Last week I had coffee with a reporter from USA Today. It reminded me of the importance of providing news quickly and tailored to their needs. One of the very best ways to reach that goal is to write your story the same way they would write their story.
How do you know how they'd approach a story? One way is to search for the "nut graph" that appears near the top of every story. The nut paragraph is typically just after the lead, and is the paragraph where the writer explains in a nutshell why the story is important. Often times it includes statistics, perspective, and/or comparisons.
Remember that newspapers, magazines, and web publications are always searching for a good story. Make sure they find yours. Getting your message into the hands of the right media is a win-win situation. Editors and journalists are on very tight deadlines. If you hand them newsworthy stories on a silver platter, you are helping them meet their deadlines, fill their pages, and maintain the interest of their readers. You’ll also find yourself being featured regularly.
Not sure of how to write for the media? Check out our Fast Track to Marketing Mastery program at www.boostyourbottomline.com and sign up for a fr*ee Marketing Mastery Success Kit at www.boostyourbottomline.com.
© 2007 BoostYourBottomLine.com
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Certified Marketing Spitfires Holly George and Leslie Hamp are creators of the Fast Track to Marketing Mastery program. To learn more about the step-by-step program, and to sign up for their *FREE* Marketing Mastery Success Kit, visit www.boostyourbottomline.com
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Think Like a Guerrilla Marketer — Back to Basic Training
When most people talk to us about their marketing, they focus on advertising. While advertising is a part of the marketing mix, that's all it is. A part. Marketing is much bigger.
A better way to think about marketing is to envision a pyramid. Marketing is at the top clearly defining the direction of a business or organization while advertising and public relations are at the base supporting the marketing function.
Think of it this way.
Marketing is everything you do to make your product or service more visible, more desirable and more profitable. To make sure you're marketing in the most effective way possible, you must get back to basics. Consider the basis for your marketing — the "4 P's of Marketing" — incorporating Guerrilla Marketing strategies by making sure you've addressed every aspect or your product or service BEFORE you throw marketing dollars at it.
Your Marketing plan — which should address advertising, public relations, and a host of other marketing options — will clearly define the big picture and provide focus and direction based on the "4 P's of Marketing:"
1. Product
2. Price
3. Place
4. Promotion
Whenever you market your business, you are using any combination of the 4 P’s. It is crucial to make sure you have the right marketing mix — whether you’re sending an invoice, running an ad, submitting a PR article, or hosting a big event — before spending dollar #1.
Think like a true Guerrilla Marketer. Make sure you have the basics down first. Get the right marketing mix. Then create an effective marketing plan that ensures you're sending the correct message... within your budget... every time.
Get a FREE article on marketing mix in your FREE "Marketing Mastery Success Kit" from Certified Guerrilla Marketing Experts Holly George and Leslie Hamp at: http://www.boostyourbottomline.com.
© 2007 BoostYourBottomLine.com
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Certified Marketing Spitfires Holly George and Leslie Hamp are creators of the Fast Track to Marketing Mastery program. To learn more about the step-by-step program, and to sign up for their *FREE* Marketing Mastery Success Kit, visit www.boostyourbottomline.com
A better way to think about marketing is to envision a pyramid. Marketing is at the top clearly defining the direction of a business or organization while advertising and public relations are at the base supporting the marketing function.
Think of it this way.
Marketing is everything you do to make your product or service more visible, more desirable and more profitable. To make sure you're marketing in the most effective way possible, you must get back to basics. Consider the basis for your marketing — the "4 P's of Marketing" — incorporating Guerrilla Marketing strategies by making sure you've addressed every aspect or your product or service BEFORE you throw marketing dollars at it.
Your Marketing plan — which should address advertising, public relations, and a host of other marketing options — will clearly define the big picture and provide focus and direction based on the "4 P's of Marketing:"
1. Product
2. Price
3. Place
4. Promotion
Whenever you market your business, you are using any combination of the 4 P’s. It is crucial to make sure you have the right marketing mix — whether you’re sending an invoice, running an ad, submitting a PR article, or hosting a big event — before spending dollar #1.
Think like a true Guerrilla Marketer. Make sure you have the basics down first. Get the right marketing mix. Then create an effective marketing plan that ensures you're sending the correct message... within your budget... every time.
Get a FREE article on marketing mix in your FREE "Marketing Mastery Success Kit" from Certified Guerrilla Marketing Experts Holly George and Leslie Hamp at: http://www.boostyourbottomline.com.
© 2007 BoostYourBottomLine.com
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Certified Marketing Spitfires Holly George and Leslie Hamp are creators of the Fast Track to Marketing Mastery program. To learn more about the step-by-step program, and to sign up for their *FREE* Marketing Mastery Success Kit, visit www.boostyourbottomline.com
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Looking Good in Print and on The Web — Guerrilla Style
As a small business owner, one of your biggest challenges is marketing your product and/or your website. You can play it safe by doing exactly what everyone else is doing. Or you can embrace the low-cost, high-impact Guerrilla Marketing tactics taught to us by Jay Conrad Levinson.
Guerrilla Marketers rely more on their imagination than their pocketbook when it comes to creating memorable and effective campaigns. They know that details matter, and that there are 10 cardinal rules which, if followed with zeal, will make your efforts stand head and shoulders above your competition.
10 Cardinal Rules For Stand-Out Print & Web Copy
1. Consistency.
2. Embrace white space.
3. Write in short paragraphs.
4. Make use of subheads.
5. Create bullets and lists.
6. Align the elements on your page.
7. Less is more.
8. Use UPPER CASE type with restraint.
9. Sweat the details.
10. View it through the eyes of your ideal customer.
That old saying that you only have one chance to make a first impression is especially true when it comes to print and web copy. With a website you have approximately 8 seconds in which to grab and hold your potential client’s attention. With a print ad or brochure you’re lucky if a reader stays with you beyond the first four sentences.
True blue Guerrilla Marketers know how to create a stellar first impression. Do you?
Need help with your first impression? Sign up for your FREE Marketing Mastery Success Kit that puts you on the Fast Track to business success at: http://www.boostyourbottomline.com.
© 2007 BoostYourBottomLine.com
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Certified Marketing Spitfires Holly George and Leslie Hamp are creators of the Fast Track to Marketing Mastery program. To learn more about the step-by-step program, and to sign up for their fr*ee Marketing Mastery Success Kit, visit www.boostyourbottomline.com
Guerrilla Marketers rely more on their imagination than their pocketbook when it comes to creating memorable and effective campaigns. They know that details matter, and that there are 10 cardinal rules which, if followed with zeal, will make your efforts stand head and shoulders above your competition.
10 Cardinal Rules For Stand-Out Print & Web Copy
1. Consistency.
2. Embrace white space.
3. Write in short paragraphs.
4. Make use of subheads.
5. Create bullets and lists.
6. Align the elements on your page.
7. Less is more.
8. Use UPPER CASE type with restraint.
9. Sweat the details.
10. View it through the eyes of your ideal customer.
That old saying that you only have one chance to make a first impression is especially true when it comes to print and web copy. With a website you have approximately 8 seconds in which to grab and hold your potential client’s attention. With a print ad or brochure you’re lucky if a reader stays with you beyond the first four sentences.
True blue Guerrilla Marketers know how to create a stellar first impression. Do you?
Need help with your first impression? Sign up for your FREE Marketing Mastery Success Kit that puts you on the Fast Track to business success at: http://www.boostyourbottomline.com.
© 2007 BoostYourBottomLine.com
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Certified Marketing Spitfires Holly George and Leslie Hamp are creators of the Fast Track to Marketing Mastery program. To learn more about the step-by-step program, and to sign up for their fr*ee Marketing Mastery Success Kit, visit www.boostyourbottomline.com
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Take A Lesson From the Book, Three Cups of Tea
Wow; have you ever read a book that left you thinking about it days and weeks after you turned the last page? Such was the case when I finished Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. Greg’s vision and passion to build schools in war-torn Pakistan and Afghanistan is truly inspiring. But why haven’t more people heard that story?
After years of being surrounded by true guerrilla warfare, the authors are using their own guerrilla tactics to get the word out. Guerrilla marketing that is. And they’re doing it beautifully. First they captured us with a powerful story, and now they’re telling us how we can make a difference by taking action. Among their final words:
"If Three Cups of Tea inspires you to do more, here are suggestions for how to help:
1. Visit the www.threecupsoftea.com web site for more info, books reviews, events and ideas. If you purchase books online, through this web site and 7 percent of all your book purchases will go toward a girls’ education scholarship fund in Pakistan and Afghanistan."
"2. Suggest Three Cups of Tea to a friend, colleague, book club, women’s group, church, civic group, synagogue, mosque, university or high school class, or a group interested in education, literacy, adventure, cross-cultural issues, Islam, or Pakistan and Afghanistan."
"3. Check if Three Cups of Tea is in your local library. If not, either donate a book or suggest to the library to add Three Cups of Tea to their collection. Ask your friends or family in other states to do this also."
"4. Encourage your local independent or chain bookstore to carry this book."
"5. Write a Three Cups of Tea book review for Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Borders, or a blog. Your candid comments will help the buzz with this (or any) book."
"6. Ask the book editor of your local newspaper or radio to consider reviewing the book."
"7. Pennies for Peace, www.penniesforpeace.org, is designed for schoolchildren. Get your local school involved to make a difference, one penny, one pencil at a time. Since 1994, more than eight million pennies have been raised through Pennies for Peace!"
"8. If you want to support our efforts to promote education and literacy, especially for girls, you can make a tax-deductible contribution to our nonprofit organization, Central Asia Institute, PO box 7209, Bozeman, MT 59771, www.ikat.org. It costs us $1 per month for one child’s education to Pakistan or Afghanistan, a penny to buy a pencil, and a teacher’s salary averages $1 per day.”
Guerrilla marketing is all about time, energy and imagination. Kudos to Greg Mortenson for using time, energy and imagination to build 55 schools, especially for girls, in the forbidding terrain and backyard of the Taliban. Kudos to Greg Mortenson for using time, energy and imagination to co-author a book and show readers how to create a buzz and boost fundraising efforts.
Need help developing your Guerrilla Marketing tactics? Sign up for your FREE Marketing Mastery Success Kit that puts you on the Fast Track to business success at: http://www.boostyourbottomline.com.
© 2007 BoostYourBottomLine.com
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Certified Marketing Spitfires Holly George and Leslie Hamp are creators of the Fast Track to Marketing Mastery program. To learn more about the step-by-step program, and to sign up for their *FREE* Marketing Mastery Success Kit, visit www.boostyourbottomline.com
After years of being surrounded by true guerrilla warfare, the authors are using their own guerrilla tactics to get the word out. Guerrilla marketing that is. And they’re doing it beautifully. First they captured us with a powerful story, and now they’re telling us how we can make a difference by taking action. Among their final words:
"If Three Cups of Tea inspires you to do more, here are suggestions for how to help:
1. Visit the www.threecupsoftea.com web site for more info, books reviews, events and ideas. If you purchase books online, through this web site and 7 percent of all your book purchases will go toward a girls’ education scholarship fund in Pakistan and Afghanistan."
"2. Suggest Three Cups of Tea to a friend, colleague, book club, women’s group, church, civic group, synagogue, mosque, university or high school class, or a group interested in education, literacy, adventure, cross-cultural issues, Islam, or Pakistan and Afghanistan."
"3. Check if Three Cups of Tea is in your local library. If not, either donate a book or suggest to the library to add Three Cups of Tea to their collection. Ask your friends or family in other states to do this also."
"4. Encourage your local independent or chain bookstore to carry this book."
"5. Write a Three Cups of Tea book review for Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Borders, or a blog. Your candid comments will help the buzz with this (or any) book."
"6. Ask the book editor of your local newspaper or radio to consider reviewing the book."
"7. Pennies for Peace, www.penniesforpeace.org, is designed for schoolchildren. Get your local school involved to make a difference, one penny, one pencil at a time. Since 1994, more than eight million pennies have been raised through Pennies for Peace!"
"8. If you want to support our efforts to promote education and literacy, especially for girls, you can make a tax-deductible contribution to our nonprofit organization, Central Asia Institute, PO box 7209, Bozeman, MT 59771, www.ikat.org. It costs us $1 per month for one child’s education to Pakistan or Afghanistan, a penny to buy a pencil, and a teacher’s salary averages $1 per day.”
Guerrilla marketing is all about time, energy and imagination. Kudos to Greg Mortenson for using time, energy and imagination to build 55 schools, especially for girls, in the forbidding terrain and backyard of the Taliban. Kudos to Greg Mortenson for using time, energy and imagination to co-author a book and show readers how to create a buzz and boost fundraising efforts.
Need help developing your Guerrilla Marketing tactics? Sign up for your FREE Marketing Mastery Success Kit that puts you on the Fast Track to business success at: http://www.boostyourbottomline.com.
© 2007 BoostYourBottomLine.com
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Certified Marketing Spitfires Holly George and Leslie Hamp are creators of the Fast Track to Marketing Mastery program. To learn more about the step-by-step program, and to sign up for their *FREE* Marketing Mastery Success Kit, visit www.boostyourbottomline.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
