SSE Labs talk

Here's the presentation I gave at SSE Labs tonight.

Marketing Tips And Basics For New Businesses

What follows is courtesy of Dan York of Stellar-eMarketing ……

Hey guys when you start a new business, a huge, huge majority of your push should be marketing and advertising. If you're only doing it like 3-5 hours per week, you're killing yourself. It should be at least half of the time you spend. You'd better feel like you've worked on it when your done.

With all the marketing data and “gurus” out there now its almost as if you’re sifting through grains of sand at the beach to find the seashells that you’re really looking for. So let me give you a couple of pointers on the house:

As marketing has changed in the digital age, with its pluses and minuses, the underlying rules of engagement are still the same. So let's look at a basic:

Let’s define marketing:

marketing [mahr-ki-ting] –noun
1. the act of buying or selling in a market.
2. the total of activities involved in the transfer of goods from the producer or seller to the consumer or buyer, including advertising, shipping, storing, and selling.
Origin:
1555–65; market + -ing1

So as you can see there, marketing encompasses quite a bit. It’s not simply “getting the good word out”. When you look at Def #2 above, it should quickly become apparent that things like advertising or product delivery are just one of the many legs of your marketing relay-race.

So you need some real basics under your belt. Without those basics, all the marketing techniques out there can be fruitless. Case in point: remember a time when you met someone that you were attracted to. The package was good – nice hair, fit, well-dressed, maybe even a nice car and a giant wallet. But then…they opened their mouth. Out spewed the verbal vomit of their repulsive personality. You knew right then and there, without another second’s thought…they could never win you over. Not with all the sales jargon in the world. And so on with marketing. Forget "buzzwords", the market is immune to them now.

Here is what works - honesty, integrity, delivering a great product or service. Only then can you sell and market with conviction. Look at a used car salesman, he has to eat, and he knows he's selling junk half the time. And you perceive his lies a mile away.

What Makes A Press Release Newsworthy?

If you can craft a press release that ties in your product or service with a current event - or "creates" a current event involving your product or service that relates to current events, you'll often find that it attracts positive media attention leading to print, radio and television interviews.

Here's an example:

Two summers ago, comedic couple Sarah Silverman and Jimmy Kimmel were making daily headlines after breaking up.

At the same time, T-Dub Sanders was trying to increase his exposure for his new relationship book/guide on how to make up after a break up.

The following press release was crafted to create an "event" - an offer actually - that tied in his book in with this current event:

Jimmy Kimmel and Sara Silverman

Within hours, this press release began showing up on news searches related to the couple's breakup and also led to T-Dub being contacted by a large radio station for an interview on his book.

A long time expert in the field of publicity - especially with press releases - is Paul Hartunian. He's credited with being the first man actually "sell the Brooklyn Bridge" - he even got a mention on the Carson Show. Today he still teaches people how to get free publicity for his products and services. You can learn more about and from Paul here:

Paul’s Publicity Blog

The most timely is news relating to ….

1. Something that has happened.
2. Something that is happening right now.
3. Something that is happening in the future.

Some products are newsworthy (like Apple just announced new technology and you send out a press release that your next edition will include that technology).

Events are newsworthy. So are current trends.

Unless the person is a superstar or has a strong story, I don't think who you hired to be the new VP is that newsworthy. Neither is your new web site (put it in context of a bigger story).

I like studies, top tips, expert opinion relating to something that is going on right now in your industry, in the mainstream, etc. Want to take the temperature? GO to Search Twitter and type in a word relating to your news, competitor, industry & see what people are saying. That will give you a good idea what's happening right now.