Don Crowther’s
GreatPR Newsletter
Published by 101PublicRelations.com

Issue #109

In this issue:

Looking Good Is Half The Battle

Your Feedback Would Be Appreciated

Operation MoneySuck Hits Full Steam

Free Teleconference Service

What's That Again? Let's Do Lunch

Public Relations Tips And Techniques

In Public Relations and Life:
Looking Good Is Half The Battle

My college daughter has fallen in love with ballroom dancing.

Just this last week she competed in two events, Cha-Cha and my all-time favorite dance, the Quickstep.

These competitions are unique - they put a bunch of couples on the floor at a time (maybe 20-25 in the initial rounds), let them dance for 2 minutes, then cull the group down through subsequent rounds.

A judge in these initial rounds doesn't have much time, maybe just a second or two, to analyze each couple and make a decision. If he catches you at a bad moment, you're out, even if you're a terrific dancer.

My daughter's teacher wisely taught them a key to making it through those initial cattle-call rounds. "Smile and look like you love what you're doing - if your smile's big enough, they won't even notice your feet."

(By the way, my daughter did very well, making it almost to finals in both events, even though she's just a new freshman - either she smiles nicely, or is a good dancer. I hope both!)

This advice works in publicity seeking too.

First impressions count. If that impression's bad, you're out, even if your pitch is exactly what they need.

Here's a few ways I have found to create a solid first impression in your publicity efforts.

1. When you get a reporter on the phone, resist the urge to start spewing out your pitch. First, ask the question "are you on deadline?" This immediately tells the reporter that you understand and respect them, creating a positive first impression.
    
2. Once you've asked that key question, don't be like many publicity-seekers seem and start rambling away with no specific direction. Have a carefully-planned script that states exactly what your story angle is, why they should write about it, and how you can help. Your initial pitch should take no more than 30 seconds, and it should be conveyed with enthusiasm and verve. 
   
   Want to learn how to shape your story idea into a 30-second pitch? Check out our Audio CD and transcript How to Create the Perfect 30-Second Phone Pitch For Your Story. In it you'll see how poor most pitches are and how to trim them up into a rock-solid pitch that really works.
    
3. Create a website that looks nice and truly tells your story / sells your products and services.
   
   The Internet has become the default research tool for the media. They oftentimes make the decision as to whether they will include you in a story or not just by spending 2 minutes looking at your website. If what they see there positions you as professional, an expert in your subject, and conversant, you've got a good chance of success.
   
   If, on the other hand, your site looks like it was designed by a high school kid (trust me, most sites do, even those that cost thousands), they're gone and you're off their list of potential story materials.
   
   If you're interested, here's my favorite resource for learning about online marketing and how to increase the results from your website.
    
4. Have an informative, easy-to-find, up-to-date media room on your website. A powerful online media room can work wonders to build your publicity, giving the media a single-source location to gather the information they need to write a story that features you or your company. 
   
   Unfortunately, many of us don't take the time to put one up.
   
   At a minimum, an online media room should contain
   - Fact sheets on your company and key products
   - Recent media releases
   - Contact information
   - Links to recent stories referencing you
   - Key images
   
   Plus there's a number of other key elements that can help to set a great first impression and build your media coverage. For more information on media kits and online media rooms, visit
    
5. When you actually land the talk show / media interview you've been seeking, make sure that you set a great first impression there too, including
   
   - Rehearse in advance with a tape recorder/camcorder, and a friend asking you realistic and tough questions. Then listen to those responses, edit them carefully, then practice them until you can give them flawlessly every time, without sounding like you're giving prepared materials
   
   - Be visual. Have something that you can do/show that looks great on film. This will not only get you more attention, but is likely to land you more time/print for your story
   
   - Be natural. Real people in real conversations don't pitch, they don't get nervous, and they don't parrot off memorized responses. If you do any of those things, you're liable to get cut, and your chance to shine is gone.
   
   - Look good. Study up on what doesn't look good on camera, and don't wear it even if it's your favorite outfit. Smile (unless your topic is inappropriate for smiling), and look like you're having a natural conversation.
   
   For more on these topics and more tips on how to do well in a media interview, check out How To Be A TV Show Host’s Dream Date
    

These are just a few of the things that create first impressions. Be mindful of them, think through them before, and plan them out so that you control the first impressions you cast. It could make all the difference in your end result!

 

Your Feedback
Would Be Appreciated

As you may recall, we are working on the promotion of our distinctive line of gift baskets for the holiday season.

As part of that, we have just introduced our new consumer gift baskets site

We're trying to make it as strong as possible, and would love to hear your opinions. We'd appreciate it if you could drop by, look it over, and let us know your opinions through our Contact Us feedback form. Anything you can share would be greatly appreciated.

And, of course, we wouldn't mind if you ordered a few baskets while you're there ;<)

Thanks!

 

Operation MoneySuck
Hits Full Steam

The fact that holiday shopping is so key to annual retail profits creates some fascinating dynamics...

And, more importantly, some powerful marketing lessons for those astute enough to think about what they're seeing rather than just joining in the lemming parade to the cash register.

One of my favorite strategies is what I term Operation MoneySuck (OM for short).

This tactic describes the way retailers compete to get you to spend your budgeted holiday amount at their store rather than at their competitor's.

OM takes many forms, including:

• Door crasher events - with special prices only available between 5 and 11 am (Some stores even take this further, having some between 5 and 7, others 5 to 9, others 5 to 11, and you know when the really hot stuff is featured...)
  
  The principle here is not only to get you to shop in their store first, but to get you locked into their store as you realize that the line's so long that there's no way you're getting to other store's specials before they expire, so you fill your cart with other items while there - sucking the money out of your checkbook...
   
• Pre-Black Friday specials - Black Friday is the Friday after Thanksgiving, when the holiday shopping puts most retailers into the black (profitability) for the first time that year (a truly amazing concept - how can anyone operate at a loss 11 months of the year hoping to have a good enough holiday season to make it up?)
  
  That's why you see great prices in the weeks before Thanksgiving, to draw your money in before the hotly contested weekend.
   
• Clean, open stores. Last year the fashion was to build shelves high and to cram the aisles with special displays so that you were forced to focus on the hot offers in that section of the store. This year, it appears that many retailers are doing the opposite, cleaning out the aisles, and shortening the height of the shelves especially in the entrance, giving you an expansive view of the entire store. It looks nice, and makes one want to buy!

Each of these has an application to your business, especially if you're not in retail. What is it? How can you use it to your advantage next year?

This year Wal*Mart introduced a new wrinkle to the OM tactics.

They used PR to pre-announce the specials they would be running on Black Friday almost a month in advance. They tied the story to negative consumer sentiments because of the price of gas and the effects of the hurricanes. Their message was - people are feeling so bad about the economy that we're going to offer them unheard-of prices...

And those specials sounded pretty good.

• A laptop computer below $300 (I'm not seeing evidence of that product in their ad so something must have changed.)
• An LCD TV under $200
• A digital camera under $100
• DVDs: 40+ titles under $3.50
• Nintendo Game Boy under $50
• Bundles of toys under $10, including Star Wars light sabers, Cabbage Patch Kids Newborn Doll, and Care Bears with DVD

They got coverage on most of the network news channels and many local channels.

And essentially locked many consumers out from buying these products in the weeks before Thanksgiving.

Now that's good strategic PR - they had a newsworthy story (great prices that hadn't been heard of before), tied it to a current event in the news, and localized it (Wal*Mart stores in many communities). 

And, they kept consumers out of the marketplace for those and many other products until they saw what Wal*Mart was really offering.

Plus they're doing things well on their website too. Visit there now to see what I mean

If the site hasn't changed, you'll see some online specials, and below that the ability to see their Thanksgiving ad for your particular locale. Click on that, it's interesting.

This is another tactic in their strategy - giving you their ad information in advance to help to lock you out of their competitive stores (some of these offers are pretty good, I'm checking them out myself!)

How can you use this technique yourself?

A few ideas come to mind:

• Preannouncing the features of your new product weeks before launch, both generating enthusiasm for it and locking out competitive sales
   
• Announcing your trade show specials before the show
   
• Offering review samples of your upcoming new product to key media people and influencers weeks before launch to get the word out about your cool new features
   
• Offering 13th X free plans to cause people to buy from you rather than the competition
   
• Locking people into a membership plan, where they are promised benefits in the future if they will contractually commit now (CD of the month club or long term exclusivity agreements)
   

Want more ideas on how you can duplicate what Wal*Mart did and get publicity on the news shows? Check out How To Get On Your Local TV News Tomorrow

 

Public Relations
And Business-Building Resource:
Free Teleconference Service

I use conference calls all the time. I use them for promotional teleconferences and for 3-way (and sometimes 99-way) conference calls. I've found that they're a great way to conduct business between individuals scattered all over the place. I'm even going to be using them for family chats (because my extended family is scattered all over the place.)

I use them so much that I was considering leasing a full-time line.

But in my search for a great leased line (there's lots of options out there, of very varying cost and quality), I managed to cut a deal that I really like, and I think you will too.

I got a 99-person, unlimited usage conference call line that's totally mine and totally free.

Yep, I pay nothing.

And I liked the deal and the line so much, I got them to allow me to offer one to you too. And yes, you get the same deal.

It costs you nothing.

No catches, You don't have to listen to ads, or do anything else. You just have everyone on the call dial a certain number, put in a special code, and they're in the call. You can use moderator codes (that allow you to mute the sound from everyone else's lines except those to whom you've given the moderator code number), and most of the other services for which the big-buck lines are charging dozens and sometimes even hundreds of dollars per call.

What's the catch? How can they offer this great price? It's simple; they get small fraction of a cent payback from the long distance companies for every minute people spend on the line.

So everyone wins - you get free conference calling service, the provider gets paid for offering it, and the long distance companies make more money because more people make long distance calls.

Even if you don't have a plan to use it right now, I suggest that you pick up an account today so that you have it when you need it.

Then maybe you could try it out with all of your family members over the holiday - everyone calls in and you can all chat together for a few minutes. 

When you sign up you'll get your number, and a private code that's only yours to use. You never have to pre-schedule a call with the service. You simply have everyone call in and you're talking!

Plus this service works great for teleconferences too - you can put up to 99 people on the call!

Why pay hundreds of dollars per call when you can get it all for free? Check it out here

What's That Again?
Let's Do Lunch

This is the text of an actual ad run in Neillsville, WI

"What are you doing for lunch?
Cremation Seminar..."

I don't care if the lunch IS free!

Finally, a word of thanks - at this holiday season, my heart turns towards those who make my life a wonderful thing. As a reader of this newsletter, you're part of that group. I'm grateful that you're here. I enjoy teaching and sharing, and I hope that you get good value out of this information. Thank you for all that you do. Happy Thanksgiving and have a wonderful holiday season!

Take care,
Don Crowther
President
101PublicRelations.com

See articles from a recent issue of this newsletter:

• How To Get Publicity For Your Charitable Activities
• More On Building Your Business Through Social Proof
• Thanks for Your Help: The In-Flight Magazines Report Update
• What If You Could Get Reporters To Contact You For Information Rather Than The Other Way Around?
  A Recommended Publicity Resource
• Quick To-Do Checklist

And from the one before that:

• How To Instantly Get Onto Newsweek's And The Washington Post's Website
• Reward: Airline Magazine Contacts Wanted
• How To Use Social Proof To Build Your Business
• What's That Again? Airplane Crash