While insurance fraud schemes have evolved over time to fit within the circumstances of modern society, the foundation of them has been in place for centuries….

Insurance fraud is one of the real threats facing the industry. The growth of the claims culture, together with research shows consumers believe insurers are ‘fair-game’, making for a dangerous combination. The costs to manage these claims come with a risk factor; bad faith suits, medical expense, investigation expense to name but a few. The utilization of third party providers to assist in managing these claims has opened the door to the added risk of provider fraud. The cost to the industry is enormous and affects the way the public view insurance companies and their service offerings.

MetLife director of special investigations, John Sargent stated in an article “that eliminating fraud is an unachievable goal”. But that hasn’t stopped his company or other industry leaders from trying. “”Our goal is to pay what we owe, and not a penny more or a penny less,”" Sargent says. “”The more efficient we are at identifying and preventing fraud, the better we can be at writing business at a more competitive rate.”"

Insurance fraud costs Canadian policyholders over $1 billion each year. To the average Canadian citizen, that means at least 10 percent of their total insurance premiums are used to cover the cost of fraud.
(see the site)

There is nothing new about fraudulent insurance claims or in the way they are adjudicated. The high cost of insurance fraud is passed on to the consumer and therefore, creates a situation where the industry might fail to seek a better solution to combating it. We’ve seen insurance claims directors reduce the numbers of claim handlers in order to ‘contain costs’, frustration amongst investigators when insurers exhort them to reduce fee’s, and then make a “”commercial decision”" to pay unnecessary claims. These cost cutting solutions are not and haven’t been effective, instead insurers need to re-focus on reducing claims before they become costly and problematic.

The History of Insurance Fraud

While insurance fraud schemes have evolved over time to fit within the circumstances of modern society, the foundation of them has been in place for centuries. For example, one of the earliest fraud schemes involved the purposeful sinking of ships, otherwise known as “ship scuttling”. One of the first incidents of ship scuttling was recorded in ancient Greece. The problem became increasingly worse, and by the early 1700′s ship scuttling became so prevalent that England passed one of the strictest insurance fraud statutes ever, providing for death by hanging as a penalty for conviction.

The sinking of the ship Adventure is typical. The Adventure was purposely sunk off the coast of Brighton, England in 1902. The ship owners, Easterby and MacFarlane, purchased the Adventure at a salvage auction (which like vehicle’s in modern day schemes, was where the most scuttled ships were purchased). The ship was then repaired so that it could earn the lowest passing grade of seaworthiness. The ship owners then, over-insured the Adventure and told it’s Captain (Captain William J. Cotling)to sink it, so that they could collect the insurance. As with many schemes, the characters committing the fraud were careless.

To maintain structure within a company you need a solid foundation. Insurium delivers practical solutions to bridging the GAP of escalating insurance claim costs

The Captain ordered an inexperienced mate to open the scuttle so that the ship would sink. The ship, however, was in shallow water and was sinking so slowly that the Captain had to refuse assistance from a nearby fishing vessel. In fact, the next morning the masts of the ship were still visible from the shoreline. In the end, the Captain was prosecuted for his actions and hanged. The shipowners however, were neither prosecuted nor fined.

The earliest recorded life insurance fraud a case of pretended death comes from England in the 1730′s. A father and daughter staged a succession of schemes in which the daughter appeared to convulse, with heart spasms then go limp in apparent death. While the father stood by in convincing grief. These schemes traveled from England to America and eventually with the advent of automobiles that we began to see related injury claims. Today the same schemes exist, though the mediums have changed. In a nutshell resourceful individuals have been quick to seize opportunities to steal money from insurers in just about every imaginable means.

Insurance fraud comes in many different flavors, ranging from isolated crimes of opportunity to sophisticated organized schemes. While it is unrealistic to expect insurers to eradicate fraud in its entirety, it is however, realistic for insurers to reduce their exposure to this multi billion dollar a year industry

Time for Change
Fraud Investigations are being scaled down, on the basis that it is reactive rather than proactive. Fraud has to be beaten by a more strategic approach, involving consumers, employers and claims handlers. The fraud problem in insurance relies heavily in the skills and effort of the insurer and their agents to uncover and manage fraud.

Lack-lustre investigations will not result in a dossier that is effective as evidence in a court. To discharge the burden of proof in a criminal trial, insurers need to provide evidence to convince a magistrate or jury beyond all reasonable doubt of any guilt. In civil cases, the usual standard of proof is on a balance of probabilities, in fraud cases there is a very high degree of probability. The costs associated with investigating fraud come with additional risks which could lead to reputational damage and loss of public confidence. This is an area of cost management that requires review and reconstruction.

To help reduce claims related costs and reserves, insurers need to become more proactive than reactive, to unjust claims and provider fraud. Being proactive requires a good understanding of the root cause. The root cause associated with fraudulent claims begins long before the claim is submitted and can be traced to human behavioral traits. The lack of understanding by employers or empathy by claims personnel coupled with a lack of good communication between, H.R, claims and investigators can a create a GAP in process and provide a green light for the claimant to fabricate, inflate or exaggerate their claims. With GAP’s, like these, there’s little wonder why insurers are seeing a rise in their claims portfolio. The answer is a lot simpler than it seems and corporate buy in is necessary. Proactive methodologies and practices will assist a company identify the motivations of individuals who are most likely to direct an act of fraud towards the insurer or their employer.

By being more proactive as apposed to reactive you have a better chance of reducing your claims exposure, reduce reserves and better manage your service providers while reducing the potential for litigation, bad publicity and poor public perception and at the same time ensuring compliance with your companies vision. In the war on insurance fraud, chasing the carrot will no longer yield the desired results. We need to stop looking at trying to remove the opportunity and focus more on the motive, thus understanding the root cause and effectively set about cost containment.

Insurium Inc., Enterprise Defense and Responsibility Consultants “Your Key To Corporate Preservation”

Visit Insurium Inc. website.

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Tags: ethics, programs, business, research, management

“Ethics and Counselling Applications
By Pedro T Gondim
Pedro T Gondim
Pedro T Gondim
Level: Basic PLUS

Pedro Gondim is a writer and publisher for the Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors. The Institute is Australia’s largest counsellor training provider, offering the internationally … …

Article Word Count: 1067 [View Summary] Comments (0).

Ethics and History

“”Ethics (from Greek – meaning “”custom”") is the branch of axiology, one of the four major branches of philosophy, which attempts to understand the nature of morality; to distinguish that which is right from that which is wrong. The Western tradition of ethics is sometimes called ‘moral philosophy’”". (WIKIPEDIA).

The origins of ethics are related to the introduction of moral behaviour in early societies. The application of concepts such as ‘right’ and ‘wrong’, and the definition of these concepts in different environments, induced the need for a formal approach to social behaviour – an attempt to create commonality and organisation in a society. In this context, codes of behavior were created, and different forms of behaviour enforcement adopted.

As societies developed, and increasing importance was placed in structural thinking – such as the advent of sciences – meta-ethics became an eminent topic of discussion. Meta-ethics refers to the investigation of ethical statements, an actual analysis of ethics itself. Names such as Hobbes, Kant and Nietzsche were prominent in this period.

Nowadays, ethics is still a main topic of discussion. As societies evolve, the relationships between individuals become more complex, and so do the etiquettes and codes of conduct. The development of business relationships has raised many ethical dilemmas, and ethical counselling is one of them.

Ethical Counselling

Because counselling is not a regulated profession in many countries (including Australia), the use of ethical standards is a method of guiding the quality of the services provided by counsellors, the quality of training provided to counsellors, and of protecting clients. These standards provide conduct guidelines for professionals and are an effective way support many counsellors lacking experience or knowledge of the industry. It also serves the purpose of structuring the counselling industry, providing common professional descriptions, definitions and service boundaries according to each type of counsellor.

There is a wide range of issues comprising the field of ethical counselling – which are also part of common guidelines for the practice of therapy. According to Daniluk and Haverkamp (1993), “”the main ethical framework referred to in many discussions of therapy is one based on the concepts of autonomy, fidelity, justice, beneficence, non-maleficence and self interest”". In this context, we devise several ‘problem areas’ in ethical counselling:

Law and Counselling

The need for professionalisation has created a common link between ethical behaviour and legal conduct in the therapy fields. Legislation was provided to primarily protect clients from misguidance, and ultimately to provide guidelines for the profession. However, as cited previously, in most countries ethical conduct in counselling is not yet part of the legal framework – which outlines the importance of professional and industry peak associations in providing guidelines and codes of conduct for affiliated professionals.

The Australian Counselling Association is one industry association in Australia that provides ethical guidelines and a code of conduct for counsellors. The ACA’s Code of Ethics and Code of Practice are part of the Code of Conduct – which can be accessed from their website at www.theaca.net.au/docs/code_conduct.pdf. An excerpt from this Code is:

Counsellors will:

- Offer a non-judgemental professional service, free from discrimination, honouring the individuality of the client.

- Establish the helping relationship in order to maintain the integrity and empowerment of the client without offering advice.

- Be committed to ongoing personal and professional development.

Confidentiality

This area is closely linked with the legal issues in counselling therapy. Confidentiality plays a major role in defining the communication between a counsellor and a client, bearing in mind that trust is one of the backbones of a therapeutic relationship. Albeit confidentiality is a key component of the relationship, it is also one of the leading causes of ethical dilemmas for counsellors. Situations which may put the client – or other individuals – in danger usually require the counsellor to make difficult decisions in regards to breaching confidentiality. In many instances, the actual breach is a legal requirement as it may incur the prevention of a crime against the state, or another person.

Other predominant issues such as consultancy with supervisors or colleagues; definition of the type of confidentiality to be used (absolute or relative) prior to the counselling relationship; and session record-keeping, must be considered by therapists when practicing professional counselling.

Bad Practice

The issues of privacy and power in a counselling session can be prejudicial in terms of unethical practice. The private nature of a counselling session leaves a ‘gap for unsupervised practice’, and therefore it is quite difficult to be assessed. For instance, fairly recent explorations of unethical practice in therapy have shown the emerging problem of sexual abuse of clients. This issue is augmented by the power relationship between client and counsellor, in which the therapist could take advantage of their position of power to practice unethical behaviour.

Training and Professional Recognition (Australian Industry)

As cited before, counselling is not regulated in most countries. In order to standardise the industry, and ensure that counsellors have the necessary skills to professionally practice, training and recognition must be accentuated. In Australia, the ACA plays a role in coordinating industry efforts, providing information to the public and maintaining records of counsellors in practice.

That system protects clients from bad practice, and supports training standards for organisations that provide counsellor training. The Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors, as an example, is recognised by the ACA – which means that AIPC and the Diploma of Professional Counselling complies with industry standards defined by this peak organisation in regards to training standards for counsellors.

Safety and Negligence

These concepts are utmost concerns of counsellors in practice. A counsellor-client relationship is a very delicate encounter of an individual seeking help, and a professional providing advice. Primarily, it is the counsellor’s responsibility to provide a safe environment for the counselling session – particularly because physical and psychological safety is a premise for the counselling therapy to succeed. Negligence is closely related to the concepts of breach of confidentiality and safety. Observing principles for duty of care is part of ethical behaviour in counselling.

Complying with ethical guidelines is one of the most important aspects of being a professional counsellor. Creating awareness in both counsellor and clients of the boundaries of the services provided will lead to a better development of the profession, and overall improvement of industry standards. Counsellors are responsible for keeping up-to-date with professional codes of ethics, confidentiality guidelines, and other relevant information.

Pedro Gondim is a writer and publisher for the Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors. The Institute is Australia’s largest counsellor training provider, offering the internationally renowned Diploma of Professional Counselling.

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Author’s Note: I highly recommend Simon Clarke’s articles.

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Tags: ethics, practice, research, theory, legal

Providing all individuals with the opportunity to reach their full potential is about more than just compliance. It is about developing cultures that are conducive to meeting the needs of organizational members at all levels. An organization dedicated to diversity must go beyond placement of individuals, toward the long-term task of facilitating their upward movement in that organization. Though often used interchangeably, affirmative action and diversity are two separate concepts that have the ability to function together to improve representation of under represented groups in organizations.

Affirmative action is based on legal directives requiring federal contractors to measure employment practices and to develop a workforce that is reflective of the community in which they work. Resulting from historic discriminatory employment practices, affirmative action policy was designed to ensure that federal contractors made good faith efforts toward recruiting, hiring, training and promoting qualified minorities and women. The matter of affirmative action necessitates more than simply working to avoid discriminatory behavior, but also actively seeking to undo the damage of past discrimination.

While affirmative action focuses on taking positive steps to get individuals into the organization, diversity works to change the culture of that organization. Instead of just changing the representation of their workforce, organizations dedicated to a diverse workforce realize the value in a mixture of varying cultures, backgrounds and experiences.

Sybil Randolph and Dawn Hyde in Cultivating Your Affirmative Action Program on Infertile Ground explain affirmative action as being present when organizations:

·Have and abide by an equal opportunity policy

·Analyze their workforce to assess possible areas of goals for under represented minorities and women

·Develop a plan of action to eliminate under representation and make a good faith effort to execute the plan

The goal of implementing affirmative action is to create a workforce that is reflective of the area in which a contractor operates. However, Randolph and Hyde clarify the differing functions of these two concepts by defining diversity as being present “when organizations value individuals for the knowledge, skills, talents and abilities that they bring to the organization for the benefit of business.”

A diversity orientation demonstrates for employees that diversity is a key element in organizational functioning because it:

·Represents an integration of HR policies and practices into a “bundle”,directing the organization toward diversity and diversity management

·Includes promoting diversity through training and development, work design, staffing and compensation programs (including internal and external equity)

·Incorporates other policy-related decisions considering diversity implications in the decision making process

Employees who believe their organization internalizes this philosophy are more likely to recognize value in their differences, paving the way for effectiveness through creativity and innovation. Affirmative action programs and diversity initiatives are similar in that, for either to be truly effective, employees must be confident that management is dedicated to implementation.

Unfortunately, organizational behavior and organizational policy is not always consistent. For instance, qualified minorities and women might be gaining entrance to company doors, but those same individuals can become unmotivated and stagnant when career development is not used in combination with a diversity orientation. Accordingly, the need to work toward enabling minorities and women to perform to their potential through career development is imperative.

As demographics change, organizations will have to change to retain commitment and mobilize the workforce for productivity. This shift will call for training and promoting qualified individuals even when they do not look like or think like what has traditionally been viewed as a “fit” for the organization.

Lee Gardenswartz and Anita Rowe, in Managing Diversity, acknowledge this stance on the differing responsibilities of affirmative action and diversity in building an inclusive environment. Affirmative action is considered the catalyst that channels a diverse set of employees into the organization.

However, only after a diverse workforce is developed can the organization focus on creating an environment in which all needs and values are considered, individuals are not penalized for being “different” and organizational and management practices benefit the whole.

About Kathi Traylor

As an HR Analyst at Berkshire Associates, Inc., Kathi conducts data analysis, develops affirmative action plans and provides general consulting services on AA/EEO implementation. Prior to working with Berkshire, Kathi worked as a Human Resources professional for a health care organization.

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Tags:research, ethical, consideration, legal, corporate

Last week, I gave an example of the correct way to pitch to bloggers. In this post, I will show the wrong way to pitch to bloggers – learn from this person’s mistakes and do not repeat them. I thought I was clear the first time at the way to successfully pitch bloggers. But I guess some folks can only learn from “Do Not” instructions.

Here are some lessons garnered from a PR pitch received earlier this week:

* No introduction: If she was able to get my email address, she certainly could have gotten my name.
* Wrong information: My “Clearcast Digital Media blog”? Does she mean “Comcast”? Who knows? But clearly she does not know me.
* Marketese: If she’d read my white paper, she would have known that marketese is death. But I’m given a full serving in this email, from start to finish.
* Bad writing: In addition to the marketese, she’s inconsistent with her italics, occasionally writes the authors name’s in capital letters FOR NO APPARENT REASON, and also capitalizes words haphazardly. Here’s a tip: If you are writing to a blogger who writes about writing, know how to write. ‘Nuff said.
* No seduction: What is my incentive to go to the book’s website? I’m promised “great free content and commentary” but why would I believe that based on this email? Weak.
* Zero relationship: In this email, she had the opportunity to create a connection. Relating the book’s content to something I had written about would have been perfect. It would have made the email more relevant, explained why she wrote me in the first place, and showed me that she cared about my work. Instead, epic fail.
* Too general: The authors are supposedly leading experts, but who says so? Their strategies have resulted in $12B in sales, but for whom and how can I make it work for my business? What about: “Conoco Philips made one change based on these strategies and it saved them $156,723 in one quarter.” Isn’t that more intriguing?

These are bad mistakes to make in any email, much less one where you are writing a marketing/writing blogger. But to receive this one day after I lay out instructions for how to impress me – wow, way to demonstrate that you could not care less.

Learn the Ways of the Force

While I hate picking on this person who may be a well-intentioned junior staffer or intern, there is someone up that food chain who approved this email copy. Shame on them for not explaining the blogosphere to the sender.

I hope these examples help the rest of you to craft considerate, professional emails to bloggers you want to reach. In my mind, it is really not that difficult. But looking over this email, I guess I might be wrong.

DJ Francis writes a website – drawing upon over 7 years of experience in strategic communications, online marketing, social media, advertising, and the relationships inherent in a Web 2.0 world.

Business is changing, but you don’t have to go it alone. Please visit the website for more information.

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Tags: pr, blog, blogger, search, research

Though marketing, advertising and public relations can all be integral to the success of your company and they all have some glaring similarities in how they can help your company succeed on some level; each is indeed a different element, approached in a different way in order for it to work the way it is supposed to work in an effort to reach an ultimate goal.

Marketing could be considered the whole ball of wax in this equation. A company’s marketing department could be subdivided into several smaller sections that operate as separate entities, but all work toward the same ultimate goal – which is the success and growth of the company.

A company’s marketing department could, and should include smaller departments that are responsible for: public relations, advertising, customer service, market share research as well as pricing, distribution and product placement.

The piece of the equation that is advertising has the sole responsibility of putting your product or service where the public can see it. Advertising lets the consumer know what it is that you have to offer, then lets them know why exactly they need it. A company could pay a pretty penny for advertising; in fact the advertising budget is often the largest part of the marketing plan’s expenditure. As the saying goes, “you have to spend money to make money.”

Public relations can make prospective consumers want to buy your product or your service, but public relations is a much less direct approach to gaining sales than advertising. The point of public relations is to highlight all of the positive things that your company does and is involved in, while simultaneously keeping anything that could possibly be construed as a negative out of the public eye. It is the public relations departments’ responsibility to make the company look good in the public eye and they will take several routes and measures to get there. A public relations department may schedule charity events, distribute press releases highlighting company achievements or company community efforts and schedule public speaking appearances at educational or industry seminars – anything that can put the company under a good light while in the public eye is the public relations department’s main concern.

The company marketing plan is how both of these integral parts of business come together, along with several other aspects, to ensure company success and growth. Each individual focal point of the marketing department is integral to the success of the marketing plan.

Market research, which is probably the most intensive piece of the puzzle, will determine exactly who your target customers are.

With this information in hand, the product or service that you are offering can be priced accordingly for the target audience. Once pricing is established, the advertising department can begin its job of getting the word out that your company has a service to offer. Depending upon the advertising budget, this can be done in many ways: through television, radio, print ads, billboards and/or flyers pointed directly toward the target customer.

The PR company departments’ work can coincide with the advertising departments, to ensure that the company is being viewed by the potential consumer in an overall positive light while the flood of advertisements are reaching the target audience. Working every angle of public relations along with following a sound advertising campaign will ensure that the most positive message possible reaches the masses of your target audience of customers.

Once the customers are reached and desirous of the company has to offer, details like distribution of product and inventory management are put into place to ensure that the service or product is always available and delivered on time.

From the above description, advertising and public relations may just seem like small pieces of the overall marketing puzzle, but without them the marketing plan could never fully be realized and the company’s success would suffer accordingly.

Toronto-based Public Relations Firm offers a wide variety of communications services including strategic counsel, media relations, event planning, corporate communications and spokesperson training.

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Tags: market, research, strategies, advertising, public relations

Public relations plans can easily pay for themselves many times over, especially when compared to the cost of advertising (rates range from $4,000 to $8,000 for just a ¼ page ad in major city newspapers) or a direct mail campaign ($20K and up!).

A well-placed news article is a more effective and less expensive way to get a bang for your precious marketing bucks. Yet, many companies equate public relations expertise with the costly monthly retainers often required by larger PR firms. While it’s true that large firms may be too expensive, chances are independent consultants and small firms are more affordable than you think.

Many PR professionals offer businesses of all sizes first-rate, affordable services. Seasoned marketing and PR experts often prefer the flexibility and creativity of working independently and their low overhead is reflected in their rates.

So, if you’re looking for PR counsel but thought it wasn’t in the budget, think again. The following guidelines will help you get started.

Ask for referrals when seeking PR help
First thing’s first: Find a public relations professional with good references, sound advice and enthusiasm about your business. Try networking through business colleagues, professional associations and friends. You can also find quality pros by searching articles posted on blogs and online magazine sites. And don’t forget the power of the Search Engine.

Know what are you’re trying to achieve
Do you want an ongoing PR campaign or a one-time boost related to a new product, store opening or announcement? This will determine your strategy and budget moving forward.

Identify your target audience
Defining your target audience is probably the single most important decision you’ll make when implementing a PR plan. Are you trying to reach your customer base or the general population? There are thousands of media outlets – and the number is growing exponentially with web-based news sites – so the more specific you can be about who you want to target and why, the more successful your PR effort will be.

Have realistic expectations and patience.
Sometimes the most powerful news stories are those cultivated over weeks and sometimes months (think “Watergate”). If your business doesn’t have a deadline-oriented announcement (i.e., the date-certain launch of a new product), it often takes time to pique a reporter’s interest in a story or angle – but it can and does happen.

Public relations is a powerful tool for companies of any size.

Karen Preiss Miller is a partner in JKP Group, a marketing communications consulting company. For more tips, visit this site

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Tags: pr, research, product, methods, promotion

Public relations and branding is important for all businesses, no matter how small they are. It is important that people know about your business and what you do. This is where branding comes in. This article will give you some ideas on how to get your name out there online so that you can grow your business. You should:

* Get Involved in Forums- Business networking is important, and web forums are a great way of networking online. There are web forums in pretty much all niches and I am sure you will find one related to your business. You should get involved, help out and make contacts with others who are in a similar business to you. This is a free way to build your brand
* Have a Blog- Blogging is one of the best new tools out there for business people. They give you the opportunity to share information with your prospective and existing customers. Blogs also give you the opportunity to gain instantaneous feedback. Informative posts can also get you listed in the Search Engines.
* Write and submit articles- Article directories are another great free way to position yourself as an expert in your field. They also have the added benefit of helping with Search Engine Optimisation as they can provide a back link to your main website.
* Write Press Releases- Traditionally Press Releases were written only to be submitted to other media outlets and from there you had no control over what message your target audience finally sees. With the advent of Press Release Submission resources online, you can now bypass traditional media sources and go straight to your audience. Like articles, you also have Search Engine Optimisation opportunities with online Press Releases.

It is time to work hard to build your brand and help grow your business. It will help you online and offline.

Hamish Jones is the founder of Best Business Deals, and is a public relations specialist.

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Tags: pr, blog, blogger, search, research

PR professionals have taken a lot of heat lately for the ways they pitch stories to bloggers. Some bloggers do not want to be solicited to by PR companies and their stance is understandable.

However, PR does serve a valuable purpose in business and it is certainly not going to disappear in the new media landscape. In this post, I will describe essential elements of a stellar PR pitch to a blogger.

I received an email today from a PR professional this morning that illustrated 8 essential aspects to include whenever pitching bloggers. Here are the good things this professional remembered that too many journalists and PR folks forget:

1. Short: The total email was 130 words long. Already, this sends the message that she respects my time.
2. Introduction: In one sentence, she explains who she is, who the client is, and why she is writing to me.
3. Description: Again in one sentence, she sums up the product with a minimum of the adjectives that decrease believability (best, great, unique, etc).
4. Seduction: I would have made the mistake of describing at least one feature or benefit. Instead, Christina piques my interest just enough and then leaves me two links from which to garner the specs. I had clicked these links before I even finished reading the email.
5. Help: Another one-sentence reminder that I can contact her with any questions.
6. Thanks: She ends by acknowledging my limited time and thanking me for reading. Even if it sounds heavy handed (which it does not), the blogger is getting his/her ego stroked and that never hurts.
7. Transparency: The postscript is not only transparent by again mentioning the client, but also encourages transparency if I write about it. This mentality builds trust.
8. Tone: The tone is helpful, but reserved (not one exclamation point!).

If your copywriting follows these simple rules, you cannot help but improve your response from bloggers. In the end, it comes down to being respectful, professional, and sounding like a human being. (It turns out people prefer other people rather than PR robots. Who knew?)

DJ Francis writes at OnlineMarketerBlog.com – drawing upon over 7 years of experience in strategic communications, online marketing, social media, advertising, and the relationships inherent in a Web 2.0 world.

Business is changing, but you don’t have to go it alone. Please visit the website for more information.

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Dj Francis – EzineArticles Expert Author

Tags: pr, blog, blogger, search, research

Product launches are a great PR opportunity. In one sweep you are able to impress those that attend, which will stick in their minds and also get to get some publicity from the event through raising awareness.

Even of you only invite a handful of guests, the PR photography images you take can be used in newsletters, both internal and external, in email shots as well as getting into the all elusive press. There are local business papers, magazines and directories that regularly feature businesses in their pages. If you haven’t tried this out already perhaps it’s something you should ponder. Getting it right can make all the difference though.

Make sure you compose your shots or better still, get a professional to do it. If you are going to hire a professional make sure you talk them through your brief exactly and not leave anything to be presumed or to chance. If you’re after formal shots, tell the PR photographer this, if you are after informal shots with people using your product let them know this – it will make all the difference when they come back and they are just what you want as opposed to something that has gone completely beyond your control. In addition, don’t forget it’s not just launching products it could be a new service.

Product launches are not the only time you will need photography. Perhaps you are having an event such as an award presentation evening. If this is the case, you don’t want photos of the evening taken with backs of heads you will want a professional. If you have a professional, you can then give everyone who receives an award an individual photograph as a follow up to their time in the limelight, this is particularly beneficial if you have someone who is either respected in your industry, a leader of the field or if you have secured the services of a local celebrity or sports star these will be cherished afterwards.

Of course, if you are having an event solely for client entertainment then you will need to have photos to remember the event, great for adding on your website and getting people to visit.

PR photography is very much linked to marketing, getting your business represented in the eyes of your customers and impressing them or building relationships with them.

To Recap:

- Know your specification, requirements and what you want out of it

- Think about where you will use the photographs

- Let the photographer know

- Think about location

- Remember the ultimate aim is to build current/prospective client relationships with PR Photography Newcastle.

Professional PR photography North East should be clear as day, lit appropriately and well placed. Ideally, you want a customer to think back to the event and remember your products and services.

In order to ensure you PR photography for your North East Business are getting it right, remember the key points above.

Mancala technology are specialist in Internet Marketing Newcastle.

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Tags: pr, photo, center, research, paper

When reading AP News, or even Reuters, it is easy to understand why press releases are such a powerful marketing tool. Among other things, when people read the news, it is normal to be actively looking for useful, or noteworthy information. If you sincerely believe in your product, and feel that many people can benefit from it, logically, you will want the whole world to know. Press releases are the best way to accomplish this goal.

Time and again, I have found myself astounded by the simple power of a single press release. As an example, not so long ago, a small business that rents toys was featured on AP news. While I was not interested in toys, I was most certainly interested in the business model, and wanted to check the site out. Needless to say, the traffic generated from one press release in a major news publication almost crashed the server. No doubt, the business owner also gained a hefty sales volume that will last for months.

When it comes to internet marketing, the ability to generate traffic is always a top priority. Press releases can help you generate that kind of traffic. All you will need to do is make sure that you have a few mirror sites available so that everyone that wants to see your site will be able to do so. Chances are, if you are looking at your hit counters racking up zeros day in and day out, you will be more than happy to ensure that your site can accommodate all this new traffic.

Rod C. Beckwith, co-creator of the Press Equalizer software, has made hundreds of media contacts and distributed thousands of press releases online. If you need to distribute press releases online, then check out his software package.

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Tags: market, marketing, strategy, strategies, research

Which activities should top your business marketing list for the coming year? These 8 Guerrilla Strategies for 2008 have the power to dial-up buzz for your brand and generate more income for any money-making venture.

#1. More Face-to-Face Networking

Face-time creates preference, so join at least two strategically chosen organizations to expand your circle of influence and position yourself to reel in bigger new business fish. Even consider getting involved with an influential church or non-profit and volunteering your services or skills. As follow-up, send your online newsletters to everyone you meet. Write a profile or blurb about those you specially wish to woo.

#2. Hone Your Niche

We can’t be all things to all people. Trying to work across too broad a spectrum dilutes your message, which weakens the power of your marketing punch. For example, if you target growing your online presence over the coming months, do it strategically. Search for small business forums in social networking sites. Join, participate, and showcase your knowledge through comments and authored articles, demonstrating to potential clients there (and those who’ll spot your thoughts thru search engine traffic) that you really know your stuff.

#3. Tend Garden Offline, In Your Own Backyard

Many Internet entrepreneurs are so busy beating the cyberbushes, they neglect to extend their services in the real world. Spend a few afternoons each month going from store to store in your community, speaking with business owners and merchants who might hire your services or buy your products. Learn what their relevant business challenges are and offer to submit a proposal, serving as their great, new solution.

#4. Regularly Post Press Releases Online

Immediately shift your mindset about what’s newsworthy. Start routinely shooting out press releases like it’s going out of style. Because these days, just the opposite is where it’s at. At least once a month, write and disseminate news releases through free distribution sites if your budget’s tight. And then, repurpose them and submit versions at various free article marketing sites.

#5. Make Each Job Bid and Promotional Offer Irresistible

Always throw in an extra service — or two! Give a deeper discount or share more of your knowledge than a client or potential customer expects. Doing so fosters loyalty and makes for repeat customers. This also seeds word-of-mouth advertising, stimulate referrals, and earns you glowing recommendation letters — all of which send more business your way.

#6. Solicit Referrals via a Rewards Program

When new business is sent your way, be sure to thank whomever vouched for you. In fact, formalize this as a referral program with an attractive pay-off for those who mention you to colleagues and business associates. Doing so takes the power of word-of-mouth advertising to new heights, giving more people more reasons to sing your praises. Make doing business with you a fun, win-win.

#7. Practice PR 101 to Create Repeat Customers

Don’t lose touch once you’ve completed a transaction or the project ends. Keep your business top-of-mind. Conduct periodic outreach, offering a discount for your “preferred customers.” At the very least, send them your newsletters. Occasionally forward a news story that may benefit their business goals. Or promote their great reviews of your service or products on your brochures and website. And be sure to give them a link. They’ll come back for more of your stellar stuff the moment a new need arises.

#8. Just Can’t Do All of This?

Hire a public relations consultant, virtual assistant, part-time marketing representative, or any other expert to help with some of it. If press release writing simply isn’t your “thing,” their are plenty of online freelancers who’ll help strategize your stories and crank them out for you. Your time is valuable; there’s never enough of it. So delegate in 2008! If you have bigger fish to fry this year, create room to grow by getting yourself out of the pan!

Viqi French is the PR and Promotions pro behind PetLeopard.com, an online guerrilla marketing boutique. Her “fiercely strategic” marketing and publishing services include publicity online and offline, influencer relations, online marketing, ebook ghost writing, and SEO web content.

As seasoned Advertising and PR Agency executive, Viqi’s managed projects for several Fortune 500s including Wal-Mart, Toyota, Fannie Mae, McDonald’s, ExxonMobil and Procter & Gamble.

For more of her killer marketing tips, free ebooks and newsletter, visit this site — or — read this blog

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Everyday there are examples of how businesses and organization are ill-prepared if someone from the media called or showed up at the office or home and started asking you questions related to their business and some event that has great potential to bring positive or negative publicity to the business, the owners of the business, management and even employees. Many people will admit that they do not know how to respond to media when they come with their inquiries. And being unprepared or ill-prepared to media inquiries can have serious consequences to an organization and its reputation. All businesses and organizations with more than one employee should have a well-written media policy that clearly defines who within the organization may respond to media inquiries, what kinds of information can or should be released to the media, and what information must be kept confidential.

Furthermore, a proactive approach is always prescribed for dealing with the media. It is important to commit to establishing good relationships with members of the media because it can help to establish an accurate public perception of who you are and what you do. Another important thing to remember is that you do not need to feel intimidated when being approached by the media to ask you questions. It is good to remember that members of the media do need you as a source of news and background information as much as you need them to give you publicity and clarify your point of view. The development of a clearly written and well thought out media policy is an essential part of doing business today. Here are eighteen (18) prescribed elements for inclusion in your media policy for responding to media inquiries.

1. Designate a company spokesperson to respond to media inquiries and ensure that all employees know the name and contact information for the person so they know where they should direct media inquiries.

2. Research and become familiar with the print and electronic broadcast media outlets and the reporters and editors that you are likely to encounter.

3. Clearly define in your media relation’s policy what kinds of data and information must remain confidential.

4. Always be honest. Never knowingly tell an untruth or exaggerate. Trust is a critical ingredient in developing positive and enduring media relations and if you violate that trust it will have very negative results.

5. NEVER EVER say those fateful words, “No Comment.” This immediately makes you look like you are hiding something. Instead you might say something like: “I’m sorry but this matter is the subject of an ongoing investigation or lawsuit and I am unable to respond to that question at this time.”

6. Never speculate. Stick to what you know and your area of expertise. If you do not know the answer to a reporter’s question say you don’t know. Do not try to “fake it” because that will come back to haunt you. Instead, try to help the reporter reach a source who is able to answer the question. Members of the media remember who provides reliable resources and by helping them you will enhance your credibility and they will likely come back to you in the future.

7. Always speak clearly in plain English that average readers and listeners can understand. Avoid the use of any jargon or bureaucratic language.

8. Treat reporters, editors, and program directors courteously. Their impression of you and your firm will affect their impression of the entire organization, and that may possibly influence how they decide to write and broadcast stories about you and your company.

9. Always return calls from the media in a timely manner that is sensitive to their deadlines, if possible. Reporters are typically on tight deadlines and will appreciate your promptness. If they leave a message for someone who is not available or can’t be reached, have someone else return the call. This is very important since you will not create a favorable and positive impression if you hear on the evening newscast or read in the newspaper that your company or organization “could not be reached for comment.”

10. If you do not have the information you need to answer a question and you need time to research or think about how to answer a question, the you should tell the reporter that you need some time. You should also inquire what his or her deadline is, and then promise them you’ll call back with an answer before that time.

11. Never argue with the reporter. Be persuasive, but never be confrontational.

12. Do not hesitate to ask the reporter questions about the story they are doing. You might ask about the theme, the point of view, and who else is being interviewed?

13. Do not hesitate to share information that is already a matter of public record. Remember that if you withhold such information, the reporter to develop other sources and get the information anyway.

14. A great guide to help you frame the answers to questions from the media is always remember that whenever you speak to a reporter, you are really speaking
to the public.

15. It is best to assume that everything you say to a reporter is “on the record” and can be reported or broadcast. Your best advice is to remember that if you don’t want to see it in print or hear it on the air, then don’t say it.

16. Never try to do the media’s job and never assume that the media is there to do the story “your way” or with the “news angle” you want.

17. Never ask the reporter if you can review the story before it’s published. This will let the reporter know that he or she is dealing with an uninformed or ill informed and non-media savvy person. However, it is okay for you to ask the reporter during the interview to read back your quotes to confirm accuracy.

18. Always be very selective in any challenges to the reporter’s end product. A basic guideline to consider is that if the published story contains minor factual errors or omissions, do not make a big deal of it. On the other hand, if the story seriously misrepresents your position or misstates an important fact, then you can call it to the reporter’s attention in a polite communication, requesting a correction. This is an extremely sensitive area in media relations and the best advice is that unless the timeliness of the correction is critical, do not call to complain. And avoid the most serious of transgressions in media relations by never going over the reporter’s head to complain to his or her editor or news executive unless the reporter’s response is wholly unsatisfactory. Again, be careful in this area since you never want to alienate reporters.

Glenn Ebersole, Jr. is a multi-faceted professional, who is recognized as a visionary, guide and facilitator in the fields of business coaching, marketing, public relations,

Tags: media, social, research, verbatim, compatibility

One of my nonprofit public relations clients inquired the other day about the cost of printing some surveys for her to send to her customer base. Surveys are a great idea, of course! Nonprofit organizations can probe satisfaction and identify unmet needs; generate and solicit ideas or feedback; and gain a better understanding of the people that your nonprofit organization serves.

In addition to the print quote my client asked for, I shared with her the idea of doing the survey online. There are companies that help you create great online surveys yourself using foolproof templates. Once such service that I have used successfully is SurveyMonkey.com. Funny name, but a seriously great business tool.

A good online survey service enables people of all experience levels to create their own surveys quickly and easily.

Online survey services support everything from multiple choice to rating scales to open-ended text. You can pose just about any question format you want. Remember that multiple choice questions are easier to interpret, and fast for respondents to fill out, which can boost your response rate. You can customize the layout of every question type for the ultimate in design flexibility.

Not experienced with survey design? Need a creative spark? You’ll find online survey templates in a variety of categories. Use one of the professionally designed templates to jumpstart your survey design.

You can create your survey in any language, such as Spanish or Burmese. In addition, all text and buttons in the survey can be customized for the respondent’s native language

You can change the color, size, and style of any element in your survey. After you’ve designed the perfect theme, you can save your settings to use in any survey.

You can have your own organization’s logo appear at the top of your survey. To help minimize “ordering bias”, you can automatically randomize the choices in your questions. If you have a long list of items, you can sort them automatically.

Need to bring a copy of your survey to a meeting? Need to collect responses “offline”? With one click, you can generate a version of your survey that is specifically designed for printing.

Collecting responses is as simple as sending out a link to your survey via email, or posting the link on your website. Respondents simply click the link to go directly to your survey You can view your results as soon as they are collected. View live graphs and charts, and apply filters to your results. You can share your results with your audience.

Also, you can easily dig down to the individual response level to see the details of particular respondents, or to read the comments of open-ended questions.

With one click, you can download a summary of your results in multiple formats. If you’re a statistics nut, you can download all of the raw data you’ve collected either as a spreadsheet, or in database format. As a reminder, all the data you collect remains absolutely private. If you do an online survey, keep it short enough for someone to complete in a couple minutes. If you formulate your questions properly, that’s usually enough to get the data you want.

Online surveys are so inexpensive and effective that nonprofits can take advantage of this tool in dozens of ways to enhance your nonprofit’s ability to meet its mission.

Steve Cebalt of Bottom Line Public Relations is Founder of the Social Marketing Leadership Roundtable in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He specializes in marketing, advertising and public relations issues of interest to nonprofit communications professionals. For more information visit this web.

Feel free to visit this web.

Copyright Steve Cebalt 2007 May be used with author acknowledgment

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Tags: research, pr tools, nonprofit, public relations, communicators