How Thinking Big Can Be Bad for Building Authority

How THinking Big Can Hurt You

How Thinking Big Can Be Bad For Building Authority

Think big. Create a big hairy audacious goal BHAG. You have all been encouraged to do that. The truth is that thinking big can hurt you in the short term when it comes to everything from building authority, seeking publicity to book reviews and more.
It’s great to create that big hairy audacious goal and to think big, however if it’s not put in perspective it can actually hurt you when it comes to achieving some of your goals, especially when those goals involve third parties such as building authority, getting media coverage, being a radio show guest or getting book reviews.

Prospects sometimes come to me stating their desire to be featured in Entrepreneur magazine, The New York Times or in the ultimate outlet – Oprah magazine. Those are great goals, however, sometimes you have to start out in the minor league, before the majors take notice of you.

Let’s take a page from Oprah’s path to success

Oprah didn’t start out as a nationally recognized, incredibly popular talk show host. She started out part time at a local black radio station in Tennessee. From there she went to another local station as both the youngest news anchor and the first black female news anchor at Nashville’s WLAC-TV. It wasn’t until 2 jobs later that she was discovered by a Chicago station that invited her to come work on a talk show, which soon lead to what we all know as The Oprah Winfrey show.

We might never have heard of Oprah if she only had her sights set on getting hired directly on a major network show, and wouldn’t consider anything less.  Instead she began part time, at a local station and kept stepping up into bigger and more visible roles.

It’s important to not to overlook local or smaller opportunities because they often lead to other opportunities. You may be missing out if you’re overlooking opportunities, and holding out exclusively to land the big one first.

Starting smaller offers multiple benefits

By starting smaller or with lesser known media outlets, you get to do a few positive things:

  • Have an easier time getting opportunities – local media likes local stories, and there is often less competition seeking them
  • You can practice and polish your skills – better to flub in your small town paper than in The New York Times….
  • Larger media outlets, producers and book reviewers often scan local media or smaller blogs for story ideas.
  • The media mentions or reviews you receive are great content to fill your media room or press kit with

For the big win that you’re looking for, it just may not be the first publicity or place you get quoted.

Oprah got her break as an anchor on the news, because she was willing to work at a small local station.

So when it comes to getting publicity, being a guest on a podcast, getting your book reviewed and many other desirable situations, having some experience, even if it’s not from the top network or leading company counts.

Describing what journalists look for in a source, Dawn Reiss, freelance journalist /writer for various national outlets said,

“A lot of the major outlets will do a Google search on people to see where else they’ve been published.”

So being published, somewhere, counts. If you steadily and consistently build your authority and showcase it properly online, those big opportunities will come.

What opportunities are you overlooking because you think they are too small or insignificant?

blue-02
Related Post: How to Create Instant Expert Positioning

business2community-logo
This first appeared in Business2Community

How to Use Press Releases To Promote Your Book- Infographic

If you have ever wondered how press releases promote your book, I have you covered. Our handy infographic highlights the benefits of using press releases and shows a timeline of press-worthy events that call for issuing a release.

Suggested occasions to use press releases to promote your book:

Pre-publications events include when you come up with your book idea, signing a publishing deal, and getting invited to co-author a book.

Publishing milestones such as a new book release by an established or famous author, the release of the book in print, kindle or audio versions, or a new book series.

Book promotional story angles include local author, book tours -both virtual and live, author interviews, book signing, free chapter give-away, bestseller status, awards, or reprinting of  a book.

How to use press releases to promote your book

To get the most benefit from press releases to promote your book, start planning before you even finish writing your book. That way, you will be ready to start your publicity as soon as you have a newsworthy event, even if it’s pre-publication. To prepare, you can draft a basic press release that can serve as a template for all your press releases since key sections of the press release will remain the same. These sections include the ‘about us’ section, which is also known as the boilerplate, the book title, publisher and contact information.

The additional value of using releases is that they can and should be added to your online press room. That way, you let your site visitors know about your book news and milestones and start to build credibility with each additional item you add to the press room.

For more resources to help you use press releases to promote your book, download our Publicity Toolkit and  Free Downloadable Media Plan Template.  You can also contact us to find out about our press release writing and distribution services.

blue-02
Related Content: 8 Ways to Promote Your Book Online

Don’t Call Yourself An Expert

Don’t call yourself an expert, even though I know you want to be seen as one.  Saying I’m an Expert doesn’t always feel right – whether you have impostor syndrome and don’t think you are worthy of that title [even though you most probably do deserve to be called an Expert], or you fear being seen as being boastful.

The real reason calling yourself an expert doesn’t work, is because we live in a review or reputation economy. People don’t trust what you say about you. Sorry, that is the truth.

Here is what they do trust, according to Neilsen’s Trust in Advertising survey:

  1. Recommendations from friends and family
  2. Online reviews, recommendations and social proof [high number of likes, huge twitter following…]
  3. The media

Not mentioned in the survey, but they also trust:  Authors

Don’t Try this Trick at Home

i am the greatest

Muhammad Ali called  himself The Greatest, before he even believed he was.

It worked for him, but for 99.999999% of us, we would raise some eyebrows and be thought of as many things BUT the greatest.

To communicate that you are an expert to your network –  prospects, partners, social media, clients, and even your mom….

Don’t Call Yourself An Expert – Do this:

Display reviews, recommendations, media mentions and testimonials prominently on your website, in your social profiles, in your bio… [More about how to do this effectively in an upcoming post]

Let others do the talking for you. It’s much more effective and believable. And it doesn’t feel braggy or insincere as it does when you call yourself an expert.

Here is what this could look like in person. When asked, “What do you do?”  You could respond with something a client has said about you. I might respond as follows:

“My clients call me the ‘Make it Happen Maven’ – I help them get more visibility and authority positioning, and help them become bestselling published authors.”

Not only is it a lot more authentic and in tune with our review economy, it’s a lot more intriguing than saying, “I am an authority marketing and book publishing expert.”

Now, what do you do? Please comment below and let me know!

 

blue-02 Related Post: 5 Ways to Promote Yourself That Don’t Feel Icky

How Not to Be One of the 45% of HARO Media Pitches That Suck

how journalists use haro

Not getting responses to your Help a Reporter Out HARO media pitches? The reason may be that your pitches don’t include the 7 must-haves for a successful HARO media pitch. Either you aren’t giving journalists what they need, or your pitches simply stink. The pitch that does satisfy on all counts, gets the publicity.

I am not a journalist, however I occasionally use HARO to find sources for a story, a blog post, or book that I am working on. My team and I use HARO to get publicity for myself and my clients, and we’ve had a lot of success with it.

After posting a query on HARO recently, I was surprised by the number of pitches that missed the mark. Some simply sucked. And it doesn’t have to be that way.

In an effort to help you not be one of the 45 % of pitches that suck, I analyzed the responses I received. The collated results are presented here. It was a small sampling; not sufficient to call this a scientific study, but valuable information if you put it to use. I also interviewed a few journalists on best practices for HARO media pitching, and what they like to see in a pitch.

Presentation1

I started by asking for insight on succeeding with HARO from its founder Peter Shankman, who said:

“In the past ten years, journalists have been tasked with doing ten times more with five times less. Truly want to get your story placed? Do as much of the journalist’s work as you can. Give smart background. When you offer a source, make sure they can talk and know what they’re saying. Beat the herd by being just a little bit better.

Oh, and be fast. Super, super fast. Get your reply out within five minutes of receiving the HARO.”

The key to pitching HARO successfully comes to, as Mr. Shankman says, “doing as much of the journalist’s work as you can.” In an age of 24/7 news, with reduced newsroom staff, journalists’ jobs are more challenged than ever, so your key to getting the publicity you want is to literally help a reporter out.

How journalists use HARO:

  • To find sources, as well as to help develop a story idea they are working on
  • When they are on a tight deadline, as well as for stories with more lead time

“I use it both for same-day deadlines and for long-term features and I’ve really gotten wonderful stuff for my stories from it – both from average people, whose opinions and experiences are hugely important in my work, and from experts from every field,” – an editor for a major U.S. news organization who uses HARO several times a month [they requested anonymity].

To get started let’s look at a sample HARO query – broken up into sections.

haro sample media query

What Journalists want in a response to a query:

Journalists told us they want you to provide all the requested information in a concise response so that if they are on a tight deadline, they have all the information that they need to use you as a source without needing to speak to you. That said, it’s very important to include a phone number and other contact information, should they have the time and want to follow up and verify information, do an interview or get additional information.

What Journalists don’t want …

Busy journalists don’t want to have to guess who you are, what information or expertise you have to share, to have to try and locate your contact info, or try and locate you. This may sound obvious; however, many pitches were missing some or all contact info.

I encourage my clients to think of their pitch like a gift, with their entire pitch and supporting assets nicely and attractively packaged, so it’s all in one place. Incomplete, off topic or unclear pitches just clog a busy journalist’s inbox and often just get deleted.

“You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help enough other people get what they want.” – Zig Ziglar

7 Must-Haves For A Successful HARO Media Pitch:

Get your pitch in asap.
The number of responses to a query can be anywhere from 10-100 depending on the topic or media outlet. Queries from top national publications tend to get more responses than smaller or lesser known media. Busy journalists often go with the first great pitch they receive.

Create a compelling subject line
In a sea of responses [average query gets 35-100 responses], your subject line can help your email get noticed, though a long query title, leaves less room for your unique pitch to show in the journalist’s inbox view.

24% of HARO media pitches rated ‘very good’

Use a greeting
Business communication usually start with a greeting. Granted, some HARO queries are posted anonymously, so you don’t have an actual name of a person to address. This is not something our journalists noted, nor a requirement, however a greeting is a standard business pleasantry. One that addresses the journalist by name is courteous and also demonstrates you have read the query carefully, which goes a long way towards your credibility.

52% started their pitch with a greeting, addressing me by name. The balance had no greeting at all.

 

Establish your credentials
To be used as a source by a journalist, you need to let them know what your credentials are, concisely, right within your pitch. Demonstrate you are a good, expert source for their story. One mistake we see repeatedly is “my bio is on my website.” A busy journalist with 95 other responses, will either hit delete or just move on to the next pitch which contains all the information they are seeking.

64% of HARO media pitches established their credentials within the email

Fit the requirements
While not all pitches have requirements, the ones that do have them for a specific reason, so it’s important to respond only if you are a fit.

47% of pitches fit our requirements, 35% might be a fit but needed clarification, 16% didn’t fit at all

 

“And a lot of the people weren’t on target. I was very specific in my HARO query about how I was looking for responses on how to invest. Another example, in a query on the business side of co-working spaces, a lot of people responded back saying, ‘Oh, I work at a co-working space. Would you like to talk to me?’ And that’s not useful.” – Dawn Reiss, freelance journalist /writer for various national outlets.

Complete, Cut and Paste Response
The ‘cut and paste’ response is where the person has answered the questions posed in the query, right within their email pitch. A busy journalist doesn’t want to interview you to find out if you are the right source for their story. Or they might like to interview you, but with limited time, they’ll have to do with taking your response as is, and cutting and pasting it into their story, citing you as the source.

“I much prefer a response that actually provides the comment or information the person wants to share.” – An editor for a major U.S. news organization who uses HARO several times a month [and requested anonymity].

In other words, if a query asks for you best tips for mobile marketing, include your best tips for mobile marketing right in your email pitch.

Include a phone number
While our journalists have stated that they often don’t have time to speak with you for a story, they still expect you to include your phone number. That way, should they want to get additional information, touch base before going to print or interview you, they already have your contact info.

Only 41% of our respondents included a phone number in their pitch

I hope you will use this information to help you succeed in your HARO media pitches. To your publicity success!

Related Content:

5 Ways to Boost the PR Value of a Podcast Interview

Why Your Business Needs Earned Media and 5 Easy Ways to Get It

In the race to market your business and produce content, it’s important to make sure your time is well spent. With the competition for people’s attention growing every day, you need to be very strategic and make sure the media you are focused on provides the best ROI. To do so, you want to make sure that you are promoting your content across owned, earned and paid media, as well as encouraging shared media.

Exactly what are owned, earned, paid and shared media. In a sense, they are exactly what they sound like:

Owned media is any channel that a brand owns. For example, a website, a mobile site, a blog, or a twitter account.

Earned media is essentially word of mouth marketing, also known as viral marketing or buzz. Examples include customers talking about your brand, media mentions and publicity.

Paid media is what was thought of as traditional advertising. This includes print and online ads, sponsorships, or paid search that a brand uses to promote their channels and content.

While all these types of media are channels for your content, they aren’t all created equal. At a minimum, you need owned media. Paid media can still be a valuable compliment to other initiatives. Earned media is far and away the most valuable.

It’s a Review Economy – Social Proof Matters

The world has moved away from relying solely on advertising [paid media]. According to the Nielson Trust in Advertising Survey, consumer trust in advertising has been on a steady decline for years. Consumers do however trust recommendations and reviews from friends and family, online reviews, and the media – in that order. In other words, they trust earned media. Why? Because earned media is social proof. It’s proof your business means something to someone, and that others are willing to stand behind you, talk about your brand in a positive way as well as recommend you. They trust you.

Let’s take a look at exactly what earned media can do for your business and some really easy ways to get more of it.

What Can Earned Media Do For Me?

Earned media is someone else singing your praises. It can be a recommendation, the media writing about you, a positive review, or a tweet about your business. It leverages marketing tactics like word-of-mouth, social media and online reviews to really boost your business. It has the highest value because it is someone else talking about you, providing third party credibility…. Because no one cares or trusts, what you say about you, it’s what ‘they say about you’ that matters.

But it’s what earned media can do for your business that’s pretty great. It can:

Help you build up your brand. I’ll be honest, if someone I trust recommends a business, I’m very likely to check it out. The more mentions, comments and reviews your business gets, the more others will start to see just how great your business is. Which leads us to …

Establish your business as an industry leader. Having your name mentioned across the web and on various media outlets pretty much solidifies you as an industry leader. And who doesn’t want their business to be looked up to and respected?

Help you build relationships with other leaders in your niche. Everyone wants to work with the best, the top people. You’ll begin to attract other top experts and leaders, who will see all the mentions you are getting and want to find out who you are. This creates conversations, relationships and alliances that all parties can benefit from. The more you reciprocate, the more you get back.

Bring you more website traffic. More mentions means more visibility; think backlinks and social media shares. Earned media takes advantage of others’ established audiences and puts you in front of them. It also directs them all back to your site for free.

 5 Easy Ways to Get Started – It’s All About Relationships

Earned media can come in many forms, but here are 5 of my favorite types. Each of these are easy to do and incredibly effective.

#1 Recommendations

We’ve touched on this a little already, but it’s so important that we have to discuss it in depth.

Consumers trust personal recommendations. People like to do business with people they ‘know, like and trust’. In fact, according to this study, 84% of consumers stated that they trust recommendations from someone they know. 74% of consumers claim that word of mouth is their key influencer for making purchasing decisions in this study.

And the beauty of this method is that you are tapping into your biggest raving fans and promoters: your current customers!

To get more recommendations from them, try:

Creating a simple, repeatable process to request recommendations. Make it easy for people to do so.

Asking. I know, sounds so simple. Because it is. Right after a customer has completed a transaction or project (and is obviously happy) is the best time to ask. A simple “If you know anyone who could use our services/products, we’d appreciate a recommendation” works. Satisfied customers are always likely to refer you if they know someone.

Incentivizing and offering stuff. If a business I love is offering a great deal, I’ll talk them up to others. Alternatively, you can offer your current customers a discount or incentive for every referral they send.

Being thankful. This should be obvious, but if you get recommended, thank the person who did it. It encourages them to continue recommending you.

#2 Online Reviews

Did you know that over 85% of consumers read up to 10 online reviews before deciding on a business or purchase? And that 72% of those consumers claim that positive reviews actually influence them to trust a business?

Online reviews are more common, and more influential than ever. Like recommendations from friends and colleagues, it doesn’t hurt to ask for these reviews. Make it easy for customers to review your business by:

Setting up your profiles. Get on multiple sites like Yelp, Google Local and Trip Advisor. Add your contact information and images to complete your profile.

Letting customers know you are on these sites. Post a sign in your office or a banner on your website that lets customers know you are on these review sites.

Setting up a review page on your site. That makes it easy to submit reviews, which once submitted can be showcased on your testimonials or about us page.

#3 The Media

Media coverage and public relations aren’t dead. In fact, according to a recent study from Ogilvy PR, “the more the (traditional) media covers a brand, the more credible the brand appears.”

You may be wondering how to get attention in the media. There are many ways, including press releases, pitching stories and through building relationships with reporters and publications, you can promote your business without being pushy.

Some tips to get started:

Have a plan. Even a simple one-page PR plan will help keep you focused and taking action.

Check online resources. Free sites like Help a Reporter Out (HARO) connect journalists with sources. Sign up to get daily listings of reporters looking for business like yours to contribute to their stories.

Read publications and identify the journalists that write about your topic. Start building a list of publications you would like to be featured in. Then start to build relationships with them.

Set up Google Alerts – see my quick tutorial on this – these can help you identify publications and journalists, as well as track media mentions for you, your company, your competitors…. Reverse engineer successful competitors to see where they are getting media coverage.

Journalists are social. It’s never been easier to connect with journalists on sites like LinkedIn, Twitter. Follow journalists, share their stories and comment on them. Value their work and get on their radar. When you are ready to pitch them your name will be familiar, and they will be more receptive.

#4 Social Media Shares

We couldn’t have a list of earned media methods without mentioning social media. This is where many people go to get their news and recommendations.

You don’t have to be on all social networks. Instead, focus your efforts on the site most popular with your target audience. Tips to make the most of social media include:

Make sure your business profiles are consistent, complete and optimized. Fill out all your contact information and use keywords to help you get found. Share useful information, blog posts and business updates.

Follow others. Follow industry leaders and influencers. By following them and sharing their updates, they’ll notice you, probably start to build a relationship, and there’s a chance they will reciprocate.

Demonstrate great customer service and appreciation. Social media, especially Face book and Twitter, is where many people go to rave about businesses. Make it easy for them by having excellent customer service. Acknowledge people by name who mention you or share your content.

Make it easy to share your content. Tools like Social Warfare and strategically placed share buttons on your website and blog can facilitate one click sharing, allowing your visitor to easily post your content out to their networks when they are inspired to.

#5 Blogger Outreach

Today’s bloggers have reached celebrity status, become recognized as media outlets, and become highly influential. By forming relationships with influential bloggers, you increase the chances of being able to share their great content, as well as your business being mentioned in their posts and social networks.

Get started by:

Researching prominent blogs in your industry. You may already follow a few. To find new ones, turn to Google, social media or use BuzzStream to help you find sites faster.

Reaching out to bloggers. Before sending that email to pitch them to, take the time to read their blog to get a better idea of who they are and what they write about. Also think of what you have to offer them. Bloggers are much more like to do you a favor if you have something to offer in return.

Showing some love first. Comment, share and retweet a blogger’s content. We all appreciate those who show their appreciation for our work and brand. Bloggers are no different, even if their blog is already very popular.

Earned media works. By building relationships with your prospects, customers, partners bloggers and the media, you are helping grow your brand in the most positive way. By inspiring others to talk about your business you are gaining exposure and 3rd party credibility. As we have seen, user-generated content – earned media, is the most trusted form of flattery and promotion we can have today. Try any of these 5 methods and watch your business increase dramatically.

Related Content:

Before you Pitch the Media – 10 Things The Media Wishes You Knew

How Not to Be One of the 45% of HARO Media Pitches That Suck

Inspiration From Successful Entrepreneurs

William on stage
I’m still inspired a week later……..and can’t wait to share with you some truly great things…  A week ago I was attending the Entrepreneur Magazine 360 Conference here in New York City, getting inspiration from successful entrepreneurs.

 

It was a very energizing day hearing from a variety of entrepreneurs ranging from:
Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas to Daniel Lubetsky founder of Kind Bars, Olympic Skier/NFL player/Philanthropist/Entrepreneur Jeremy Bloom, to Reddit founder Alexis Ohanion.

I was inspired, impressed, validated and educated-  I still am, here are some of the highlights and takeaways from the event:

 Are you a Visionary or an Operator?

 success_what it really looks like

Les McKeon gave a great presentation on the journey a business goes through. He demonstrated why:

“You are either a Visionary or an Operator – you can’t be both.”

Will.i.am was intelligent, innovative, inspired, visionary, awesome…. He hardly spoke about music, and spoke more about his company  i.am+  which is going to compete directly with Apple with its wearable tech.

[clickToTweet tweet=”Entrepreneurial ideas come frm fusion = Mixing + inspiration + needs + community.@iamwill ” quote=”Entrepreneurial ideas come from fusion = Mixing + melding inspiration + needs + community.”]

In 2015, everything is going to be wearable and functional. Maybe a jacket instead of a phone.

<<< >>>>

Sometimes you miss major success by 1 Inch

Jeremy Bloom- Olympic skier, NFL football player, philanthropist and entrepreneurs founder of a 100 million dollar company, had a 22 second shot at making Olympic Gold… yet missed by 1 inch. It’s what he did after missing that was so inspiring!

You may have heard the expression Fail Fast. Jeremy gave himself 48 hours to have a pity party. To replay in his mind all the things he could have/should have done differently and then he moved on with his life.

<<< >>>>

Daniel Lubetsky, founder of Kind bars, proves you can be successful and be kind [pun intended]

When you move from a skeptic to an evangelist, nobody can stop you. 

There were so many wonderful ideas, inspirations and insights! I hope these examples have inspired you as well.

One more thing… all these entrepreneurs have one major accomplishment in common. Can you guess what it is?  Please place your guess in the comments below. The first person to post the answer wins a special prize!

Whenever you have the opportunity to be around and get inspiration from successful entrepreneurs, grab it. As Daniel Lubetsky said, “Entrepreneurs are probably the most fun at a party.”

What all the entrepreneurs who spoke at the Entrepreneur 360 Conference  have in common is that they are all authors.

 To your publicity success!

5 Ways to Promote Yourself That Don’t Feel Icky

5 Ways To Promote Yourself Without Feeling IckyMom used to tell me it’s not polite to brag.

 

And no one likes a braggart!

The funny thing is that people often assume that some who brags a lot is very confident and outgoing, the fact of the matter is that they may actually be insecure and seeking outside reinforcement.

Ok. So you don’t want to be seen as a braggart.

If you don’t share your company’s offerings, your accomplishments, successes and milestones, how will your prospects and clients know about them? How will you share your gifts and service with more of the people who need them?

If a tree falls in the forest…

You do need to get the word out and promote yourself and your services on a regular basis. The great news is that there are ways to do it that won’t make you feel icky or a braggart.

5 easy ways to toot your own horn that won’t make you feel uncomfortable:

Talk about your business in the third person – a simple mindset shift
This is a common problem for soloprenuers. A simple trick to remove feeling uncomfortable about promoting yourself is to think of yourself or your business as another entity, a third party. Think about how much easier it is to share a friend’s accomplishment with others. Treating your business like that friend, makes it easy to talk about your business without holding back or feeling discomfort.

Make the customer the hero of your story
Focus your marketing and content on your client’s success stories [with their permission]. You solved their problem successfully. They are now raving fans. Create a case study, blog post or press release. If you focus on the client, the content you create will feel less like you are being self-promotional. It will also be something that the client will naturally want to share with their audience, garnering your even more mileage and visibility!

Be a customer educator and advocate
Offer great tips and information that will help your audience – both prospects and clients succeed. This will naturally position you as a knowledgeable resource, which will attract people who need your services. Don’t be afraid to give away your best content.

Just calling yourself the expert isn’t going to do it these days. Positioning yourself as an educator and an advocate for your customers success should be your major focus. When a prospect feels you are the source of valuable information, and they know you truly care about their results, then they will be the ones calling you the expert.  – Jack Mize

Let others sing your praises – it carries more weight
It’s not what you say about you, it’s what they say about you. Prospects trust recommendations from friends and family, online reviews and the media; these sources directly influence purchasing decisions. Have an active plan for gathering testimonials, getting media mentions…and display them prominently on your website, marketing materials…

When someone asks what you do, you can quote a customer…For example, “Clients say we solve their ___ problems quickly and affordably”

Make it easy for others to talk about you
There are many great plug ins and tools that make it easy to share content from your website or blog. If the share buttons are always available next to your content, your audience is more likely to help spread the word, as it’s almost effortless. I love the Social Warfare plug in as it gives you many options to help people share your content including customized social media images, pre-populated tweets and posts.

Focus on the great work you do, and how you can solve problems and provide solutions. There are folks out there who really need your help and you are doing them a disservice by not letting them know about your services and solutions

Related Content:

How to Use HARO to Get Press

Your Customer Experience Equals PR

Customer Experience = PR

Customer experience is a part of your PR. A very important component.  

Studies have shown that there are two types of customers who talk about your brand and your business – ones that are raving fans and love you and those who are very unhappy with you or the experience they’ve had with your company.

What is the experience people have with your company?

Your customer experience equals PR for your brand

A few examples – Let’s start with the happy experience

Fat Witch Brownies, make the yummiest brownies I know. I like to send a box of their brownies as a gifts to help celebrate happy occasions and to thank business colleagues for referrals or other generous actions.

I had recently ordered a gift box of brownies to thank a business colleague for his help on a project, when they didn’t arrive at the recipient’s office, I found out that I had used the wrong address.

I called the Fat Witch and asked if there’s a way to check on where they had delivered my order to, and if there was a way to get them rerouted. I fessed up that I had made fat witch tin boxa mistake with the address. They said no,  unfortunately they couldn’t trace the package, however they would gladly send the brownies again and only charge me the shipping.  This had been my mistake, and yet they were willing to share some of the cost to resend my package.

Customers who encounter positive social customer care experiences are nearly 3 times more likely to recommend a brand. Source: HBR

The bad customer experience

I went online to use Haiku Deck, a presentation software that I had been using for awhile. After spending over an hour creating a new presentation I saved it and went to export it. A window popped up telling me that to export it into Powerpoint, I would have to upgrade to the paid version for $9.95. This was a new requirement, but I was fine with paying to use their service – that is until I completed payment and returned to my work area on Haiku Deck only to find that my hours worth of work hadn’t been saved.

Yes, technology is great when it works.

I was extremely frustrated, first about the the loss of time, but also that I had just paid and was now left with nothing. I contacted customer service whose response was that I had done something wrong. They had tested the software therefore I had done something wrong.

95% of dissatisfied customers tell others about their bad experience. Source : Dimensional Research.

Time lost in creating the presentation. Time lost talking to customer service. Not a happy camper. Now the mere mention or thought of Haiku Deck brings up the unpleasant experience, which is now imprinted on my brain.

 71% of customers say that valuing their time is the most important thing a company can do to provide good service.  Source: Forrester 

Now back to how customer experience, and particularly customer service is part of your PR.

Public relations by definition is the practice of managing the spread of information between an individual or an organization and the public.

Consumers trust recommendations from friends and family, online reviews, and the media – in that order. Consumers make buying decisions based on recommendations online reviews and companies they read about in the media.

If your if your customers are going online and writing about you, posting on social media, or making recommendations to friends and family, what are they saying?

Remember, like me your customers remember the excellent and exceptional experiences and the terrible ones, and that’s what they will talk about.

I know which experience I want my customers to have and what I want my customers to be talking about.

The Fat Witch, has a made me even more of a raving fan. I just had to go and tell a few friends on social media to show my appreciation.

Related content: Customer Experiences – A Tale of Two Entrepreneurs

Media Lead Times – Key To Pitching The Media Successfully

media lead times deadline

Why I can’t get you into Entrepreneur or Inc. magazine next month.

I’ve gotten this request many times from prospects, “Can you get me featured in Entrepreneur magazine next month?”

No, I say without hesitation.

Not because I doubt my pitching skills but because there is something called lead times.

“Why not? I’ll pay whatever you charge,” persists the prospect.

Let me stop you right there. I didn’t hesitate to say no because TV, radio, magazines, newspapers, and some blogs and websites have lead times that govern their operations. These timelines may vary for different types of media outlets. Still, if you want to get media coverage or pitch a story or article, it’s essential to understand their lead times.

A Lead time in publishing describes the amount of time that a journalist has between receiving a writing assignment and submitting the completed piece. Depending on the publication, lead times can be anything from a couple of hours to many months. [source: Wikipedia]

Print publications like Entrepreneur or Inc. plan their issues four to six months in advance. This is one of the reasons that PR firms require a minimum 6-month retainer. Publicity can take time and planning to build a smart and strategic campaign, one that gets you media coverage.

As to my prospects who want to get featured next month, you are just too late. But don’t despair. With some planning, you can pitch the media with enough lead time to be quoted or appear on air, in print, or online.

Plan Backwards

1023px-Riding_a_Horse_Backwards_1110784Part of the key to successfully pitching publications on a story, a product launch, or an event is to work backward from your event date.

This way, if you were launching a product on February 1 of next year to get mentioned or featured in a print magazine such as Entrepreneur, you would have to start pitching 4 to 6 months before – in August to be safe.

I find planning backward can be can be beneficial when planning events and other promotional initiatives that have a firm date or event that I am building toward.

Here are some media lead times:

Monthly Consumer Magazine – Lead Time is four to six months

Newspaper sections vary [so it is best to check with the publication]

Daily Newspapers – Lead Time is one to three weeks*

TV Morning Shows [National] – Lead Time is two weeks to two months*

When in doubt, you can look at a publication’s media kit to see when the advertising closes for a particular issue; this will clue you into their lead times. You can always reach out to the publication to ask them precisely what their lead time is

* The one exception to these lead times can be ‘breaking news’. A story that has just happened and is considered very important and/or timely.

Related Content:

Before You Pitch The Media- 10 Things the Media Wishes You Knew

 

Promote Your Book Online – 8 Expert Tips

8-Expert-Tips-newWriting a book is a lot like having a baby. You need to prepare for the big event; a process often described as painful, yet one that yields beautiful results.

Pre-planning for your book’s publication is something you should start months before your publication date to ensure your book gets the notice that it deserves. Let’s help readers discover your book by promoting it everywhere online.

Here are 8 ways to promote your book and bring your book some much-needed publicity. Read my guest which appeared on the WiseStamp blog

Related: For more ways to promote your book get our Media Plan Template and our 2015 Publicity Toolkit and Planner

Book Promotion Using Press Releases