The NYC Business Networking Group

Holy Cow! How To Build Your List In 10 Easy Steps!

Posted by: "Carries Ad Service" carriesadservice@yahoo.com   carriesadservice

Dear Frustrated Marketer,,

Are you finding it next to impossible to build a list?

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Where will you find people to graft into your downline or purchase your products?

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List In 10 Easy Steps

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I
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This short course will teach you :

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And to help you to promote your business or product even more I have a special bonus for you!

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P.S.S

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Obama raises bar on public speaking skills

A NEW DAY FOR AMERICA: The Next "Great Communicator" by Jim Cameron and Amy Fond
Steal Some of Obama's Techniques In planning your own presentations, you can use these take-aways from Obama's speeches: Use your technology well, from teleprompter to PowerPoint. Connect personally to the folks in your audience. Tell stories to make your message come alive. Repeat yourself, to make sure the audience gets your main points. Be real. You don't have to be perfect; just be your best self.		LIKE NO LEADER IN GENERATIONS, OBAMA  KNOWS HOW TO DELIVER A SPEECH (AND YOU CAN LEARN, TOO) Even if you saw it live Tuesday night, you should review Obama's acceptance speech for lessons on how to improve your own delivery as a speaker. (Link to video.) (Link to full text.) Like the rest of the world, we were in awe at the outcome of the Presidential elections.  As a naturalized American citizen, Jim saw the outcome was evidence yet again of the power and durability of this democracy. We are the envy of the world by what we have done rather than by whom we have bombed. But when we watched Senator Barack Obama's election night acceptance speech before a crowd of a half-million fans (and countless billions viewing worldwide), we were struck once again not only by what he said but also by the brilliance of his delivery. We'd seen it before in small soundbites on the campaign trail and in interviews.  And we certainly saw it during the debates where the reaction shots of John McCain's fiery temper contrasted starkly with Obama's cool demeanor. Like no leader in generations, Obama knows how to deliver a speech. Admittedly, not all of Obama's prose is written by him.  His whiz-kid speech writer, Jon Favreau deserves much of the credit for the Dr. Martin Luther King-like verbiage and John Kennedy-style similes. But the delivery is all Obama.  It's about more than just the words. And as we've seen for the last eight excruciating years, even a well written speech can be slaughtered in the delivery.  (Just what will Letterman and Leno do without "W" to kick around anymore?) But what does this mean to you in your communications with clients, stakeholders and the media?  Well first off, a higher standard of what makes a "great communicator". Barak Obama has raised the bar.   So what is it that makes Obama a "great communicator"? TECHNOLOGY: Certainly he can read a teleprompter... a very "teachable" skill for some reason never mastered by John McCain.   But better yet, he knows how to deliver a line with pacing and patience and passion.  He knows when to wait for applause, or even just to let an idea sink in.  Contrast Obama with Palin, one brilliant, the other clueless...  one poised, the other staccato. CONNECTING: Even unscripted, watch and listen to Obama.  He thinks before he speaks, choosing his words carefully.  He looks you in the eye and connects, even in a big crowd, cementing the emotional bond. Watch the faces in the crowd in the Chicago acceptance speech on election night.  Sure, they're his fans, but look at their tear-filled eyes as they each think he's speaking just to them, united in thought. STORIES: Obama doesn't speak in generalities.  He offers anecdotes, one of the most powerful ways of connecting with an audience.  And I'd take his 106-year-old Ann Cooper over McCain's "Joe the Plumber" any day. LANGUAGE: Obama speaks English.  Words do matter.  His tone is at once formal and stentorian, and in the next minute informal and down-home.  His vocabulary matches the moment, lending importance or humanity. REPETITION: You don't just deliver a key idea once, you repeat it.  In the Chicago speech his rhetorical questions to the crowd were met over and over again with "Yes we can". HE'S REAL: Obama's smile is killer... but genuine, and never forced.  People instinctively know the difference. Sure, it's one thing to deliver an historic election night victory speech and quite another to talk straight with us about duty and sacrifice.  But who would you rather take bad news from, a guy you trust or a phony robo-pol? Our prediction: We can look forward to four (maybe eight?) years of extraordinary speeches, press conferences, interviews and fireside chats.  I'd expect the Obama presidency to make us all demand more of those we listen to, be they in politics or business. Speech writers may try to mimic Obama (and Favreau's) style.  Their speaking clients will hope to match his delivery. And we'll be working with all our clients to help them meet Americans' newly raised expectations of what it means to "connect" with someone they trust. And you know what?  Out of this we'll all be winners.   Good communicators are what we need.

Small businesses thrown a $5M lifeline

November 07. 2008 2:37PM

Small businesses thrown a $5M lifeline

The city’s Economic Development Corporation launched a $5 million loan guarantee program aimed at small and micro-businesses.

http://www.crainsnewyork.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081107/FREE/811079973/1062&category=FREE&nocache=1

   Print     Email    Add a comment   Matthew Sollars

Businesses reeling from the credit crunch and subsequent collapse in consumer confidence were thrown a modest lifeline today when New York City announced plans today to provide a micro-infusion of cash to its small businesses.

The city’s Economic Development Corporation launched a $5 million loan guarantee program aimed at small and micro-businesses. The agency predicts the money, which will be handed out by banks, will generate as much as $10 million in loans for city businesses. The program was one of 18 initiatives outlined in Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s economic recovery plan, which he announced last week.

In a statement announcing the program, Seth Pinsky, the corporation’s president said, “With almost 50% of our city’s private sector employment coming from micro and small businesses, it is imperative that we take immediate steps to help these vital companies weather the current economic crisis.”

According to the city’s projections, the program will help up to 400 businesses get started or expand. While that represents a tiny fraction of the thousands of businesses in the city, Councilman David Yassky welcomed news of the program.

“The credit crunch is hitting small businesses really hard because they have fewer assets to give bankers comfort,” said Mr. Yassky, who as chair of the Council’s small business committee has long pushed for a loan program of this kind. “This is an important first step in getting some relief to them.”

The city is looking for lenders to hand out the money. Applications from institutions wanting to participate are due Nov. 21. Most of the funding—70%—will go to small businesses with 21 to 100 employees. The remaining 30% is reserved for micro-businesses, which have 20 or fewer employees.

“Micro-entrepreneurs have really been shut out of the traditional banking system,” says Jonathan Bowles, director of the Center for an Urban Future. “Increasing the pool of money available for those businesses is a very good thing.”

However, Mr. Bowles cautions that government should also invest in organizations that can help train micro-businesses to use the money wisely. Many of the non-profits who provide training and economic development advice are facing budget and staff cuts, he says.

“Putting money in the hands of a lender is not enough, you still have to have an applicant who is ready for a loan,” says Mr. Bowles.

Filed Under: 

Economy, Politics, Small Business

Five Ways to Craft Winning E-mail Newsletters

http://www.ragan. com/ME2/Audience s/dirmod. asp?sid=& nm=&type= MultiPublishing&
mod=PublishingTitle s&mid=5AA50C5514 6B4C8C98F903986B C02C56&tier= 4&id=3A939D8D
E39744ABA0B55AD7D27 097DB&AudID= 3FF14703FD8C4AE9 8B9B4365B978201A

Posted On: 11/5/2008

Five ways to craft winning e-mail newsletters
By Kirsten Lambert
kirsten@watermark- communications. com

There is a spot for tried-and-true technology when newer media are hogging all the screen time

Not long ago I was giving a presentation on using electronic media in a nonprofit setting. We talked about tools such as Web sites, blogs and
podcasts, as well as things like video and RSS feeds.

During the question-and- answer portion at the end, one woman raised her hand. ³I notice you haven't said anything about e-mail newsletters,² she said. ³Does this mean we shouldn't be doing them anymore?²

The question took me by surprise. I didn¹t intend to leave out e-mail newsletters. Maybe that's because they don't seem as exciting as some of the newer technologies.

So if you ask me, yes: E-mail newsletters still have a place in a communicator¹ s lineup. But they need to follow some guidelines to be
effective.

To get one practitioner's perspective, I talked with Jill Hronek, director of marketing and communications for The Sherwood Group, an
association- management firm in Deerfield, Ill.

Sherwood produces about 10 electronic newsletters for its clients, which include professional societies and trade associations. Here are some best practices that The Sherwood Group follows when it crafts an e-mail newsletter for clients.

1. Make it viewer friendly

When Sherwood¹s clients first started offering their publications online, the typical association simply took its print newsletter, saved it as a PDF and posted the file on its Web site. So the newsletters appeared online but were really just an archive of a print piece.

Nowadays, most of those online newsletters are standalone pieces that either supplant or supplement a print publication.

Most of the newsletters follow a common model for e-mail newsletters: a list of headlines above brief story synopses, with links to complete articles online. The actual stories reside on an association¹s Web site.

Like other online media, Sherwood's e-newsletters use links to enhance their content. Some stories link to areas on an association¹s Web site; other stories link to external resources.

2. Craft a compelling story

One exception to the aforementioned format is an e-mail newsletter for a group called AUTM: the Association of University Technology Managers. The content for AUTM Update, a biweekly newsletter, exists entirely within the body of an e-mail message.

To keep the content focused, articles are very short‹maybe a paragraph or two. The stories tend to fall under the following headings:

* Society news
* Alerts telling members about products and services the association provides
* Deadlines
* New features at the annual meeting

Another e-mail publication, for Sherwood client Utilimetrics, follows more of a newsmagazine format. According to Hronek, Utilimetrics News(which is available to members only) contains articles that are more research-oriented feature articles. Utilimetrics News goes out 10 times a year.

The Institute of Nuclear Materials Management, a longtime Sherwood client, focuses strictly on society news in its e-mail newsletter. At one time, society news showed up in INMM¹s peer-reviewed journal. But, by pulling out the less technical information and putting it into an e-newsletter, called INMM Communicator, the journal could focus more on scientific articles.

Hronek says, ³We wanted to keep the journal as pure as it could be and have an [added] opportunity to get out in front of members.²

INMM Communicator employs somewhat of a hybrid print-online format. Readers can peruse the editor¹s message, a one-page summary of the issue¹s contents. If they want to read other stories, the table of contents along the left-hand side links them to other stories in the issue. Readers can also print out the complete issue, if they want to read it offline.

ISSCR, the International Society for Stem Cell Research, uses the same format. However, unlike some of Sherwood¹s other clients, ISSCR sends its e-mail newsletter, The Pulse, to anyone who wants to be on the mailing list ‹ not just members. So readership for the e-newsletter is about 5,000 or 6,000, even though ISSCR only has about 3,000 members.

3. Stay in front of your audience

TV network executives know the importance of scheduling. Airing a show on the same day every week, in a prime slot, is crucial to a program¹s success. Likewise, Sherwood¹s e-newsletters go out on a regular schedule.

Some of them are biweekly; those always go out on Wednesdays. Those that are less frequent usually go out the first week of the month.

Several Sherwood clients still issue print publications. So e-mail newsletters allow those associations to reach their members in a different
way, in between other regular communications.

4. Involve your viewers

Some of Sherwood¹s clients have used collaborative tools such as online discussion forums and Listservs.

³When there's a special interest group set up, those people who are interested will talk about a topic,² Hronek explains. ³We¹re in the process of trying to tie more things together so people will use the collaboration tools more. So if there's a topical article, then we're adding the article on a discussion group and people are adding comments about an article topic.²

5. Check your ratings

Staff members monitor the readership of Sherwood's e-mail newsletters.

³We usually compare the broadcast e-mail statistics to the Web site statistics,² Hronek explains. ³We use the tracking that comes with our
broadcast e-mail service to see how many people have clicked through; we also compare that to our Web statistics each month and see if people are consistently using an area of the Web site or not.

³Annual meeting stories always get more hits than the rest. Articles about careers are usually a pretty popular area, too.²

6. Find the right channel

Sherwood's clients are just starting to look at using social media in their communication efforts.

At this point, the e-mail newsletters that Sherwood produces don't harness the power of technologies such as podcasts or video, let alone social media. Only one of Sherwood's clients, AUTM, has a blog, and it's not tied to that group's e-mail newsletter in any way.

Hronek explains that she and the rest of the staff are trying to make sure their clients have a clear idea of why social media are important and what's involved in entering that arena.

When it comes to blogs, for example, ³They think they need one, but nobody [in the volunteer ranks] really wants to put the time and effort into doing the blogging,² Hronek says. ³Everybody thinks they should be doing it, but nobody knows how to do things or what they're useful for.²

She concludes, ³We're trying to help [clients] make meaningful decisions about launching some of their social media tools, not just launching them for the sake of launching.²

Web sites to help your company network, advertise recruit and more.

http://www.insidecrm.com/features/50-social-sites-012808

Web sites to help your company network, advertise recruit and more.

By Inside CRM Editors

• 
• 
• 

Webinar: Sales Reps Don't Use Your CRM: Show Them Why They Should

CRM Buyer’s Guide

101 Ways to Monetize Your Blog Without Irritating Your Readers

Top CRM Providers Compared

If your business limits its online presence to advertising banners and blogging, it's missing out. The Internet provides powerful networking opportunities that allow users to effectively target their audience by logging on to social sites like LinkedIn, Digg and more. Take advantage of these tools by asserting your company's presence online and reaching more potential customers, business partners and employees.

Social-Media/Social-Bookmarking Sites

Share your favorite sites on the Web with potential clients and business partners by commenting on, uploading and ranking different newsworthy articles. You can also create a member profile that directs traffic back to your company's Web site.

1. Reddit: Upload stories and articles on reddit to drive traffic to your site or blog. Submit items often so that you'll gain a more loyal following and increase your presence on the site.
2. Digg: Digg has a huge following online because of its optimum usability. Visitors can submit and browse articles in categories like technology, business, entertainment, sports and more.
3. Del.icio.us: Social bookmark your way to better business with sites like del.icio.us, which invite users to organize and publicize interesting items through tagging and networking.
4. StumbleUpon: You'll open your online presence up to a whole new audience just by adding the StumbleUpon toolbar to your browser and "channel surf[ing] the Web. You'll "connect with friends and share your discoveries," as well as "meet people that have similar interests."
5. Technorati: If you want to increase your blog's readership, consider registering it with Technorati, a network of blogs and writers that lists top stories in categories like Business, Entertainment and Technology.
6. Ning: After hanging around the same social networks for a while, you may feel inspired to create your own, where you can bring together clients, vendors, customers and co-workers in a confidential, secure corner of the Web. Ning lets users design free social networks that they can share with anyone.
7. Squidoo: According to Squidoo, "everyone's an expert on something. Share your knowledge!" Share your industry's secrets by answering questions and designing a profile page to help other members.
8. Furl: Make Furl "your personal Web file" by bookmarking great sites and sharing them with other users by recommending links, commenting on articles and utilizing other fantastic features.
9. Tubearoo: This video network works like other social-bookmarking sites, except that it focuses on uploaded videos. Businesses can create and upload tutorials, commentaries and interviews with industry insiders to promote their own services.
10. WikiHow: Create a how-to guide or tutorial on wikiHow to share your company's services with the public for free.
    
11. YouTube: From the fashion industry to Capitol Hill, everyone has a video floating around on YouTube. Shoot a behind-the-scenes video from your company's latest commercial or event to give customers and clients an idea of what you do each day.
12. Ma.gnolia: Share your favorite sites with friends, colleagues and clients by organizing your bookmarks with Ma.gnolia. Clients will appreciate both your Internet-savviness and your ability to stay current and organized.

Professional-Networking Sites

Sign up with these online networking communities as a company or as an individual to take advantage of recruiting opportunities, cross-promotional events and more.

13. LinkedIn: LinkedIn is a popular networking site where alumni, business associates, recent graduates and other professionals connect online.
14. Ecademy: Ecademy prides itself on "connecting business people" through its online network, blog and message-board chats, as well as its premier BlackStar membership program, which awards exclusive benefits.
15. Ryze: Ryze lets members organize contacts and friends; upcoming events; and even job, real-estate and roommate classifieds.
16. YorZ: This networking site doubles as a job site. Members can post openings for free to attract quality candidates.
17. Xing: An account with networking site Xing can "open doors to thousands of companies." Use the professional contact manager to organize your new friends and colleagues, and take advantage of the Business Accelerator application to "find experts at the click of a button, market yourself in a professional context [and] open up new sales channels."
18. Facebook: Facebook is no longer just for college kids who want to post their party pics. Businesses vie for advertising opportunities, event promotion and more on this social-networking site.
19. Care2: Care2 isn't just a networking community for professionals: It's touted as "the global network for organizations and people who Care2 make a difference." If your business is making efforts to go green, let others know by becoming a presence on this site.
20. Gather: This networking community is made up of members who think. Browse categories concerning books, health, money, news and more to ignite discussions on politics, business and entertainment. This will help your company tap into its target audience and find out what they want.
21. MEETin.org: Once you've acquired a group of contacts in your city by networking on MEETin.org, organize an event so that you can meet face-to-face.
22. Tribe: Cities like Philadelphia, Boston, San Francisco, New York and Chicago have unique online communities on tribe. Users can search for favorite restaurants, events, clubs and more.
23. Ziggs: Ziggs is "organizing and connecting people in a professional way." Join groups and make contacts through your Ziggs account to increase your company's presence online and further your own personal career.
24. Plaxo: Join Plaxo to organize your contacts and stay updated with feeds from Digg, Amazon.com, del.icio.us and more.
25. NetParty: If you want to attract young professionals in cities like Boston, Dallas, Phoenix, Las Vegas and Orlando Fla., create an account with the networking site NetParty. You'll be able to connect with qualified, up-and-coming professionals online, then meet them at a real-life happy-hour event where you can pass out business cards, pitch new job openings and more.
26. Networking For Professionals: Networking For Professionals is another online community that combines the Internet with special events in the real world. Post photos, videos, résumés and clips on your online profile while you meet new business contacts.

Niche Social-Media Sites

Consider linking up with one of these social-media sites to narrow down your business's target audience. You'll find other professionals, enthusiasts and consumers who are most likely already interested in what your company has to offer.

27. Pixel Groovy: Web workers will love Pixel Groovy, an open-source site that lets members submit and rate tutorials for Web 2.0, email and online-marketing issues.
28. Mixx: Mixx prides itself on being "your link to the Web content that really matters." Submit and rate stories, photos and news to drive traffic to your own site. You'll also meet others with similar interests.
29. Tweako: Gadget-minded computer geeks can network with each other on Tweako, a site that promotes information sharing for the technologically savvy.
30. Small Business Brief: When members post entrepreneur-related articles, a photo and a link to their profile appear, gaining you valuable exposure and legitimacy online.
31. Sphinn: Sphinn is an online forum and networking site for the Internet marketing crowd. Upload articles and guides from your blog to create interest in your own company or connect with other professionals for form new contacts.
32. BuzzFlash.net: This one-stop news resource is great for businesses that want to contribute articles on a variety of subjects, from the environment to politics to health.
33. HubSpot: HubSpot is another news site aimed at connecting business professionals.
34. SEO TAGG: Stay on top of news from the Web marketing and SEO (search-engine optimization) industries by becoming an active member of this online community.

General Social-Media Sites

The following social-media sites provide excellent opportunities for businesses to advertise; promote specials, events or services; and feature published, knowledgeable employees.

35. Wikipedia: Besides creating your own business reference page on Wikipedia, you can connect with other users on Wikipedia's Community Portal and at the village pump, where you'll find conscientious professionals enthusiastic about news, business, research and more.
36. Newsvine: Feature top employees by uploading their articles, studies or other news-related items to this site. A free account will also get you your own column and access to the Newsvine community.
37. 43 Things: This site bills itself as "the world's most popular online goal setting community." By publicizing your company's goals and ambitions, you'll gain a following of customers, investors and promoters who cheer you on as you achieve success.
38. Wetpaint: If you're tired of blogs and generic Web sites, create your own wiki with Wetpaint to reach your audience and increase your company's presence online. You can easily organize articles, contact information, photos and other information to promote your business.
39. Frappr: Embed a Frappr map and guestbook into your company's Web page so that you can pinpoint exactly how users find your site, discover in real-time what they have to say about your company profile and services, and create an "interactive, fun and engaging" spot for visitors.
40. Yahoo! Answers: Start fielding Yahoo! users' questions with this social-media Q&A service. Search for questions in your particular areas of expertise by clicking categories like Business & Finance, Health, News & Events and more. If you continue to dole out useful advice and link your answer to your company's Web page, you'll quickly gain a new following of curious customers.

Job Sites

If you want to secure high-quality talent during your company's next hiring spree, you'll need to maintain a strong presence on popular job sites like the ones listed below.

41. CareerBuilder.com: Reach millions of candidates by posting jobs on this must-visit site.
42. The Wall Street Journal's CareerJournal: The Wall Street Journal's CareerJournal attracts well-educated professionals who are at the top of their game. Post a job or search résumés here.
43. CollegeRecruiter.com: If your firm wants to hire promising entry-level employees, check CollegeRecuriter.com for candidates with college degrees.
44. Monster: Post often to separate your business from all the other big companies that use this site to advertise job openings.
45. Sologig: Top freelancers and contractors post résumés and look for work on this popular site.
46. AllFreelance.com: This site "offers self-employed small business owners links to freelance & work at home job boards, self-promotion tips" and more.
47. Freelance Switch Job Listings: Freelance Switch is the freelancer's online mecca and boasts articles, resource toolboxes, valuable tips and a job board.
48. GoFreelance: Employers looking to boost their vendor base should check GoFreelance for professionals in the writing, design, editing and Web industries.
49. Yahoo! Hot Jobs: This site is often one of the first places that job seekers visit. Post open opportunities and check out informative articles and guides to gain insight on the hiring and interviewing process.
50. Guru.com: Build your company's repertoire with top freelancing professionals by advertising projects on this site, otherwise known as "the world's largest online service marketplace."

27 Low or No-Cost Ways to Improve Your Next Tradeshow

27 Low or No-Cost Ways to Improve Your Next Tradeshow

http://www.businessknowhow.com/marketing/improve-tradeshow.htm

by Susan Friedmann,
author of Meeting & Event Planning for Dummies

There are lots of ways to improve your team's performance at tradeshows. From snazzy new displays to intensive training to rewards and incentives for top producers, it's difficult to even count the myriad ways. What's not difficult is to realize that some of these improvement methods come with hefty price tags.

Don't despair. There are many ways to pump up performance without breaking the bank. In fact, I've collected 27 low or no cost ways to improve your next tradeshow:

1. Research the show BEFORE you commit: Does it attract a large number of people from your target audience?

2. Give yourself enough time: Planning and preparation for a major show can take 12-18 months.

3. Involve top management in the planning process. You'll get better results from your team if they know upper management is supporting their efforts.

4. Send e-mail reminders to loyal customers and strong prospects before the show, urging them to stop by your booth.

5. Define goals and objectives for show participation.

6. Share these goals and objectives with your booth staff. They can't achieve your goals and objectives if they don't know what they are.

7. Plan for security as needed: you don't want expensive prototypes or demo models 'walking away'.

8. Brief your team on common tradeshow espionage practices and how to defend against them.

9. Send enough people to ensure adequate booth coverage throughout the show.

10. Give each booth staffer a specific role, with job expectations clearly spelled out.

11. Stress the value of friendly greetings, polite manners, and appropriate body language.

12. Take the time to familiarize your team with the lead collection technology you'll be using before the show.

13. Make sure at least some of the people going to the show are prepared to answer technical questions.

14. Send friendly, personable people with a genuine enthusiasm for your company, its products and services. These may not be your most senior people: make your choices based on effectiveness, not seniority.

15. Check in with your team throughout the show to assess performance, reward positive behaviors, and stop negative trends before they get out of hand.

16. Establish a dress code for your staffers: They'll look more professional and act as better ambassadors for your company.

17. Don't forget the shoes, hair, and accessories: people notice the details. Manicures are crucial, as your team will be shaking hands hundreds, perhaps thousands, of times during the show.

18. Two words: Breath Mints.

19. Practice asking qualifying questions with your booth staffers.

20. Product demonstrations are a great way to draw a crowd: Make sure your team knows how to give an effective, engaging presentation by having them practice before the show.

21. If you are sponsoring entertainment, a speaker, or other event, make sure your team knows what to do during this time. From working the crowd to collecting leads, there's plenty they should be doing to promote your company's name and image.

22. Designate a 'go-to' person to act as a liaison with show management. The better your relationship with management is, the better your show experience will be.

23. That exhibitor's service manual the show organizers sent you when you registered? Read it: it's chock full of valuable information to help ensure a stress-free show.

24. Copy appropriate pages from the exhibitor service manual and pass them along to the relevant staffers: It doesn't help you to know when everything has to be broken down and off the show floor if you're not the person doing that work.

25. Order services ahead of time. Making deadlines = big savings.

26. Establish a follow up protocol for hot leads, promising prospects, and likely customers. Use this protocol to turn leads into sales.

27. Say "Thank You" to attendees for stopping by, to anyone who fills out survey information or participates in a demonstration, during your follow up calls.

---

Written by Susan A. Friedmann, CSP, The Tradeshow Coach, Lake Placid, NY, author: "Meeting & Event Planning for Dummies," working with companies to improve their meeting and event success through coaching, consulting and training. Go to http://www.thetradeshowcoach.com to sign up for a free copy of ExhibitSmart Tips of the Week.

Using Online Tactics To Keep Your Marketing Visible While Saving Costs

Fast, Cheap and in Control

Daniel Flamberg

You don't have to be a member of the Federal Reserve Board to know that marketers are hunkering down and selecting only the fastest, cheapest ways to acquire and retain customers as budgets evaporate. Online tactics offer low-cost, high-yield options. Here are a few things to consider before embracing these tactics:

Blogging: The human face of corporations and businesses doesn't matter without a point of view. You've got to get customers to click, read and believe. This demands content that's more “textured” than the usual offerings to effectively bring them back, buy something or talk up your brand.

SEO: Seven of 10 searchers click on the natural results first. But if you're not on the first page, you're toast. Getting to that page requires huge investments of skill, tools and dedicated players. This is a good investment bet, though improvement is incremental and sometimes glacial due to intense competition and almost constant gaming both by search engines and optimizers.

PPC: Play-per-click search advertising is the fastest and easiest thing you can do. With even modest budgets, you can incrementally improve traffic and results. Even from a standing start, PPC advertising can quickly have a positive ROI on your business.

Social networking: This is the most hyped and least understood marketing tool. Reaching out to large numbers of customers linked to each other in social forums using the images, language and customs they prefer and expect makes good sense. Some brands have amassed large numbers of “friends”; others have distributed information and coupons, prompted interaction and feedback, run contests, collected data or even sold some merchandise. At relatively modest costs, social networks are a great experimental tool and marketing test lab.

E-mail: In site of widespread hatred of spam and the near ubiquitous deployment of increasingly sophisticated spam filters, outbound opt-in e-mail is the most cost-effective and reliable tool you can use. E-mail works. Determinants of success are a clean opt-in list, a credible “from” line and a motivating “subject” line with an actionable offer inside. Shorter copy with minimal graphics and clearly marked calls to action work best. Bet the farm on e-mail.

Affiliate marketing: This approach offers the prospect of everyone helping everyone else. Though in reality it's about finding the right balance between greed and self-interest. The 80/20 rule applies—a minority of sites will yield the biggest payoffs. Setting up an effective affiliate network takes at least 90 days and requires dedicated staff and expertise. If you start now, it might begin to pay out in 2009.

Daniel Flamberg is managing partner at Booster Rocket (www.boosterrocket.net), a provider of lead-generation services. He can be reach at dflamberg@hotmail.com.



http://www.btobonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081110/FREE/311109969/1109/FREE#seenit

Tweeting Your Way to the Top

Tweeting Your Way to the Top

Sandra Fathi on November 11, 2008

 

http://www.prweekus.com/Tweeting-Your-Way-to-the-Top/article/120793/?DCMP=EM

In today's on-demand society, news travels fast. In fact, according to social networking tool, Twitter, news travels at about 140 characters at a time. Twitter is the most widely used micro-blogging site and has become an essential PR and marketing tool. When the medium is being talked about by mainstream media staples such as CNN, the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times, PR folks need to be paying attention.

 

More and more companies now use Twitter to communicate and create close relationships with reporters, customers and prospective clients. No matter what industry you work in, Twitter is a tool that needs to be on your radar. At the very least, your company should be monitoring Twitter and figuring out the best way to utilize it.

 

Twitter can be thought of as a short form subscription tool. One of the major benefits of creating a corporate presence on Twitter is that it is spam free, which makes it more inviting to subscribers. The 140 character limit requires tweets to be clear and concise, which forces users to make each interaction meaningful. Once a regular conversation is established through frequent tweets, your profile has the potential to attract a strong following.

 

PR and headline news

From a PR standpoint, Twitter is a great way to seek and create media opportunities. Reporters are now proactively tweeting to inform their followers of upcoming projects to help find spokespeople. It's also a valuable tool to help monitor key trends, breaking news, and find out about reporters' interests. Whether it's green initiatives or the recession, Twitter users are able to quickly stay on top of what's “hot” in their industry. In this way, Twitter has opened up a new level of awareness that hasn't been available to PR professionals, and one that other social networking sites have not been able to offer. Companies that don't pay attention to Twitter are potentially missing out on extremely valuable media opportunities.

 

Customer service and CRM
Twitter can also be a great way for companies to stay on top of customer service. Many companies have set up Twitter accounts in an effort to improve their reputation and increase customer loyalty. For example, customers might tweet about product issues, glitches, and other problems that arise. A company that monitors tweets closely can provide solutions and answers quickly, directly to the customer, in order to build trust and strengthen the relationship with their customer base.

 

Engagement, interaction, and viral marketing

Another advantage of Twitter is that users are able to insert themselves into conversations immediately, which can be a major marketing tool, especially at events. Companies can now offer exclusive content through tweets from the conference floor at trade shows and events. By engaging potential customers in conversation before, during, and after an event, Twitter allows companies to get a leg up on their competitors. Twitter can also be used to launch and maintain viral marketing campaigns. Brands can encourage users to follow them on Twitter to receive exclusive updates and news.

 

Immediate gratification and distribution

What makes Twitter so powerful is how quickly users are able to communicate with large groups of people. There is no limit to how many people a tweet can reach at virtually no cost. Twitter has become one of the most cost-effective marketing tools available. Business leaders can use Twitter in a number of different ways, but, as with any social networking tool, it is important to understand the medium, the culture and the unwritten “rules of the network.”

 

In public relations, new tools are constantly emerging to give practitioners an edge. Twitter is an important social networking tool that has shown no sign of slowing down. Get involved today at least by listening to the conversation, even if you're not ready to join in just yet.

 

Sandra Fathi is the founder and president of tech-focused boutique PR and marketing firm Affect Strategies. She blogs at techaffect.com, and can be reached at sfathi@affectstrategies.com and on Twitter @sandrafathi.

Blogs Offer Alternative to Traditional Press Releases

Blogs Offer Alternative to Traditional Press Releases

By Christine Kent, chrisk@ckeditorial.com

 

http://www.ragan.com/ME2/Audiences/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=MultiPublishing&mod=PublishingTitles&mid=5AA50C55146B4C8C98F903986BC02C56&tier=4&id=B4E4B7FBD30B4312B8FE74A57BE059FD&AudID=3FF14703FD8C4AE98B9B4365B978201A

Novell’s blog opens up PR to investors, customers

Not every announcement from a PR department merits a press release, and many announcements come off better when they’re not written up in such a formal manner.

 

Blogs have solved the problem of finding a venue to distribute news outside of traditional (and some would argue, outmoded) PR tools—and in doing so, they’ve made the news sound more engaging and immediate.

Novell is one of several companies that are using blogs as a complement to PR newswires and individual pitching efforts. The Novell Open PR blog was launched three years ago.

“We found that there was a lot of discussion going on that didn’t necessarily involve a press release—things like customer successes, or issues coming up in the industry,” explains Kerry Adorno, a PR manager at Novell. “We also wanted to open up our PR announcements to people in the IT community, like developers and investors, as well as the press.”

In any given week, the Novell Open PR blog might include news about products and updates on legal settlements, as well as links to mentions of Novell in media outlets and the company’s perspective on issues or controversies kicking around the industry. Some blog posts also call attention to interesting posts on Novell’s other blogs. The entire corporate PR staff contributes to the Novell Open PR blog as needed.

“We roll it into our regular PR activities,” explains Charlotte Betterley, another Novell PR manager who regularly posts to the blog. The staff also fields suggestions for posts from SHIFT Communications, Novell’s PR agency, depending on what’s in the news and Novell’s angle on breaking stories.

There’s no particular goal as to how many posts need to go up per week or month, Adorno and Betterley explain, but the team tries to make sure that no more than a few days go by without a post. The process is somewhat informal, Adorno says, although sometimes editorial review is needed.

“If it’s something that’s based on a press release, it would have gone through a review already,” says Adorno. “But if it’s just a story about a customer, we’ll review it within our group.” A post about a potentially sensitive issue—such as one from mid-July about a legal victory for Novell—will get a check from the company’s legal department prior to posting.

In fact, the great thing about the blog is that it allows the PR team to get news out in a hurry, without the time-consuming process of preparing press release drafts. “If something happens in the morning, we can get a post out right away,” Adorno explains.

The Novell Open PR blog has not replaced standard press announcements. “We’re not necessarily putting out fewer press releases,” explains Betterley. “The blog complements our releases; it’s another channel to connect us to our community.” She and her colleagues will often solicit input from content owners, asking whether a piece of news merits a press release or a blog post—or both.

While the PR team allows news to dictate what gets posted, Adorno says they’re always conscious of keeping the readership engaged. “We’re constantly trying to find the right mix of content,” she explains. For instance, Betterley adds, controversial topics in the news—like the aforementioned legal settlement, which involved Novell taking a stand on open-source computing—make for good posts that the writers can sink their teeth into.

“The purpose of the blog is to encourage that kind of discussion,” Adorno says of the comments generated by posts about hot buttons in Novell’s market. She adds that the PR team is also conscious of the need to tone down the promotion of Novell—granted, it’s a corporate PR blog, but readers will tune out if posts do nothing more than simply rehash press releases.

Betterley says media attention to the blog has been encouraging. “When we’ve provided comments on industry issues, we’ve seen those comments get picked up in the press,” she says.

8 Ways Twitter Will Change Your Life

8 Ways Twitter Will Change Your Life

 

People are using the microblogging service that allows posts of 140 characters or less for bigger, more important tasks; here's how it's evolving.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/152686/8_ways_twitter_will_change_your_life.h

Dan Tynan, PC World, Oct 27, 2008 2:15 pm

Illustration: Greg Clarke

 

It seems that everyone is atwitter about Twitter. Yes, other microblog services with insufferably cute names, such as Pownce, Jaiku, and Plurk, are around. But Twitter has quickly become the de facto choice for creating really, really short blogs.

Twitter has grown by 600 percent in the past year, according to cofounder Biz Stone. Aside from telling the world what they're doing every blessed moment, people often use Twitter to drive traffic to Web sites or to promote products and services. But users have begun adapting it for a variety of other tasks--and before long, you too may be using it for the things in this list. (A list on the next page identifies obstacles that may trip up Twitter. But first, the eight positives.)

1. Blow the Weather Channel Away

Forget rain-soaked reporters in flapping windbreakers. You want real-time updates as the hurricane, tornado, or brush fire approaches? Tune in Twitter on your cell phone.

"I like to use the earthquake this summer in Southern California as an example," says Twitter's Stone. "It struck at 11:42 a.m. That very same minute the first tweets starting coming in. Nine minutes later the Associated Press put out a 57-word wire story, but by then we already had 3600 updates containing the word 'quake'."

2. Find Your Next Job or Employee

When Jackie Peters, founding partner of marketing firm Heavybag Media, was looking for a new social media strategist, she naturally turned to Twitter. "Using Monster.com or Craigslist would have generated a stack of resumes from unqualified candidates," she says. "I figured if the candidate wasn't on Twitter, they most likely weren't right for the job."

It can help people seeking work as well. Stephanie Martin's quest for a job started with searching Twitter for people in her field (public relations) and in her target market (Phoenix). She began following the head of PR for her alma mater, Northern Arizona University. Soon she was following--and being followed by--some of the top PR agencies in the area, and then flying to Phoenix for interviews. "The hardest part was explaining how I knew the person who'd arranged the interviews," Martin says. "Because I'd never met or spoken to him; we just tweeted."

3. Ditch Google--for Some Things

Human-powered search engines like Mahalo.com and ChaCha.com may be struggling to capture a small fraction of Google's market share, but Twitter trumps them without breaking a sweat.

"Twitter has displaced Google for some kinds of searches," says Jonathan Yarmis, who tracks emerging technologies for AMR Research. "Sometimes Google results are good, and sometimes they're funky. When I put a query out on Twitter, I instantly get back two or three contextually relevant answers."

4. Round Up Your Posse in a Hurry

Take Meetup.com, add Twitter, and you get tweetups--where Twitter users agree to meet at some IRL (in real life) location. There's no way to measure how many Twitterati attend them, but a Google search reveals thousands of tweetups in locales from Tokyo to Tallahassee.

The biggest challenge, according to Yarmis, who has attended tweetups in the Boston area, is getting people to stop tweeting on their cell phones long enough to actually talk to each other.

5. Boost your Boob Tube's IQ

And the first Twitter TV star is...CNN's Rick Sanchez? The newscaster broke new ground in August when he put viewer tweets--along with cell-phone photos and videos taken from Facebook and MySpace--on screen during his daily program.

At press time, Al Gore's Current TV cable station announced that it would stream filtered user tweets across the screen during this fall's presidential debates. Expect more tweet-on-the-street reports coming to a television set near you.

6. Tweet the CEO

Got a beef with a company? Twitter may be your best route to the people who can help. At the same time, a company can gauge what customers are saying about it and prevent small problems from becoming big ones.

Online shoe store Zappos encourages its employees to use Twitter, and the company set up its own Twitter site to capture every tweet that mentions it, says CEO Tony Hsieh. "Customers really like feeling more personally connected," says Hsieh, who occasionally gathers feedback on new ideas from his more than 11,000 followers. "It's a way to develop a deeper relationship with them."

Comcast, Dell, Kodak, and JetBlue also use Twitter for customer outreach and support. Of course, the odds of your getting a personal reply from a firm's CEO are slim. But you might get lucky.

7. Save Your Skin

Berkeley grad student James Karl Buck discovered the life-saving properties of Twitter when he was arrested by Egyptian authorities last April after photographing an antigovernment protest. He had time to tweet one word--"Arrested"--on his cell phone before he was hauled off. Buck's Twitter friends besieged the U.S. embassy with inquiries, and he was released a day later.

The State Department recently began using Twitter to issue advisories to citizens traveling abroad. So, should you ever find yourself in a tight spot while overseas, Twitter could be your get-out-of-jail-free card. Talk about changing your life in a single tweet!

8. Stay on Top of Breaking News

CNN Breaking News, MSNBC, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal all maintain Twitter feeds. Nevertheless, tiny operations such as BreakingNewsOn that also have a Twitter presence can sometimes beat them to stories, and mere citizen journalists often provide live snapshots of important events as they unfold.

When police arrested protesters at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota, last August, Twitter-fueled news teams were out in force. As MinnPost blogger David Brauer wrote, "By late afternoon...a well-fed Twitter 'follower' would've seen far more of the landscape than anyone not at a surveillance camera: live raid video (via iPhone!), detainee interviews, search warrants, press conferences, post-bust interiors, maps, and more."

 

Four Reasons Twitter Could Tumble

Twitter's ascendancy from Web 2.0 curiosity to essential tool isn't a sure thing. It could still be tripped up in several ways, assuming that it isn't snapped up first by an industry biggie like Microsoft, Google, or Facebook. It faces at least four pitfalls.

1. Too Darn Popular

Too often Twitter users log on, only to see the "fail whale"--the cetacean icon Twitter shows when the volume of tweets overwhelms the site's ability to keep up. The site claims better than 99 percent uptime for the previous three months, says Biz Stone. That's with an estimated 3 million users, per the Twitdir user directory. (Twitter doesn't release actual subscriber numbers.) What happens when the user number reaches 30 million?

2. The Evils of Crushing Banality

Does anyone else really care what your cat ate for lunch? Whether the sham­poo you just tried out makes your hair oh so shiny? As Twitter continues to grow, the volume of self-indulgent tweets may drown out more-useful information--and drive more productive tweeters to other venues.

3. Spam and Scams

Twitter spam is already a depressing reality, though the company has dedicated staff to eradicating the fake profiles that spammers set up. "Spam is an ongoing battle, and we're not backing down," says Stone.

4. Business Model? What Business Model?

"Spam is an issue for Twitter, but the lack of a business model is or should be of far greater concern with respect to Twitter's viability," says Kevin Restivo, a senior analyst with IDC.

The flip side of the issue? An advertising-based model might turn off people drawn to Twitter because it's both free and ad-free. Stone says Twitter has experimented with advertising on its Japanese site, but he won't comment on future plans. AMR's Yarmis believes that ads or fees are probably inevitable.

"I think we're getting to the point where Twitter will offer privacy for sale," says Yarmis. In other words, if you don't want to see ads, you may have to pay for the privilege or get a less functional version of the service.

Three Ways You Probably Shouldn't Use Twitter

Birth: Ah, the miracle of birth, filled with joy, wonder, screaming, and blood. And yet, Carmen Leilani tweeted it all. As she notes in her blog, "Some people think it's insane that I was updating my Twitter stream throughout my childbirth/labor experience--as in during my contractions, from the hospital bed, through my water breaking, my epidural, and immediately after pushing out the Pod." What's worse, we wonder--obsessively announcing how many centimeters you're dilated, or referring to your newborn as "the Pod"?

Death: Reporter Bernie Morson of the Rocky Mountain News probably thought he was being cutting edge when he tweeted the funeral of a three-year-old boy, but it was just morbid. Let's hope we never have to read "family members shovel earth into grave" on Twitter again.

Therapy: In September, licensed clinical hypnotherapist Wendi Friesen launched "hypno-twitter," which she says "will use my hypnosis skills to give my tweeples an instant hypnotic boost of confidence, stress relief, focus, and mental toughness during their day." Right now, we are feeling sleepy, very sleepy. Soon we will submit to being called "tweeples."

Twitter by the Numbers

• Total Twitter accounts: 2,980,083
• Most followed: Barack Obama, 79,693
• Most tweets: Internet Radio, 511,402 updates
• Average tweets per hour (3 pm UTC): 27,000
• Number of Twitter tools and add-ons: 140+

Note: All figures as of 6 PM ET, September 16, 2008. Sources: Twitdir, Twitterholic, TweetRush, Mashable