Purple Phone PR & Marketing

Avoid the One Dimentional: Balance and Blend Your Tweets

Given its ever changing presense in the world of social media, I can't claim that I'm a Twitter expert; rather, I'll tell you that I'm a fan, a heavy users, and one who is excited to watch it grow and take hold over time.  That said, I tweet often - and I read tweets often.  

These are three of the things that really bother me, and which generaly result in my unfollowing a person.

1. Ads:  As a marketer, I'm all for using Twitter to get your name out there and I certainly don't mind people occasionally sharing something that they or a contact are working on.  I'd expect them to tell me that if we met for coffee somewhere, so why not online?  But, and it's a BIG BUT . . . don't inundate me.  Use them sparingly and blended with really interesting things that I would enjoy hearing about over coffee. 
2. Posting only one type of content:  Maybe its me, but if all you do over and over is post the exact same type of content again and again (say 20 positive quotes or 18 historical facts), you've lost me.  I like variety and if I'm not getting it, I'm moving on!
3. Consistent crassness:  Again, the once or twice tidbit about the crazy night you had or the stupid thing you did won't turn me off - after all, we're all human.  But, if that's all there is to you, see ya! 

The overall message here is that most things are allowed once in a while, but to keep a reader, it's important to blend together a variety of types of messages that relate to who you are.  After all, you're not a one-dimentional person in real life, so why be one-dimentional online?

Why do people buy things?

People buy things because 

My brother sent me a business plan to review yesterday.  I'll keep the idea to myself, but overall, I thought it was a marketable product.  But the one thing that the plan lacked, IMHO, was a clear statement about what I'd get out of using the product.  Why would I want to purchase that in the first place?  What value does it have to me?

This a common topic that comes up again and again with many business owners.  Sometimes, I listen to someone speak and at the end think, "Great that your jewelry is made of sterling silver." or "How nice that your you have 20 years experience in your field." But, so what?  What the heck do I care?

So, next time you're 

Surviving the Recession

There are some useful ideas in this article that was written and published by Elizabeth Upchurch of Bristlecone Learning, LLC: Use the Recession to Create Long-term Value .   

Money is Tight, So Don't Skimp on Marketing and PR!

The economy is flailing and business is slow for many.  A first instinct is to start cutting costs.  Marketing and public relations costs are often the first to be slashed, because the bottom-line impact of these efforts can be difficult to meansure.  Before you take your red pen to this year's budget, consider the following:

• Marketing and public relations require consistency.  Clients and customers crave stablity and expertise.  A company that quits communicating with them when times get tough doesn't provide this.  A company that sticks it out, continuing to keep the relationship alive with clients and customers during difficult times, will be the one that buyers grow to trust and rely upon.
• Keeping top-of-mind awareness now means buyers later.  Those companies that continue to spend their money on keeping in touch with their publics today will be the winners in the long run, because once capital starts flowing freely again, these companies will be the first ones that their clients and customers consider purchasing from.

Keep the dialog going, even during these difficult times.  If you do, you'll be one of the companies that protects is position in the marketplace in the long-run!

Why Do You Need a Website?

Today, with so many advanced tools out there, a website has boundless potential and should be approached as more than just putting your company's name online and keeping up with the crowd.  To use any of these tools and get some value out of them, your very first step should be to sit down and answer the question "why do I need a website?"  Once you know that, wyou can work backwards to figure out what the site must include.

Working backwards means answering some of the following:

• To reach my goals, who do I need to have visit the site?  (And this may be more than one group.)

• What will they be interested in seeing, hearing, learning?

• While at the site, what do I want them to do?  Buy something now?  Leave their email address for later contact?  Go do thing?

• Are the tools I'm thinking of using easy enough for me to maintain and use?

As you start to answer these questions for yourself, you'll be able to make decisions about what kind of website you need and you'll be able to explain this more clearly to your website devloper.  In the end, you want your website to become a true marketing tool that delivers benefits for both the site visitor and you as the business owner.

 

Five Organizing Tips to Help You Get Noticed

It's true that the public relations and marketing are artforms, but any business owner can take that first step to getting noticed on his or her own by writing press releases and setting up a website.  The trouble is that even those with the best intentions of tackling their public relations and marketing themselves struggle to fit the tasks into their day to day schedules.  To those business owners, I offer the following five tips that will help you blend your marketing efforts into your day to day operations:

1. Set goals.  As with any part of your operation, you need to first know what you're trying to accomplish before you dive in and get started.  Know who you are trying to reach and what infomation you are trying to offer them.
2. Block off brainstorming time.  If you don't set aside periodic time for brainstorming marketing related projects, you're going to run into one of two walls:  either, you'll be stuck doing the same thing over and over and never hitting your target, or you'll end up diving on each and every idea that comes your way without first evaluating if its going to meet your goals.
3. Carry a notebook.  If you're going to start tackling your own PR, you'll need to get comfortable with writing.  The trouble is that there is nothing more intimidating than staring at a blank page.  Bring a notebook along with you everywhere.  Jot down your inspirations when you're at the grocery store or out playing golf.  Have ideas ready for when you need to sit and write.
4. Pull out your calendar.  Mark your calendar with specific times where you will sit down and get your tasks completed.  It sounds so basic, but if you haven't blocked off this time, how will you ever fit it in, right?
5. Keep an idea file.  Remember that you don't have to reinvent everything from scratch each time.  As you see an idea that really hits home with you, or that you think would really interest your target client, keep it on file.  That way, when you're looking for inspiration, it's at your fingertips.

Work to incorporate these five tips into your daily habits and you'll be producing interesting and useful materials whenever you need them.

Good Read: Selling to Big Companies

You'll find that I'm a voracious reader.  As such, from time to time, I'll post about books that I feel could benefit business owners . . . let's begin with . . .

Selling to Big Companies, by Jill KonRoth

This is a wonderful book for those who have little knowledge of current sales practices and who are hoping to approach large companies with their products or services.   Those who have some sales background already may already know the basics of what Ms. Konroth shares, but will still find value in her examples and detailed ideas.

“Selling to Big Companies” asks the reader to change her focus from getting business from a potential customer to helping the potential customer in ways that position you as an expert in your field.  In doing so, Ms. Konroth believes that the sales person steps away from being pushy and aggressive and becomes a valuable partner to the targeted company.

 

Once the reader makes this mental shift, Ms. Konroth walks her through the specific actions that must happen in order to “get her foot in the door.”  This includes crafting a value proposition, developing an account entry campaign and adequately preparing for any and all contacts with the potential customer.

 

Overall, this book will get the business owner or sales person questioning her current sales approach and looking for ways to make it more effective.

Open for Business

And, we're open.  It's so exciting for me to be starting down this path.  I've had such a passion for public relations and marketing for the past six or seven years and to finally be launching my own agency is a dream come true for me.  I'm excited to share my expertise, tools, and tricks with fellow business owners.  And, I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to help them get the word out about their businesses and products.  Some of the people with whom I've been working are simply fantastic at what they do and just need that extra boost to let others know that.  Stay tuned to see what people in and around Holly Springs are up to these days!  And, welcome to Purple Phone.

We're going live in . . .

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