These are the slide I used in my presentation at the Womens\' Business Expo, "ACCELERATE."

2. How Do you Effectively
Promote Your Business
in the New Age of
Digital-Social-Internet
Marketing ?
QUESTION:

3. YOU NEED A MARKETING PLAN!
of which
PUBLICITY, PUBLIC RELATIONS,
and PRESS RELEASES
are only one part
A “SWOT” analysis is nice, too! Ideally, these
should be done BEFORE undertaking a PR plan or
campaign, all revolves around DIFFERENTIATION
THE FIRST RULE:

4. Product/Package
Pricing
Promotion (PR - this is where we are this
morning!)
Place (distribution)
People!
THE FOUR (5?) “P’S”:

5. “Online PR is the glue between search marketing and social
media that drives organic, qualified traffic and leads. It can
also help ensure remarkable content and consistent brand
messaging in a way most link building techniques cannot.”
What IS PR?

6. Different Types of Promotional strategy
(inbound, outbound, all around, push, pull, etc.)
“Inbound Marketing” is a set of marketing strategies
and techniques that focus on pulling relevant prospects
and customers towards a business and its products via
their online presence and web properties.
INBOUND Vs. OUTBOUND

7. PROMOTIONAL STRATEGIES: (inbound, outbound, push,
pull, etc.)
Advertising (push, outbound)
Personal selling & sales force (push primarily)
Sales promotions (discounts, coupons) (both)
Public relations & publicity (push & pull both)
Marketing communications (direct mail and email, etc.
(push, outbound)
Social Media (all around)
Website/SEO (pull, inbound)
PROMOTION

8. 1. Increase awareness of, or familiarity with, products
and services, brand awareness;
2. Influence perceptions of key benefits or
differentiators;
3. Increase willingness to consider products and
services;
4. Increase intent to try a product and make a first
time purchase;
5. Assure a positive experience with a purchase;
6. Drive Lead Generation!
7. Drive Traffic to your Website
PUBLIC RELATIONS: GOALS!

9. Traditionally delivered over a wire service to
subscriber (PRNewsWire, BusinessWire,
USNewsWire)
Syndicated content
Costs hundreds of dollars for each release,
depending on geo-targeting
TRADITIONAL PRESS RELEASE

10. Because the Game Has Changed . . .

11. and we are ALL publishers!

13. Journalists are facing tremendous
challenges, losing their jobs, crunched
for time;
They have to “Feed the Beast” on a
24/7 news cycle. If you know how to
provide juicy treats, they will eat from
your hand
WORKING WITH THE MEDIA

14. SOCIAL MEDIA NEWS RELEASE
Definition:
 A dynamic blend of the traditional static press
release and a more progressive, conversational
approach: A Social Media News Release (SMNR)
opens doors & engages readers with multimedia
content shared via social networks such as
FaceBook, Twitter, and others
 A social platform that enables just about anyone to
effectively package stories & share them with
journalists, bloggers, and influencers worldwide
via the social web. Usually low-cost and user
friendly.

15. SMNR Template

16. SMNR VIDEO

17. . . .but what about the meat?
If the SMNR=The Bread . . .

18. Content is Still King
•The “meat” is the news/content that is
contained in your Social Media News
Release
• You can have the best SMNR in the
world but if your content is not
newsworthy and delivered well, the
journalists will not pick it up
• They are your clients! (You also have a
“sub-client” or secondary client . . .

19. Content is Still King
•To make your news friendly to search engines, keep the following in
mind when crafting your message:
Keywords:
• A carefully worded headline and sub-headline should contain keywords
related to major themes in your news. The headline is not only extremely
important for SEO purposes but is also your first opportunity to grab your
reader’s attention. Throughout the text of your release, look for additional
ways to include high volume keywords and phrases without altering the tone
or message of your news release.
Enhanced URL:
•Search engines look at the keywords used in a hyperlink to a website when
they are ranking that website. If a hyperlink has keywords included and point
to your website, then when a person does a Google search for those keywords
they are going to be more likely to find you among their results. Make sure
your release uses targeted keywords when pointing back to your site to make
sure you get an SEO boost for your website.

20. Content is Still King
Anchor Text/Embedded Keywords:
Embedding hyperlinks into your release is another way to increase your
ranking and drive traffic to your website. Linking your product’s name in
the release back to the Web page where your readers can go to learn
more will not only lead consumers directly to your site, but it will also
get them into your sales cycle.
Add Multimedia Content to Your Release:
Adding a news image or video to your release will not only make your
news release more graphically pleasing and likely to be read, but it will
also ensure your news is indexed in image search engines and create
more visibility for your message.

21. What is “Newsworthy?”
This question is different from “What sells
newspapers?”
• According to “Feeding the Beast” by Mark Mathias, newsworthiness
can be boiled down to a few key ingredients, which we’ll get to in a
minute. (The Beast is more the pressure cooker of the newsroom
than the reporter himself)
• The Beast is “hungry, harried, handicapped, and human.” And you
should be able to make these traits work to your advantage.

22. What is “Newsworthy?”
THE RULE OF “DIFFERENCE
• “Importance is not important” because news is
information journalists believe people WANT to see,
read, and hear
• What do people want to know about? SOMETHING
NEW, SOMETHING DIFFERENT!
•Make the rule of Difference work for you: The Beast
loves a niche. Differentiation of your company and your
news content is your ticket to getting your company
free publicity.

23. What is “Newsworthy?”
THE RULE OF “EMOTION:”
 Facts are important but engaging readers emotionally
is what will get your story placed
 Don’t be afraid to show heart and passion
“How can I ENGAGE the reporter and his readership” is
the question you should always be answering
Everyone loves a story, and we are hardwired to hear
them

24. What is “Newsworthy?”
THE RULE OF SIMPLICITY
 The art of selling your idea/story to a reporter
depends upon their ability to grasp it quickly and with
relative ease
Your most challenging job will be to boil it down to its
most essential elements, without “dumbing it down.”
This takes lots of thought and usually many iterations
of your “pitch”
Simple, telegraphic sentence structure helps. Test it
out on people you know and trust. Make it clear,
concise, and compelling.

25. What is “Newsworthy?”
THE RULE OF RELEVANCE:
 What is relevant is not necessarily what is important
To understand what is relevant is to know a lot about
your client (the reporter) and audience (his readership).
“Can you answer the two pivotal questions: “WHO
CARES?” and “SO WHAT?” 
This means YOU MUST READ WHAT HE/SHE HAS
WRITTEN and you must deliver your information in a
package that is consistent with the reporter’s wishes
and desires. He/She is your MAIN Customer!

26. SMNR as Part of Your Campaign
•Press Releases alone are not a strategy,
although they can do good things for you.
•What is a campaign? An integrated publicity
effort simultaneously implementing:
•Events & Stunts
•General Brand Recognition
•Lead Generation

27. Case Studies
•Flying Fingers
A comprehensive campaign, well-funded and going viral
with a big idea. “Yarn You Can Eat” while sitting in
convention traffic (kits), and “The Yarn Bus.
•Inverness Bluebirds
General branding program tied into environmental
issues, yields lead generation
•Fishing

28. Building an All-Year Publicity Machine
•First Quarter: January –March
–What the Media is Covering: Trend stories, “get personal house in order” stories
–Key Dates & Events: New Year’s, Super Bowl, NCAA Tournament, Easter, The Academy
Award, Valentine’s Day Grammy Awards
•Second Quarter: April –June
–What the Media is Covering: “Anything goes” time of year –light, fun stories, summer plans
and vacation pieces, leisure, safety, things to do with kids
–Key Dates & Events: Baseball opening day, tax day, spring gardening, Mother’s Day,
Father’s Day, Memorial Day, end of school, summer vacation, spring weddings
•Third Quarter: July –September
–What the Media is Covering: entertainment-themed pieces, anything w/celebrities, lighter
business stories, new products, trend pieces, back to school
–Key Dates & Events: July 4thfestivities, summer movies, summer travel, back to school
•Fourth Quarter: October –December
–What the Media is Covering: Busiest time of media calendar, holidays, year end economy,
holiday travel, year in review
–Key Dates & Events: Labor Day, World Series, Election Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving,
Christmas, New Year’s Eve, New Year’s predictions.

29. Use Google Insights, Twitter Trends, Google Alerts, HARO

30. HARO Hints
“Help a Reporter Out”
1. Respond ASAP!
2. Give them EXACTLY what they
asked for in the query
3. Spell it all out, don’t make them
go somewhere else (like your blog
or website)

31. The 5 W’s & Writing Style
No English Majors Needed!
Write the Who, What, Where, When Why, with:
• Clarity
• Conversation
• Creativity
• Correctness
• Uniqueness
• SEO
AND NEVER “BURY THE LEAD!”

32. Deadly Sins of the News Release
1. The Sin of “Direct Address”
(Always write from the 3rd party point of view and banish use
of pronouns “I” and “we” unless in a direct quote.)
2. The Sin of Verbosity
(THOU SHALT NOT BE VERBOSE! Lawyers used to get paid
by the word, but even they don’t anymore. Brevity is the soul
of wit!)
3. The Sin of Ignorance
You must be prepared for the call. Most of all, READ what the
reporter has written, particularly on the topic at hand. Ask
PRIOR to an interview what the questions will be and who
else they might interview for the story.

33. Writing a great release
and where to
go to find help
GET THE RESULTS YOU WANT!

34. WHAT Does It LOOK Like?

35. •Ditch the bullets, the italics and bold type. It
complicates the code and makes it more difficult
for your release to be syndicated.
•Use the most common file formats for your
media attachments: jpg files best for photos;
.wmv best for videos, make sure not too big or
too small; mp3 files best for audio.
•Think Multi- and Social Media: Link to your
social websites, blog, podcast, etc.
•Take advantage of all the opportunities for rich
media. This will make the reporter’s job easier
and the story much more compelling
FORMATTING ISSUES:

36. • Whether you create it yourself on your website
or link to the PitchEngine or PRWeb online
newsrooms, this is absolutely essential
• On your own website, include links to
downloadable pdf files of all your news releases;
bios and high-res photos of your leadership; a
Fact Sheet or FAQ; a list of story angles; top
placements if you have received them; media
files and links to your YouTube channel, podcast,
blog, etc.
•Take advantage of all the opportunities for rich
media. This will make the reporter’s job easier
and the story much more compelling
YOUR ONLINE NEWSROOM:

37. • Don’t Overlook AUDIO FILES!
• Many ways to create audio that are
not complicated, such as using a
digital recorder, a phone-in podcast
service like GabCast.com, or
software for your Mac or PC, such as
GarageBand or Audacity.
MEDIA ASSETS & YOUR NEWSROOM:

38. • Don’t Overlook VIDEO FILES!
• Many ways to create Video, not
just do it yourself. Services on the
Internet, FPA, etc. in addition to Flip
Video Camera, etc.
MEDIA ASSETS & YOUR NEWSROOM:

39. • Most basic way to do this is using Google
Alerts:
http://www.google.com/alerts or Reader
• Can also use Google Analytics if you are handy
with html and can get the code into your
webpage
• PR Web actually outshines PitchEngine here,
at least for the time-being, but their analytics
are not free.
TRACK YOUR RESULTS:

40. BOOKS:
•PR On A Budget by Leonard Saffir
•Can We Do That? by Peter Shankman
•Guerilla Publicity by Jay Levinson
•Feeding the Media Beast by Mark Mathis
•Shameless Marketing for Brazen Hussies by
Marilyn Ross
SOFTWARE:
•Audacity for PC, Garageband for Mac
PODCASTS (subscribe via iTunes):
•DuctTapeMarketing
•Small Biz Radio
web.com
RESOURCES & LINKS:

41. ONLINE:
• http://www.googlekeywordtool.com
• www.publicityinsider.com
• www.haro.com (help a reporter out)
• www.google
• www.pitchengine.com and http://pressitt.com/
•www.wordtracker.com
•www.hubspot.com
• www.prweb.com
• www.myPRgenie.com
• http://www.free-press-release.com/
• www.google.com/reader
• www.google.com/insights/search
•www.ducttapemarketing.com
MULTI-MEDIA SITES:
•www.gabcast.com
•www.vimeo.com
•www.vodpod.com
•www.pubclip.com
•
RESOURCES & LINKS:

42. • Keys to Success:
A written marketing plan that includes a separate section for
publicity, including an editorial calendar for your business;
thinking through what makes your company new and different
(aligned with your brand); think multimedia and engaging
passion/emotion around your campaign and releases. How
will your publicity campaigns be structured?
• First Things First:
Start the ball rolling by opening up an online newsroom on
your website. If you build it, you will help them come.
•Know Who Your Media Client & Audiences Are:
(Hint: it’s the reporter). Make it easy for him/her and you will
get results. It’s the public and the search engines!
Wrap-Up and Review:

43. • Manage Expectations:
Don’t expect miracles.
PR is a PROCESS and it takes time.
When done right, it can yield SPECTACULAR results.
• Incubate Your BIG IDEA & NEVER, EVER Quit Thinking
About Publicity!
NOW GO OUT THERE AND GET SOME, YOU CAN DO THIS!
Wrap-Up and Review:

44. Cole Communications, LLC
www.colecomm.biz
www.lisamcole.org
Facebook: Cole Communications
Twitter: @lisacole213
Email: lisa@colecomm.biz
Ph: 240-780-1312
Contact Info: