In today’s world it is far too easy to be ignorant of your online reputation. It is even easier for it to instantly vaporize and let someone tear it into a barely recognizable brand that you will fess up to being involved with. Every blog, community site, customer review, or competitor has hundreds of different options to voice viewpoints and concerns against a company. If you haven’t done it already, start understanding how to use tools to monitor social media and take proactive steps to keep your business in working order.

Your second option is to ask the simple question:

Can this happen to me?

Yep it sure can.

As a case example, I pulled a local article from Washington CEO Magazine on the Top 100 Companies to work for in 2007. I pulled some of the names off the list and did a quick query in Google. Here are some of the headlines I found on the proper names of the “Top 100 companies:

Result 7 – Zillow – Google Headline “How Good are Zillow’s Estimates?”

“Zillow came within 5% of the price in a third of the transactions studied by The Journal. It was more than 25% off target on 11% of them. In 34 of the 1,000 transactions, Zillow was off by more than 50%.”

Our view: If you are a user or an investor of Zillow, you’ve more than likely been exposed to this article and several like it. How does it make someone feel that the Wall Street Journal (considered to be one of the most respectable news sources) is saying Zillow zestimates are 50% off?

Result 6 – Comcast – Google Headline “A Comcast Technician Sleeping on My Couch” A Comcast cable technician came to replace a cable modem and fell asleep while waiting for the customer service group. As of this article it was viewed: 1,219,303 times! (At 58 seconds long, that is A LOT of bad reviews for Comcast.) It had 714 comments.

Our View: Holy smokes Batman. 1,219,303 views! I don’t know any company that wouldn’t suffer a marginal impact to marketing, sales, and customer service numbers when a million different people have watched how lackluster Comcast support is.

Result 3 – Spokane Federal Credit Union Review – Citysearch Review – “I had an account with Spokane Federal for many years and I was never really that impressed, they pretty much just took care of what I needed and nothing more, overall I would say that they met, not exceeded my expectations”

Our View: Even though Spokane Federal Credit Union has plenty of coverage, it would be easy to bump off a lack-luster review saying they are nothing but mediocre.

Result 3 – Zango – PC Hell: Zango Removal Instructions – “Zango is a entertainment site with free access to videos, music, games, and other downloads. The site is free to all users, but is paid for by advertisements. Visitors are presented with an end user license agreement that they accept before downloading any content.”

Our View: Here is a Desktop Software company that has hordes of people using Zango gaming software, and every time someone Google’s their name you get “PC Hell – Zango Removal Instructions” thrown at you. If I bought a desktop system that had them pre-installed on it, you can bet that I would remove it in a heartbeat. I don’t need some casual gaming platform slowing down my PC while I need to number crunch my data or send an important e-mail.

It doesn’t make a difference of who you are (how big, or how little), this can happen to you.

It happens to Comcast and Zillow.

It also happens to the little guys.

If you look at this problem from a strictly numbers point of view, Comcast buys it’s own keyword of “comcast” from Google so that it can keep company branding and results at the top of Google. If I were to buy that keyword, it would cost roughly $1.25 per click, and there are 5500 estimated clicks per day on it (that is a daily budget of $6000 to $8000 per day on that keyword).

If Comcast is paying only $.25 per visitor for that keyword- imagine that those 1,219,303 video views cost Comcast a minimum of $250k in lost “clicks”, not counting how many customer service problems and public relations issues it causes.

Barry Hurd is President, author, speaker, and voice of 123 Social Media – Brand Control Management He has a history of over fifteen years working on numerous innovative efforts with online business models: past projects have included NIKE, REI, TMP Worldwide, Monster.com, Verizon Superpages, Intuit, and RIS Media.

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Tags: representative, salary, reports, public, relation

One of the things that have kept people honest on sites like eBay has been a serious take on reputation. Doing business through that portal has required that the chatter about you as a buyer or a seller be good, something like a credit rating. Too many “negs” on your record and you can be branded a bad risk. But what happens when that reputation-intensive mindset escapes the controlled, hot-house environs of eBay and lands on the mean streets of Google, Yahoo and the other major search engines? Consider this example:

You are the Stan of Stan’s Pizza and Goulash, an up-and-coming pizza and goulash place in a hip downtown area. Being the tech-savvy child of the ’90s that you are, you have a great website with all sorts of bells and whistles like online ordering, e-mail reservations and even live chat to help work out any special problems. You have spent time and effort getting to the top of the search engines and now, whenever someone types in “pizza and goulash,” the first listing is yours!

Imagine your horror when you see the second result from some fairly critical blogger who wrote:

Stan’s Pizza and Goulash is Armageddon on a plate, a veritable dietary Megiddo in the heart of our city! There was nothing more disturbing than having the so-called pizza and goulash actually delivered to the table. You don’t know which dish is which and the way it tastes, you don’t care! Stay away from Stan’s and pray that his mother goes straight to hell for bringing this gastronomic anti-Christ into the world in the first place!

Now anyone who finds your restaurant and may be interested in coming down for pizza and goulash will see this blogger’s end-of-days take on your food. True, it sounds like Jeremiah Wright on a bender, and the temptation to dismiss it as such is very strong, but you can’t ignore it. The fact is that rational or raving, it’s still going to cost you business. Knowing that, what will you do?

The short answer is that what you do depends heavily on what you have already done.

Planning for Reputation Management

There was a time when a business’ website was really little more than an online brochure with some contact information and a live e-mail link. Those days are long gone. Today, a business’ website is far more sophisticated. This is no surprise since the Internet environment is also far more sophisticated and part of that sophistication is what we now know as social media. Through forums, blogs, chat rooms, instant messaging and, of course, e-mail, people are talking to each other like never before. They are also sharing opinions like never before. Whereas before, Stan’s might have had newspaper and magazine articles to worry about; today the opinions that once took hours or even days to reach their audience now take little more time than the time to write the piece in the first place. Delivery is nearly instantaneous. That means if you don’t plan ahead, you will find yourself playing catch-up, doing your best to mitigate damage that should have been prevented in the first place.

This is where planning comes in.

According to Glen Allsopp, the author of Online Reputation Management: All You’ll Ever Need to Monitor and Manage Your Reputation Online, online reputation management is the “process of monitoring a brand online, knowing how to deal with any negativity and understanding how you can pro-actively protect your brand via conversation channels.” Essentially, this means you will have to use the same social media to repair the damage that the blogger in this case used to inflict it.

There are, says Allsopp, three steps to effective online reputation management-management, monitoring and repair. You have to take each of these into account when you develop your reputation management strategy.

* Management. This includes a strategy to monitor your brand, having a solid understanding of how to deal with issues, developing multiple conversation channels (a presence on various social media sites) so they are available when needed, and actively building your brand in a positive way.
* Monitoring. As self-evident as this may be, there are some specific things that need to be included in any monitoring plan such as why you should monitor your brand online, what you should be monitoring such as keywords or phrases and what tools you should be using to do it.
* Repair. The damage is done, now what? Effective repair can be accomplished once you know why the writer said what he did, can deal with the issue correctly, and can take ownership of the search results and change them.

Taken together, these three parts can create a powerful reputation management strategy that will serve you well. The key to repairing damage, though, is being able to change the search results and that means taking advantage of those multiple conversation channels you have been building up.

Take Advantage of Social Media: Fighting Fire with Fire

The goal is to either raise your brand name above the troublesome search engine result or bury it-however you look at it, it is the same thing. The more results that you can get between the page top and that awful review the lower on the page it goes. Then, if that continues, the nasty thing drops off the first page altogether. Whatever you call it, the complaint is gone and you can move on to more pleasant things.

I think maybe Joe Pesci said it best in the movie, Casino, “There are a lot holes in the desert; and a lot of problems are buried in those holes.” You have to have a similar mindset when it comes to your reputation: You have to bury the problems. I am not suggesting digging a hole and then inviting the offending blogger to a picnic, but I am suggesting that you bury their words.

Unlike the release of the original piece that caused all this consternation, burial can be a time-consuming process. It could take hours, days or even weeks to generate enough search engine results to push that problem into the hole and bury it. That is going to depend on how active you have been with the social media sites, those multiple conversation channels that you should have been cultivating since Day One.

Burying the Problem

This may sound negative, but the process of digging your hole and burying your problematic search engine result is really a very productive one. It is all based on generating as much positive material as you can. Just remember that whatever you do, use the same search terms that brought up the negative result as the keywords for anything you create.

* Build on someone else’s site. No, we are talking about hacking into someone’s website, we are talking about social networking sites, forums and other sites where you can build pages with links back to your site, set up profiles in the name of your website or company and communicate with people. With these, you are trading on the authority and good name of the sites you are active on, such as twitter, mySpace, Squidoo or Hubpages. Just remember that if the offending blog came from one of the sites you plan to pursue, you will need to drop that site since your entry on it will not out rank the problematic entry.
* Build-up your website. You have the URL, you have the relevance for the keywords. Build some useful pages for your site that concentrate on those keywords. Make sure you follow good search engine optimization protocols and this tactic can only help your existing ranking while adding search engine results that will push the offending entry down toward the bottom of the page. One interesting tactic that falls under this strategy is to create your own negative pages about yourself. I know, it seems a bit counter-intuitive, but people do tend to look for negative search engine results first, so if you create pages that sound critical in their keyword use, but are loaded with positive content, you can diffuse potential issues. For example, the negative phrase “high prices” can be turned into something like “High prices are no problem at Stan’s!” With a little work and creativity, you should be able to head off many critical searches this way.
* Answer the challenge. This is simple, it is straightforward and it will make you look good to boot. If the criticism is on a blog or a forum, then stand up to it, answer the critic as professionally as you can and try to help them. Why do this? You do it because anyone who finds that page will also find your response. They will, in effect, get both sides of the argument and will see you as concerned and professional.

Keep it an Isolated Incident

Do you want to spend your time doing business or acting like some cyber-Pesci digging holes in the Internet desert? Churchill once pointed out that criticism is like pain in the body, it tells us that there is something wrong. When someone criticizes your company, it is time to take a look-a good, hard look-at what that person is complaining about. This is your opportunity to improve your product, your service, maybe your internal procedures. If you are getting complaints about certain things, then look at those issues and solve them. Be open, communicative and above all honest and you will head off further reputation problems.

The Bottom Line

Even the best companies get negative feedback and dings to their reputations, but they can rise above it because they can deal with the feedback and mitigate the effects it can have. That is a skill you need to cultivate for your own business as a part of your public relations effort. After all, it’s your good name on the line. Protect it.

Charles Cooper is the Web Editor and blogger for gowithabc.com -the Web site for America’s Best Companies. He is also a staff writer for America’s Best: The Magazine for Small Business Owners.

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Those who want to hold a corporate event, but do not want to hire land to erect a marquee on, can benefit from the versatility of in-house marquee hire. If your company owns or has access to a large indoor space, such as an unused warehouse or barn, then in-house marquees are an ideal event solution for your business.

What Are In-house Marquees?
An in-house marquee is basically an indoor version of a traditional marquee. Marquee hire companies that offer them, basically use the material from the walls and roofing of the marquee to cleverly decorate your indoor space. Once they have finished setting up the in-house marquee, arranged flowers and positioned the furniture and decorations, its difficult to see the difference. Particularly once the carpeting and lighting effects have been installed.

What Venues Are Suitable for In-house Marquees?
Virtually any indoor space, providing it is big enough, can feasibly be transformed into a professional event venue with in-house marquees.

If you have access to a sports hall, large office space, an indoor car park, industrial unit or a large garage, then you have your event venue sorted already. All you need to do now is hire an in-house marquee and the hire company will transform your indoor space for you.

Whether you are hosting a corporate event, wedding or family anniversary celebration party, utilising an indoor space and converting it with in-house marquee hire, is the ideal temporary venue solution.

The Main Benefits of In-house Marquees
The main advantages of hiring in-house marquees for corporate events are as follows:

1. Transport Cost Savings
If you are able to host a corporate event within your company premises, you automatically save money from not having to travel to and from the event and your offices. This allows you to move often heavy and fragile objects to your corporate event marquee easily, without having to move them long distances. Objects that you wish to feature in your event, like prototypes products, company branded marketing and exhibition stands and even networked computers can easily be moved short distances.

Having your own computers at your event, allows setup of intranet & internet connections more straight forward and you may even be able to keep the IT costs down by completing setup in-house. Plus having access to your own computer equipment, means you can use all your files and installed software straight away. This benefits you by giving you more time to setup your presentations & videos before your event.

Rather than paying an office removal company to move your items over long distances, making them un-available to your staff for long periods of time during your event. It’s surely better to have your event as near to your offices as possible.

Additionally, you save by not having to reimburse your staff for travel costs that they incur whilst travelling to the corporate event ground.

2. Strengthening Your Company Branding
By hosting your corporate event in-house, you are able to have much more control over how your company brand is presented within the marquee area.
Whether that’s by means of sections of the carpet flooring having your logo printed on them, your logo being projected on the marquee ceiling, or balloons arranged around the interior with your branding on them.

The advantage of having your corporate event within your own premises, whilst still having the appearance of holding it within a marquee, is clearly a clever and unique marketing tool. Particularly when making sure your clients’ first impressions of your business are good ones. Showing your business as being innovative and creatively minded when it comes to organising corporate events and presenting your company, is vital in securing future business.

3. Promoting New Business
As your present and, your prospective clients are attending an event on or near your premises, you can use this opportunity to promote new business. Not only can you generate business via the actual corporate event, but you have the perfect opportunity to show potential clients around your plant. Being able to show the processes involved in the manufacture of your goods and your workforce at work may be instrumental in encouraging more business.

Those who want to hold a corporate event, but do not want to hire land to erect a marquee on, can benefit from the versatility of in-house marquee hire. If your company owns or has access to a large indoor space, such as an unused warehouse or barn, then in-house marquees are an ideal event solution for your business.

In-house marquee hire for corporate events is available across the UK. Use our search facility to find in-house marquees in your area.

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Most press release advisors suggest that you should post each of your press releases in as many places on The Web as possible.

We have found that a different strategy works better. We advise our clients to change the content of their release each time they post it.

Why do we advise this? Duplicate content is the bane of search engines. It clogs them up and it makes their task of sifting sense from nonsense all the harder. Where two identical press releases are posted in different places, the search engine algorithms have to decide which press release deserves more weight. They will usually decide this on the basis of which press release was published first. But you can be sure that your subsequent postings of identical content will be given less weight.

On the other hand, if you post different and interesting content subsequently, you are establishing useful locations and back links to your organization that will survive for longer. We recognize that this strategy is much more time consuming but we believe that it will lead to better promotion of your product or service long into the future.

Press Releases are one of the most useful strategies for Internet Marketing. Today, they tend to be directed at your potential customers directly, rather than at the media. And using unique content each time makes it all the more likely that one or other of your future clients will find you by searching for the aspects of your business that that particular press release talks about.

With increasingly sophisticated search engine algorithms, we also believe that it is better to concentrate on the quality of the information provided rather than on any particular arbitrary key words.

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Tags: public, relations, strategies, strategy, tactics

But – there’s a lot more to getting free publicity than just writing a few press releases and submitting them to online directories, or faxing them to your local news media.

Putting together a short-term and long-term media strategy is the first step – especially if you want to differentiate yourself from your competition, or spotlight your upcoming book.
The first step to creating a buzz and building a successful publicity campaign is to ask yourself these questions:

1. Why do you want to get publicity in the first place? (Are you trying to build your credibility? Let people know about your latest book or newest services?) Are you trying to build or strengthen your brand?

2. What is your core message? And how does it tie into your answers in question #1?

3. Who do you want your message to reach? (Put together as clear a picture of who you want to talk to as possible.) This is also known as your “target demographic.” You want to know as much information about them as possible – but especially what newspapers and magazines they’re reading, where they go online, what radio stations they listen to and what television stations or programming they watch. Knowing their ages, background, spending habits, etc. is all useful and will help you to create a stronger message if you can craft it towards “one person” – which is the whole point of building an ideal customer profile.

4. What type of coverage are you looking for? There are three main types – Print Press (which includes newspapers, magazines, ezines and newsletters), Radio (which includes local commercial radio stations, podcasters, and online radio), and Television (which includes local, national and cable channels, independent channels, and online television and videos.)

5. What is going to be the best way to get your message out? When creating your message and deciding what media types you want to target, keep your ideal customer in mind. For example, if you’re an author who’s writing a retirement advice book – you’re probably not going to find a lot of potential book buyers on MySpace, but you’d probably get a much better response if your message was heard on NPR radio.

You want to choose your marketing mix carefully – don’t put all your “publicity eggs” in one basket. By answering the above questions, you will strengthen your message and increase your chances of getting free publicity for your writing business.

If you make your living with words and you’re having a hard time marketing yourself or your writing business, maybe it’s time to stop stressing and learn exactly how to build a wildly successful writing business! Start from where you are and learn how to market yourself to find your ideal clients, get paid the fees you deserve and have the freedom that comes from being able to work from anywhere in the world, making money from writing! The Writer’s Business Academy

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1. Introduction of your business: If you have just started your business, launched a new product or added new features to the existing one, press release is the best way to let people know about it. You can inform the public about why your product or service stands out from the crowd.
2. Link Building Press release is one of the best ways of getting backlinks. Google has also started showing press releases on their search results. While writing a press release you can use your important keywords as your anchor text. You can then link it to the pages on your website. When you distribute your press release, your link is pasted on various distributors’ site, giving you better inbound links.
3. Organic Traffic Optimized press releases have higher chances of getting good ranks from search engines displaying your PR on their search results. This means you can get organic traffic onto your site.
4. Promote You can write press releases to promote: person, business, product, service, event, idea, contest, fundraiser and many more.
5. Educate or Entertain your targeted audience You can share your knowledge about your industry. You can discuss about growth of your company, current trends, updates and other subjects that interest the audience.

Press Release Basics:

Press release is a powerful form of advertisement. A good press release can help you convey the message to your targeted audience and lets you promote any development or enhancement in your business. While writing a press release you need to focus on special features of your product or service that sets you apart from the crowd. This should include those attributes that makes you better than your competition. You need to avoid jargon-filled sales pitch in your press release and try to keep the tone natural and conversational. You need to optimize your press release before submitting it. You can include the most important keywords on the title and first paragraph. You can also make use of these keywords for anchor text.

There are many press release distributors available online. You need to submit to the ones that are popular and read by more audience. Press release distributors might charge you according to the number of words. They might charge you extra for images, videos, documents or podcasts. There are wire distribution services which will publish it for free but will check it manually before publishing it. Wire distribution services classify a press release into:

* National Release: National release targets all the national media outlets.
* Regional Release: The wire services might distribute your press release according to regions.
* State and Local: In countries like U.S.A the press release could be distributed according to the state.
* International Release: It can be distributed based on countries and/or continents.

You need to follow the proper format of press release before submitting it. You can then specify the category under which you want it to appear. The most important thing of all is you need to create effective and compelling press releases to draw attention of readers, bloggers and journalists.

How to write an effective Press Release:

There are few simple steps you need to follow in order to write an effective press release:

1. Headline You need to create catchy headline to grab the attention of the readers. Use relevant and benefits oriented headline.
2. Contact Information You need to provide all the contact details to let the audience reach to you easily. You can include your postal address, phone number, fax number, email address, your webpage address and even IM services. You can also mention the hours you’ll be available on phone or IM services.
3. Summary Before writing the body content it is important to write the summary of the press release. You need to make this interesting to let the readers go through the whole content.
4. Body/Content This is the most important part of your press release. You need to write all the details about the news. Your targeted audience is not only the potential customers but also the journalists, editors or reporters who’d want to publish it if it appeals them. You need to make your press release benefits-oriented.
5. Signify the End Let the readers know that they have reached the end of the press release by using some symbols like *** or ### .

Other Tips:

• Keep your press release short up to 1 or 2 pages. Eliminate unnecessary information.
• Do not forget to number your pages if it is more than 1 paged press release.
• Address your press release directly to the editor or the reporter.
• Stick to the facts. Do not fabricate your story just because it sounds good. You need to provide relevant information.
• You need to pick an angle. Make your story interesting and relevant to the current events and social issues. Make your story a good news hook.
• Use only enough words to write the story. Avoid unnecessary flowery sentences or adjectives.
Feel free to visit this web.

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Below is an outline of some key benefits to hiring a public relations agency to promote your community event.

Contacts

• One of the best ways to get the word out about your upcoming community event is through the press and media. A public relations agency will have established relationships with key reporters on not only a local level but nationally as well.

• Utilizing their contacts to promote (companies, brands, events, etc.) is the lifeblood of PR
professionals and agencies. Because of this, they tend to be strategic, on the ball, and focused on the end result.

• Using a public relations agency to promote your event will increase your likelihood of getting coverage in local and/or national newspapers or on television or radio news programs.

• Because information coming from known and trusted news sources is more credible than obviously paid advertising, members of your community are much more likely to take note of your event than if they were to find out about it through paid advertising.

Event Planning

• Ideally, you should sign on with a public relations agency early in the event planning stages. Doing this will ensure coverage by long-lead media and is a must if your event is expected to have a very large turnout or is held on a national or international basis.

• Even if you plan to do all of the planning for the event in-house and handle all the details internally, a good PR agency will be able to help you strategize every aspect of your event to maximize promotion not only of the event itself, but also of your organization. A public relations agency will help you strategize an appropriate mix of promotional activities, including but not limited to:

o Sponsorships
o Program launches
o Analyst tours
o Media tours
o Press conferences

• A good PR agency will gravitate toward promoting your organization (in addition to the event) just because it is in their nature.

• Most public relations agencies have event planning and event marketing capabilities. If you are operating on a large scale and expect mass media coverage, you will be well served to have an experienced agency ensuring everything runs smoothly at the event with regards to accommodating the press. If you are on a budget, however, you can likely choose the promotion services you need the most on an “a la carte” basis.

Message Makers

Public relations agencies are typically comprised of many different levels of corporate communications professionals. For this reason, having a PR agency promoting your community event can come in handy when it comes to your event materials. Consider having the agency develop your marketing materials to ensure that your message and tone are consistent and appropriate for your target audience. If the PR agency is involved from the beginning of the planning process, they can be instrumental in developing invitations, flyers, posters and more. Keep in mind, creative resources of a public relations agency are likely to be more extensive than your own. If you plan on hiring a PR agency to promote your community event, definitely leverage their creative strengths.

Polaris PR Inc. is one of the leading Toronto PR firms offering a wide range of public relations services to effectively promote all of your corporate events and communications.

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Tags: online, agencies, companies, relations, public

In transitional eras like today–where both opportunities and challenges abound-here’s a celebrity PR tactic you can use for mega-results for yourself.

Donald Trump, Lance Armstrong, Maria Shriver, Magic Johnston, Ted Turner, Bob Bill Gates and Arianna Huffington are but a few of the rich and famous who’ve written books to tell their story, and promote their brand. In the case of many celebrities, ghostwriters save them time. Here’s how you can short-cut their #1 PR method and reap benefits all your own.

Write Your own ‘Celebrity’ E-book. Here’s How:

Before your say, “Hold the phone, kiddie, I’m no writer.” The good news is, I am. And with a 4.0+GPA from the world’s top writing program. I’ll cut your learning curve from many years to 900 words, and show you how to do it, and profit like a pro.

First, you’ll want to set up a landing page on Blogger, if you don’t already have a website.

Then, here’s how and why to start writing your E-book, today:

1) It’s an efficient and effective way to get your message across in a clear concise manner. You’ll actually increase your productivity over time by not repeating your story: It’s all there in black and white doing your talking for you.

2) Be sure to include the link to your blog/Ebook in your email signature block. Then with each email you send whether you are marketing, sending out proposals or resumes, interfacing with social, political or various networks online; with every contact you’ll be advertising yourself without saying a word. If there’s a link in an email, people will generally check it out.

3) Image is everything. You must be a consistent ‘brand’ whether you’re a realtor, stock or insurance broker, plastic surgeon, business owner, contractor, dog walker, housekeeper, winemaker, model, actor, nurse, dentist…the list goes on. You have unique skills, training and inherent abilities–and an E-book puts those on display. With everything else being equal, you will get the job, the contract, the relationship, the kudos, because your E-book will set you apart.

4) Write a compelling E-book and you are an expert in your field. As a result you can attract offers to write articles, speak, or to publish a book. Publishing today is extremely competitive and an E-book can prove you’ve got the goods, and win you a book advance.

5) You can use affiliate resources at the back of your E-book that can earn you a passive stream of income that goes right into your bank account.

How to Begin:

1) Title: Define your audience, your purpose, and your slant, which will dictate your E-book Title.

2) Length: Decide the length of your E-book. If you are a ‘Green’ housekeeper who wants to build that lucrative all-organics niche your E-book can be tight; 10-12 pages. A ‘Green’ contractor who aims to be a leader in that field, and thus with a broader target audience can aim for fewer than 50 pages. Readers of E-books want concise, compact, useful information.

3) Structure: A page has 250 words. If your E-book is 50 pages that’s 12,500 words. Say you’re the Green Builder. Let’s make the book five chapters of approximately 2085 words each. With 5 subheadings of approximately 420 words in each chapter. This structure makes the book easy to read and also to write.

4) Outline: From the above structure create your outline. Assemble all the data you wish to include, research any points, polls or authorities that will strengthen your premise, and lay it out in chronological order.

5) Table of Contents: Create this by following your outline.

6) E-book Cover: If you’re not a creative whizbang go to http://guru.com and bid your job. Keep the look of your book cover and your blog compatible to build your strong ‘brand’. Get the best cover you can. You title and cover entice readers. The title and cover should convey and underscore your purpose and the benefits to the readers. For example: “How to Get Rich in Green Building Today” with the cover image a house ‘constructed’ from bright green $1,000 bills. A Guru.com graphics artist can do that in a snap. If you were the builder how proud and excited would you be with that?

7) Write an author bio. Check out others in your profession for ideas of length, tone, content that would work best for you.

8) Copyright, disclaimer, and introduction: Include all three up front. Keep your introduction brief and without hype. Create rapport with the readers by stating why you wrote your E-book and how it will benefit them immediately.

9) Conclusion: End your book with a short wrap-up, including the action you want the reader to take.

How to Get it Done to Start Reaping the Benefits Right Away:

If you can’t invest the time to write an E-book yourself, hire a freelancer and no one’s the wiser. You’re still a pro with a sharp E-book. If you’re a do-it-yourselfer: set a schedule and stick to it. Here’s how.

Chose the target completion date. Count the number of subheadings in your E-book’s structure. Estimate the time of writing one. Compute the entire time, plus editing. Determine the daily hours to complete the project by your deadline. Commit this schedule to writing, and sit down and work productively each day per your schedule.

The difference between people who complete books, or any project, and those who don’t. Is the difference between ‘must’ and ‘should.’ Emotionalize the end product, and how it will benefit you and others. Pat yourself on the back knowing that in challenging times, you are among the ones who do. Then; Go for it!

© 2008 -Suzanne de Cornelia. All worldwide rights apply. This article may be reprinted on websites as long as the entire article, including website link and resource box below are included and unchanged. Suzanne de Cornelia is a freelance writer and author of “French Heart.” Click-on her site for a fascinating a free blogroll of resources

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Tags: beauty, public, relations, firms, agency

With media relations, remember that journalists have to be accountable to their editors and to their readers. For journalists, the most important thing they’re trying to accomplish is to put out a newsworthy story. Does that mean you can get a fair chance at getting your own story across?

Many are misinformed about the press. In fact, many people believe that the media is in fact out to get them and that you have to be careful of what you say. This can also be true in the reverse. In those cases, people believe that the media wants to write good things about some people or organizations, perhaps to the detriment of reality. In fact, the truth usually exists somewhere between these two extremes.

If you want to get the best out of the media, first, appreciate that the media is going to need a good story. On the other hand, you as the hopeful positive target want some free publicity so that you can reach out to your audience and customers.

What’s the best way to make this positive for both parties?

1. Make It Newsworthy

Your story should be something the readers are going to be interested in and perhaps even love. If this is true, you’re probably going to have a good experience with the press. Of course, you as the company may have a message to deliver; if possible, make it valuable to the people who are going to see your story.

What you want to focus on is the value that your company brings.

In addition, journalists also want to know what the next new trend is. If you can let them know that the industry is heading in a certain direction, you’ve won half the battle. Or if you can offer breaking information on news that’s not been reported previously, this, too, is going to be newsworthy.

2. The News Has To Be Valuable to Your Audience

If your company is introducing a new product, focus not just on its innovative features (which may be of benefit to your users, true) but on the benefits users will get from the product and from those new features.

For example, one of the most important things for products these days is that they are environmentally friendly. If your product is among these, this is going to be newsworthy.

3. A Prepared Speech Is Fine, but Make It Personable

Of course, you see many people on the news these days reading prepared speeches. This is understandable, because most people (even experienced speakers) need at least some notes to follow when they’re trying to present certain points.

However, if you read from a prepared speech, make your points clearly and have them back with facts. If you have an opinion, that’s fine, but remember that the media and the people listening will also want to hear the facts. If you can do this, you can make a good impression.

4. What If You Have To Do a Television Interview?

It can be stressful if you have to do a television interview, because this presents many new things to think about. Do you look good? If you’re nervous and go blank, this is also a common problem for many. And doing an interview instead of a prepared speech will also probably take more time.

However, if you need to do a television interview, there are a few things to keep in mind.

Because your audience can see you, make sure your body language matches your words. If you’re nervous, again, this is understandable. However, try to be as casual and comfortable as you can. As you go along and the interview goes well, too, it’s likely that you’ll relax and simply become more natural. When you respond, look at the interviewer and not at the camera.

In addition, your responses should be as short and precise as possible. Don’t ramble, but do make complete points as much as you can.

One of the best things you can do to help improve future interviews is to record yourself and watch to see how you appear during the interview. This can help you correct anything you see that you’d rather not repeat and improve upon what he did for future interviews.

When you go on television to do an interview, people can see you, so that your enthusiasm and style is also carried across visually. This, in turn, gives you a bigger impact.

5. How Do You Get the Best Out Of Media Relations?

One of the necessary parts of business is to do media relations. However, instead of looking at journalists with a wary eye, keep in mind that they have a job to do (as do you), and that their presence can actually help you.

Typically, journalists are well informed and do their research. They call upon relevant sources, as they need to. Journalists want information that means something, and it also has to be authentic and true. They want reliable insights from you that will get attention from the audience.

If you understand their needs, you can adjust your interview in such a way that there’s news in it for journalists who will find it useful. In turn, their readers will also find it informative and valuable. When journalists know that you want to work with them, this will make things a lot easier for them.

With this said, you might still have some trepidation. That’s fine. However, speak with conviction and authority as only you can about your subject. Know what you’re talking about so that people will find you authentic. If someone has prepared something for you or you are repeating something you simply read, it’s going to show.

Once you start on the interview, you might be surprised to find that you’ll become very comfortable in a very short period of time during it. This is especially true for a topic you understand well.

Developing a good relationship with media relations lets you reach out to investors, the public in general, customers, and even your own employees. Don’t be afraid of doing so, but instead use it for something positive. If you appreciate it and handle it so that it provides a win-win situation for both you and the media, it’s all positive.

Kevin Sinclair is the publisher and editor of Be Successful News, a site that provides information and articles on how to succeed in your own home or small business.

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Tags: media, relations, public, marketing, communications

Both advertising and public relations face a common enemy called ‘clutter’. As an illustration, in advertising companies advertise in television programs that are hopefully being watched by its target audience. You have to remember that not all of its target audience is watching that particular program. Even if they do, there’s no guarantee that the audience will see your commercial because people like to zap between commercial breaks.

Traditional public relations also face the same problem. For your message to get to your audience, you must go through a series of gatekeepers. Editors in chiefs assign journalists of what is worth covering or news worthy, journalists decide what angle they want to use, for a balance report they must get other point of view or sources, editors decide what type of information is relevant, media has a fix format that they must fill or not exceed, newspapers has their own views and idealism. All of these factors resulted in your message being partially transmitted, twisted, distorted or even not get through at all.

The digital solution that we offer is to employ the “push pull” strategy. We “push” the message out by way of viral communications and word of mouth. If people see good things about your product or image and think it is important and relevant to them, people will tell their friends and their friends and so on. With digital public relations, we are no longer be the sole communicators, the users are the communicators. Another is to “pull” people to your website by ways of Pay per Click (PPC) ads, creating links and Really Simple Syndication (RSS). This is where digital public relations stood above the traditional, customizing and tailoring the message to the users interactively. For more information visit this site

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Tags: relations, relation, communication, public, service

News reports and readily available information on news and events are second nature to us. We see them all the time in all forms of media whether it be commercial or purely news-based. Both types of news reports are the result of something that ensures only an entertaining, informational, educational or otherwise beneficial news reports reaches the masses. It is a serious business comprised of carefully thought-out approaches. The key here is a Press Release.

A press release is basically something you write to inform someone of a news story, an event, or a commercial news item. More specifically however, a press release is sent to persons who report news stories to the general public and thus do not reach the public directly; rather through a medium such as a newspaper or internet news website. In order to write an effective press release, you need to give all important details related to your news story. Make sure it is concise and at the same time highly interesting to the reader. In short, the tone of your press release should be that the news item is in fact news worthy regardless of what it is about.

By having a good understanding of what a press release is, how it ultimately affects what news stories reach the public, and how it will affect your own news item will help you to better formulate a good press release. Do some quick research and you can find ample information on how one is written. Plan carefully and your news item can certainly get further exposure with a good press release!

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Tags: media, public, relations, business, advertising

We don’t find out about news and events automatically. We need to hear it from someone, read it somewhere, or learn about the important matter in some way shape or form. After all, news spreads and commerce is possible as a result of word of mouth or other methods of informing people about something important. A traditional method of getting the word out there is called a Press Release.

What exactly is a press release, do you ask? A press release is a kind of news story for example, written in third person form. The intent or goal of a press release is not to directly inform the public of some news story, it is first and foremost intended to grab the attention of a reporter or another person who is responsible for writing articles or making announcements that will inform the public. Examples of where press releases are necessary include radio, television, newspapers, magazines, other articles, and last but not least internet websites that give news. As you can imagine, countless millions of people are going to learn about something via all of these outlets combined with each other.

Therefore, press releases are key tools in passing around information related to your important news story. A well written press release means a better chance of getting a reporter’s attention and quite obviously that means better exposure in the general public. A press release accompanied by a pitch letter, that is, a letter explaining what the press release is about will also certainly help your efforts.

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Tags: media, public, affairs, center, social

When organising corporate presentations for large audiences or hospitality events for the product launches at outdoor shows, it is essential to make the right impression.

You want to make sure that your guests and prospective clients feel welcome, comfortable and that they are visually impressed by the way you have presented your company. They will be expecting a high standard of both your choice of venue and the way in which you organise your corporate event.

Corporate Event Marquees

Marquee hire is an excellent solution for both corporate events and hospitality events alike, as temporary exhibition structure. They offer the professional look you require in terms of creating the right impression or ‘wow’ factor to new and existing clients. By being relatively large structures, marquees help to portray your company as a much large organisation than it actually is.

Advantages of Corporate Marquee Hire

The benefit of being able to style and layout your corporate event in the way that you want to, rather than being confined to a certain shape or space, is key to the popularity and success of marquee hire. If you run out of space, you can always attach a second or third marquee to your main tent. You could even hold separate parts of your event in individual marquees on the same plot of land, depending upon available space obviously.

Most large corporate events do just this, choosing to hire a large marquee for the main event and additional, smaller marquees for catering and bar areas.

Expandability is a clear advantage that marquees have over most corporate event venues and exhibition centres. Most indoor venues are fixed in what they can offer in terms of more space or different shaped arenas, simply by the shape and size of the building they are in. They are unable to compete with the expandability of marquee hire.

Individual Corporate Events

Marquees have the added benefit of offering corporate event organisers a flexible internal area to decorate and furnish. With modern marquee design, internal support structures are no longer necessary, so the entire indoor area is available for customisation. Though some other indoor event venues are able to offer this, marquees have the added advantage of usually being located on open ground.

Being located on ground level, allows marquees to accommodate large pre-build exhibition stands, heavy objects such as audio/visual and recording equipment and promotional vehicles such as cars & caravans. Even hospitality porter cabins and catering service vehicles can easily be incorporated into your event inside your marquee, which cuts down setup times and costs.

With such large customisable interiors, marquees are an ideal venue solution for companies who are organising corporate events which need to be individual and personalised. A marquee can be easily transformed from a otherwise ordinary tent into a visually appealing venue, with drapes, atmospheric lighting, stage sets and multimedia screens.

As marquees are such big structures, the interior space allows lighting rigs and video camera scaffold to be setup. This is great if you require your corporate event to be broadcast on television or streamed over the internet.

Total Corporate Event Management

Many marquee hire companies nowadays offer a tailor made corporate event planning and management service as well as hiring marquees. With some offering corporate event decor design and furniture rental and even catering and mobile bar services.

Additionally with the increase in the popularity of the internet, particularly within the business world, wireless internet access, audio/visual presentation equipment and staging structures are also sometimes offered by marquee hire companies to complete your corporate event.

Nationwide professionally run marquee hire companies offering marquee hire, corporate event planning advice and marquee furniture. Easily search for corporate event marquees across the UK.

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Tags: corporate, communications, publicity, public, relations

With the rapid pace of change and the frantic growth of new technologies, it is time, once again, to realize the importance of slowing down to think about what works. To think strategically.

It is time for organizations to get back to basics. It is time for developing simple strategies and sticking to them. It is time to remember what is known about human behavior and how to change it. It is time to stop doing what everyone else does and do what gets results.

Nearly 18 years ago I opened my own business to specialize in face-to-face communication. I decided to stop doing many of the commonly used print forms of communication. Why? My work in public relations with three global corporations and a state government agency had convinced me that it was my relationship building techniques and face-to-face communication activities that were getting the desired results – and quickly.

There is ample evidence of the frequent failure of print communication:

* Research shows that only seven percent of people get information about what is going on at school by reading school newsletters.
* A TARP study (Technical Assistance Research Programs) found fewer than 15 percent of employees read employee magazines and newsletters.
* An internal communication study by a large West Coast employer discovered only four percent of top managers in the company read a three-page corporate memo.

Print communication fails because it is not communication. It is sending messages. It is one way. It does have a role in public relations and that role is to support what works: face-to-face communication and word-of-mouth using opinion leaders. There is abundant evidence demonstrating the significance of word-of- mouth and the success of face-to-face communication:

* Dialogue is typically credited as a key element in successful corporate turnarounds. Navistar CEO John Horne said openness and face-to-face meetings played key roles in the company’s success.
* My own research and that of many others show that employees want information one-on-one from their supervisors or in small group meetings. Large organizations often find two-way meetings broadcast by satellite get results, too.
* Research says 70 percent of people get information about their schools word-of mouth. (Unfortunately, the number one information source is students.)
* At Hewlett-Packard, managers are expected to walk around and find out what is going on by talking to people. The open door policy is not just symbolic, there are no doors on offices. At monthly all-hands meetings, general managers tell their staffs details about business results.
* When Dow Corning announced it was considering Chapter 11 protection during the breast implant crisis, it used face-to-face meetings with employees to build trust. Key executives and middle managers were trained to provide information in small groups and answer questions. One result: turnover was below industry averages.

Here’s another example. I recently helped a natural gas pipeline company in Michigan build trust with a fearful public and quickly resolve a problem of vocal opposition to startup of a new pipeline. Natural gas produced from wells in the area includes hydrogen sulfide, a poisonous gas. Some residents feared a pipeline leak would endanger them. The public was unaware that pipeline safety design features far exceeded legal requirements for protection. Nor were they aware of extensive emergency response plans in case of a leak. Neither the company nor the public were listening to each other.

A face-to-face program was begun to build trust with leaders of the most vocal opposition group. Within two weeks of talking and listening to each other, the group reversed its opposition tactics and talked about the company with respect, demonstrating the power of personalized PR.

Randy Nickerson, general manager of the parent company MarkWest Michigan, said, “This program showed me we must do more than build pipelines. We also have to build relationships.”

Use behavioral science research for guidance

Few people are aware of the thousands of diffusion studies that describe how people behave in adopting new ideas. The majority of people change not because of something they read, but because someone they know and trust says it’s a good idea. Mass media is impersonal and creates only awareness and knowledge. It takes personal interaction and dialogue to cause people to go beyond awareness and actually change their ideas and behaviors.

Regrettably, while these studies have been around for more than six decades, they are known to relatively few public relations professionals. Those who are knowledgeable use what has been learned from behavioral research studies to develop public relations strategies that get results.

What we know from diffusion studies around the world is compelling. Whether we seek to get farmers to use hybrid agricultural products, or school superintendents to use educational innovations, or doctors to use new wonder drugs or third world villagers to use birth control devices, publicity doesn’t get the job done. What works is word-of-mouth.

More specifically, it is word-of-mouth that begins with influentials in the group. A little more than 10 percent of any group are opinion leaders who influence two-thirds of the rest of the group to believe and act as they do. When you identify and build relationships with opinion leaders, your messages get delivered by leaders who are trusted and believed.

A school superintendent in Oklahoma talks to two opinion leaders on his staff when he wants information and opinions from employees. He says what he is thinking to a specific custodian and a teacher. The word gets out quickly. Soon his phone begins to ring with staff people telling him what they think about what they heard.

Using opinion leaders can cause remarkable change in an organization. One company wanted to reduce its healthcare costs, the fastest increasing cost of doing business. Employees paid nothing for their healthcare benefits. The company was turned down flat when it asked its union to agree to have employees pay a small percent of the cost.

A strategy using opinion leaders was created. About 25 union and non-union employees were invited to participate in meetings to talk about corporate issues. A year later, the union volunteered to have its members pay a portion of healthcare costs. That’s an example of the power opinion leaders have to create change within a group.

Behavioral scientists and consultants also have a rich history, not widely known, of successful interventions to change organizations relatively quickly. The process involves face-to-face communication working with large groups. In today’s high-speed world, leaders in organizations need results now, not six months from now.

Meaningful change comes from getting people throughout the organization involved in identifying problems, then creating action plans that will get the desired results. Involvement creates commitment. Organizations who have used this approach include Ford, Boeing, Corning, Chrysler, Marriott, EDS, plus schools and government. But that’s a story for another day.

Tactics for the face-to-face strategyThere are a number of tactics you can begin to use to develop more successful public relations results using face-to-face communication.

1. Use more two-way communication tactics

When creating tactics for public relations programs, ask about each one: “Is this two-way?” If it is not, you may want to rethink the program idea. Or plan so that one-way information tactics support and reinforce a two-way tactic. For instance, get the word out to employees or specific external audiences face-to-face in small groups or one-on-one, then support the messages and answers to questions with print media.

2. Teach leaders to listen

Leaders need help to learn the most important interpersonal communication skill – active listening. Even passive listening would be a good start. Listening is a very effective problem-solving skill. When I talk to people in organizations, they typically have excellent ideas to solve problems. When I recommend they tell their bosses their ideas, they often reply: “They never listen.” Or: “Nothing ever happens when I make suggestions.” No wonder people keep their good ideas to themselves!

3. No more speeches

Encourage executives to stop reading boring speeches and simply talk to people with brief key messages and stories that bring their ideas to life in a meaningful and memorable way.

4. Help supervisors to take a more active role in spreading the word

Supervisors cannot be the message bearers when they don’t know the message. Make sure they are kept up-to-date on the important stuff employees want to know, as well as the information they should know. You also need to work with supervisors to help them learn specifically how to deliver key corporate messages effectively when talking with their employees.

5. Identify opinion leaders and build relationships with them

Who are the top three audiences your organization needs to be supportive? Identify them and then find out who the most influential members are. Those are the people you need to get to know, feed information to and listen to.

6. Create a speakers bureau

I have taught thousands of people how to stand up and talk to others in an interesting and credible way. While at the Michigan Department of Transportation, we had employee volunteers delivering about 500 speeches annually to groups throughout the state. It is a fine way to reach many influential opinion leaders at once.

In our high-speed world, it is essential that we become more effective. For most of us, that means doing something different. Once you start using face-to-face techniques and seeing the results you get, it will encourage more use of two-way communication tactics. Face-to-face works. Make it your foundation strategy. Use dialogue and relationship building first, print communication later.

Jack Pyle, Fellow, Public Relations Society of America, is president and janitor of Face-to-Face Matters in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He is a communication consultant and provides leadership communication training to corporate, government and nonprofit managers. He speaks frequently at state, national and international conferences. Book Jack, an energetic and informative speaker for your next event or get more ‘Tips for Action-Oriented Leaders’ by visiting his site

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Tags: corporate, communications, publicity, public, relations

Anyone can get publicity by implementing basic publicity strategies. Including press releases as a cornerstone of your overall marketing plans and campaign is a very strategic approach to gaining wide spread attention and , in most cases, free exposure. Writing and submitting press releases on a regular basis is a strategic way to keep your name, product, service or cause in the minds of your prospects and customers.

Here is an overview of the nine basic steps for using press releases to promote your business:

* Determine what you want your press release to announce – media is most interested in topics involving change and controversy. Let that direct your announcement of events, new services, donations, etc.
* Write a brief press release following proper news format, including all of the essential information. I recommend following Associated Press style.
* Write an attention getting headline and sub-headline – one that will draw the reader into the press release.
* At the beginning of your lead paragraph, include the location from where the press release is being distributed.
* Include the five journalistic Ws in your lead and second paragraph: who, what, when, where and why.
* Focus your press release on the benefits for the reader, watcher, and listener. Explain why they should care about you and what you are offering?
* Make your press release newsworthy. Prospects do not want to hear about business as usual; they want human interest and entertainment. Give it to them.
* Include your contact information so those interested can contact you for more information.
* Provide information about you and your company. But be brief.
* Finally, submit your press release to as many online and offline places as you can to generate widespread interest in your announcement.

Now, I invite you to grab a free copy of my special report: “Marketing with Press Releases” at this site

This 12-page report walks you through the 6 basic steps for getting publicity, 12 steps to writing a press release, a press release template and 20 places to post your press releases online.

Now, go get famous, one press release at a time.

From ExpertPreneur Strategist Amelia Brazell.

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Tags: marketing, public, relations, sales, business

Media or press releases have been used for a number of years for a variety reasons. You can grow and develop your business by utilizing press or news releases hence, leveraging the power of the news.

About press releases

You can use press releases to announce events, and a variety of other things. You can employ press releases as news for things such as offering opportunities and more. So basically, you issue a press release as a written statement to support an oral announcement.

Press releases typically have a bold title or headline, a 1-3 sentence long summary, the city where it’s issued, the date, the content of the press release and then a short paragraph regarding the person being discussed, as well as where to get more information.

While companies, organizations and people use news releases for different reasons, you can use specific strategies to make them more effective as a direct marketing technique. While some use news releases for announcements or for the release of timely information, many businesses use them solely as a direct marketing technique.

Why press releases are very effective

Consumers worldwide read press releases, especially when the media releases them as a “news story” instead of the traditional format of a news release. When press releases are well written and distributed widely, they help establish brand awareness, which in turn increases sales.

You can place your press release online as well as in print form. Online forms are usually placed in press release directories, online newsletters and ezines. They are broadcast to a wide reader audience, giving your business immediate exposure. Print forms are most commonly published in off-line publications. When you want to use a press release as a direct marketing technique, you should submit it to internet directories such as PRWeb so that you get widespread online exposure quickly while your press release catches the attention of off-line journalists well.

You can expect several important outcomes from a business news release. The first is that reporters may choose to turn your press release into a news story, providing your business or company even more exposure to potential customers. Another significant result that can occur is that readers may contact you or your company using the contact information provided, or will click on an embedded link if the press release is distributed online.

Press releases can also help develop credibility for your company, and they can be posted and updated on your business website. Credibility is important because it leads to increased sales, especially today when many consumers look for information about companies online, particularly if the company conducts business solely on the internet.

Aiden Wangsa is an internet business owner. Learn why writing articles is a great internet marketing technique.

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Tags: marketing, public, relations, firms, advertising

A steady stream of publicity can catapult you, your brand and your business success. However, securing publicity can be intimidating for many entrepreneurs.

Learning and implementing the following basic publicity steps streamlines and facilitates the process for most entrepreneurs:

* Get over your fear. The most common reason entrepreneurs do not pursue media coverage is fear. Often, this fear stems from two streams of thought:

Too Big For Your Britches Thinking – This is the fear of what others in their industry will think of them. They don’t want to appear as if they are bragging or claiming to be the best, the only, or the most important spokesperson for the industry, etc. Although, that is not a bad thing to do.

60 Minute Ambush Thinking – This is fear of the media and being interviewed. Some of the strongest, most powerful CEOs become spaghetti during interviews with reporters – even small town, weekly newspaper reporter. This fear most often reflects a lack of knowledge of how the media works, what the media expects during an interview, and what the interviewee can offer to the media.

* Create compelling news hooks to capture media attention. Remember to think in terms of what readers, watchers and listeners want. Make it timely, interesting and entertaining to maximize media interest.
* Write a one-page press release that is clear, concise and newsworthy. In the media, less is truly more.
* Identify media you want to cover your story. For traditional news and feature media it is a good idea to begin locally to gain experience before approaching major national media. In the beginning, you will make some mistakes. It is always best to practice and learn the ropes with local media rather than making the mistakes in front of audiences of millions.
* Submit your press release – online, offline or both.
* Leverage your publicity. Each time you receive media coverage, use it in your marketing efforts to secure additional media interest. Then repeat the process over and over.

There is great value in pursuing a steady stream of publicity. So, challenge yourself today, to write and submit a newsworthy press release.

Now, I invite you to grab a free copy of my special report: “Marketing with Press Releases” at this site.

This 12-page report walks you through the 6 basic steps for getting publicity, 12 steps for writing a press release, a press release template and 20 places to post your press releases online.

Go get famous, one press release at a time.

From ExpertPreneur Strategist Amelia Brazell.

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Tags: marketing, public, relations, advertising, firm

A well written press release will bring potential sales to your product line of soy candles in several ways. By making your candles known through a press release, you expose your company to the eyes of potential buyers and the media at the same time. Plus, a well optimized press release can bring targeted traffic to you business by using a combination of the right keywords and interesting content to draw readers.

When you have decided on a topic of interest for your press release and have a list of the keywords that you want to use to optimize the information, remembering these three tips will make the difference between a successful press release and just another press release:

1-Make a List, Check it Twice: A press release is formatted with specific information in expected places. If your press release lacks the needed contact information or a dazzling headline (or if you headline is too long!), then you may loose readers due to ineffectual presentation. A quick internet search can give you some very reliable press release templates, so do not sell your efforts to gain exposure for your soy candle line short by using an improper format.

2-SEO to Go: When you write your copy for your press release, be sure that you include your major keywords sprinkled throughout the body of the copy. Although your press release will be read by a human audience, if it is presented online, either through a press service, a blog, or your website, those keywords will also be what draws search engine traffic to you. In order to draw the most targeted search engine traffic, try using words that are specific to your company as well as general in your industry. For instance, in your copy, you might use the words “wholesale soy candles” as well as “soy candles” and “wholesale candles”. Further, be sure that you approach different markets in your press releases. Like, if you want to target restaurants or florists, be sure you include those keywords too.

3-Know Who is Listening: Many people find a press release hard to write because of the multitude of audiences that read a press release. Simply remember that when you create a press release about your products, you are telling a story to interest anyone who picks up the press release. Be factual, but be enthusiastic about what you are writing. For example, there is a difference between the headline “New Soy Candle fragrance brings passion to Valentines Day” and “Soy candle company sells candles”. The only thing these two headlines share in common is using an important keyword in the headline! Do not be afraid to make the copy interesting to your reader and it will not matter who reads your press release.

To successfully write a press release about your products, be cognizant of the mixture of keywords and information. Never write a press release that is strictly fluff or promotion. Use your press releases to optimize your search engine efforts and bring important information to your readers.

__________________________________________________________________

Candles of Eden is the leading provider of wholesale and private label all natural soy candles. We offer a full range of soy candles made with both fragrance oils and essential oils. Offer our elite line of SoyLuscious® Soy Candles to your clients or allow us to create a brand for you.

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Tags: public, relations, about, jobs, services

The one thing media people want is a great story idea.

A great story gets attention. It can lead to a promotion, award and prestige for the media person. That’s why reporters and producers are always receptive to the next great idea. Which brings us to the importance of the story angle. The Angle The angle – sometimes called the “hook” -is what captures the interest of the media. Here are examples of story angles that the media loves:

1. New Product / Service / Book. The media is always interested in something new. Thus, if you are launching a new (unique) product or service, you have a ready-made angle.

2. Examples: A new fitness book; an accountant who launches a QuickBooks training service in addition to doing taxes. Tie-In With Current Trend. If you can tie into this, you have the opportunity to get publicity.

3. Examples: An interior designer specializing in designing “green” homes (trend: anything good for the environment); a food company that prepares meals-to-go (trend: saving time for busy Moms). Holiday. There are literally thousands of holidays in the U.S. and throughout the world. Every organization should be able to tie into several. Incidentally, reporters are interested in receiving unusual holiday pitches, either a unique way to tie into a well-known holiday, or a tie-in to a lesser-known holiday.

4. Examples: An upscale restaurant that offers a free Christmas dinner in the restaurant for needy families; a contest, sponsored by a professional organizer, offering the winner a free session to organize a home office for “Organize Your Home Office Day”. Useful Advice. The public is always looking for information to help make their lives better or easier.

5. Examples: A new vitamin that helps lower blood pressure; legal ways to pay fewer taxes. Interesting People or Information. People want to know interesting information – both for themselves and to share with others.

6. Examples: The results of a drug study; the newest interior design trends. Controversy. This is a favorite topic of the media. The key is to be a part of the controversy in a positive, not a negative, way.

7. Examples: An attorney commenting on a murder case; an ethics expert giving his opinion on recent corporate scandals. Celebrity. Another favorite topic of the media. National or international celebrity tie-ins are best, but local celebrities work too.

8. Examples: A famous band donating a show’s profits to your charity; a brownie taste-off with the local mayor and Chamber of Commerce president as judges. Fun / Quirky. Anything quirky or fun gets people’s interest.

9. Examples: A dentist who offers spa services; a Hair Restoration Vacation. Contests. People are competitive, and they also like to root for others. Contests always get attention.

10. Examples: A contest to see who can eat the most hot dogs; Cover Model of the Year for a local magazine. Charity / Sponsorships. People want to help others and also want to know who else is helping others.

11. Examples: A benefit held for a local women’s shelter; sponsorship of a community stadium. Awards. People also like to read about other people who have made great achievements in business and life.

12. Examples: A man honored for his extensive community achievements; a woman honored as the Small Business owner of the year by a local Chamber of Commerce. Free Give-aways. It’s human nature to want something for free.

13. Examples: A local restaurant offering a “kids eat for free” night; free give-aways at a local health fair. Surveys. We all want to know interesting information.

Examples: A survey showing the diversity of Boards of Directors; a survey showing how much couples spend on every aspect of their weddings.

Copyright 2003-2008 All Rights Reserved Margie Zable Fisher Margie Zable Fisher is the president of Zable Fisher Public Relations, the leader in Small Business Public Relations. This information is excerpted from her Do-It-Yourself Public Relations Kit.

Copyright 2007 Margie Zable Fisher All rights reserved
To reprint this article, you must use the article in its entirety, along with the resource box, below.

Margie Zable Fisher, president of Zable Fisher Public Relations and author of the Do-It-Yourself Public Relations Kit, has helped hundreds of business owners achieve positive results through her Do-It-Yourself P.R. workshops and materials, as well as working with her and her team.

If you enjoyed this article, you can get additional free tips in Margie’s PRactical P.R. newsletter. To sign up now, visit this site

PRactical P.R. is filled with free publicity opportunities, tips and ideas that show you how to use Public Relations to grow your business. And as a bonus for signing up, you will also receive Margie’s free Special Report, “Top 10 Publicity Ideas That Will Grow Your Business.”

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Tags: media, public, relations, jobs, training

Public relations is no longer something that just happens; how a company or corporation is perceived in the public eye, particularly in the eye of the company’s shareholders or potential customers, isn’t something that’s left to chance. Companies have entire departments and large budgets in place to ensure that they will be viewed in a positive light by the public.

In its simplest form, the idea of public relations is to get the word out to the public concerning all of the positive things that a company or organization may be involved in, and to enhance the company’s overall image, while at the same time downplaying anything that could potential be viewed as a negative action in the public eye.

Public relations is kind of like advertising’s less obtrusive brother. Where advertising’s main goal is to stick a product in the face of a potential customer and give them every reason to buy it, the public relations approach is a lot less direct. Public relations will let your target consumer know what else you’ve got going on besides your product or service – like what kind of good you are doing in the community and how you plan to help more in the future. Though it’s not as bold as advertising, a good public relations department can aid in building profits just as much as advertising.

There are any number of ways that a company or organization can positively use public relations to enhance their image in the eye of the public:

A company can donate either time or money to a charitable cause or they could hold a charity event to raise money for a particular cause. Potential customers and share holders want to know if a company cares, and they want to know what it is that the company cares about and supports.

Another approach to public relations is to have a company representative speak at an industry conference or seminar. The speaker can go over with an audience, packed with the very people that the company wants to reach, details of all of the latest activities as well as all of the future plans that will be implemented and what kind of positive impact those plans will have on the industry and the community. This is kind of like issuing a personal press release, where the company representative can get out the exact message that needs to be distributed to exactly the right people, and can then answer any potential questions that may arise. A press release is a great tool, but its content is definitive, any questions that arise from a press release will remain until another company statement is made, with a live statement questions can be addressed and answered appropriately right form the start.

Though I’ve just pointed out some of the negatives of a press release, that doesn’t mean that it’s not a very effective tool of public relations. A press release mat not be personal, and it may or may not leave small questions in the minds of some readers, but what it can do is reach a tremendous amount of people giving them a good idea of your mission statement or telling them of a recent award or accomplishment of the company. A well written press release can reach thousands of thousands of people that wouldn’t have known of your accomplishment any other way – and press releases come at a much cheaper price than any form of advertising. You’d never be able to reach the same portion of your target audience with public speaking as you would with a high quality press release.

A company’s image can mean everything – one big negative event, even if it’s only perceived as a negative event in the public eye, can literally destroy a company. If a company or organization wants to become successful and stay successful, it has to build up and protect its positive image – the only way to really do that effectively is through good public relations.

Toronto-based PR company offering a full suite of public relation services. An owner-operated agency, we are a collective of senior practitioners dedicated to achieving results for our clients.

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Tags: public, relations, company, image, agency

Every business likes to be noticed and talked about, but this is even better if you can get it for free, while helping a good cause.

By getting involved with not-for-profit organizations and events your business will become more recognized in your community. Often people forget that many volunteers and organizers for these groups have other jobs at companies that could be potential clients and that the people who attend the events are all possible future clients. If they see you helping these organizations that they take great pride in and doing a good job while you’re at it, they may be more willing to consider you once they are back in their own job.

Here are three ways that you can help not-for-profit organizations and in return receive excellent recognition for your efforts.

1. Most cities have yearly Corporate Challenges or other events that bring companies together for friendly competition that raises money for non-profit groups By entering you have a chance of networking with other companies that might need your services, as well in return your company many be featured in local newspapers and on TV.
2. Consider entering contests for non-profit organizaitons. For example, organizations in our city Big Brothers Big Sisters holds a window decorating contest for their Ribfest in August. Local businesses are asked to decorate their windows promoting the event. Many have had more people stop and notice their business than ever before. The winners have name displayed at the event for free. Last year, over 40,000 people showed up, so that’s good coverage.
3. Consider providing services to non-profit organizations. Often employees are happy to offer a helping hand in return for acknowledgement at events which often have 1000s of people attending.

So, not only do you contribute to organizations that make a difference in your community, but you receive superb recognition from it. Not to mention that these activities help build morale, team spirit and a sense of community pride within your company. Why don’t you see what worthy causes you can contribute to in return for some great feedback?

Renee Eaton is a Communications Specialist for the business consulting company BizXcel which publishes Generating Greatness, the bi-weekly ezine for business professionals. If you are ready to push your business to new heights, make more money, save time and improve productivity, then get your FREE tips now Here

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Tags: free, pr, software, links, public

If your company comes under fire in the press it may seem like an emergency situation. Whether you deserve it or not, the negativity reflects badly on the company image and could discourage consumers from using your services in the future. There are some ways to combat bad PR however, three of which are suggested below.

Hope It All Dies Down

Sometimes bad press isn’t quite as bad as you think. Before you take any action you should consider the following points – has the bad press been widely syndicated? Is it being seen by your customers or potential customers? If the answer to these questions is ‘no’ then it might be that you don’t actually have to do anything. If no-one who matters is actually seeing the story, then it’s almost as if it doesn’t exist.

In cases like these, if you shoot off a reply you could end up making the situation worse by adding fuel to the flames. If your reply gets picked up then the original bad piece may get dragged along with it – making a small situation into a big one. A bad story about your company that floats on the outskirts of the news for a few weeks before sinking into oblivion doesn’t damage your reputation – just don’t poke it with a metaphorical stick or it might bite.

Create A Response To The Accusations

If the story has reached your customers and looks like doing some damage, a good way to counter is to compose your own response. Try not to get emotionally involved – this is unprofessional and you might say something you later regret. The media likes objective facts and statements, so they’re also more likely to take on something calm and to the point.

Stick to all the facts involved and address each negative point of the original bad PR piece. Explain why your company made mistakes (if they did) and how you’re going to put them right – give the customer a reason to trust you.

Circulate Some Good PR

PR stories can get picked up by powerful publications. What if you search for your company name on the internet and the bad story comes up top? When you’re faced with a situation like this you have to try and shift it off the front page and away from consumers’ eyes, and the best way to do this is to circulate some stories of your own.

Submit your positive pieces through press release newswires and, if they’re of a high quality and they go to the right places, you could knock your adversary off the front page of a search engine within days.

Whatever strategy you choose to counter bad PR stories, be prepared to answer some questions about the performance of your company. Customers may want to know how the issues raised in the bad press affects them, and your employees may feel unsure of their positions. Good communication is always the key, so prepare your answers and deliver them in a timely, reassuring manner.

Sylvia Kittens lives in Harrogate, England

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Tags: bad, pr, public, relations, agency

There’s nothing worse than pitching a great story to the media and not being ready if they call you back requesting an interview. This has happened to my producer and I at least twice over the past month or so and I’ve seen it happen all too often.

The scenario goes like this: Someone sends out a great press release, my producer calls them back and they act as if they’re in a fog-seemingly unaware and with no enthusiasm or inclination to be interviewed about the subject they pitched to us. This can ruin your media relationships almost instantly!

Trust me, the two organizations, which would have received great publicity by appearing on my talk show, may never get invited back again.

If you really want to be someone who is irresistible to the media, always be locked and loaded, especially if YOU pitched the media!!

By showing reporters, producers and journalists that you are fully prepared, ready to offer them exactly the information they need (or more), you will fast become a “go to” person that they will flag in their rolodexes. They’ll always be willing to consider the stories you pitch.

How do you show the media you’re prepared for interviews both planned and unplanned? Here are a few tips:

1.) Stay abreast of late breaking stories or trends in your industry. An easy way to do this is by monitoring topics in your field via “Google Alerts.” Simply click the news tab at Google.com, then, on the left-hand column, click “News Alerts.” Then type in whatever topic you want to monitor and each day news stories about that particular topic will be sent to your email automatically.

2.) Make sure the media can contact you at a moment’s notice, either on your mobile phone, through email or through your public relations consultant or representative. If journalists know they can track you down, you’ll quickly become a favorite. Even if you can’t do the interview at that moment, they’ll still respect you and call you back in the future.

3.) Keep several major media email addresses, numbers and fax numbers handy so if a story breaks that you can tie your expertise into, you can send a brief statement to your media list with your perspective on the topic and you’ll be at the top of their list if they need a guest immediately.

Bottom Line: accessibility and the ability to respond quickly to news developments makes you the kind of irresistible guest that the media will call again and again. This adds up to publicity that is far more valuable than advertising could ever be.

Monique Caradine is a Chicago-based broadcast media professional and President of Momentum Media Group, Inc. A former radio host and currently the host of “Perspective,” a community affairs TV program, her specialties include program development, media training and publicity consulting. She has authored two electronic books on how to make your story irresistible to the media. Monique is also a noted speaker, workshop presenter, blogger, podcaster and commentator. Subscribe to her free publicity newsletter at this site

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Tags: media, public, relations, consultancy, communications

Photographs are essential for getting good publicity in the print media, especially magazines, newspapers, internal newsletters and even websites. Taking effective photographs often requires patience and practice but is a valuable skill to acquire.

A newsworthy or unusual photograph can really add to a story and enhance your message. Often a story may be run purely because it has a great photograph or a front page photograph will have it’s accompanying story a few pages back.

Good media relations practitioners should always be on the lookout for good photographs. When planning a media event, always keep in mind options for good photo opportunities.

This is especially true for television, where moving visual pictures are essential for the story.

Digital cameras and editing software made taking and distributing photographs a lot cheaper and easier.

Whether you are taking photographs yourself or employing a professional photographer, keep these tips in mind to make your visual images more effective when trying to communicate your message.

1. THE SET-UP.

Avoid busy, cluttered backgrounds that may detract from your subject. Remember that people often scan newspapers, sometimes whilst preparing for work or commuting. Make your picture interesting without being too cluttered, showcase your subject in the picture.

2. THE PEOPLE FACTOR.

Don’t photograph subjects head on. Shots taken from a slight side angle are more natural. Research has shown people like to look at other people, try to include a person in all your pictures where appropriate.

3. KEEP IT NATURAL.

Candid shots of subjects are better than posed “mug shots”.

4. FRAME IT.

Too much space around a subject can be distracting. Try to keep your shots tightly framed without cutting parts of your subject from the picture. Seeing a person’s head trimmed in a shot isn’t appropriate or favoured by the media.

5. AVOID ROWS.

Photograph a group in a natural cluster, never in a stiff row.

6. KEEP IT SIMPLE.

Avoid the temptation to photograph too many people in a group. Remember the focus of your article.

7. FOCUS ON FACIAL FEATURES.

Generally, faces should be at least as large as the nail on your little finger.

8. ALWAYS PROOF.

Ask for proof sheets from the processor before selecting negatives for printing. Better still with digital cameras, check your shot before saving. Be mindful of blurring because when the shot is printed any blurring is worsened and may ruin your shot.

9. BUILD RELATIONSHIPS.

Make sure people in your photographs receive copies. It’s a really easy simple gesture that lets people know you appreciate their help.

10. ASK PERMISSION.

Always ask permission to take photographs of subjects used for publicity purposes. Always obtain a release, even for internal publications and file photos.

Source: Adapted from ‘Public Relations: The Profession and the Practice’,
Otis Baskin, Crag Aronoff and Dan Lattimore, 4th ed, McGraw Hill, pg 213.

Thomas Murrell MBA CSP is an international business speaker, consultant and award-winning broadcaster. Media Motivators is his regular electronic magazine read by 7,000 professionals in 15 different countries. You can subscribe by visiting this site Thomas is available to speak to your conference, seminar or event. Visit Visit Tom’s Blog

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Tags : marketing, communications, agency, public, relations

Many people are intimidated by radio interviews, whether live or pre-recorded and often spoil great promotion and branding opportunity in less then effective interviews.

Did you know there are more than 1500 talk radio shows in the US?

Also, radio is the only medium to show increased usage since the introduction of the Internet.

Radio can be a powerful way to communicate to a large amount of people in an immediate and intimate way.

So it is increasingly important to perform at your best when doing radio interviews in order to make optimum use of the opportunity.

Having worked in radio for more than 16 years, here are my 10 tips for getting the best out of radio interviews.

1. Preparation.

You only have one chance to get it right with live radio. Always prepare. This includes having strong and precise messages you wish to relay to the audience and goals for the interview.

2. Stay on message.

Most radio interviews are less than four minutes in duration. Always keep on message and avoid being drawn into side issues. Journalists are trained to acquire information from you, not necessarily on the topic covered in the interview. Keep focused at all times.

3. Metaphors and examples.

Radio is a very intangible medium. It is difficult to store and listeners rarely get a chance to re-listen. Make your message more memorable and tangible with stories, metaphors and examples. Remember radio reflects your personality to the audience.

4. Use word pictures.

The radio is often on as background noise. It is also the medium of imagination. Cut through the clutter with words that paint a picture in the mind of the listener.

5. Be available.

Always make yourself available for radio interviews. The immediacy makes it a powerful medium. Be available to go into the studio for better quality than over the phone or to take talkback calls. Missing a interview opportunity means the station will find somebody else to interview, perhaps a competing company in the same field, offering them the exposure.

6. Warm up your voice.

Always take time to warm up your voice so you sound more articulate, intelligent and authoritative. This will give you more confidence. Be clear in your pronunciation, unlike printed news listeners aren’t able to listen again if they miss words.

7. Make it personable.

Use the interviewers name to make it more personable when answering questions. This is another chance to develop a relationship with the media outlet interviewing you as well as your audience.

8. Don’t wait to be asked.

Many first timers fail to get their message across because they wait to be asked. Always try and take control and use every opportunity to get your message across. Be adaptable but remember your goals and messages.

9. External noise.

When you do radio interviews make sure the background is as quiet as possible. While wailing sirens will help add a sense of urgency, background noise can be distracting from your main message. Remember your message will be competing with background noise in the offices or cars it is listened to in so try to keep your background noise as minimal as possible.

10. Call to action.

Most people will remember the opening and closing of a radio interview. Always have a strong closing with a call to action, i.e. something you want listeners to do. Having an action statement at the end of your interview offers an opportunity for listeners to be involved with your company and develops your relationship further.

Thomas Murrell MBA CSP is an international business speaker, consultant and award-winning broadcaster. Media Motivators is his regular electronic magazine read by 7,000 professionals in 15 different countries. You can subscribe by visiting this site and is available to speak to your conference, seminar or event. Visit Tom’s blog

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Tags : people, management, communications, public, relations