As the holiday season approaches, businesses are scrambling to make the most of marketing budgets.  Many decisions regarding where to delegate funds have been final for months.  The last few drips and drabs in the budget need to be used effectively to help combat falling sales.  The current economic turmoil is having a negative effect on businesses world wide.  If you have been experiencing difficulty with rising costs and slowing sales, then you need solid marketing that doesn’t cost a lot.  Worry not, there are opportunities that you can pursue that are either inexpensive or free to businesses.  Below are two ways to market your business for little to no money

1.       Classified Advertising – Saturation is Key

Classified advertising is available in both traditional print media and via online classified sites.  Online classified advertising is usually free, so it never hurts to spend a bit of time posting ads.  Local print media offerings also have classified advertisements.  Magazines and newspapers usually have a section devoted to classifieds.  Getting noticed in these sections can be the hard part.  While classified advertisements are much less expensive than traditional ads, to get the same effect you really need to saturate the section.  A single classified ad can get lost in the wall of text, so you need to purchase multiple ads spread out through the page.  Purchasing ten per paper is a good start.  Even with the increased number of ads, it is often less expensive to pursue classifieds when compared to regular print ads.

2.       Press Releases – Free Exposure is Good Exposure

Another great way to get the word out about your company is with press releases.  This marketing opportunity is absolutely free.  All you need to do is generate a list of contacts for local media sources and regularly submit information.  If you can get noticed on the news or other local media outlet, you have gotten tremendous exposure in return for the thirty minutes it took to generate a press release.  The important thing to remember when writing a press release is to keep the language exciting and the information fresh.  While a certain amount of information repetition is inevitable and necessary, make sure that the thrust of each release changes and that new information is provided.

Utilised properly, both of these methods can be incredibly helpful in spreading the word about your company.

Happy marketing!

Sean

Sean McPheat

Marketing Consultant – Sales Expert - Motivational Speaker

Among the numerous tools marketers have to get their word out about their services is the traditional press release.  While it has been in use for decades, it is still used in much the same way as it has been for the entirety of its existence – and all in the same form as well.  Although the press release is still used by most companies as an effective way of getting the word out about their products, they are still one of the most underutilised products available to small business marketers and advertisers.  Here are a few tips to help get your operations geared towards press releases:

Stick to the Formula

Do not take the drafting of a press release to be an opportunity to express your creativity to readers.  The people who will look at your press releases – journalists, writers, investors, or even the competition – are not interested in reading your flowery language or how well you can use metaphor.  They want to hear what is important about what you have to say.

So get to the point and use traditional formatting styles for your press releases.  This typically means some kind of logo at the top (if you have one), some contact information, a big headline and subheading, a few brief paragraphs that get your point across, and a final sentence or two outlining your organisation and pointing them to more information.

Send it to Everyone

Marketers know more than anyone else that the internet can be a valuable asset when it comes to reaching customers.  It makes it easier to get to a wide market without spending a whole bundle on advertising.  Why not apply these same principles to press releases?

If you think someone might be interested in printing or merely considering the information that is included in your releases, go ahead and forward them a copy via email.  It is completely free and a lot faster than trying to send a press release through the mail.  So when you have something new to say, send a copy to the local paper, the regional paper, the major area newspaper, any business or marketing journals and anyone else you think might be interested.

Think Artistically but Write Technically

I have already mentioned above that you should avoid being artistic in your language, but that does not mean that you should completely abandon all aspects of aesthetics as well.  Be sure to keep your sections apart with a bit of white space, giving readers a break.  Do not try to cram too much onto one sheet of paper, but absolutely limit yourself to one sheet of paper.  Use colour sparingly, and make your headline stand out from the rest of the page.

Those responsible for typing up reviews and reports on new products have a lot on their plates to handle.  Consider giving them a boost by giving them a heads up.  If they do not want to read your press release, the worst things that can happen is they just throw it away.

Happy marketing!

Sean

Sean McPheat

Marketing Consultant – Sales Expert - Motivational Speaker

Public relations focus less on advertising and more on giving valuable information to the public – usually without including a sales pitch. It’s often much easier to educate an individual so that they recognise their own wants or needs rather than attempting to directly sell a product.

In order for your public relations campaign to be successful you have to maintain a high level of credibility. This means either reaching out to the public on your own or partnering with a trusted third-party. You may want to make friends with a local news reporter willing to write articles or simply have your own marketing department write press releases. Other companies host public events – either fun days or informational. All of these things help to bring their name into the spotlight without actually advertising a specific product or service.

Now, you can’t launch a public relations campaign and then sit back to see what works and what doesn’t. You have to carefully monitor every single aspect – from events to simple clippings – to find out which are drawing attention towards your organisation and which are not. Of the ones that are, you’ll want to determine if the attention is positive or negative and then take action to either enhance or correct the image you are portraying to the public.

Public relations can be difficult, but it can also be fun. There’s nothing more rewarding than knowing that the people you reach are walking away with valuable information – whether they choose to take immediate action or not. You’ve left an imprint in their minds and they’ll eventually react!

Sean

Sales Expert - Marketing Consultant – Motivational Speaker

The art of having a good public relations plan is about much more than having a few well-written articles published in the paper or putting on a great fundraiser or “show” merely to convince the public that you mean well. A good public relations team will identify a cause that the company can relate to and use it to show how much they really do care about the community.

Sure, you want to gain publicity, but that publicity needs to be gained honestly. While you need to have a strong plan, you do not necessarily need to have a ton of money to launch a successful PR campaign.

For example, a friend in the US told a story about her growing martial arts business. They had a very limited budget and no way to get word out about their presence aside from word of mouth. They instead participated in a community run holiday event and dove right into the planning process, even calling other business owners to promote the event and solicit their participation. They not only spread the word about their business by participating in running the vent, but also earned the trust of their local township leaders and fellow businesspersons as well.

Here’s the challenge I have for you today. It’s time to define your public relations plan, no matter now complex.

• First, determine who your audience is. Are you looking to get in touch with other industry members, potential clients, vendors, family members, the government, or someone else?

• Make a plan that clearly outlines how you’ll get in touch with these people. Write out your goals, determine how you want your audience to perceive your business, and figure out what message you want them to hear. This part of the process includes creating strategies for getting your information out into the world as well.

• Finally, make friends with at least one or two members of the media. The local media is best, even if it’s a high school reporter or a small township paper. The more positive media attention you gain, the better.

Develop a strong public relations team and make sure your business is always in the public eye in some sort of positive manner. It doesn’t matter if you’re hosting a charity event or if you’ve won an award – the public should be hearing about you regularly!

Sean

Nick Faldo got caught out good and proper yesterday when the media caught him reading a list of pairings and it’s 1-0 to the Yanks in the mind games!

As Captain of the European Ryder Cup Team Nick Faldo is responsible for the PR, operations, marketing and morale of the team.

Sound familiar?

Yup, does it sound like you?

But I bet you never reveal any trade secrets to your competitors like Faldo did?!

You have to be so careful nowadays. One slip and the media and your competition can use it to their advantage.

So what was the list?

Well, firstly Faldo said it was a sandwich list for the players – yeah right! He looked so uncomfortable at the press conference and he handled it very poorly.

Then it dawned on him that he’d better come clean “Ok, Ok – it’s the practice pairings for Thursday’s practice session” he admitted

The list was clear to see with players initials down next to one another.

So, Faldo has revealed a trade secret. The pairings are obviously who he wants to play together when the Ryder cup starts for real but now the Americans know so they can plan accordingly.

So what does Faldo do now?

Does he change anything?

Or does he say “Oh, what the heck. You know the pairings – come and beat us if you can?”

Or is it all a cunning ploy and a deliberate mistake? If it were someone like Jack Nicklaus I’d say “possibly” Faldo? “Nope!”

Sometimes when you are implementing a marketing strategy your competitors will pick up on it early on but what is your plan B should this actually happen?

Faldo is now playing catch up – make sure you don’t have to with your marketing.

Be careful not to leak out any marketing plans or you could pay the price like Faldo might come Sunday when the Ryder Cup champions are announced.

Sean