Grow My Company

Cross-promoting your content: working smarter instead of harder

My clients would probably tell you that I'm a bit of a broken record when it comes to re-purposing content. I'm always saying things like, "Cut some blog posts out of that article," or, "Let me see where else I can get that published for you." To me, re-utilizing content is working smart.

If you've done the work and created a great piece, why not post it everywhere you can and repackage it for cross-promotion? If you've retained the copyright on your work, there is nothing stopping you from having the piece republished within another venue, chopping it up for multiple blog posts, and producing a video about the topic.

But don't stop there. Publish a link to your work on your Facebook Page and personal profile, on your LinkedIn profile, on Twitter, and within appropriate LinkedIn groups. Upload your presentations to SlideShare and LinkedIn, and upload your videos to YouTube and LinkedIn. If you find all of this too cumbersome, utilize a free, multi-platform posting tool, like Shareaholic, TweetDeck or Hootsuite, where you can post to multiple destinations with a single action. But be careful though, as it is not necessarily appropriate to post all content everywhere.

I also caution you to carefully consider using article farm sites, as I'm reading lately that these sites actually work against your search rank because links from them are considered bad.

So, the next time you create a great piece of content, add it to your blog or website, and then make sure you spread it around the web. Over the following few days, carefully review the statistics of where your inbound traffic is coming from. The results just might surprise you.

- Christine Pilch

Photo credit: Mac Users Guide

How to buy TV advertising, and what all those sales promo numbers really mean

If you want the skinny on buying TV advertising, here's a crash course from someone who sold and bought a lot of TV advertising over my career. I sold advertising for the local ABC affiliate for several years back in the 90s, and then I spent many hundreds of thousands of dollars annually while acting in my capacity as marketing director for an employer, as well as overseeing media purchases on behalf of many clients within my own business. I've seen all the tricks and tactics to make you spend your money with a particular station.

Stations seem to have finally realized that an average business owner doesn't understand technical numbers like ratings points. They understand plain English numbers in the thousands, so the marketing pieces I'm seeing lately reflects this. Ratings are more technical. Although they're not hard to grasp, the average business owner isn't expected to understand them. Agencies generally buy on ratings and subsequently use these projections/promises of delivery to make sure they receive what they paid for. If you're interested in the definition please check the glossary below. But for now, let's discuss common TV sales tactics.

Household numbers: One of the most common tricks to make poor ratings numbers look better is to use households numbers instead of popular buying demos, like adults 25-54. Think about your clients. It is unlikely that reaching a large number of households would be helpful to you. Household numbers include people of all ages, from newborn to elderly, people in all income brackets, people living in apartments, etc. If you've done your positioning work, you know exactly who buys your services. They are the only people you should be targeting with your advertising dollars. If a station is using household numbers in its promotional pieces, your clients are likely not watching its programming.

Packages: TV sales people love to sell packages that include a couple spots in key, effective areas and lots of spots at times where there is very little viewership. They try to fool you into thinking you're getting a great deal because of the frequency with which your ad runs. Again, think of your positioning. Are your key prospects watching TV at 3AM, 10:30AM, or 2:30PM? Are they watching during the daytime on the weekends? Probably not. Your target prospects are probably listening to news as they get ready for work in the morning and make dinner in the evening, however, so a $1,500 package that includes just 2 or 3 news spots and many spots in other areas may be a waste of your money.

Commissions: Sales people are paid on commission, so it's to their advantage to convince you to spend as much of your budget with them as possible. Many media sales people are honest and will try to find a good fit to advertise your service on their station. Some are not. The best insurance you have is your position statement. Don't buy an area that doesn't have a lot of viewers who are likely to buy your services. Ask for cost per thousand numbers of your chosen demos when looking at proposals, so you can evaluate bang for your buck among areas. Don't waste your money.

Glossary:

Ratings point: One ratings point is 1 percent of all TVs in a market whether on or off. 

Share: A share is a percentage of TVs on at the time.

Book: Nielsen puts out ratings books 4 times per year. Some markets are metered, which means that some homes have boxes sitting atop their TVs that record what station the TV is displaying through the day. Most markets are calculated by diary, however. This method relies on people writing down what they watch at any given time. Although this is the most accurate information available about programming popularity, as you can imagine, it is very flawed.

Projection: A projection is a mathematical equation of ratings from a particular book against viewing levels from another book. For example, TV viewership is traditionally up in the winter vs. the summer in New England, so if you're placing an annual buy, you may ask for projections that include numbers based on the latest ratings book adjusted for seasonal viewing levels.

Don't be fooled into buying advertising that won't work. Go back to basics and judge every advertising opportunity against your positioning. Spend your money wisely.

 - Christine Pilch

Photo credit: William Hook

How to antagonize an editor and not be published

I recently received a nice compliment from an editor. He said, "I'm glad you're between me and him." This was in reference to a piece that I tweaked rewrote for a client to prepare it for print. This was appreciated because it saved the editor time. The client had submitted it without my editorial input, and the editor kicked it back as unacceptable. What would have happened if I hadn't been available to jump in?

Are you causing more work for your editor?

Article writing is a terrific way to garner "free" publicity for your company, product, or service. It contributes to your brand by substantiating what people already believe you to be. It raises awareness, and it builds credibility. If you're a service professional, there is perhaps no more efficient way to demonstrate your expertise among a targeted group of prospects.

I have worked with many editors over the course of my career, and I can tell you that one of the quickest ways to antagonize them is to submit material that is not-yet-ready-for-prime-time. Submitted professional pieces should be as close to perfect as possible. It is unacceptable to submit anything with spelling, punctuation, or grammatical errors. Tenses should be consistent and the flow should be smooth.

If writing isn't your forte, I strongly urge you to engage a ghost-writer or editor to review your work before it goes to the publication's editor. A magazine editor's job is to edit what his or her writers contribute, but it's not his or her job to edit the work of contributors. Minimal tweaks are to be expected to match your writing style with that of the publication, but no editor should ever have to retool your entire submission.

Unfortunately, it is often the case that people with poor writing skills don't realize how deficient they are in this capacity. Here's a test. Ask someone to review your work with a red pen in hand before you submit it. If you see a lot of ink, chances are good that your writing is not up to par for submission as a final piece.

One more thing, causing overworked editors extra work by forcing them to edit your material is not a good way to develop and strengthen relationships. In fact, it is disrespectful and rude. Chances are, next time, they won't want anything from you, so you've actually damaged your relationship with them.

 

by: Christine Pilch
Christine@GrowMyCo.com
On LinkedIn
On Twitter

Image Credit: Microsoft

Are you LinkedIn yet?

Are you LinkedIn yet? No? What are you waiting for?

Social media networking is today's online version of working the room. But it's even easier because it can be done from the comfort of your office or home, in a suit or your favorite jeans. It's about tapping into friends and professional acquaintances and forming a network akin to the famous Kevin Bacon Six Degrees of Separation formula.

With LinkedIn, your connections have connections, and those people also have connections, so three rings of people have access to your profile whenever they are looking for someone with your skills. The connectivity makes it easy for someone to check you out before contacting you, so the referral is already warm.

A word of caution though. A strong LinkedIn bio requires commitment and time to develop. Don't simply list your current job title and expect the phone to ring. Like a polished resume, a detailed LinkedIn profile is essential to putting you best foot forward and creating desire in prospects.

If you're a hiring manager or business owner, LinkedIn is a terrific tool to look for candidates and check up on what your competition is doing from a hiring standpoint. Are they adding staff? Laying off? What is the rate of turnover in certain positions? What is their employee structure?

Asking and answering questions also raises awareness of your expertise. I asked an employment law question that impressed a few attorneys across the country enough that it opened a repeat email dialog with them. One became a connection of mine. I would never have met this San Francisco attorney if not for LinkedIn. Now we are both aware of each other's prospective value.

Within 6 weeks of launching my own LinkedIn profile, a new prospect found me through one of my connections, and she is now a client. It works. Give it a try. And let me know if you need help with your profile.


by: Christine Pilch
Christine@GrowMyCo.com
My LinkedIn Profile

Image Credit: Microsoft

A depressed economy is the perfect time to make a deal

Many businesses are watching profits dwindle while expenses continue to grow. There is, however, a bright spot on the horizon for those who make a commitment to continuing to spend money on advertising. There are incredible deals to be had if you're not afraid to bargain.

Keep in mind that the economy is an equal opportunity oppressor, so your local media are likely as strapped and scared as you are about the future. I am hearing from my media contacts that T&E budgets have dried up, and there is lots of space that can be had on the cheap.

It's time to sit down across the table from your media reps one by one and negotiate. They have excess time and space, so you can make an offer to fill that at a discounted rate. If you have a current buy in place, and they won't budge on the rate, it is a reasonable alternative to request upgrades. Ask if your morning news spot can run in evening news. Request that an evening news spot run in prime. Ask for upgraded placement of print ads too. How about spot color for the black and white price? Remember that you're now the loyal client who hasn't deserted them when times were tough. This is relationship-building time.

I had lunch with the General Sales Manager of a local TV affiliate last week. I didn't have any new business to spin her way, and I didn't want her to use any of her dwindling T&E budget, so we agreed to split the check as friends. We enjoyed each other's company, caught up, and strengthened our relationship. It was an investment in the future.

There are fantastic advertising deals available now if you're willing to continue to invest in your marketing. Remember however, that a me-me-me message without any client benefit and value-added will simply waste your money. Go back to your positioning and invest wisely.


by: Christine Pilch
Christine@GrowMyCo.com

Image Credit: Microsoft

Recession marketing – your online reputation is more important than ever

I recently stumbled upon a very good article about marketing during a recession. It was published in eMarketing and Commerce magazine, but the principles are so sound that they relate to service professionals as well.

The first several points the author makes regard consumer behavior. In a nutshell, when gas gets more expensive, people stay home more and do their homework upfront before shopping for anything. This includes professional services.

Since your online presence is more important than ever, what is your online brand? What impression do people get when they Google you? Are you portrayed in a positive and professional fashion? Are your online bios sufficiently packed with information so that prospects get a feel for who you are before they call?

Take a look at your website bio, blog bio and LinkedIn profile. Are they complete? When a prospect compares yours with a competitor's, is one full of helpful information and the other sadly lacking anything but bare minimum facts and obviously not important to the author? What message does that send to a prospect?

Can any service professional afford to drop their guard and allow a competitor to get an appointment because their online brand is stronger?


by: Christine Pilch

Image Credit: Microsoft

Your firm's 2009 marketing budget – what to keep and where to cut

Early fall is the typical time when most professional service firms start working on their budgets for the next year. Your firm likely does so as well. Although it’s not likely that you’re going to increase your marketing budget for next year, have you given any thought yet to whether you’re going to level-fund or reduce it?

Whatever decision you make, it’s best to start with the big number and work backwards. Following is a basic list of areas that are typically funded:

• Professional association fees & dues
• Memberships
• Sponsorships & donations
• Directories
• Sales promotional collateral
• Promotional activities
• Client & referral source entertainment
• Memorial gifts
• Client and referral gifts
• Promotional specialties (logo giveaway items)
• Advertising
• Internet

In my experience, one of the biggest chunks of firm marketing budgets is sponsorships and donations. I’m referring to such expenses as golf tees, ads in the programs for charitable events, charitable capital find contributions, and the like. These aren’t actually advertising, because they really don’t have the potential to bring in business, but they have to be done because of a relationship with a vendor or referral source who asked.

It is likely that the sponsorships and donations column of your marketing budget has become very inflated over recent years when things were better. Now may be a good time to reduce that number. Try slashing it by 1/3, and determine what really needs to be spent and what you can really let slide without a detrimental affect on your practice. It won’t be easy saying no next year to some causes that expect your continued support, but the truth is that these people are also facing cuts in their own budgets. They won’t like it, but they will understand.

Another big chunk is likely directories. I recommend eliminating everything except any top-notch practice area-specific sites that send you business. Don’t waste your time or money on any of the transient sites that pop up regularly. These might actually be perceived as link farms and cause your site to be blacklisted by search engines.

Your entertainment budget is also likely to be a significant chunk if your practice depends upon social networking. You can scale this back however by buying a half season of baseball tickets, inviting clients to lunches instead of dinners and resisting the urge to buy the whole bar a round of drinks.

Your advertising column should already be one of the leanest in your budget, as actual physical ads in magazines and the like are one of the least effective professional services marketing tactics that you can use. If this is as lean as I expect it is, there won’t be much room to cut here.

Your internet marketing column is likely to be where you’re getting the biggest bang for your buck. This includes your website, blog, any web-based social networking associated costs and search engine keyword buys. If you’re properly utilizing these tactics, the pay-off should be so significant that you wouldn’t dream of reducing spending here. If you’re not seeing a return, we need to talk. CPilch@GrowMyCo.com

Your gifts column may be reduced by scaling back the dollar amounts on each gift. It is possible to find items with high perceived value that don’t cost an arm and a leg. Things such as memorial contributions may also be scaled back to an amount that is acceptable coming from your firm.

Your promotional items inventory can be scaled back by choosing less expensive give-away items. I’m always amazed how many professional service firms spend unnecessary money on expensive and redundant items that they received as samples in the mail rather than working with a good promotional specialties representative who knows all the best sources for the items that your clients perceived to have long-term value.

And last, but not least, regarding sales promotional materials, I must ask, “Do you really need that brochure of yours?” If you’re mostly giving it to people in the office, that’s a pretty big waste of money. They’re already clients and don’t need to be sold. It’s entirely possible that you can almost eliminate this column in your budget. Copies of your published articles are much more effective in establishing your credibility, and they only cost ink or toner and good quality stock to print them in the office.

I recommend the above cost-cutting strategies even if your firm is level-finding your 2009 marketing budget. I would then take the saved funds and reinvest them back into your internet budget in a new website or enhancements to your current one. It is likely that your website is 5 or more years old and looks dated. A fresh new look can significantly enhance a potential client’s perception, and enhancements to a user interface can make posting fresh content a breeze for someone who doesn’t want to learn complicated web design software.

I’ve hit upon the basics above, but each firm is different. Only you can make judgments about what is best for your company. Good luck.

by: Christine Pilch

Image Credit: Microsoft

The importance of submitting well-written articles for publishing

I recently had lunch with an old friend who happens to be the editor of a business publication. He wasn’t in a very good mood because he had spent his morning editing rewriting articles that were submitted by guest authors.

He didn’t try to hide his frustration. The submitted work was full of punctuation and grammatical errors. He fixed tense and voice shifts within paragraphs and even sentences. He dealt with off-topic ramblings and poorly constructed arguments.

I asked, “Why would anybody submit something that was substandard?” He responded that it is common for him to have to do this for many people’s work. They mustn’t know that they are poor writers.

I have ghost written and edited hundreds of articles for clients, and my friend is right, much of what is submitted to me from professionals as a final draft isn’t anywhere near acceptable. But when it goes to a publication, it is nearly perfect as a result of my polish.

Are you a strong writer? If your work appears in print radically different than you submitted it, chances are you should be working with your own editor prior to submission. Actually, you just damage your relationship with an editor if you force him to go through a time consuming process of rewriting your work. As a result, your work won’t be readily welcomed in the future because you're disrespecting the editor's time.

Being published is a very cost-effective method of niche marketing. It is a means of positioning yourself as an expert, and anything coming from an expert should be as flawless as possible. That means that you might have to pay somebody a few hundred dollars to edit your work, but this investment should pay off in prestige, enhanced reputation and in successfully positioning yourself as the go-to authority in your area.

by: Christine Pilch

Image Credit: Microsoft

Getting personal – an professional services marketing tip that can give you an edge

Most of us were raised to be courteous, say please and thank you, show appreciation when someone goes out of their way to help us and apologize when we do something wrong. These same basic principles can help set you apart from other professionals when performed regularly and from the heart.

It seems that it would be obvious to send thank yous for referrals, but it constantly amazes me how many professionals forget this step in the relationship building process. It doesn’t matter if it’s the first referral you receive from someone or the 100th, saying thank you just plain demonstrates good manners. Choose a thank you tactic. Email works nicely, but so does a hand written card dropped in the mail, and that’s a bit more personal. It will be noticed and appreciated.

Do you also regularly send sympathy cards, congratulatory wishes and birthday greetings? You may think it unnecessary to send these notes at a time when multiple others will also be received, but isn’t it possible that your oversight might be noticed? Can you afford to risk being perceived as someone who didn’t bother or doesn't care?

Another tactic to help facilitate relationships with your referrers and clients is to get to know their secretaries. Always be friendly and courteous to the screeners because they can be an impediment or a blessing when you need information quickly. It’s also a good idea to know the names and basic information about your clients’ and referral sources’ family members. People are generally proud of their families, and when you inquire into their well-being, it helps build a bond. It shows that you have taken the time to pay attention to personal details and helps build a stronger relationship.

It may seem trivial to do these little things, but all of your clients and referrers and people first, and everybody notices and appreciates someone who conducts himself with class. Everything you do markets yourself and contributes to your brand.  These simple details may someday make the difference between a deal coming to you or going to a competitor.

by: Christine Pilch

Image Credit: Microsoft

The evolution of word of mouth professional services marketing

Referrals remain one of the most significant sources of business for service professionals. It’s always better to place a warm call or receive a call from someone whose friend, colleague or family member sang your praises than to contact cold prospects.

Over years past, many people found an accountant, lawyer, engineer, architect, doctor, etc through the advice of someone they trusted. Today, that is certainly a valid and important means of securing clients, but just as many people are doing their own research online when considering who to hire for their professional services work. People are reading websites, blogs and email marketing messages and making their own judgments about screening quality professionals.

I actually have a client who recently wrapped up work for a client in another part of the state, who he never met face to face. The client found him through his blog and mailed a retainer after they spoke by phone. This same professional recently acquired a new client who just moved into his area and found him online.

Neither of the above clients would have come to my client without the assistance of a very good website and blog. Both are updated weekly with interesting, contemporary information, and both rank organically at the top of search engines. My client has never spent a dime on search engine optimization. He understands how important content is, and he spends the time necessary to write that content regularly. I never have to remind him. He writes everything and emails it to me. Then I edit and post it live. Our system works flawlessly.

Please consider the incredibly powerful impact your own website and blog can have on your practice if your commit to making their upkeep a priority. They are the next step in word of mouth advertising, and they are practically free. What have you got to lose?

by: Christine Pilch

Image Credit: Microsoft