Small Business Marketing & Publicity

Free Ideas for Generating Small Business Publicity

WillDylan — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 00:50:01 +0000

Stumped for Publicity Ideas?

So you want to generate some publicity for your small business but you are absolutely stumped as to what to talk about. Sometimes sitting by yourself starting at a blank screen just isn’t going to drive a good idea out of your head. So when you are stumped, try thinking about the two groups of people you encounter every day:

Customers – this should be your number one source of ideas, because ultimately a good media story is going to be aimed at either current or potential customers.

Ask yourself what problem your product or service solves for your customers – then ask if that problem has changed in any way. If so you may be able to position yourself as an expert on the change and talk to some local reporters about a story on that topic.

For example, a local exterminator who deals with commercial and residential properties solves a pest problem for their clients. But what’s changing about that problem?

Well for one, many jurisdictions are increasingly regulating the types of chemicals that can be used to fight pests, leaving homeowners and business owners looking for new solutions that you could bring to light in a media story. And the types of pests are changing – who hasn’t heard about bed bugs in the media lately? Again, that’s an opportunity to jump onto a trend and showcase your solutions.

Competitors – when a competitor does something – whether it’s changing their product lineup or their advertising or their hours, you should be asking yourself “why did they do that?”

A good rule of thumb in business is to assume that your competitors are as smart as you are, so watch their moves carefully. If they add a new line of products, think about the driving force behind that decision and ask yourself what element of that story you could use to approach a reporter.

Carrying on the above example, if a competitor in the pest business came out with a line of organic pest control products, ask yourself what drove them to that decision. Then look at how you could position yourself as an expert.

Alternatively, you could take an opposing view and highlight that while organic products are a great idea, they aren’t as effective – citing examples of clients who have come to your company after trying and failing with the new organic line of products.

There’s an old saying “Heat sells better than light” – meaning opposing views make for a better story than one that’s just plain insightful.

New Post at the Staples “How’s Business” blog

WillDylan — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 12:47:32 +0000

The nice folks over at the Staples “How’s Business” blog are featuring a post I wrote for them on where PR ideas come from for small business owners. I encourage you to read the post and leave a comment – thanks!

Common Small Business Marketing Mistakes

WillDylan — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 12:09:16 +0000

Being a small business owner means that each marketing activity you pay for takes on greater significance, since you don’t have a big budget. You can’t really afford for any one marketing activity to be a total flop because it will torpedo your budget for other things that you need to do.

Here are three common mistakes that small business owners make when marketing their small business:

Spreading your investment too thin:

Having a tiny ad once in a while in the local paper isn’t going to help you make a dent in the market. Niche down until you find an advertising medium that’s targeted to the market you are trying to reach, then invest in advertising that’s effective in reaching that audience on a regular basis.

The “glossy brochure”:

I couldn’t resist – every time I get a glossy little brochure in the mail from a real estate agent, I think about the money they’ve just wasted. It happens in all industries – a business owner decides to get some sales activity going by printing up some generic, nice looking/sounding brochures and sending them out. It rarely works. If the best idea you can come up with is “let’s send out some brochures because it’s been slow lately”, you need some more ideas. (like run a contest, call a reporter, do some high profile charity work – anything but the brochure)

The “coupon with no value”:

You’ve all seen this one – a coupon lands in your Inbox or mailbox but the discount is so pathetic you wonder why they sent it in the first place. Like the free home value appraisal coupon that local real estate agents send out (I’m not picking on them…). Or the coupon for a free roof inspection (gee, I wonder if they’ll find a leak?) Or an offer to buy way more than you need of something to get a modest discount.

My couponing advice – don’t run coupons very often, and when you do, make them great offers that people will flock to you for. That’s the point, isn’t it? Build traffic with a strong short term offer, then try to convert the traffic to buying at full price.

Coupons with no real value don’t accomplish either.

JetBlue Delivers Free Publicity for your Small Business

WillDylan — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 01:03:25 +0000

Small business marketing is a constant effort to identify low cost, high impact opportunities to build awareness and credibility for your small business.

And sometimes, opportunities come from the strangest places – like an angry flight attendant who literally jumped out of a plane while quitting his job.

By now you know the story – a JetBlue flight attendant got into it with a passenger, grabbed a beer, and then bailed out of the plane using the emergency slide that is usually reserved for water landings.

What you may not have seen is the long line of small business owners that have scored free publicity in the days following the incident.

The JetBlue story brought two topics to the forefront of news coverage in recent days – customer service, and quitting your job.

It’s a great example of a hot news item happening during a slow time of year (August). Invariably, reporters try to find a way to put a story together around it because everyone is talking about it around the water cooler.

Here are just a few examples:

- A CBS affiliate ran a story on workplace meltdowns, and how you can avoid one. An HR consultant who runs her own business was quoted in the story.

- The Globe and Mail newspaper covered the story, featuring comments from a business consultant and a writer.

The small business owners featured in theses stories on TV and in print scored significant free publicity for their small business, just by capitalizing on a hot news story and finding a way to be a part of it.

How did they do it? Probably one of two ways:

1 – they had an existing relationship with a reporter, so when the reporter needed a quick comment from a business person on this story, they got the call.
2 – they made a simple phone call to a local reporter with an angle in mind on this story. For example, the business consultant in the Globe story has a background in psychology and may have had a few thoughts on what drives someone to do something like this the she shared with the reporter.

It’s not always about press releases – there are many opportunities to help a reporter with a story and get free publicity in the process if you are on top of the news and constantly ask yourself “how can i fit into this story?”

Local Small Business Marketing Tips

WillDylan — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 11:19:27 +0000

As a small business owner looking for marketing tips when dealing with your local marketing strategy, you may be wondering how you can take advantage of some of the recent developments in marketing and social media to help drive local awareness.

Small business owners everywhere are tweeting and Facebooking and “going viral”, but you may find that many of these vehicles don’t seem as helpful when you try to apply them to a neighborhood or local area.

Here are some local small business marketing tips to help you take some of the latest tools in marketing and them work in your neighborhood.

Start a Community Blog – You can build your brand as a local business by setting up a community blog to talk about local happenings, items of note for local residents, and so on. Invite others in the community to contribute. Over time, you can build a community resource that will drive traffic to the blog and in turn, drive awareness for your business.

You can go a few ways with this idea. If you own a business related to children, start a blog about local children’s activities. Invite people from non-competing businesses to contribute (i.e. own a daycare? Ask a local ballet school, a soccer league, and a karate school to post some success stories about local kids who enjoy taking part in those activities, and make sure your brand is prominent on the blog).

Play the History Angle – Get in touch with city hall and ask about interesting milestones that might be coming up that are worth celebrating. Is a town anniversary approaching, or a milestone date in the town’s history? Offer to work with prominent local residents to stage an event to celebrate with your business as the centerpiece of the promotional effort.

These types of events are attractive to local media and represent a great way to get free publicity for your small business – and as I always say, publicity is one of the best forms of small business marketing there is.

Looking for something with a zero budget? Set up a Facebook page and do some research to find local residents who have a connection to the milestone (i.e. a long time resident, or other prominent business people). Tell their stories on your facebook page, branded under your business name.

Promote the facebook page with help from city hall, organized under your business name. You’ll connect with local residents online and have a chance to get to know them and build …

Start a Holiday Tradition – If your business is seasonal, make sure you are a big part of the holidays in your town. Most major cities have some type of milestone holiday event, like the lighting of a big Christmas tree, etc. But what about your local area? Is there a well established tradition? If not, could you start one, either on your own or as part of a group?

These are just a few of the ways you can leverage the broad reach of social media as part of local marketing strategies in your neighborhood.

3 Press Release Tips to Drive Free Publicity

WillDylan — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 12:09:14 +0000

Press Releases have Surged in Popularity

The interest among small business owners in getting free publicity has exploded in recent years – one look at the all of the free press release distribution sites that have sprung up online confirms that fact.

This invariably leads small business owners to seek out tips on writing a press release to try to get attention from the media as part of their PR campaigns.

The simplest rule is this – you need to be better than your competition. Here are 3 tips to help your press release get noticed and get publicity for your small business.

Headlines Sell – Be Clear, then Clever

Your headline needs to get attention, but also must remain clear enough that a reporter in a hurry will get a sense of your general message. Trying to be too clever can confuse a reporter who’s scanning headlines quickly looking for a story.

Some good examples:

“Study reveals local homeowners are renovating more than ever this year…”
“Local family owned furniture business celebrates 100 years in town…”
“Four critical home security tips for the holidays…”

Some bad examples on the same 3 topics:

“Local residents working hard at home…”
“A century of excellence right here in town…”
“Locking up your important valuable and gifts is important at this time of year…”

Notice how the second batch were trying to be a little too clever? If you can’t tell what the release is about in a second or two, your release will likely be ignored.

Quote Statistics

Reporters are always looking for credible stats that help them to tell a story and paint a picture for readers. Take a quick look at some of the press releases from major firms and you’ll see that they often use stats to add credibility to their message.

So where does a small business get statistics? Most local and provincial/state governments churn out stats regularly through a local chamber of commerce or through various planning departments. If the info isn’t readily available online, call and ask how to get access to some of that information.

Private research firms are also an option, but since the data they have belongs to them you’ll need to stick to data they have released publicly through press releases of their own, and give them credit in your release.

Choose your Distribution Method Carefully

There are some good, free press release distribution sites out there, but many free sites are clogged with terrible releases that you may not want to be affiliated with.

Before you simply fire your press release out on a free site, look at the releases on the site from the last week and ask yourself if you think your company belongs on the same page. I am not making a blanket statement that these sites are bad, however I’m simply pointing out that other methods may get your more credibility with a reporter.

You could find a reputable press release distribution service that charges a fee – this fact alone will likely ensure that only “serious” firms are using the service.

Or, the cheapest route of all, you could target the top 5 reporters who cover the topic of your release and approach them directly with a well thought out email or phone call that gets to the point and tells them how you can help them put a story together using your release.

Small Business PR has taken off in recent years, and that’s made the space highly competitive. Using the tips above will help your press releases attract attention from key reporters in your market.

Using YouTube to Build your Brand

WillDylan — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 12:10:58 +0000

Ready to make a viral video and cut your marketing costs to zero?

Well, not everyone can make the next Old Spice videos on YouTube that have taken on a life of their own in recent weeks, but you can do some much simpler things with videos on YouTube to build your brand.

The “Will it Blend” videos are a great example.

Blendtec filmed some low budget videos of various items being put into their blenders and quickly turning into liquid. Clever, because the message gets across – this is a powerful blender – in an entertaining way. Seeing is believing.

Pulling back the curtain to show your clients something new about your brand or product or service can be a very effective way to establish trust and confidence in what you do.

If you are a real estate agent, there is huge potential in creating some educational videos on the key steps in the home buying process, or on how to look for potential problems in a resale home before you buy it.

If you make a unique product that relies on craftsmanship and quality to attract a premium price, show the world the care and effort that goes in to making the product. The knowledge of the steps it takes to make your product only adds to the perceived value, and it does so in a manner that’s more effective that just words.

Here are a few thought starters on ideas for a YouTube video to build your brand:

what can you educate the market on, and how can that knowledge be used to solve a problem for your prospective customers?

what do you do that’s different from your competition, and does it translate well to video? (i.e. a video showcasing the extra special process used to create your best tasting pizza in town)

can you capture a typical client experience and share it with the world to help break down some myths? (i.e. a laser eye surgery clinic tracking a patient’s experience from beginning to end to help alleviate the fear that comes with the procedure)

Making online videos can be a great way to build credibility because it goes beyond what an ad can do for you.

Most ads screams “look at me!”

A good online video says “look at this…”

Real Estate Agent Marketing Tips

WillDylan — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 03:01:29 +0000

Being a real estate agent is one of the most entrepreneurial jobs around. With low barriers to entry, the industry is almost always super-competitive, even in today’s slower real estate market.

To be an effective real estate agent and actually make some decent money, you need to be very good at small business marketing. Most agents aren’t.

Here are some tips that apply to all small businesses on competing in a crowded market like the real estate business:

Don’t tell me, show me:

If you are the local expert on real estate, show me.

Send me a flyer with real local market statistics and your professional interpretation of where the market is today and what homeowners should be thinking about. I’ll probably look at the information out of self-interest, and you’ll score some credibility that you can cash in later when I’m actually looking for a home.

But your glossy flyer with your photo that tells me how great you are…that’s headed for the trash.

Be Somebody:

Carve out a market position. Are you the low priced agent, the best service agent, the “gets you the best price agent”, the best agent for first time buyers, the best agent for seniors, etc.

Everyone you are competing with is a real estate agent. So niche down and build a package of services that makes a meaningful difference to a subset of the market and gives them a reason to choose you over everyone else.

Build your Google Profile:

You need awareness and credibility to succeed in a competitive market.

The Google translation – people need to find you, and they need to find you credible.

Build links to your site by contributing articles to popular online websites for home buyers. Write a blog, or for a less time consuming approach, offer to make guest contributions to a real estate related blog. Or, offer to be interviewed. Bloggers are looking for good content that helps their readers, so don’t make this a sales pitch. Talk about topics that are of interest to your potential clients and give them your insight and expertise.

Talk to local reporters:

Local reporters like local sources. As an agent, you are an expert on the real estate market. Talk about local market conditions, what you are hearing from clients, and trends in the business. No need to plug your services – your appearance in a media outlet will build more than enough credibility for you. Besides, as a real estate agent, you aren’t that hard to find, are you?

Any market is competitive, but real estate agents compete in the ultimate free market. Use the tips above to help stand out from the crowd.

You can learn more about generating free publicity and gaining valuable media coverage through our 1 hour audio seminar on PR for small businesses.

Free Publicity this Summer

WillDylan — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 23:51:29 +0000

In a case of great minds think alike, I was pondering a blog post on the virtues of getting some free publicity for your small business in the summer months, given the slower news cycle and the fact that reporters are often looking for story ideas as many businesses slow down for the summer.

And what do you know, I stumble upon a recent Globe and Mail column contributed by Mia Wedgebury, a PR pro, who captures the topic nicely. So to give credit where its due, the link above will take you to her post.

I thought she made 2 good points that could be true beyond the summer months:

Take advantage of the slow times, whenever they are – Summer is often slow in many industries, but whatever the slow times are for your industry, you should stay active with reporters in your field. A slow month is a great time to build relationships by taking a reporter out to lunch and finding out what they think their readers find interesting (and how your company relates to that). You may agree or disagree with their view, but at least you’re the one having the conversation. This type of interaction often isn’t possible when things are busier, as reporters tend to go from one story to the next quickly and may not have time to sit and reflect on some topics that might be a little out of the ordinary.

Talk up fellow business owners as sources for the media – Mia’s column uses the example of a tourist area where you could serve as a spokeperson for the entire area, not just your business. The logic is sound, since more people visiting one attraction are bound to hit others while they are there.

I would go a step further and say that you could always be on the look out for opportunities to talk up another small business owner in almost any industry. I’m not condoning sending reporters to the competition, but you’ll find all kinds of businesses that are related to yours that don’t actually compete with you, many of which would be great sources for a reporter.

Many years ago I worked for a staffing firm – on a TV appearance I met up with an image consultant who specialized in helping people dress for success. It was a natural fit. I wasn’t really qualified to offer advice on how to dress nor was that any kind of specialty for our firm, so I could easily refer a reporter who wanted info on that topic to her, and vice versa. The common ground of course was the job interview – how to prepare and deliver a great interview, and how to dress. This relationship also generated more overall exposure for both of us as we now had another set of eyes and ears out there looking for opportunities in a related field.

So yes, summer is a great time to target key reporters to build a relationship for future PR efforts. And if you have the opportunity to bring in a related business on a media opportunity, don`t hesitate. It could be a start of a mutually beneficial relationship.

Let Me Tell you a Story

WillDylan — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 00:48:43 +0000

Those are among the most effective words you can use in your marketing and PR efforts for your small business.

As a small business, the primary disadvantage you have in marketing is that your competitors can repeat their message to the market far more often than you can. So…you need to have a better message, one that resonates with your target market and is memorable even when it’s not heard that often.

Stories are the key to making this happen.

For as long as we’ve been talking to each other on this planet, we’ve been using stories to illustrate a point or get a message across. (do you think 1,000 years ago they were quoting statistics to convince people to buy a particular kind of beaver pelt?)

Here’s a quote from Annette Simmons’ book “Whoever Tells the Best Story Wins” where she describes the value of stories in business communication:

“The absence of human presence in today’s high-tech lifestyles leaves people starved for attention. Stories help people feel acknowledged, connected, and less alone. Your stories help them feel more alive by proving there is another live person out there sending them that message.”

A little deep, but you get the idea. Good stories break through the clutter and connect with your audience. They make your communication more meaningful, and can help you drive sales by getting and keeping attention.

Think about how you can use a story in your next marketing communication. For example:

does your website rhyme off a series of facts in an attempt to prove the value of your offer? Try leading with a success story showing how a client has used your product – then hit them with facts as supporting messaging.
The next time you target your email list, don’t offer them anything. Use the communication to share a powerful story about the business you/they are in, and illustrate the importance of client relationships. You’ll be amazed at the goodwill it will buy you – and at the increase in your open rates on your next email.
Solicit stories from clients – ask your clients for their stories on how they use your product or service, and turn those into marketing opportunities.

People remember good stories. Your goal in marketing your small business is to be memorable. Looks like a good combination.