Image from Amazon.ca

Putting the Public Back In Public Relations by Brian Solis and Deirdre Breakenridge

First, don’t be put off by the “PR” aspect of the book.

Believe me, this is not another Public Relations theory book. Though Solis and Breakenridge do discuss the history and traditional practices of the industry, it’s more of a planning and practical guidebook for using new PR 2.0 strategies to build trust and credibility.

This book doesn’t just put the “public” back in public relations, it puts the human back into community relations and business promotion. Forget about automation and accumulating media hits, and think about creating a plan encourages others to continue to be interested in, and involved with, your company.

“Fusing marketing, PR, community relations, product marketing, and customer service in an entirely new, socially aware role.” -PPBPR

Solis and Breakenridge address the real problems with PR, and how the industry’s reputation has declined over the years. The internet has put a spotlight on PR’s worst-practices and blunders, and the authors identify how conscientious PR practitioners can begin to change the way others see the industry as a whole.

PR 2.0 is not about the taking advantage of services that provide automated tools to cast spam in the broadest directions with the least amount of effort and emotional investment. It’s about finding and establishing person-to-person interactions.

“Social Media requires respect and intelligence.” -PPBPR

As Solis and Breakenridge point out, Social Media and the new PR are about creating better conversations and nurturing mutually-beneficial relationships.  Eliminate barriers, identify psychographics and establish connections with the people who could help to build your company’s public profile – the customers, evangelists, partners, journalists, bloggers, or whoever else fits into your business story.

Throughout the book they discuss:

1. The History of PR
2. PR Ethics & Blogger Relations
3. The Language of New PR
4. Traditional PR tools vs. New PR tools
5. Creating social content, not just for PR, but for all aspects of your business
6. How to get the best response when contacting influencers
7. Which tools to use for the best results, and which ones leave you looking like an uninformed spammer

By far, my favorite parts are the examples of good PR strategies that went terribly wrong. This information is extremely helpful for planning client events and launches. I haven’t put this book back on the shelf since I purchased it back in March.  It’s the most comprehensive book about social media tools and PR planning I’ve read so far.

The book also features an appendix of online tools – listed by their specific uses – so you can understand how they will fit into your overall strategy.

Putting the Public Back in Public Relations has even spawned a Social Media Book Club chat on Twitter. Check out how this book is already affecting the way people think about and practice Public Relations: #smbookclub

Thinking of doing your own PR or hiring a Public Relations or Marketing firm to handle it for you? Read this book first.

Arming yourself with the knowledge of what PR was, where it is right now, how the tools have changed, and what bad PR can do to your company, will really help you to determine if the tools or strategies are right for you.

It’s not an “anyone can do it, get out there, buy a media list and push, push, push” kind of Public Relations book. It’s an “anyone can do it if they’re dedicated, do the proper research, understand the new rules and respect the people they want to reach” kind of business book.

“Humanize your intent and story, learn how, where and why to participate.” -PPBPR

I’m recommending this book to everyone.

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Every once in a while, we stumble on something that truly resonates with our own ideas about how to run a successful small business.

I can’t remember where I found the link  for this video. Most likely, it originated in a tweet and I clicked through to find Jason Fried’s post “The Bar for Success in Our Industry is Too Low” featuring David Heinemeier Hannsson’s talk at Startup School 2008.

All I know is that I’ve watched the video several times over the last few days. Though there are many differences between our industries, the problems we face are quite similar. When it comes to working online, there are so many expectations that act as obstacles to our success. We live in a new media world of “free,” “instant success,” and the work week that’s over before lunch hour every Monday. It’s creating high expectations with little commitment from our clients and ourselves.

The most important points:

1. If you want to make money, put a price on your product. I know that right now everyone is talking about “free, free, free.” Don’t get me wrong, free is great. Sometimes it can help you get the word out and help you reach more people, but too much free will put you out of business fast. There’s nothing wrong with asking for compensation for your products or knowledge. In bankruptcy, nobody wins.
2. Be in the work for the work. Because the fairytale buy-out, partnership or government contract you are wishing for may never happen. Care about the work because you’ll be doing it every day for a long time before anyone notices. If they ever do.
3. Plan to set aside time to work on your business. If you don’t plan for specific blocks of time, they won’t happen. I know this from first hand experience. Allotting time means you’re more focused on getting the work done. If you only had 5 hours a week to work on your business instead of “in it,” what would you do?
4. Scale it down. Instead of thinking of income in thousands, millions or billions, think about how much money you need to make each month to turn a profit. How many people do you need to buy your products, or pay for your services, to make your business successful?

The bottom line – and the reason I love this video - just focus on solving people’s problems. Once you do that, you’re guaranteed to have a product people love. Stop thinking about how much it’s worth, and focus on creating a product or service that helps to make people’s lives easier. The people who are willing to pay for it are the people you want as customers.

If you have to work too hard for little money and you start resenting the work, you’re doing it wrong.

Honestly, there are so many great points in the video you should just watch it.

It’s worth it.

If you want to be successful, you have to recognize the value in what you have to offer and put in the work to make it extraordinary.

How do you create a successful business? Spend the time, do the work and create value.

What do you think?

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You may have heard that a friend of mine, Dawud Miracle, is expecting his fourth child sometime in the next couple of weeks.

In honor of the new baby, and to get some much needed baby Miracle bonding time, he’s decided to announce his new web design site, The Website Habitat, and offer an amazing introductory deal:

For 3 days, he’s going to sell business-ready, template-based websites for the absolutely insane low price of $350.

That’s a 1/4 of the price of his regular website design services. He wants to sell 100 of these websites over the next few days and have them up and running on your hosting servers within the next couple of weeks.

My first question was, “How are you going to create 100 websites in less than 14 days and not experience ‘total meltdown’?”

He just laughed and said, “Don’t worry, I have a team of developers helping me and we can create about 300 before we need to be concerned. AND, if we pass 300 websites, I’ll either turn it off or call in a few favors. Let’s just see how it goes.”

Still want more info?

Listen to this 8 minute audio where he talks about how and why: http://websitehabitat.com/birth-websites-promo.mp3

This all begins on today – Thursday, August 27 – at 12:00pm EST and runs til 12:01pm Sunday, August 30th. You have 72 hours to decide if this is for you.

So go check out The Website Habitat (http://websitehabitat.com)

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John Haydon, owner of JohnHaydon.com, invited me to write a guest post on his blog. Please feel free to visit, comment and share: “How I Use Social Media for Business.”

It’s warm and fuzzy. I promise.

Thanks, John!

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Whether you are a big business or small business, market research is always important. Without it, all of your carefully made plans and hours spent creating your service or product will be wasted.

There’s no point in trying to sell a product that no one wants.

And honestly, you don’t need a huge budget to conduct market research. If you wanted to, you could purchase reports from market research agencies; they spend a lot of time and money creating reports that will tell you if it’s worth trying to sell your products in a certain market to a certain kind of person. If you can afford it, that’s great.

But for those of us who don’t have the start-up capital to pay out thousands of dollars to these firms, we have to conduct out own market research.

So here are 5 ways a small business can conduct market research on a budget:

1. Search Amazon.com or Other Retail Store Sites

If you want to sell an ebook or information product, conduct a search on Amazon.com for competition. If the market is already flooded and you can’t provide an add-on or improvement to what you find there, move on. What books are selling and what is buried at the bottom of the list? Why buy from you and not the guy with the Engineering degree or Ph.D?  If you still think you can out-sell the others that you find use all of this information to build a compelling case for your own product.

2. Search Google for News & Blogs

Are thousands of people already selling your product or service? Are their websites new and up to date? Is the first page full of abandoned blogs and old news? If so, these people may have found out the hard way that there was no market for what they were selling. If you can improve what they tried to sell, then great. But just be ready for a tough road ahead.

3. Watch Your Competition

The best way to determine if there is a market for your product is to watch the competition, closely. Not just their website, but their blog, social networks, friends’ websites and other sites linking back to their site. Where is their advertising? What are they doing and how are they delivering it? How are they interacting with people and what’s being said? Have they added or removed anything from their website? What are they missing?

4. Talk to the People

Real people are a valuable resource when it comes to market research. Not just your mom and your best friend, but people that you connect with at networking events, in the grocery store, or even at the off-leash dog park. Find unbiased people – preferably not relatives – who are attending events where you think your product will have the most impact or will be the most valuable to the people who attend. You don’t have to tell people every detail about your product, but ask them what they would be interested in buying.

5. Use Social Media to Conduct a Survey

It may be as simple as asking a question on Twitter or creating a survey page. Either way, some people would be willing to give their opinion about what they like or don’t like about your specific industry or product. Or even suggest improvements to something that they absolutely love. If you put some thought into your survey and present it in a way that adds value to your research, you can collect highly relevant and almost immediate feedback.

Bonus: 6. Use Your Mailing List

If you have a mailing list with active subscribers, ask them what they need and if they would respond to a product that filled that need. You can ask them about price points, features, gaps they see in the market. They are on your list because they like something that you are doing, so ask their opinions and take into account all the good and bad things they say about your ideas.

We all have great ideas, but before you spend a lot of time and energy creating a product that you think the world needs, take some time to connect with the world you want to sell it to. Make sure you think of every aspect and understand your prospects concerns and perception within the market you are trying to reach.

One last thing, it’s hard to compete with free. If you find a market that is saturated with free information, free reports, free articles, and free products, really take the time to consider if you have a chance selling something to people who are used to having everything offered at no charge. Unless you are providing above and beyond value, free is a hard competitor.

Even if you don’t think these methods are right for you, at least do something in the way of research.

What do you think?  Have a missed something?

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The recession has had devastating effects on our families, friends, businesses and towns. Watching things unravel around us, we’re worried about taking risks and unwilling to spend money where we can’t measure the return on investment. I’ve reduced my own marketing budget and I’m constantly looking for creative methods of connecting with people.

Advertising is expensive and becoming less effective, so how do we create awareness when times are even more dire? We need to add low cost marketing strategies to our existing business plans and get back to the basics. Find ways to advertise and create conversations about our businesses without exceeding our budgets or putting our businesses in jeopardy.

Use Public Relations and Find Stories that Fit Your Business

Let’s get creative, throw out the old rules and start breaking some new ground. We’re most creative when the options that were readily available to us quickly disappear. That’s where PR  comes in. When we can’t rely on the traditional advertising methods and techniques we need to expand our options and search for solutions that extend our reach and add credibility to our businesses. We can read the news, follow journalists and media outlets in our areas and find ways we can connect with issues and involve our businesses in the solutions.

Show Your Customers You’re Still There For Them

Add more Public Relations practices to your plan. I’m not talking about media relations, but “public” relations. Even if you have a small client base, reach out your previous and existing customers and give them a reason to talk about you and pass on your message. Offer some low-cost incentives for being loyal to your company. Consider customer appreciate days or contests that reward customers for their opinions and loyalty. We can’t be afraid to ask for opinions and feedback. Although we don’t like criticism, it can mean the difference between survival and bankruptcy.

Fill the Gaps Your Competitors are Leaving

We need to stay one step ahead of the competition. They’re being hit with the recession, too. While they’re pulling back, we can push our businesses forward with consistent positive communications. It’s not difficult to differentiate ourselves when we’re listening to your customer’s most immediate concerns.  We need to ensure we know where people are talking about us and what they are saying. We can’t afford to miss an opportunity to create an open and positive conversation with our business community. We’re not the only ones looking for gaps and if we’re not paying attention, someone else will step in and take over the conversation.

Always Focus on Building Your Story

Businesses have survived recessions before and what we need to remember is people are still going to buy products and services and plan for the future. They’re just being cautious and becoming more educated about their purchases. When customers search for products to purchase they’re going to be looking for trustworthy companies that are generate positive buzz.

I believe that the recession is best time assess our marketing efforts and create a plan that focuses more on the benefits of our products and the relationships with our customers. Once we start using non-traditional marketing and stepping away from the expected methods of advertising, it’s easy to realize how disconnected from our customers we’ve become.

Public relations isn’t just about what media attention can do for us. It’s about being part of the story and giving people something to talk about.  Read the newspaper and watch the news, the people who get the most exposure are the people who put their customers and communities first.

People are changing the way they live. We just have to figure out how we fit into the picture.

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We all do it.

We get so hyped up about our products that we spend days or weeks creating the perfect sales page. Every word is carefully crafted. and the images complement each point with precision. It can’t miss. We publish it, let it sit and then leave it for too long before we realize we’re not getting the results we want.

So we get discouraged and pull it down before the bounce rate starts to weigh on our self-esteem.

But sometimes, its not the entire sales letter that’s missing the mark. It can be improved with just a little more attention.

One of the most often overlooked aspects of long-term Search Engine Optimized (SEO) sales copywriting success is testing. Successful copywriters and marketers are always be testing their copy by creating simple text, positioning and elemental variations.

By using analytics, you can track how long people stay on the page, which images catch their attention and the point at which they lose interest and wander off.

The only way to  know what will work for you is to use analytics to make simple changes and continue to test the results.

Start with your title and sub-title and work your way through the text.

Be sure to test only one or two elements at a time so you can track changes and responses.

• Will shorter or longer sentences work better in a sales letter?
• Do short paragraphs work better than long paragraphs?
• Should I use sub-headings before each call to action?
• How many bullet points or lists should I use?
• Where should I place the call-to-action?

If you don’t have a method to test new copywriting variations and measure the results, you won’t be able to maximize your copy’s potential. The sole reason for your SEO sales copy  to support your prospect’s buying decisions and generate sales.

Don’t come to any conclusions about your SEO sales copy unless it is supported by your testing results. It doesn’t matter which type of testing you use or how often you test, just test! Once you notice a difference in sales conversions, make note of the changes that were made to prompt new sales.

Don’t underestimate the effect of outside variables either. Out side variables can drastically affect your sales success. Do some quick research to find out if the search engines change something to make you more visible, or the news featured a story related to your product that might have prompted more keyword searches.

Once you’ve reached your optimum conversion rate, use the tested SEO copy as your control sample and use it to refine the rest of your pre-sales pieces.

By testing your copy, you’ll uncover your prospects visual and copy preferences. Use an analytic application such as Google Analytics, Woopra, or even Crazy Egg, to listen to your buyers and eliminate flaws in your copy. An increase or decrease in sales conversions is the only true way to determine if your SEO sales copy is performing the way it should.

If you want to be a successful marketer by using SEO copy to out-perform the competition, stop guessing and continuously test your copy.

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Our words are migrants, crossing and recrossing the boundaries of other people’s minds, influencing thoughts and encouraging actions a few, a hundred, or even a thousand miles away.

Our words can spark imagination, evolve into action and create change.

If I learned anything today, it’s that words can create unity. Words can cause people to forget about borders and differences, and create a unified battalion of human beings armed with hope and prepared to face their future together.

Most of all, words empower. Some of the greatest movements of all time were inspired by passionate people who believed in a message, believed in the strength of each individual person and believed in the incredible power of unity.

Great leaders come at a time when people most need inspiration and hope. They speak to our hearts, and our minds.

It’s that time again.

Whether people agree with your idea or not, they are moved by your words.

They can choose to listen. They can choose to stand up.

And, they can choose to join the movement.

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What is Search Engine Optimization?

Wikipedia says:

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via “natural” (”organic” or “algorithmic”) search results. Usually, the earlier a site is presented in the search results, or the higher it “ranks,” the more searchers will visit that site. As an Internet marketing strategy, SEO considers how search engines work and what people search for.  -Wikipedia

Basically, SEO is doing everything you can to structure your website so it ranks at the top of the search engine results when your prospects are searching for an immediate solution to a problem. If you have that solution, you need to be in those top results.

That’s where Wordpress SEO Secrets by Michael Martine of Remarkablogger comes in.

Why I Bought Wordpress SEO Secrets

I really needed it. I’m not the only small business copywriting and marketing company on the internet, and I may not be the right choice for everyone, but I still want to be on the short list. If I’m not in the searches, I’m not a choice. It’s as simple as that.

I was on the fence about buying Wordpress SEO Secrets for weeks. I know it was just released last week, but I knew in 2008 it was coming out this January and I found myself trying to logically justify the purchase price. Not because I think the product isn’t worth the price – it’s worth a lot more than it’s selling for – but, because I set a tight “educational training” budget for my business. Eventually, with the help of the looming deadline, I talked myself into it. I also got in minutes before the price doubles, that’s how “on the fence” I was about it.

Why You Need this Product

The importance of this information was reinforced yesterday when I met with a potential marketing client. It was during this two hour session that I realized the huge – and I mean huge – online marketing knowledge gap that plagues many small business owners. After I got over the initial shock of discovering how much she spends monthly to have a big corp host her HTML website, I explained to her why her website wasn’t being found, at all. Not only does she have huge competition in her market and location, but she’s using generic copy and relying on meta tag keywords (as suggested by the multi-billion dollar corp) to get ahead of her competition in searches. But that’s a post for another day.

I’ve been working in marketing for small business for quite some time.  I know how fierce competition can be for small business owners. Especially if you are just starting your business and you’ve never designed a business website. And with all the talk about the insurgence of newly laid off people jumping on the internet and starting up businesses, I know that people don’t have time to spend researching all the techniques that Michael is offering in his SEO Secrets program.

If you need results now, and don’t want to wait until your market is flooded with hundreds or even thousands of new websites in 2009, Michael’s program is the best place to start.

My Opinion – Product Strengths:

1. You can implement it immediately, which I did and then created a new XML site map to reflect the changes I made.
2. Michael explains how to use the search engines and other tools to find out what your competition is doing to get ahead of you on the search results page.
3. He explains how to use Wordpress add-ins to your advantage.
4. The videos outline all the steps Michael talks about in the book & audios. If you’re unsure about navigating the Wordpress administrator dashboard,  these videos help to explain the various functions, what to enter and how to fix mistakes.
5. He talks about categories and duplicate content penalties so that everyone can understand them.
6. Most of the search and SEO tools he suggests are free, or available at minimal cost. So, once you buy the program, you really don’t have to spend a fortune to put the methods into action.
7. He explains “Black Hat SEO” and lets you know what the search engines will do to you if you break the rules and get caught.
8. WordPress SEO Secrets is for WordPress SEO only – so it’s unique among all the other SEO educational programs out there.

My Opinion – Product Weaknesses:

1. The audio fades in and out a little and there is some background noise, but that’s the nature of online communication tools. Just turn your speakers up – and be prepared for some beeps that will make you jump.
2. Although the audio came from a Teleseminar session, all the questions were cut out. I really would have enjoyed hearing some of the questions and discussion that went on around the content that Michael included.
3. WordPress SEO Secrets is for WordPress SEO only, so it won’t help you if your using something else. (Why are you anyway?) The search and research info is still relevant, but the true focus is on people who are going to start blogging with a self-hosted WordPress website.

The biggest problem - Michael is pulling it from the Remarkablogger Store shelves on January 17th, 2009. There’s no word yet as to when he will be releasing it again. So, if you need more targeted traffic to help your small business get more attention, I’d buy it before it’s gone.

As of January 17th, Michael has decided to eliminate the deadline. I think that’s great news for everyone. Especially those of you who are undecided about how you want to position your small business on the internet. When you do decide to use Wordpress to host your blog, you can still buy SEO Secrets to ensure you’re using it to the fullest.

Honestly, there is almost nothing out there that thoroughly addresses the needs of people who are just starting out in blogging, are new to SEO and are self-hosting WordPress – until now. I won’t go over the entire table of contents – I have to admit, the section “Changes to Google Page Rank and Search Algorithms” was the real clincher for me – but I can direct you to a sample from 1 of the 3 e-books included. Check out a sample of Wordpress SEO Secrets here.

If you’re still not sure, just check-out the Wordpress SEO Secrets sales page and see what other business owners are saying about it.

Existing, or not existing, in the search engine results page is entirely up to you.

P.S. Because of Michael’s product, I’m already indexed and ranked 11th in the search engines for a keyword I was targeting.

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“All I want is one widget.”

For the client, it’s simple and direct.

They need something, they call, someone answers the phone takes their order, sends the product with their invoice and boom: they have their one widget. They’re happy. They tell everyone they meet that they’re happy.

People understand that you’re a great company to work with because no matter how simple the need, you fill it.

“All they want is one widget.”

For the small business that doesn’t understand this and needs to sell widgets by the hundreds per client to increase their profits, it’s a hassle.

The client is demanding just one small widget, the commission is low, the quoting process is long and drawn out, so you push the client need to the bottom of the list.

You’ll get back to it once you’ve filled the orders of your “important” and “big budget” clients. So, the client calls again. You tell them you’ll get back to them as soon as possible and, once again, the client waits. Their need becomes more urgent and they watch their deadlines slip past, but still no call. Now, they’re not happy. They vow never to return.

They tell everyone they’re not happy and not to bother contacting your company. The people they talked to continue to spread the word about your shoddy customer service to their own contacts.  The potential for lost clientele continues to grow.

People start to understand that you don’t value their business and your focus is on pleasing only the big budget clients.

So, if you’re a small business or entrepreneur, how do you handle your client needs?

Do you rank them based on potential value, first come first serve, or do you treat everyone the same because your main goal is to have happy customers, no matter how big their budget, spreading the word about your customer service.

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