The Marketing Mix | official blog of the Marketing Mentor community

Guest Post: Another HARO success story

We're big fans of Peter Shankman's Help a Reporter Out (HARO) mailing list here at the Marketing Mix blog. Previous guest poster and NYC-based feng shui consultant Ann Bingley Gallops is, too. Check out her latest experience with the list, and how she addressed the reporter in question to maximize her chances of becoming a journalist's resource.

I am on Peter Shankman’s Help a Reporter Out (HARO) mailing list. One of last Monday's editions (editrix's note: HARO goes out three times daily) contained the following query:

"I need an expert in the field of Feng Shui to speak about how harmonizing your bedroom/house will help relationship dynamics. This article will be posted on Beauty News NYC, an online beauty publication with over 400,000 unique visitors monthly. This is an opportunity to promote yourself as an expert. High resolution photo needed.”

I responded immediately with the following email:

"I am a Feng Shui expert here in NYC and have just given an entire workshop on this very topic, Feng Shui in the Bedroom.  In Feng Shui, the bedroom is one of the top three most important areas in any home. I love to talk about it because there are so many things people can do with Feng Shui to enhance their love lives in the bedroom."

I signed off with contact information and a link so that the reporter could check out my credentials.

The result? The reporter contacted me immediately to ask about my background and experience, and out of over 30 respondents to her query, she chose me for her piece. She told me that unlike the other responses she received, mine was "the most sincere". I interviewed with her the next morning and will be going to her home for a sample Feng Shui consultation. The results will appear on BeautyNewsNYC.com throughout the month of December. 

What did I learn? That “Be Yourself” applies in the field of media relations just as it does in so many parts of business life. This reporter didn’t want to hear about all the credentials I’ve accumulated until she was convinced that I was passionate about what I do.

Guest Post: Turning your passion into a profitable business

We go on and on here at the Marketing Mix about how a "real" job is not the sure thing it was for previous generations of gold-watch-and-full-pension retirees. Couple that with the rise in restlessness among an underchallenged, overburdened working population and you have the perfect conditions for striking out on your own. But how?

Christine L. Dennison, a fellow member of that amazing advice resource, the Ask Liz Ryan mailing list, recently answered that very question on the list with her own story about creating her job coaching business. It came from a place I think is so wise--creating a business around your own natural skills and passion--and was so helpful and well-written, I asked her if she minded sharing it here. Chris graciously accepted, and even agreed to author a few more guest posts, which I love: always great to get posts from a professional writer!

I set up my business twenty years ago when I decided that I really didn't want to go back to my corporate life when we started our family. I thought about what I could possibly do that people would be willing to pay for, and that I could do from home. I had been working for 15 years, had just spent 8 years as a headhunter, but had no desire to continue going after corporate clients -- I loved the process, but had always been frustrated that I wasn't getting paid to help anyone but those "perfect" candidates at the top of the food chain. I had developed skills in writing résumés, and I understood the hiring process.

I started by mailing a letter to everyone I knew (previous colleagues, friends, Lamaze class alums, etc.), announcing my new business. I self-published a one-page quarterly newsletter and looked for cheap advertising in school event brochures, village directories, etc. I bit the bullet and spent big bucks (for me) for a one-inch ad in the Donnelley Yellow Pages. Gradually, the business came. When the Internet came along, I added a website. Business was steady.

One challenge for you is to start charging for what you now do for free. You'll want to enlist your current network to help you in your marketing -- maybe continuing to help your current group for free and charging only new clients, especially since your current group is your best resource for new business. Since you're good at networking, you can now apply those skills and use those contacts to promote your business.

Christine Dennison, celebrating 19 years as The Job Search Coach, helps people find jobs they love through her résumé writing and job search coaching services. She offers a wealth of practical advice from her previous experience as a headhunter, as a corporate HR manager and trainer, and in business operations and marketing.

Ask Liz Ryan is the online community based on the workplace, work/life and networking advice of author, commentator and advisor Liz Ryan. Members use the group to get advice from Liz and from one another on careers, business, networking and work/life issues. Its mission is to support working people at the intersection of work and life.

Guest Post: HARO Creates Buzz for Your Business

I've been a fan of PR genius Peter Shankman's Help a Reporter Out mailing list since I first discovered it this spring, talking it up here, in my own newsletter and in countless emails, conversations and presentations. (In fact, one of the highlights of my recent trip to Seattle was getting to meet the man in person—he's everywhere, is Peter, and just as funny, sharp and generous as his thrice-daily messages would lead you to believe.)

I've used it to raise the profile of Crohn's disease a bit, in an article for MSNBC online. Ilise was recently interviewed for a piece on shyness to run in the NY Post in November. And here, Marketing Mentor client Dara Turransky shares her experience, as well as some tips on how to get the most out of a terrific service.

HARO is an excellent resource for creating some buzz for your business. I used HARO recently to find radio interviews for two of my clients. The pitches worked out great. My clients received much needed exposure, and I looked like a hero to them.

The best part about the service is that it's FREE. All you need to do is sign up for the daily inquiries and HARO is sent to you three times a day. HARO reporters are always looking for experts to interview for articles ranging from the latest Halloween trends to best marketing practices.

Keep in mind these simple tips to get the most out of HARO:

• Only answer inquiries that match your business objectives.
• Craft your pitch to match what the reporter is looking for as closely as is humanly possible.
• Don't SPAM any of the reporters with off-topics.
• You can forward inquiries to friends, but don't post them on the Web or on any blog.
• You aren't allowed to harvest the reporters' email addresses in any way. There are severe virtual consequences for anyone who does.
• You don't need to know a great deal of PR to use the list, just be yourself and professional. If you're so inclined to learn a bit more about PR, then I would read Michael Levine's Guerilla PR 2.0. He writes in an easy-to-read format with great tips and lots of examples on how to write a pitch that delivers results. You will also find most of the actionable items in the chapters can be scaled down for a one or two-person shop.

You can sign up for HARO here and join the other 36,000 subscribers on the list. Information on Michael Levine, his book as well as his PR firm is available here.

Dara Turransky is the Founder and Creative Director of 7 Lucky Dogs, a marketing agency for the pet industry. Learn more about her agency by visiting her website or email her at dara AT 7luckydogs DOT com.

Guest Post: The Big Duh!

Self-promotion is part of any good marketing mix, but for some of us, it's the last thing we think about. This great story from Marketing Mentor client and frequent guest contributor, Jezra Kaye, illustrates why it's a good idea to always have a few bits of "you" stuff handy.

Thanks to a recommendation from Laura Allen (founder of the awesome 15secondpitch.com), I was recently interviewed for “A League of Our Own,” the excellent show about women and achievement on WRHU.

As always before an interview or panel appearance, I sent the show’s producer (a) my suggested introduction and (b) a list of possible questions and roughly how I would answer them. (You do this, too, right? It saves the interviewer a ton of leg work, and makes you look prepared, not pushy.)

The next day, producer Fran Spencer sent back her list of questions she planned to ask.  Many of my questions were on there, but so was this zinger: “Tell us about some successes you’ve had.”

Duh! I was all set to talk about how public speaking is different for men and women, how college women can learn to speak the language of success, etc. The only thing I wasn’t prepared to talk about was my achievements—which was actually the topic of the show!

I’ve learned my lesson, and will never again go out in public without some well-thought-out “brags” to share with one and all. We’re all proud of our successes, so why is it so difficult for us to talk to others about them?

Jezra Kaye is a presentation skills coach who helps good speakers become great and excellent speakers become extraordinary.  This Wednesday night, 10/15, she’ll be leading a workshop in NYC on Presentations that Persuade.

Guest Post: How I got a speaking gig in a market I've been targeting

NY-based feng shui and organizing expert Ann Bingley Gallops saw a lot of similarities between her field and that of the professional real estate stager. Here's her story on how she got her foot in the door of a local stagers' association meeting.

I am a Feng Shui and professional organizing expert. I recently taught a workshop on “Feng Shui in the Bedroom” which had several attendees from my association, the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO). One of the workshop attendees is an organizer as well as a professional “stager”. Let’s call her Linda.

Staging and real estate in general are markets I am targeting. I provide Feng Shui and organizing insights that help these professionals create an environment that looks great and has good “chi energy flow” so they’re more appealing to potential home buyers.

The next time I saw Linda, a few weeks later at a NAPO chapter meeting, she told me she’d implemented some of the tips she had learned at my workshop and that her clients had been thrilled.

We got into a conversation and I offered to put her on my newsletter mailing list. It just so happened that the newsletter I’d sent out a few days prior had been about the similarities between staging and Feng Shui, so I sent her that one to start off with.

The very next day she wrote to ask me if I’d like to speak to the local association of Real Estate Stagers! So I am on the calendar for one of their upcoming chapter meetings!

P.S. I also asked her for a testimonial for my website, which she was happy to provide :)

Guest Post: When opportunity knocks, are you listening--or talking

In the Hilarious-Until-It-Happens-To-You Department, previous guest mixer and Marketing Mentor client Drury Bynum of Workerbee Creative got an interesting look at connection and opportunity from the other end of the wire. Read 'em and weep...

At a recent fashion-related networking event, I was reminded of the power of listening when a zealous host bent my ear for a solid 7 minutes - a blink of an eye when you're engaged in conversation, an eternity when someone is showering you in the blinding light of their ego. That’s how long it took for this potential client became someone I never cared to see again.

As a side project, I make 1-minute documentaries on artists and designers - folks whose work I admire. I do these for free and I am always on the lookout for new subjects. Previous to this networking evening, the organizer mentioned that the host was looking for ways to market with video. So I thought I would talk with her and see what I could offer. I even brought my camera. Maybe she was a candidate for one of my films.

I approached the host and introduced myself. That was the beginning and the end of the conversation. In the next 7 minutes, she gave me: her personal history; a history of the event; why the event was video worthy, and; a lamentation on how she couldn't afford me. Finally she asked me a question about fashion-related video but graciously supplied the answer herself.

In the beginning I tried to get a word in, "Well that's -- I think -- Have you -- I could --." In the middle I gave up and just waited for her to finish. By the end I was looking for a way out. In such a short time, this person went from someone I might have offered free services to someone I wanted to avoid at all costs. I'm still amazed at the value of the opportunity she lost but never even knew it. I imagine that she left the conversation thinking, "That went pretty well."

It's obvious that it makes marketing sense to listen and ask questions, but this lesson puts a monetary value on it. Think of the millions of dollars that have been lost simply because someone can't keep their mouth shut.

Guest Post: Conquering fear in one easy (cold) call

As she herself admits, Judith Reppucci should be a killer cold caller. She's a successful marketing copywriter with 15 years' experience in old-school, pound-the-pavement sales--for the Yellow Pages! So, fearless, right? No problem, right?

Well, the following account just proves that no one may be immune to fears about cold calling. And also that there is a way out, and it just might be Ilise & Peleg's no-nonsense, low-key approach to cold calls. Listen to Judith's experience of putting the information and inspiration she found in the Designer's Guide to Marketing & Pricing Podcast into action—serious action!

Six months ago, I met an mailing house exec at a New England Direct Marketer’s networking event. When she heard that I specialized in direct mail fundraising copy, she told me to call her coworker in the nonprofit side of their business. “They might be looking for some help,” she said. She even gave me the extension number, and told me to say she asked me to call.

Really, could there possibly be a better warm lead?

I have a folder of cold calling advice. I’ve read a half dozen books on how to cold-call. I’ve even been videotaped for cold call critiques. No matter. I was still stuck, mired in the fear that my value proposition wasn’t good enough, and that I’d get nervous and fumble (it’s happened before). I’m beyond ashamed that I’m such a big old wuss.

Then, a few weeks ago, while I was recovering from surgery, I started listening to your wonderful and very generous podcasts (thanks, Peleg, you’re great,too.) And, just listening to your casual, low-key delivery has made all the difference. Gee, you mean, you really don’t have to dial with all your marketing guns blazing? You don’t have to reel off a phony sales spiel when you‘re transferred to voice mail? And you can actually act, hmmm, natural and even genuine?

Yesterday I listened to Marketing Mentor podcast number six, the one with cold call role plays. “I can do that,” I told myself.

And guess what?

I did!

In fact, I just hung up from a great phone call with that prospect I’ve been avoiding.

When I gave the name of my referral at NEDMA, the prospect said, “Oh, sure.”

When I told him what I did and who I’ve worked for he said, “Oh, if you work for them, I guess you do a lot of hospital work.”

When I asked if he uses outside copywriters, he responded, “Not right now, but we’re expanding to more cause based clients, so this call might be coming at a good time for the fall appeals.”

And the rest of the call continued like something out of a cold call success story. Yes, indeed, he agreed it would be a good idea for me to send him a package of my work and my business card. Yes, he’d like it if I stayed in touch – and he readily gave me his e-mail. Yes, in fact, he wanted me to give him a call later this summer.

I've got to wrap this up because I have to send off my e-mail follow-up (gotta do it within 30 minutes, right?), but thanks again for all the easy-to-follow advice on the podcasts.

Oh—and speaking of podcasts, as a result of listening to yours, I’ve already ordered The Designer’s Guide to Marketing and Pricing. It’s very clear that you have great advice for copywriters, too!

Judith Reppucci is an independent copywriter, and she lives on beautiful Cape Cod. She crafts fundraising appeals for direct marketing consultants and nonprofit organizations. She also writes marketing collateral and online material for business and healthcare organizations. You can reach her at judith AT reppucci DOT com or at her website.

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Have you learned anything from the Designer's Guide podcasts (not just for designers anymore!) you've already put to use? Got a great story, flash of insight or other fantastic tidbit to share with the class? Email me (colleen AT marketing-mentor DOT com) and maybe we can help make everyone a little bit smarter.

Guest Post: The Girls Just Wanna Have Businesses

Marketing Mentor client Jezra Kaye has talked about her networking experiences in the field before for the Marketing Mix blog. Today's story details a recent experience in the company of women, and covers some interesting changes in the nature of networking over the years.

The best networking experience I’ve had in over a year (perhaps ever) was at last Friday’s Womensphere Entrepreneurial Leadership Summit—a one-day event in NYC that was inspiring, informative and fun.   

The 200+ women (and over 40 speakers) who gathered to present, learn and brainstorm on topics ranging from Web 2.0 to Angel Investing to The Entrepreneurial Life Cycle ran the gamut of business types—from college women launching their first ventures (one example:  leak-proof, stain-resistant panties) to recent biz school grads (“HBS” was a much-heard acronym) to venture capitalists to celebrity bloggers to CEOs of long-established firms.

Every age, stage and ethnicity was represented—yet there were two big areas of commonality among these extraordinarily diverse and interesting women:

1.  They were NICE. The passion for entrepreneurship is a great leveler.  But credit for the collegiality at this event also goes to the Womensphere team, led by CEO/Founder Analisa Balares, which set a tone of warmth, enthusiasm, curiosity and inclusion.  This atmosphere of easy acceptance meant that everyone spoke to everyone else—and the business cards were flying.   

2.  They had GREAT SHOES. “Dress for success” used to mean ugly navy suits and white broadcloth shirts, but the vividly dressed entrepreneurs at this conference made it clear that those days are gone for good.  We aren’t just blazing new trails—we’re doing it in pumps, peek-toes, platforms and spikes.

Carrie Bradshaw, eat your heart out!

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Jezra Kaye is a master speaker coach and speechwriter who helps her clients say the things that matter.  On 7/29, she’ll be leading “PRESTO! Presentation,” a workshop on how to talk to anyone about any topic, in New York City.  Learn more at Jezra's website, or sign up for her newsletter.

Guest Post: There’s Gold in Them There Tweets!

Looks like the communicatrix ain't the only Twitter apologist in the Marketing Mentor fambly; previous guest mixer and Marketing Mentor client Drury Bynum of Workerbee Creative—that's @drubynum for those of you on Twitter—also has good words for my current favorite time-waster—er...social media space.

You can't throw a rock in the blog world and not hit someone evangelizing about how social networks have changed everything. But I've always felt it hard to justify my time spent adding friends to Facebook, photos to Flickr or alerting my 68 followers on Twitter that I drink too much coffee this morning. I've always thought, "Am I really making connections here, or am I just personality spamming?"

Well, now I’m a believer because I actually I turned a relationship on Twitter into a paying job.

Twitter is a public instant messaging service, where you can subscribe to the posts of whomever you like, and vice versa. Like most, I originally didn't see the value. Yet it started to become clear when one evening I posted, "Thank God, or whomever, for Pandora." The next morning Pandora was following me. Pandora was obviously searching for Twitter entries (probably with a 3rd party app like Summize) that contained their name, and, as a bonus, accolades. I realized then the value of access to an audience that is actively listening.

The Twitter call to action is “What are you doing?” It should be, “What are you focused on right now?” This clarifies the point a bit – if you answer the first question, you may say, “I’m drinking coffee,” which is a dead end. But if you say, “I’d love to find a way to keep my coffee warm to the last drop,” (I did this) then you’ve created an invitation to respond. If your Tweets (individual Twitter entries) are useful, interesting, entertaining, part of a larger conversation or contain keywords that others are searching for, then you will get attention.

So how did I turn this attention into a paying gig? After posting a link to a video that I had created, one of my followers viewed it and sent me a direct message (via Twitter). "I've been following you on Twitter for a little while now and was checking out your blog." In the next sentence, she offered me a video job. Shortly after that, I came very close to securing a video shoot in Portugal after sending a casual tweet to a member of a large filmmaker network. I didn't get the assignment, but the point was that I was in the right place talking to the right person.

There is obviously no formula for getting work from Twitter, but if you use your imagination and talk about things that are valuable to the Twittersphere, then you will make some valuable connections.

Guest Post: Crazy stats

With Peleg & Ilise in Boston for the HOW conference this week, previous guest mixer Jennifer Neal of K9 Design is stepping up to kick butt and name names here on the blog. Today's entry is another great lesson in cold calling. Jen, can I get you to handle mine for me? :-)

Here's a short and sweet lesson I learned this week.

Thursday rolled around and I realized that I hadn't made any calls yet so I panicked - not so much because my life, as I know it, is over...but more so because Ilise was going to kill me if I hadn't made my calls.

So in a hurry I made 6 quick calls to my existing data base that I hadn't spoken to since 2005 - I know...don't ask.

But (get this) out of 6 calls - 2 called me back and out of those 2 I booked an appointment with 1. That appointment, which I had yesterday, turned into a proposal for a new publication which looks very promising.

So what lessons did I learn:

1. It's NEVER to late to call them back - even if it has been 3 years!!!! I'm sorry to say this but...Most of them don't remember when you called them last anyway.

And...

2. 6:1 call ratios are crazy stats.

So get out there and call. Don't be scared, don't be shy, just get out there. Calling can be a key to the next open door.