Thursday, May 26, 2011

How to follow up your news releases and story pitches





By Joan Stewart | Posted: May 26, 2011  http://ow.ly/541W9  

Can you remember a story idea you pitched a year ago that resulted in no news coverage of any kind?


If so, how quickly could you respond if a reporter called you today wanting to cover the story? Would you start groping for words or asking stupid questions like, “Who did you say you wanted to interview?” Or would you be ready on a second's notice?
Sound ludicrous? Well, it happened to publicist Jill Lublin, who knew how to handle it, and it could happen to you, too.

A few years ago, Lublin pitched an idea about one of her clients, a professional speaker, to 
Meeting Planner magazine. Despite several follow-ups, she never got a response.

“Then one year later—count 'em—365 days later, I got a call and this reporter said, 'Yes, we want to do the story, and by the way, tomorrow. Are you ready?' And of course the answer is yes, you're always ready when the media calls.” That's valuable advice regarding follow-ups; never assume a story pitch is dead.

Lublin, co-author of the book
 Guerrilla Publicity, also says:
• When following up, remember The Rule of Seven. That means you should follow up seven times, using a combination of phone calls and emails, before you stop contacting journalists. But always be ready in case they call you.

• Never follow up on routine news releases announcing things like promotions or awards you've won, or they'll view you as a pest. Your efforts are better spent following up on larger stories you have pitched.

• When following up, concentrate on benefits. Explain how the idea you are pitching is the solution to a problem—and do it quickly, in less than 30 seconds.

• When you call or email, don't say, “Did you get my press release?” or “I'm following up on a call I made two weeks ago.” Jill says: “I typically will say, 'I sent you some information.' That’s my code word for press release. What I have found when talking to the media is they hate when you call them up and say, 'Did you get the press release?' What they love is for you to talk about the information in terms of how it can be readily used by them, and why they would care. Really. That’s the bottom line. Why would they care?”

• When following up, never, ever ask a reporter to alert you when the story is printed, or to send you a certain number of copies of the story. It’s your job to monitor the publications, then call the circulation department and order however many copies you want. Expect to pay for them. 
Lublin shared dozens more tips for follow-ups during a live teleseminar called "Failproof Ways to Follow Up After Sending a News Release or Pitch Letter." 
Kevin Brown www.kbsinsight.blogspot.com 

Monday, May 23, 2011

The Most Expensive Bottle of Pinot Noir Ever Sold

The Most Expensive Bottle of Pinot Noir Ever Sold | May 19th 2011 Wine Spectator http://ow.ly/50Y6s
• We all know about Asian buyers bogarting the Bordeaux at auctions these days but Burgundy's top bottle is coming to America. A private U.S. collector took the top lot at the Christie’s fine-wine auction in Geneva, Switzerland, May 17, scoring a 1945 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Romanée-Conti for an eye-popping $123,899, besting the high estimate by more than 50 percent and shattering the world record for the highest price ever reached for a 750ml bottle of Burgundy at auction. Take that Hong Kong. The bottle comes with stellar provenance: It was originally donated by DRC owner Aubert de Villaine to Christie’s for a charity auction in Geneva in 2007, where it was bought and remained impeccably stored until this week, when it hit the block again to make history. Only 600 bottles of this end-of-war Romanée-Conti were ever made, and the 1945 vintage represents the final harvest from ungrafted pre-phylloxera vines. The entire Romanée-Conti vineyard was uprooted in 1946 and did not produce wine again until the 1952 vintage, which currently averages a mere $7,600 per bottle on the Wine Spectator Auction Index.

• Last week, Unfiltered brought you news of the auction of Bernie Madoff's wine cellar, which had been confiscated by the FBI and U.S. Marshals Service following his conviction for swindling billions of dollars out of investors in his Ponzi scheme. Despite the questionable provenance of the cellar's contents, wine lovers are still buying what Bernie Madoff is selling—well, technically, what the federal government is selling. Despite an estimated value of $15,000 to $21,000, the sale realized $41,530, with 100 percent of the lots sold and 54 of the 59 up for bidding exceeding their high estimates. But it wasn't the trophy wines driving up the tally (a bottle of 1975 Pétrus sold for just $900; the 1964 Cheval-Blanc garnered just $550). It was apparently the novelty of owning booze that once belonged to America's most infamous white-collar criminal that drove up prices on all the lower-end items confiscated from his cellar: A case of Veuve-Clicquot Brut Champagne Yellow Label Non-Vintage (about $450 retail at Unfiltered's local wine shop) sold for $1,500; a handful of 2-ounce airplane bottles of Smirnoff vodka, Bombay gin and Grand Marnier, valued at $10, sold for an astounding $300. As shocking as it may be that people are still jumping at the chance to overpay for Madoff investments, the money is at least going to a worthy recipient this time around, via the U.S. Department of Justice Asset Forfeiture Fund. “The proceeds from this auction are going toward compensating Madoff’s victims, so we couldn't be happier with the results,” said Kimberly Janis, auction director for Morrell & Co.

Thursday, May 12, 2011

Five Things Every Entrepreneur Should Know About Getting Funded

Tom Taulli - Forbes Finance Corner 5-11-11 
It’s not 2008 but growth capital isn’t exactly hanging on trees, either. For those looking for funding, stick to the fundamentals. Here are five:
Network furiously. Even though we live in a digital world, investors are living, breathing organisms–which means that they still prefer face-to-face meetings. After all, they are betting on a company’s team, and teams are also composed of carbon-based mammals. That’s why entrepreneurs should go to the places where investors hang out, such as conferences.  It’s also smart to network with the so-called gatekeepers: attorneys and accountants.  They will often make introductions to investors.
Master your presentation. This means having ready, reasoned and rigorous answers to a few key questions:  How big is the market? How will you make money?  What makes you different?  Why will customers buy your product?  How much money do you need?  What will you spend the money on? It’s a grueling process, but it will hone your ideas and help your business succeed. Oh, and get a tablet computer, like an iPad: You will be able to give a presentation anytime, anywhere (check out my recent article on mobile presentations).
Hire an attorney. Entrepreneurs get obsessed with how much their company is worth. Stop. Valuation of a financing is only one of many critical factors. Investors have other clever ways to get an edge. They may get better preferences, such as in the event of a sale of the company. A smart attorney will save you a bundle later on.
Delight a few customers who can spread the word. Having a great product isn’t enough–the key is getting customers to say you have one. Most investors will talk to customers. If they see there is lots of enthusiasm for the product, it will certainly make funding much easier.
Believe. If you waffle, investors will get antsy. Be willing to listen, but have confidence in your vision.
Kevin Brown www.kbsinsight.blogspot.com 

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

INVITE YOUR CUSTOMERS ONTO TWITTER

Invite Your Customers Onto Twitter http://ow.ly/4SpKR-Chris Brogan.com
Often times, people tell me, “But my customers aren’t ON Twitter.” This is probably true. Twitter still has only 140 million or so users. But that doesn’t mean that you couldn’t invite them onto Twitter as a way to communicate with your business. You might just have to help them out a little bit more than putting “Follow Us On Twitter” on the bottom of your recent marketing materials.

YOUR APPROACH TO TWITTER First, make sure your approach to Twitter is that you wish to use it to both inform your customers, as well as to engage with them in between purchases. If you’re just going to do A, it’s not very useful. Tweeting out your coupon codes isn’t going to show you a huge return on effort. Keeping people interested in what you’re saying and showing them that you’re interested in what they’re saying will keep you top of mind, which translates much better into future business and repeat business, plus referrals.

Make your account a picture of you or of whoever’s going to do the tweeting. If you MUST have a logo, have the logo be a little badge in the lower third of the avatar picture. We’re shooting for a human connection here. People don’t form connections with logos (though they can be brand enthusiasts).
What you’re going to talk about is kind of a recipe. You talk about 50% of the time about them, your customers. You interact with them. You cheer their victories. You mention which song they talked about and that you like it or don’t. 50% is about them. 25% is about stuff pertaining to others that might be interesting to them. If your customers are runners, you point out interesting races, or new technology that you’re not selling, or new techniques. The last 25% can be about you, but hopefully, you’ll think in terms of how you equip them. How can the information you provide, even if it’s selling something, equip them to do better? That’s the big goal.

HOW TO INVITE THEM There are two ways people can participate with you on Twitter. One is very passive, and it might just be that your customers only want that. In this case, you can just explain that you use Twitter to share useful information to their interests, and that you also share company news on Twitter. You provide them the full URL of your Twitter account: http://twitter.com/youramazingbusiness . In this case, you’re presuming that your customers don’t really want all the interaction we talked about above, but that they can still benefit from your updates.

In the second, you help walk them into starting their own Twitter account. It’s not that hard to explain to people. You show them how to sign up at Twitter.com. You can explain that there are all kinds of interesting people to follow on Twitter. (A great service for finding people to follow is Listorious.) Show them the FUN part of using Twitter. Do your customers like Lada Gaga? Then show them where to find her. Are they into politics? Show them both sides of the aisle. My dad’s into Poker, so he follows all kinds of professional poker players. It keeps him reading and interacting. You can do the same with your customers.
If you do it the second way, make sure to get their Twitter account names. Add these to your CRM, so that you can contact these folks via Twitter, so that you can add them to your list.

FIND SOME MORE PEOPLE ON TWITTER If your business is location-specific, go to http://search.twitter.com and put in the various ways people talk about your location. For instance, Milwaukee people often also say MKE when talking about their city. Make sure your search says “Milwaukee OR MKE” to find everyone talking. From that, pluck out the people who might also be useful to follow as prospective customers.

You can do the same with search terms for what your business does. Do you sell plumbing supplies? Look for people talking about construction, building, architecture, etc. It’s slow going. No one will tell you otherwise. But there’s some opportunity in doing this legwork, at least to get a base going. Then, when you’ve started even a small community of people to follow and interact with, some organic growth will happen.
TWITTER ISN’T A CHORE Twitter’s something you can fit into your business in between other things you’re doing. You don’t have to schedule off Twitter time. You just have to get into the habit of finding a little moment to add something to your stream. It gets to be a simple habit over time. It comes effortlessly, once you get the sense that people are listening (even sometimes) and that you’re adding some value.
Kevin Brown www.kbsinsight.blogspot.com 

Selling VS. Inviting

Seth's Blog: Selling vs. inviting http://ow.ly/4Splr

Selling vs. inviting

Selling is often misunderstood, largely by people who would be a lot more comfortable merely inviting.
If I invite you to a wedding, or a party, or to buy a $500,000 TV ad for $500, there's no resistance on your part. Either you jump at the chance and say yes, or you have a conflict and say no. It's not my job to help you overcome your fear of commitment, to help you see the ultimate value and most of all, to work with you as you persuade yourself and others to do something that might just work.
If the marketing and product development team do a great job, selling is a lot easier... so easy it might be called inviting. The guy at the counter of the Apple store selling the iPad2 isn't really selling them at all. Hey, there's a line out the door of people with money in their pockets. I'm inviting you to buy this, if you don't want it, next!
The real estate broker who says that the house would sell if only he could get below market pricing and a pre-approved mortgage is avoiding his job.
The salesperson's job: Help people overcome their fear so they can commit to something they'll end up glad they invested in.
The goal of a marketer ought to be to make it so easy to be a salesperson, you're merely an inviter. The new marketing is largely about this--creating a scenario where you don't even need salespeople. (Until you do.)
Selling is a profession. It's hard work. Ultimately, it's rewarding, because the thing you're selling delivers real value to the purchaser, and your job is to counsel them so they can get the benefit.
But please... don't insist that the hard work be removed from your job to allow you to become an inviter. That's great work if you can get it, but it's not a career.
Kevin Brown www.kbsinsight.blogspot.com 

Monday, May 9, 2011

How to Merge Corporate Cultures



Inc Magazine- Tim Donnelly -

http://ow.ly/4QNrd           

Mergers and acquisitions can create strange bedfellows, but the drawbacks of companies' cultures not meshing together can have an impact on the bottom line.

Through all the mergers he's been a part of, Mike Sprouse has yet to see one that doesn't entail at least a few hiccups. "I don't think I've ever heard of any colleague of mine who's gone through a combination who said it's easier than they thought," says Sprouse, chief marketing officer for Epic Media Group, a digital marketing company that last year merged with a smaller ad network. "Most people say it's more difficult than they thought."

Many of the problems come from the sometimes-awkward mash-up of two distinct corporate cultures—a relationship that experts say is like the first day of high school or a new marriage, because you have no choice but to navigate the unfamiliar situation.
Mergers and acquisitions can create strange bedfellows, but the drawbacks of companies' cultures not meshing together can have an impact on the bottom line.
"The biggest thing it does is it hinders morale," Sprouse says. "When that happens, there's a tendency to hinder relationships with clients, vendors and that sort of thing."
Follow these tips from merger experts to figure out how to prevent your new marriage from ending in a quick divorce:

Merging Your Corporate Cultures:
 Do Your Due Diligence
Nancy Rothbard, a management professor at Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvannia, says recent studies show the failure rate of mergers is close to 75 percent, and the majority don't produce the expected financial returns for years after the merger has taken place.
"In some of the research, there's been a lot of discussion on how the culture piece has been really central to why they fail," she says.
That happens because most companies don't consider the differences in corporate cultures when analyzing a potential merger in the first place.
"Often the things that are harder to assess are the qualitative aspects," she says. "It often can create a lot of challenge for getting the best out of employees."
You can get a jump on this problem by thinking ahead: While the legal team is scrutinizing the proposed merger, have someone elsetake a look at the cultural differences between the two companies. This way, you're not just plopping new employees into an unfamiliar environment and expecting them to sink or swim.
Culture clash is too often a scapegoat when mergers go wrong, says Joe Aberger, the president of Pritchett, a strategy firm that specializes in mergers and corporate culture and is headquartered in Dallas. Factoring it into the preparations for the merger helps avoid scapegoating.
"Executives would rather blame culture than shouldering the blame for destroying millions of dollars of shareholder value," he says. "You can't get lost in analyzing culture. You need to keep your eye on the bottom line."

Merging Your Corporate Cultures: 
Don't Try to Change Everything
One mistake companies often make is assuming they need to completely throw out the pre-existing cultures after the merger. In fact, companies that do it successfully converge on a few shared values, some common operating principles, and standard  processes, but leave other aspects as they were.
"You don't need one common culture for everyone to work together," Aberger says. "Sometimes value can be squandered in pursuit of unnecessary consistency between companies."
Experts say there's no such thing as a merger of equals: one company always brings the dominant culture. Smart companies will go out of their way to be protectionist and preserve certain parts of the smaller entity, Rothbard says.
"There may be certain aspects of the culture you want to preserve and value in the firm you're merging with," she says. "Make sure you don't destroy what made that company a really great company to buy or to merge with."
Start by identifying which aspects of the culture are most important to the bottom line; the rest you may be able to leave untouched.
"Don't try to change everything," Aberger says. "Be very mission critical in your approach."
Rothbard says to make sure not to establish a system of "haves" and "have nots" in the office, which can quickly create tension.

Merging Your Corporate Cultures: Communicate Expectations
To combat that "first day of high school" feeling after a merger, communication is key. This can be done through regular updates, employee surveys, one-on-one lunches, and meetings.
"You absolutely have got to empower people to have a voice in defining what the new corporate culture is going to be," Sprouse says. "What you want to do is find aspects of both cultures that work in the new combined culture."
Rothbard says something that often sinks mergers is when employees don't know what's expected of them in the new environment.
"When people move from one firm to another, they have cultural baggage they bring with them, in terms of how you think you should be behaving to be effective in their job," she says. She cited a hypothetical example of discount insurance company Geicomerging with a higher-end insurance firm. Should employees of the new company go after a few high-premium customers or stick with Geico's model of signing on lots of low-end customers?
"That can be a very, very delicate operation," she says.
Sprouse says to make sure not to focus just on the central office either. If you have sites outside the main headquarters, make an extra effort to keep them in the loop.
Most of all, don't expect all this to happen right away. Like any new relationship, it takes time to settle in, usually much longer than you may be expecting.
"Often times we don't know what it is about the culture that may be incompatible," Rothbard says. "It takes time: When we have these skirmishes as things flare up, values and behaviors pan out."
Kevin Brown www.kbsinsight.blogspot.com

Nature is awesome!