted a grand re-opening celebration with Florida Marlins’ Logan Morrison aka @LoMoMarlins and Billy the Marlin.  We created a flier to put on display at the store, sent event listings to all of the local dailies and community newspapers and online calendars and sent multiple tweets from @DDSoFla to let all of our followers know about this upcoming event.

Come event day, the restaurant was packed!  Guests were lined up outside the door waiting for @LoMoMarlins to arrive and autograph their shirts, hats and posters.

While guests were waiting in line to meet one of their favorite Marlins players, I was curious to know how they found out about the event.  As I began asking guests, I kept hearing the same seven letter word – Twitter, Twitter, Twitter. (Ok, a few did say the Miami Herald advertisement but most everyone said Twitter. :)   )

And that goes to show you the power of Twitter – to engage, to provide relevant information and in the end, continue creating brand awareness.

Oh and don’t forget to thank your guests and tweeps!

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Simplify Your Phones

Posted on November 8, 2010 by tilsonpr

The other day I was handed a business card. I was amazed with the long list of five phone numbers displayed on it. If you’re like me, you have difficulty remembering long strings of numbers.

Google Voice (GV) simplifies everything with one phone number, for free. Gmail users now have access to this service. When a user creates a GV account, he or she is required to pick a phone number from available numbers in selected area codes to use for this account. After the phone number is selected, the user is prompted to assign where calls to this phone number will be forwarded to. Users have the options of mobile, work, home and Gizmo. Selecting what time of day which phones will ring is another feature to customize GV.

The configuration and maintenance of the account is done online with an application that is styled after Gmail. Setup takes a quick 10 minutes.

After setup is complete, when a person calls the GV number, it will ring where the user assigned it to. For me, I have mine set to call my cell phone and Gizmo (computer). For people who own their own businesses and are reachable 24/7, they might include their house and office to ring simultaneously.

With GV being a call forwarding system, it makes it easier for people to contact you, especially if you’re never in one location for an extended period of time. It eliminates the need for a caller to dial your office, mobile and house. It also helps the GV user by channeling all voice and text messages into one inbox.

  • In addition to simplifying your phones, GV offers other helpful features free of charge:
    Voicemail with voice transcription to text, where a GV user can read his or her voice messages
  • Call screening where calls are prompted to state their name before the call is connected
  • Blocking of unwanted calls
  • Call recording of inbound calls
  • Conference calls with up to five people
  • Text messaging
  • The option to be notified of new voice messages and text messages via e-mail

Although I haven’t used every feature of GV, the ones I’ve used have been handy.

Being able to read voice messages is a great feature when you’re in a meeting or in a situation where you need to be discreet that you’re on the phone. When reading the voice message, you have the option of receiving it as an e-mail or to log into GV to read it. Whichever way you chose to get your messages, you still have the option to listen to the message.

With voice messages being transcribed into text, it’s also a helpful feature if you have a lot of messages, because you can log into GV and do a search for key words to find the specific message.

Driving and texting is a bad idea, but driving and writing is worse!
When a person receives important news, many questions typically follow. When a GV user receives a call and is unable to take notes (i.e. driving), the user can dial “4” which alerts the caller the conversation is being recorded. The GV user can listen to the recorded conversation online by logging into his or her account.

Sorry, Wrong Number!
In the last year, I’ve met countless females in South Florida who I’d define as crazy. GV has helped me with this issue. After I meet a girl who I define as “a stage five clinger” or a stalker, I simply log into GV and edit the call settings for her number. GV gives the option of having the call go directly to voicemail or to block the caller – I opted for the later.

Google created apps for users of iPhones, BlackBerries and Android phones to make using GV easy. For users who don’t have one of the phones listed above, calls can be made from the GV number by using the GV website, or by calling the GV number from a phone which is assigned to the GV account.

In conclusion, whether you’re a business owner or a person who likes new gadgets, Google Voice can simplify your phoning experience.

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Why Interning Matters!

Posted on November 8, 2010 by tilsonpr

There are some things you just can’t learn in the classroom.

Internships provide numerous advantages to college students, and are a great way for students to prepare themselves for the line of work that interests them. Being an intern gives you valuable insight into the career path you are aiming for, and can even help you decide if that career path is the right one for you. No matter where an internship may be, in an office or corporate setting, it can instill people skills, time management and professional demeanor, which are skills a book really can’t teach you.

The hands-on experience an internship offers you is vitally important to employers. Don’t get me wrong: a degree is a huge step in the right direction, but experience is key to showing an employer you are someone to look out for. Whether the employer from your internship or a new employer is looking to hire you, having an internship for a few months in addition to your resume is a plus. But be careful: a resume with one to three internships shows you have experience, a resume with five or more may look as if you couldn’t hold down an internship.

Students should treat an internship as if it is a real job because it can always end up being a future job opportunity. According to College Plus, even in 2009’s tough job market, 23 percent of graduates that interned had full-time jobs, but only 14 percent of graduates that did not have internships had jobs upon graduation.

Another opportunity an internship provides is it helps you build relationships with others in your chosen field. You can build relationships with co-workers and others at professional networking opportunities because you never know who will re-appear in your future. Building relationships in the workplace shows people another side of you, and it’s hard for people to not want to be around you if they enjoy your company.

If you feel an internship is the right path for you, start by talking to family and friends, search your schools database, and look on the internet and on major job sites (which are mostly all free.) Go on plenty of interviews and be sure to interview the company while they interview you to make sure it is the right fit. Once you have an internship, strive to do your best at every opportunity, seek out extra work and new projects, feel free to be creative, be a team player and maintain a positive attitude. Even if you don’t receive an offer right away, keep in contact with the company by offering to help on special projects.  An employer will notice the little things, and sometimes they can make all the difference!

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Twitter 101

Posted on October 6, 2010 by tilsonpr

If you’re reading this and haven’t yet hopped on the Twitter bandwagon, what are you waiting for?! By now I believe there are enough studies with facts and figures to demonstrate the many benefits of social media and how fruitful being an active member of the online community can be. If you’re new to the game and have just decided to create a Twitter account (which is completely free of charge I might add), then here are a few things to think about before you officially enter the “twitterverse.”

It’s all in a Name: Brand Identity – The very first step in creating a Twitter account is generating your username. You must decide what the purpose of your account will be. If you’re creating one to keep in touch with old friends or find out what @KimKardashian likes to eat for lunch, then you might decide to use a personal nickname. If, on the other hand, you’ve decided to create an account to further your brand or business, then the obvious thing to do would be to use that as the username. Again, you must decide what the main purpose of your account will be.

Content: 140 Characters or Less – Next, you need to figure out what it is that you want to tweet about. Do you want to come across as an expert in your field? Are you planning on using your account mainly to advertise new business specials and/or product information? Regardless of what you choose, it is of the utmost importance for you to not be 100% promotional. While it is absolutely recommended to use a Twitter account to promote your brand or business, most people will see right through a strictly promotional account. That is why, in addition to relevant company/brand information, you must also allow some of your personality to shine through. (NOTE: If you’re boring, adopt someone else’s personality ☺). It is also important to engage with others, because if you’re not being social, than you’re missing the entire point of social media. Not only will you not have a successful account, but you’ll also miss out on the opportunity to converse with interesting people that you may otherwise not have had the chance to converse with.

How Do I Get Followers? – I cannot tell you how many times I’ve heard that question. Unfortunately, I don’t have a clear-cut answer. However, here are a couple of tips that I believe will get you started:

1) Attend local tweet-ups. They are a great way to network and connect with local tweeps in your community. Check your local newspapers for information on where you can find one in your area.

2) Follow people that would be interested in the information you tweet out. If your account is for a restaurant, then you should start out by following local foodies, newspapers, news stations coupon/deal bloggers if you plan on promoting specials and people who live in the area of your restaurant. Once these people see that you’re following them, they’ll more than likely take a peek at your page and if they like what they see, maybe they’ll follow you back. If your local media outlets have official twitter accounts, links to follow them should be located on the homepages of their official websites.

Quality vs. Quantity – At the end of the day, it is about the quality of your tweets and the quality of your followers, NOT about the quantity. Never tweet if you have nothing interesting to tweet about. Twitter isn’t a complete numbers game. Of course it’d be nice to have thousands of people following you’re account, but if they’re people with very little activity or little to no engagement with others, then in what way would they be beneficial to you? If you cannot learn from them and they show no interest in learning from you, what’s the point?

Happy tweeting :)

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Professional Development and Growth

Posted on September 24, 2010 by admin

This is often the time of year when several of us reflect about our future and attempt to tackle the thoughts of how our clients, our profession and our companies can change for the better and become more invaluable.

There is an old saying, “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” To me this is a poor excuse to not attempting or taking on a new task or developing a fresher approach to how things are done.  In the PR world you have to be willing to learn new things and keep up with ever-changing opportunities.  For me, if it feels safe or too comfortable than its time to step out of that comfort zone.  Don’t get complacent at work or in your personal life.  Keep asking your co-workers and boss questions if you don’t know or can’t find the answer.  As a learning account executive in this industry, I find myself yearning to grow and step up to new challenges – on an individual and team player level.

I spent some time jotting down avenues to access on how I can be successful at doing so while still be a productive and invaluable part of the Team.  I bulleted a few – I invite feedback and suggestions are welcome:

  • Ask questions
  • Volunteer to work on and/or assist with different clients
  • Have a positive attitude toward learning and maintain that outlook as you continue to grow
  • Be proactive – Look for ways to expand your niches within in the company – make a conscious choice to step outside and broaden your skills
  • You won’t receive new unless you ask for more, alternative responsibilities
  • Don’t limit yourself, but be realistic in risk your management
  • Set professional goals for yourself as well as for your Team

The truth is change is inevitable, so to help you from becoming that old dog, make personal and professional developments and advancements a daily habit.  Be willing to look at those weaknesses, accept and learn from them and then strengthen them on your own and of course with the help from your Team.

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“Life is like a Box of Chocolates – You Never Know What You’re Going to Get”

Posted on August 23, 2010 by admin

In the world of media, you never know who you’ll run into.  Is the lady standing next to you at the crosswalk the editor-in-chief of a national publication? Or is the gentleman next to you in the elevator a producer at one of the top morning shows?

Case in point.  I took the train from Manhattan to Philadelphia one afternoon and of course was running late.  As I jumped on the train, the doors shut behind me just in the knick of time.  I found a seat right away across from another girl about my age.  As I took my seat, I realized I didn’t have enough cash to pay for my ticket.  I debated for a few minutes whether or not I should ask her for a few dollars.  How do you word it?  “Excuse me.  I know we don’t know each other but can I borrow some money?”

I debated for five minutes then mustered up enough courage to ask her.

She gave me the three dollars, we exchanged business cards and I told her that I’d mail her the three dollars back.  Her business card said “Sonja Van Sacker – Researcher for The CBS Early Show.”  I didn’t know what I was more excited about – not getting kicked off the train for insufficient funds or meeting someone from The Early Show.

It turned out I had enough cash on me and instead of the gaining three dollars, I gained a friend for life.  Four years later Sonja is now working at Bloomberg TV and we continue to pick each other’s brains for story ideas and reminisce about how we met.

A second case in point.  After relentlessly pitching Vanessa Weber at Good Morning America she finally agreed to air my client’s product on the show the next morning.  Luckily for me, someone dropped out at the last minute.

I didn’t have enough time to call my client and get another sample in my hands – as the show was airing at 7AM the next morning.  What in the world was I going to do?  This was a brand new product!  I called about a dozen electronic stores to see if they stocked any of the devices and found a store on the Upper East Side. I jumped out of my seat at 7PM on a Tuesday evening and flew outside to hail a cab.  Unfortunately for me, it was raining and felt like 20-degrees outside.

Long story short, I had to take the subway uptown, purchase the device then took a bus cross-town and walked four wet blocks to the studio.  By this time it was 9PM and I had one block to go!  I stepped off the curb right into “black ice!”  Needless to say, I was drenched and of course I was wearing crème colored wool pants.

I finally dropped off the device and met Vanessa in person.  She was lovely and quite appreciative of the fact my left leg was practically frost-bitten!  Five years later, Vanessa and I remain in touch and often work together.

I guess Forest Gump was right after all!  Life is like a box of chocolates and you definitely never know what you’re going to get!


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Public Relations – If it’s public, then why is it so personal?

Posted on June 11, 2010 by admin

I want to make it clear that in our profession, we’re not telemarketers.  We don’t “dial for dollars” and we don’t hunt down members of the media at random hours of the day as if we were a gaggle of girls running after Robert Pattinson down the red carpet.

What makes a GOOD publicist is an understanding of the industry.  Knowing what you’re pitching, who you’re pitching and more importantly WHY you’re pitching your clients to them.

But what makes a GREAT publicist?  That’s easy…make it personal.  Calling the media and having that relationship where you speak your first name and they know your voice.  Also, know when to call.  For example, the tabloids go to print on Tuesdays so we know never to call on a Monday…period.

I spoke with a few of my media friends and they definitely had some thoughts to share.

John Biggs, Editor-in-Chief of Crunchgear.com and contributing technology writer for The New York Times, Laptop, Men’s Health, Linux Journal, Popular Science and others said, “I hate it when they email and then immediately call.”

It makes sense if you think about it. Keep in mind that John is probably inundated with hundreds of emails a day…and with his travel schedule who has time to respond to every single email as it comes to his inbox?

Besides, if it is time sensitive, he will get back to you.

One of my favorite people in the world, who shall remain anonymous, writes for a national men’s publication and said, “I don’t like when they call to follow up on email invitations. If I wanted to go to your event, I’d have written you back.”

He also went on to say, “I don’t like the publicists who are so excited to get you on the phone that they turn into telemarketers, trying to get as much information out as they can, without pausing, making me have to interrupt them to tell them I’m not interested.”

Bottom line: Our profession is personal. Our name is on everything we send out, whether it’s a simple email response or a press release that’s distributed on the wire.  We’re proud of what we do and how we do it, and I guess you can say I’ve also had the great fortune of meeting some fantastic people and making some new friends along the way.

 

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