Make a Monthly Habit of Writing News Releases

Getting media attention is easy than you think The group shown in this photograph were protesting a long-standing battle in Israel. I snapped the photo last year while walking past New York’s Madison Square Garden.

They received lots of publicity, but you might want to take a different route for media attention. Here’s what I did.

Yesterday, it took me 20 minutes to write a news release, 10 minutes to edit it, and 20 more minutes to distribute the news to 10 trade magazine editors specifically targeted for one market.

This is a task that, for me, cannot be put into someone else’s hands, and it will become an easy, in-house project if you set up the steps to launch your news once a month without fail. If you’re ready and willing, what I’ve created as a habit is easily transferred into your own schedule.

Choose a news topic by: 1) piggybacking off a current event, 2) launching a Web site or blog, 3) speaking/discussing any subject (verbally on in print or the Web), 4) whatever you believe is newsworthy for that month if none of the above applies.

I save my releases in one folder on my computer so that the basic boilerplate is ready for copying and pasting. At the end of each release, I include the names and Email addresses of who received it. That makes it easy to send next month’s news to the same contacts.

The release I Emailed yesterday was added to one of the trade magazine’s Web sites on the same day. How’s that for results?

You’ll achieve the same or even better marketing results by making a habit of contacting your media sources on a regular basis.

Review this section of Solo Business Marketing for more on elevating your relationship with the press.

Technorati Tags: small business marketing, write a news release, solo business marketing, how to contact the media, solo entrepreneur

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March 26, 2008 | Filed Under Email Marketing, Online Ideas | Leave a Comment

Online Newsletters Build Your Long-Term Income

Direct marketing is vital to small business success Yesterday, I stayed in the office late to listen to a teleseminar on direct marketing. I’m a bit fatigued this morning, but my notes show that the time was well spent on this inspiring and valuable information.

The host and guest stressed to us that an online newsletter, or Ezine as many of us call it, builds your list of followers over time, and it also builds your long-term income.

When I started this site I also created a newsletter, but I soon stopped publishing it to concentrate on writing the Marketing Strategies for the Home-Based Business book. In addition, I was writing another newsletter, and I felt pulled in too many directions.

Now that the book is published, I’ve restarted the newsletter for this site and already see good results in building my list.

I’m a believer in creating online connections, and I also believe in staying in touch by mail. Both are in the direct marketing family, working together to build your business inside and out.

If you’ve not yet created an Ezine, or if you need guidance to start one, this page provides 10 tips to get you going.

Technorati Tags: small business marketing, Marketing Strategies for the Home-Based Business, direct marketing, online newsletters, ezines, solo business marketing, long term income, solo entrepreneur

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February 8, 2008 | Filed Under Customer Connections, Email Marketing | Leave a Comment

Do You Purge Unwanted Names from Your Lists?

Keep your mailing lists clean Maryland residents are complaining about being bombarded with unwanted newspapers, and their local government is listening so intently that the state is proposing a Do Not Deliver registry.

It’s a story written by The Associated Press. Have you heard about it?

This registry will mirror “Do Not Call” which was enacted by the Federal Trade Commission to keep telemarketers from disturbing consumers by phone.

The complaints started soon after the 2006 launch of The Baltimore Examiner, a free paper which delivers about 230,000 of its total 250,000 circulation to Maryland homes six days a week…

According to the bill, which is “likely to run into opposition from lawmakers…who worry it could violate constitutional free-speech protections,” publishers could be fined $100 a day for delivering their papers to people who neither want nor ask for it.

Can you imagine, as a solo marketer, wasting your time and money sending your message to people who will never buy from you? The results are certainly counterproductive, and your sales records would no doubt be dismal.

That’s why we review our valuable mailing lists, purging the names of individuals who’ve moved without a forwarding address or notified us to remove them from the list. And we also encourage them to do so directly on each mailing piece with a statement such as:

If you, for whatever reason, no longer require notification from us, please pass this card to someone who does, or call us at 212-555-1212 to remove your name from our list. Thank you.

The same is true about our online communications. Individuals who wish to opt-out of our newsletters must be able to do so quickly through a link within each issue. I encourage this in my newsletter because I want my information received by interested parties and no one else.

It’s wonderful when consumers talk in glowing terms about what we sell and how we communicate. Let’s keep things on a positive note for them by only delivering our message to people who want to hear from us.

Technorati Tags: small business marketing, Do Not Deliver registry, solo business marketing, The Baltimore Examiner, solo entrepreneur

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January 28, 2008 | Filed Under Customer Connections, Email Marketing | Leave a Comment

Five Reasons to Stop Worrying About Spam Mail Complaints

To decrease spam Email abuse reports, deliver your Emails to people who truly want to receive your message Remember the days when double opt-in mailing lists didn’t exist? It was easy to add subscribers to receive your online communications. Just type their name into a box within the program’s administrative area, and the job was done.

Now there are numerous complications to getting your message delivered. That’s why the article, How Marketers Can Prevent Spam Complaints, commanded my attention in DMNews‘ Essential Guide to Email Marketing.

Ben Chestnut of MailChimp.com explains in this article how marketers’ actions can send their Emails to spam folders, even if it’s legitimate, and ways to stop (or at least lessen) spam abuse reports.

Like you, I concentrate on increasing Web site traffic, and that also increases the number of subscribers to my online newsletters. That can also increase the number of people who report abuse rather than press the unsubscribe button. It’s happening to me more often, and I’m concerned to a point. Are you also in this position?

Here are five reasons to not let the problem overshadow your success. Read more

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October 30, 2007 | Filed Under Customer Connections, Email Marketing | Leave a Comment

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