Posts Tagged ‘pr’

The definition of insanity…

Wednesday, June 17th, 2009

Einstein said it best !

Einstein said it best !

I believe it was Einstein who came up with this oft repeated quote although i’ve seen it attributed to others too. Basically, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result !

How often in life do we do this ? I don’t have enough fingers and toes to even begin to count the number of times i’ve fallen foul of this truism.

If you find yourself negotiating with your staff, bemoaning your sales figures, despairing at the market, or putting the same advert in the same magazine month upon month(without testing it) then you’ve surely strayed down this route.

The clever thing to do (apparently) is to pick yourself up, dust yourself off and have a look at what you could do differently?

Implement a personal development meeting with each of your staff ?

Try a new sales avenue - take the product to the customer rather than waiting for them to come to you ?

Look at all the businesses that are surviving and thriving in our current economy?

Teach yourself the basic rules for PR so you can be the story instead of the advertising supporting the story ?

If any of these would be doing something differently to how you normally do it, then they’re worth a try.

What else could you come up with thats totally different to how you normally do things ?

Heck, if it ain’t broke then don’t fix it, but if you find yourself going home to your spouse or long suffering partner and complaining about the same things more than once a week, then its probably time for a change, before you drive yourself, or maybe them, quietly insane.

It might even be fun to do something differently. What five things in your store or the running of your store drive you crazy ?

Have a quick brainstorm with anyone who’ll listen about what you could do about them, don’t rely on partners and staff, involve the milkman, people down the pub, your hairdresser, anyone who might have a different view point to you -after all your way hasn’t been working so well, so maybe its time for a new approach ?

What have you got to lose ?

How to get people talking about your business…

Wednesday, June 10th, 2009

 

 

Visibility creates credibility !

Visibility creates credibility !

When there’s budget cuts, marketing and PR can seem like a frivolous option compared to rent and rates, but really if you’re not marketing your business and continually re-inforcing your message you run the risk of lessening your brand.

 

Note that I’m not talking here exclusively about advertising, rather a mix of advertising and other PR activities that don’t need to cost the earth. 

 

Building a strong brand isn’t an activity reserved for the big brands in this world any longer, small businesses can really see a return on investment for a bit of brand building.

 

How can you market your business effectively?  There are two questions you need to ask yourself…

1. Who’s my target customer (don’t say everyone) break this down into different stratas or types if you can, it will make this process easier for you.

2. Identify your message – or your USP ?  What’s different about your store ?

 

There’s lots of ways to market your business, local press, local radio, direct mail to your customer database, through your website, local events, online marketing, sponsorship and any other profile lifting activity you can think of… including the new social media that’s so much in the news at the moment.

 

PR which is a fancy name for giving information to journalists who might be interested enough to print your story is pretty much free if you do it yourself.  Ok, so you may not get into Vogue, but with a few well thought out press releases you should be able to get into your local magazines and newspaper.

 

PR really consists of building a strong relationship with local journalists so that when you have a story to tell you can get some good local coverage, you can build a relationship by being reliable, interesting and timely with your news.

 

Free editorial coverage is your goal here, and the old maxim visibility creates credibility should make this an activity worth considering… 

 

If you’re not sure where to start, download our free e-book – a crash course in PR from the e-book section & the sample press release template from the downloads section to help you on your way. 

 

PR has a reputation as one of those “black art” ideas, rather like web design, search engine optimisation or garages for women drivers, but once you know how it works it can be a real advantage in getting some great press coverage for your business

 

Remember : Visibility creates credibility !

 

 

Come on lets shake a tail feather…!

Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009

Let me see you shake a tail feather...

Let me see you shake a tail feather...

The definition of insanity, as someone much smarter than me once pointed out, is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result !

From a retail point of view, having just been at Pulse, I’d say its not just adding a few new lines to your shop (although that can’t hurt ) its looking at your business differently.

What do you offer? Is it gift solutions, fashion advice, seasonal inspiration, what’s the message behind your storefront?

Is everyone clear what you offer, or have you all been doing it so long its kinda got lost in the ether…? Sometimes a quick refresher course is all it takes to recover the sparkle.

Sometimes you’ve got to act like the peacock to attract the customers…. The peacock displays his feathers to attract attention, but independent retailers seem to like to keep a low profile. A low profile isn’t really an asset (unless you’re a troubled pop star)

Visibility = credibility !

The benefits of some good local pr will astound you….

* Send some press releases into your local publications (details of how to do this are on the e-book – crash course in PR)

* Paint your shop front – really jazz it up

* Invest in some new shop fittings

* Have an open/preview evening and invite along the local press for a photo opportunity

* Start a club

* Update your monthly newsletter

There’s a gazillion things you can do to re-ignite your interest in your business, and show off your feathers and preen a bit, after all it works for peacocks.

So why shouldn’t a little harmless self promotion work for your business ?

Shameless self promotion…

Friday, May 29th, 2009

seminar-microphone
In the spirit of our marketing mantra for this year, which if you haven’t heard it is :

* Niche marketing
* Fabulous customer service
* Shameless self promotion.

Nice and simple, easy to follow, a three point plan for success in 2009.

Where was I? ah yes, We’ve never used this blog for our own ends, but in the light of my shameless self promotion edict, we wanted to let you know that Rachel will be a guest seminar speaker at Pulse this weekend, Sunday 31st to be exact.

Rachel is speaking from 1pm - 2pm and the topic will be : Successfully promoting yourself and your business in 2009.

More specifically, how to attract and use PR to your advantage on a limited budget.

How to create a buzz around your business.

Why all the rules for marketing are different this year.

We’re still writing it, so you can be sure it’ll be bang up to date !

If you’re not going to be at Pulse, don’t worry we’ll make the seminar slides available on the site from Monday so you can download them at your convenience…

In the meantime, have a fabulous weekend….

Publicity So Far

Saturday, January 31st, 2009

We’re really pleased, we’ve recently appeared on the Spring Fair news site - you can see what they’re writing about us here:

http://www.springfair.com/page.cfm/action=Archive/ArchiveID=25/EntryID=1389

You can also see us in this months Gifts Today magazine - the Spring Fair Show issue.

On another positive note, it was great to see Retail Week backing UK retailers with the start of its “Backing UK Retail Campaign” It’s good to see people engaged in positive discussion about what’s possible for retailers. You can check out their campaign at http://www.retail-week.com/

With the inauguration of president Obama the hot topic, you can’t help but feel that everyone is ready for a change and while no-one thinks its going to be easy, there is a new mood emerging.

Positive Mental Attitude (PMA) all the way…Gifts Today Mag