Category Archives: Marketing Tips

Get inspiration and practical tips for your own communications by subscribing to this monthly newsletter, with examples of recent successes for clients.
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Toot, Toot and Re-Toot Your Own Horn

Write, revise and re-format your content to reach new audiences.

According to novelist Willa Cather, “There are only two or three human stories, and they go on repeating themselves as fiercely as if they had never happened before.”

Consider this quote, enshrined on Library Way (East 41st Street in New York City), in a business context. It is a reminder that all business-related content may be (infinitely) re-purposed in various formats to reach new audiences.

Start with a client engagement that’s a success story.

Write the success story as a case study and post it to your website.

Add a graph, photo or other visual and publish it as an article for the company or nonprofit newsletter.

Then, situate the client write-up in a broader context as an article for an industry trade magazine or a professional membership association’s publication.

Email the case study or article to prospective clients, donors or collaborators.

Take a lessons learned format, and invite the client to speak on a panel at an industry conference, professional meeting, networking group or local chamber of commerce event.

Submit your client success write-up as a LinkedIn post.

Turn the case study into a guest post for a blog hosted by a colleague.

Lead a workshop where peers, prospects and collaborators may learn best practices, and also see you in action.

Post an abridged version of the workshop presentation on Slideshare.net.

Interview the client in a podcast and video, to be hosted on your website (and YouTube channel).

Ask a question in a LinkedIn group and on X (Twitter). Your client success story is the answer, so provide a link to one of the above formats, as appropriate.

Re-play the theme. Assemble a series of case studies, articles, panel presentations or workshop handouts in an ebook.

Finally, build upon your previous work; update it to reflect changes in law, regulation, demographics, industry trends or technology.

The same client-centered content has now been shared and promoted to: current contacts, prospective customers, professional colleagues, industry peers and potential collaborators, not to mention website visitors, event and conference attendees and the LinkedIn universe and X (Twitter) sphere in a dozen ways.

This Month’s Tip

Share your content with reporters. Case studies, articles, blog posts and presentations testify to your credentials as an authoritative expert. You will position yourself as a source to comment on solutions to problems faced by others in that industry or serving a similar population.

Contact

Don’t toot your own horn as a one-note song. Contact me at Janet@JanetLFalk.com, set an appointment here or call me at 212.677.5770. Let’s jazz up your client success in multiple ways.

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Wake Up Your Sleepy Email Signature

S   t   r   e  t   c   h   to get more marketing action.

Email signatures are invaluable marketing tools. Take a good look at yours. Is it working for you or is it asleep?

Here’s a checklist to make the most of your real estate that passes under the eyes of at least 50 correspondents each day:

  1. Your signature is positioned immediately below the last line of your email message, not buried at the tail end of the chain of correspondence.
  2. Your direct phone number and cellphone number share a line and sit under your name, making it easy for the respondent to give you a call.
  3. Your company or organization’s name, hyperlinked to the website, invites a click to learn more about your products, services and programs.
  4. Your snappy tag line proclaims the value you create for customers.
  5. The headline of a recent news story trumpets your success links to a PDF of the article.
  6. Your current exhibition, an upcoming event you will host/sponsor or a trade show where you will speak/exhibit, is noted, with a link to register or make a reservation, if appropriate.
  7. Your product flyer or an informative brochure is available as a download, which requires an email address to facilitate future sales team follow-up.
  8. Your LinkedIn and X (Twitter) account information are listed, so contacts may connect with you on social media platforms.
  9. The latest issue of your newsletter or blog is hyperlinked, with an opportunity to subscribe.

This Month’s Tip

Your email signature is a fundamental component of your brand, as are your logo, website and business card.  Every team member should have an identical signature, to reinforce the organization’s positioning and messages. After a revised email signature template is developed, provide the model and instructions for an update to all personnel, along with a two-day deadline for implementation.

Contact

If it’s time to rouse your sleepy signature, contact me at Janet@JanetLFalk.com, set an appointment here or call me at 212.677.5770. I can give it a once-over. Together, we’ll make it rise and shine.

For a more detailed discussion and an example of an email signature template, please see Harness the Marketing Power of Your Email Signature.

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Make the Most of Your Event Photos

Plan ahead to strengthen six relationships.

Photos have always been a central element of special events. In the digital age, these images are available almost immediately and can be distributed through various promotional outlets, as well as informally through social media.

Part of the process of taking photos is to integrate the RSVP list of the attendees with the post-event action.

Whether you host an Open House, fundraiser, concert or conference, become familiar with the names on the RSVP list beforehand. When the event begins, be flexible and alert to spontaneously capture moments that convey the activities of the company, as well as the relationships that the organization nurtures with its many partners and allies.

At a recent event for IMPACCT Brooklyn, a nonprofit focused on affordable housing, a guest asked me how the photos being taken at the evening reception might be used.

In addition to the organization’s own promotional brochures and website, plus social media activity, I identified some key opportunities for cultivating relationships with attendees and their respective audiences.

  1. Elected officials: The Assemblymember and City Councilmember who spoke at the event will likely include the photos of their attendance in their constituent newsletters.
  2. Partners: Real estate developers and bankers work with the nonprofit to develop and finance apartment buildings with affordable housing. They may place the photos in their marketing literature and other external communications to document their Community Reinvestment Act activities and relationships with the nonprofit sector.
  3. Allied organizations: Like-minded nonprofits, neighborhood associations and local merchant groups could share the photos in their member newsletters as an update of activities and changes in the community.
  4. Funders of the nonprofit: Photos that record how the group has expanded its operations, thanks to the support received from a foundation, are a confirmation that the grant is being deployed effectively.
  5. Media outlets: Reporters who were unable to attend a public event, such as IMPACCT’s ribbon-cutting at its new office, might use a photo in their news coverage.
  6. Clients, employees, Boardmembers and donors: Photos of workshop participants, staff and supporters could be included in the organization’s own newsletters, marketing literature, website — even on the walls of the offices. These shots underscore the personal connection the organization builds with clients, similar to the snapshots of celebrities who dined at a restaurant.

Of course, the attendees might eventually add your photos to their websites and re-distribute them through their social media presence.

In sum, photos document the event and ultimately may be shared to strengthen the relationships between the host, event participants and their respective organizations. That bonding process became my goal when I accompanied Deirdre Scott, Executive Director of Bronx Council on the Arts (BCA), to an event held at Hostos Community College. I noticed a Hostos photographer taking photos; I asked if he would like to take a shot of a small group that included a Director from Hostos, who is also a Boardmember at BCA.

That Hostos connection compelled him to agree to take the photo. Later, the photographer and I exchanged business cards. When he emailed me the group photo, I replied and identified the BCA Boardmembers in the group, so that he might include their names in any future publication of the photo.

This Month’s Tip

Make a list of photos to be taken at an event, as if you plan a wedding. Prepare to stage photos with the management team, Boardmembers, key staff and special guests. Hover near the principals, with the photographer ready to aim and shoot. Keep groups to a maximum of five people. Note the name of anyone who is not immediately familiar, to identify the person for a caption and perhaps share the photo with the attendee later.

Contact

Ready to work with a photographer at your next event? You’ll have a bigger smile when you’ve anticipated how to use the photos in the weeks after the reception. You might enjoy the event even more if I direct the photographer for you. Contact me at Janet@JanetLFalk.com, set an appointment here or call me at 212.677.5770.

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Listen to Aretha: RESPECT

Respect and lessons from other languages.

When you studied Spanish, French or German, you learned there is a formal and informal degree of addressing another person. Generally, it’s best to use the formal — Usted, Vous or Sie — to be polite, especially at the start of the relationship.

When the other speaker indicates she is amenable to informal address, she will tell you to use Tú, Tu or Du.

As Aretha Franklin sang, from the other’s perspective, communication is about R E S P E C T.

Treat your clients and potential customers with respect — during every in-person and electronic interaction.

These people may soon pay your fees or be in a position to refer others to you. Lack of respect may cause a prospect to look away from you and turn instead to competitors for products and services.

Two recent emails from Public Relations industry professionals violated the norms of polite customer correspondence, reminding me that we all need to pay heed and reflect on the lessons from Aretha.

Hey
The first was a sales pitch that began: Hey Janet,.

When I replied to the sender, I mentioned my name was Janet and not Hey. I received a follow-up note, again: Hey Janet,.

I replied I was offended at twice being addressed Hey.

This complaint led to a prompt apology, which was accepted.

DUDE
The subject line of the second email: DUDE. Seriously, OPEN my email already! (sic)

The Hey email was from a sales rep, who, with two years experience, should have known better.

The DUDE message was from a well-known senior Public Relations consultant with nearly 20 years experience.

Though this DUDE subject line is eye-catching, it is akin to the language of high school students and unlikely that an award-winning, college-level Public Relations instructor wrote it.

I responded that I found the subject line DUDE disrespectful. Surprisingly, the reply was by no means apologetic, but contrarian. According to this communications professional, if the use of DUDE or other terminology to which one personally does not relate is offensive, the recipient should unsubscribe.

Draw the Line
Where do you draw the line between informal and formal email correspondence with prospective customers and current clients?

This Month’s Tip

Do your colleagues treat your clients and prospects with respect? It’s polite to begin an email with Sidney, or Dear Leslie,. These forms of address acknowledge the virtual distance between the writer and the recipient and do not overstep the bounds the way that Hey Nicky, does. Write complete and grammatically correct sentences. Use restraint in tone, limit exclamation points and avoid emoticons. Finally, consider that the email might be forwarded to the CEO or another senior executive who has the final say-so on the buy decision.

You and your colleague worked very hard to get the reader’s attention; don’t let your email be discarded because it was disrespectful.

Contact

Are your coworkers speaking the same language as your potential clients and showing them appropriate respect? Contact me at Janet@JanetLFalk.com, set an appointment here or call me at 212.677.5770. Let’s review your company’s standard emails in this light.

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Orient Your Newsletter

Adopt a reader-centered approach.

Your newsletter waits patiently in a recipient’s mailbox.

Once opened, you have the reader’s attention.

  • Their attention is yours to lose.
  • You gave them a gift and then you walked away.
  • What will the reader think or do next?

Think of a reader’s attention like a person’s gaze. How fragile it is! At any moment, a phone call, knock on the door or sudden air conditioner blast could distract her eyes from the newsletter’s article.

Their attention is yours to lose. Accordingly:
Build trust and cultivate a solid relationship.

  • Deliver timely and useful information.
  • Provide relevant documents and links.
  • Position your staff as accessible experts.
  • Reach out to potential collaborators and competitors in a gesture of good faith.

You gave them a gift and then you walked away.
Lead a reader to feel good about your organization or company.

  • Remind him of the solid work and accomplishments, to which he may have contributed or from which he benefited.
  • Keep volunteers involved.
  • Connect with elected officials and local business leaders.
  • Maintain contact with alumni.

What will the reader think or do next?
Guide the reader to deepen her relationship with your group.

  • Drive the reader to a specific page on the website.
  • Make it easy for the recipient to share your newsletter.
  • Promote advocacy.
  • Encourage RSVPs and donations.

Is it time to orient your newsletter and implement a reader-centered approach? Let’s write a plan to hold onto your reader’s attention. Call me at 212-677-5770 or email at Janet@JanetLFalk.com.

See also Make Your Five W’s Reader-Centered.

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Radio Interview + Digital Links = Infinite Audience

Use links to promote it.

Radio interviews are no longer time-sensitive; they do not evaporate after they are broadcast.

In the digital age, anything that was aired may be captured, re-purposed and merchandised to promote your services and programs.

Senior care advisor Joanna Leefer spoke about options and resources for seniors in two radio interviews.

She shared tips on how to search for an appropriate nursing home for a family member.

Leefer also addressed the misconceptions seniors and their family members may have about the financial and government resources available for medical care.

Here’s what happened next:

  • She copied the long URL of the recorded interviews from the two radio stations’ websites and created bitly links; these shorter links are easier to share in emails, on websites and on social media.
  • She summarized each discussion in a phrase and added that to her email signature, embedding the links, like this:

Regards,
Joanna Leefer
Radio Interview: Tips to Locate a Nursing Home for Your Aging Parent (Part 1 , 25 minutes)
Radio Interview: 3 Common Misconceptions Families Have About Eldercare Options (38 minutes)

  • The interviews are prominently displayed on her website.
  • She also includes a reference to the interviews whenever she contacts organizations interested in senior care issues to secure speaking engagements.

All in all, the third-party approval by these radio interviewers, who are objective observers, testifies to Leefer’s knowledge in the eldercare field. This is reassuring to prospective clients. It also gives the Chair of the Program Committee confidence that Leefer will deliver a quality program when addressing their group.

Is radio an appropriate medium to reach your target audience? Contact me at Janet@JanetLFalk.com, set an appointment here or call me at 212.677.5770. Let’s consider how to secure radio interviews and then how to promote them, so they continue to broadcast your expertise.

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Are You Find-able Online?

Maximize your online presence

An out-of-the blue email prompted me to consider how easy it is to re-connect with someone and what another person might find out about me online.

A long-lost acquaintance emailed me the same day my name, quote and photo were published in The New York Times. When I asked how she was able to get in touch with me, she responded that she conducted a search online and found my company website, which displays my email address (and phone number).

What about YOU?

Take five minutes NOW to conduct an Internet search of your own name. Your objective is to see which websites and social networks are listed in the search and make sure you appropriately connect those listings to your company’s or nonprofit’s website.

Start the search with Google.com, followed by Bing.com and then Yahoo.com; that adds up to 87.5% of global searches. (The remainder is Baidu at 10.2%, which is used in China, plus some minuscule search engines.)

Your LinkedIn profile probably appears first among the results. With its international database of 364 million members, LinkedIn outranks most websites.

Perhaps next on the list are your X (Twitter) and Facebook accounts; their enormous constituencies boost their rankings as well.

If you own a business or lead a nonprofit, a reference to your company’s or organization’s website might follow mention(s) of your name.

These personal profiles clearly list and link to your company or nonprofit’s website, of course. If they don’t, link them now.

Here are two ways to update your Personal LinkedIn Page:

Customize your LinkedIn Name/URL.
On your LinkedIn page, go to Profile and click Edit profile.
Under your photo, you have the link: www.linkedin.com/pub/xxx/1/234/56
Click on Edit.
Now you are in the panel where YOU control WHAT is VISIBLE in your profile.
Before you do anything with that section, look to the right and go to Your public profile URL.
Click on Customize your public profile URL.
Now you can type your name XXXX without the number /1/234/56 gobbledy gook that LinkedIn automatically assigns.
If there is a duplicate of your name in LinkedIn, you can use a hyphen or an underscore between your first and last names to differentiate yourself.
Then click Set Custom URL. You’re done !

Post your company website — and related resources.
On your LinkedIn page, go to Profile and click Edit profile.
In the lower right corner of the box, click on the Rolodex card labeled Contact Info.
Next to X (Twitter, click on the pencil and add your X (Twitter) account.
Next to Website, click on the pencil and select the category Other. Then enter the name (or description) of your company and link to the homepage URL.
You may add two additional websites; I selected the category Other to post Public Relations Tips and link to the Newsletter section of my website, plus Articles on Public Relations with a link to the Publication section.

This is also the place to post the name of your blog (category: Other) and link to it.
(Note: most people do not take advantage of this promotional space; if they do, they use the default setting of Company website and Blog, which is not particularly informative.)
Then click Save.

Contact me at Janet@JanetLFalk.com, set an appointment here or call me at 212.677.5770. It’s time to make yourself more find-able and more compelling online.

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Playing Politics. Telling Your Story.

Make sure elected officials know how you contribute to your community.

Nonprofits and small businesses can improve their visibility in the community by establishing a connection with local elected officials and telling their story.

Once these politicians are acquainted with you, they’re able to advocate for you and help you secure funding or assistance. But they can only do so if they know who you are.

Your goal might be requesting or keeping discretionary funds allocated by a city councilmember or state legislator, being invited to participate in community projects or gaining access to information and in-kind resources, such as staff training. Clearly, it’s vital to be on a first-name basis with the elected officials who serve your neighborhood — and especially with their staff.

On Memorial Day Weekend, East Harlem Block Nursery hosted a block party and celebration of its 50th anniversary. Government leaders from the state, city and community were invited to mark the occasion.

Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and State Senator Bill Perkins joined in the celebration. Each spoke to the attendees and read a congratulatory proclamation. In addition, Mayor Bill de Blasio sent greetings and a representative of Comptroller Scott Stringer presented a commendation. And, an aide of Public Advocate Letitia James and an administrator from the Department of Education also attended.

In sum, four of the top four leaders of New York City and Manhattan (and their respective staffs) were apprised of the existence and success of this nonprofit, and its remarkable 50-year track record.

Here are photos of the politicians and aides who participated in the momentous day.

The opportunity for the Executive Director, teachers, parents and students to speak with these officials and administrators, plus give them a personal tour of the school, was invaluable. In this first year of New York City’s Universal Pre-Kindergarten, funding for the program at the nursery is precarious, so building relationships with various arms of city government is a priority.

The fact that several officials sent their aides was not necessarily a disappointment. These public servants are likely to run for office themselves someday, so it makes sense to start connecting with them now. As an example, New York City Councilmember Vincent Ignizio, who once was an aide representing a Staten Island councilmember at an event, was later elected to serve that very district. From staffer to elected official — a lesson to remember.

Are your local officials acquainted with your business or nonprofit group? Contact me at Janet@JanetLFalk.com, set an appointment here or call me at 212.677.5770. Let’s consider how best to introduce you and get the attention of the appropriate elected leaders.

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Save Time. Save Money. Make More Money.

It’s not about you, but what you can do for them.

Recently, a nonprofit professional at a workshop on media relations posed this question: “How can I get a reporter to write a feature article about our group?”

My reply was, “Why should anyone else care about what your organization does? Let’s find something about your nonprofit that will capture an outsider’s attention and be newsworthy to the media.”

Consider: how does your organization, product or service help others to:

  • Save Time
  • Save Money or
  • Make More Money

This perspective on time and money works on two levels. First, daily, we look to save our personal time and money: a magazine subscription is cheaper than buying each issue from a newsstand; plus, a copy is delivered to the home, so we subscribe, never missing an issue.

Second, society seeks to save its time and taxpayers’ money: smart nonprofits (and companies) provide products and services that can produce savings for one individual and for many people.

In applying this newfound perspective, another workshop attendee spoke about Worksites for Wellness. The group advocates that companies provide rooms on the premises where female employees can privately nurse their infants or pump milk; the breast milk is refrigerated for a few hours, and then given to the child later.

Nursing mothers care about this issue, of course. Who else might support the group? And why should they care?

Look at how a lactation room saves time and money: Women employees are more productive when they can feed their babies or pump milk onsite. Their children are healthier, because they absorb the mother’s antibodies and resist bacteria and viruses. Consequently, these mothers take fewer days off to care for sick infants.

In sum, employers make more money. Someone who is not a nursing mother can recognize the upside and appeal of granting women privacy for an hour or so per day during a few months. Doing so, the company (and society) reaps the benefit of a more productive and loyal employee who is not distracted on the job or absent caring for a baby with a cold.

How does the save time, save money paradigm apply to your business or nonprofit? Contact me at Janet@JanetLFalk.com, set an appointment here or call me at 212.677.5770. Let’s brainstorm together.

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Networking Towards the King

One Degree of Separation from the King of Spain

Everyone knows someone worth knowing.

It’s true. I know someone who was in daily contact with a future king.

Years ago, Maria, a teacher at the Madrid, Spain elementary school the young prince attended, placed a newspaper ad for a roommate and I needed a place to live. Voila! Today, she would have used Craigslist or another online networking site that helps people with shared interests and needs make connections.

The Executive Director of a nonprofit where I performed pro bono work introduced me to a colleague, Greg Cohen of Cause Effective, who advises nonprofits on strengthening communities and fundraising. He later referred me to his contact, Nancy Goldhill; he thought my experience working with attorneys and my knowledge of Staten Island, where I had worked in Public Relations, would be helpful to draft a newsletter for Staten Island Legal Services (SILS).That project bloomed into media outreach and news coverage for the SILS fundraising luncheon.

Networking does work, when you work with it. If the traditional networking at events does not appeal to you, review these tips. Also, try reaching out to connections in the virtual sphere. Whether in person or online, networking may not lead directly to someone you want to meet. It does, however, put you closer to their circle of contacts and referrals.

Consider your own many connections and who might stand in their circles. Because you know me, you’re already only two steps away from el Rey Felipe VI; you’re also one step from a technology start-up’s CEO and from a musician who plays viola da gamba.

Together, let’s brainstorm how to reach out to someone who knows someone who knows that person. Contact me at Janet@JanetLFalk.com, set an appointment here or call me at 212.677.5770. Let’s bring you one contact closer to that potential connection.

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Your News Article is Just the Beginning

Capitalize on the moment.

Consider this: a trade newsletter publishes a rave article about your business or organization, like this one.

Congrats! Keep the momentum going by amplifying readership and thought leadership through one or several of the following suggestions, arranged from easiest to most time-intensive:

  • Create a few bitly links; shorten the article’s long URL, so that you can identify how many people clicked on each link to read the article and where they found it.
  • In your email signature, provocatively summarize an essential point made in the article and embed a link.

Regards,
   Janet Falk
Are Communications an Investment or Expense?

  • Post on your LinkedIn profile. Ask a question in your LinkedIn groups to spark debate or provide a solution to a recurring problem for customers. (The less self-serving the better.)
  • Summarize the article as a question to which your insights are an answer or case study, and mention it on X (Twitter), with yet a third bitly link.
  • If you maintain a company or nonprofit page on Facebook, post a link to the article there.
  • After you secure permission from the publication, which may charge you a fee, print the article as a PDF. Now upload the PDF to your website and post a link to it on the home page (for the next month or until it becomes outdated), as well as in the news section, and wherever else on the website might be appropriate.
  • Use the article as a calling card to introduce yourself to other reporters. Now that you are recognized as an authority, share your expertise and offer an update. Mention some ideas that were not discussed in the article, and are particularly relevant to this publication’s audience. Suggest another, related topic where you can offer insight.
  • If you often read and comment on industry blogs, reach out to those bloggers; present yourself as a guest writer or suggest an interview.
  • As a member of a business, industry or professional organization, get in touch with the chair of the Education or Program Committee. Propose that you and a client speak as panelists at a meeting to explore this topic in more depth, with examples and lessons learned.
  • Contact the editors of industry and membership association newsletters and offer to revise the article’s themes as a case study for colleagues.

You worked hard to get that news article; now make it work for you!

When you want to increase the impact of your media coverage, let’s review the best ways to build on its reach. Contact me at Janet@JanetLFalk.com, set an appointment here or call me at 212.677.5770.

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Is Your Website Up to Date?

If your website predates 2011, then plan for a re-launch.

According to designer Peter Levinson, websites have a three-year design cycle, after which their designs look dated.

Having launched my website in 2009, I realized an update was long overdue.

But what finally prompted the re-launch was, admittedly, peer pressure. Other websites use a WordPress format. The clean minimal look, with lots of white space, apparently has become the standard since 2011.

Another concern was to respond to visitor behavior, based on best practices. And the website analytics for my site also played a role in the re-design.

Online activity has grown exponentially and users’ expectations are high. Creating a clear layout that would be user-friendly and conform to the market was a priority.

Once the process was underway, it became appropriate to update the content. Editing the paragraphs succinctly, as well as incorporating more recent projects and successes, were the next steps.

Finally, the re-designed website assembled multiple guest blog posts and newsletter articles that were dispersed widely.

You are invited to take a look and let me know what you think of the re-design.

If it’s been a few years since your website was launched or revised, sit up and see the site through a first-time visitor’s eyes. Contact me at Janet@JanetLFalk.com, set an appointment here or call me at 212.677.5770. Let’s consider the content and layout that might best serve your goals and engage your audience by means of a website audit.

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The Tao of How

A three-way discussion brings the mission to life.

How might day-in, day-out routine work command reporter interest? By focusing on the HOW.

Start-up company Ultranauts Inc.  provides quality assurance testing to the digital media sector, a labor-intensive process essential to the launch of every website, software program and app.

The company has a mission to employ testers who are high-functioning individuals on the Autism Spectrum. Their heightened abilities are an exact match for software testing — off-the-charts pattern recognition, attention to detail and tolerance for repetition.

This is an example of when the HOW — the tapping of a unique talent pool — makes a business a potential news story.

After I arranged for a reporter to speak with the founder about the company and its mission, I introduced an employee and a client to round out the story.

This was not the usual company and client case study I’ve described before. The participation of the tester was key to the success of this article, because the mission of the start-up is the employment of exceptional people.

Is it your HOW that makes your company or nonprofit distinctive? Contact me at Janet@JanetLFalk.com, set an appointment here or call me at 212.677.5770. Let’s talk about ways to position your mission to attract reporter interest.

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This discussion has been lightly edited to reflect the company’s new name, Ultranauts. Its mission remains the same.

It Takes Two: You and a Client

Let your clients do the talking.

Naming and defining a problem unseen by potential clients  — plus offering a solution — can be a powerful component of your Communications Plan.

Create an AHA moment by featuring a successful client engagement in your outreach. An example of your actual services and expertise is far more effective than hyperbole and self-promotion.

When pitching a story idea to reporters, I included two mini case studies of customers who had used the services of my client Independent Merchant Group (IMG) to audit — and then reduce — their credit card transaction processing fees and charges.

When hotel management professionals read the resulting articles in Hotel Online and Hotel News Now, they learned how other hotels saved thousands of dollars annually by lowering their credit card transaction processing fees. These prospects recognized the possibility of fee reductions for their own locations.

More than 800 hotel CFOs and finance professionals, from regional hotel chains and boutique properties, called IMG to learn more about this service.

You have customers who will attest to your terrific service or product. Contact me at Janet@JanetLFalk.com, set an appointment here or call me at 212.677.5770. Let’s find a way for your clients to talk for you and about you.

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Build in Post-Marketing Success

Nine tactics to get more mileage and impact.

You’ve written a thought piece or client update; what should you do next?

Actually, you might have asked this question before you put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard.

You can easily produce content marketing, client updates and communiqués that are geared to post-marketing purposes, including media outreach. Consider implementing these nine suggestions to make your write-ups more actionable and quotable early in the creative process, as detailed here in Maximize Client Alerts in the newsletter Marketing the Law Firm (February 2014).

At the moment of drafting the client update or alert, use an acronym, alliteration, rhyme or reference to pop culture to make the message more quotable. This phrase will resonate to current and potential clients receiving your latest insight and also to reporters to whom you as author are introduced as an expert source.

Similarly, a visual image or an analogy can help illustrate a technical point and more memorably reinforce it than a straight-forward, text-only statement.

Care to see more examples of how to build in post-marketing as you develop content? Contact me at Janet@JanetLFalk.com, set an appointment here or call me at 212.677.5770. Let’s talk soon about how to make your client updates more quotable, memorable and actionable, to truly maximize their impact.

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Do You Track Communications as an Investment or Expense?

How do you categorize your Communications costs?

At a certain bank, opening a new account in the system requires an input: How did you hear about us?

This is a company that calculates its Public Relations, Marketing and Communications dollars as an investment, and not an expense, unlike others.

By tracking the HOW question over time, and in six locations, the bank fine tunes its activity in SEO, media outreach, outdoor advertising and other platforms.

A marketing investment is any expenditure that creates tools that drive value and impact sales, even after the cost to create the tool is spent. Examples are websites, media relations, videos and social media engagement, to name a few. These marketing investments yield a long-term ROI, greater than any one-time ad.

Communications activity is magnified and extended in the digital arena:

  • Print news articles are accessible online, sometimes with extra visual and audio content, with no expiration date.
  • Client newsletters, blogs and product literature PDFs form part of the main website.
  • Twitter activity and Facebook posts by customers, staff and observers are always available.

Even when prospects hear about your company from a news story, a commercial or a referral by a colleague, they probably will conduct some research online — to confirm the basics of location, products and price range or to obtain more specific information on features, customer reviews and comparable products.

Invest in Communications and Marketing and you meet these prospects more than halfway. Your digital tools and materials await discovery; they live indefinitely, well beyond their initial cost, yielding the highest ROI.

Are you prepared to invest in Communications to attract more customers and supporters? Contact me at Janet@JanetLFalk.com, set an appointment here or call me at 212.677.5770. Let’s talk about allocating your budget to maximize the Return on Investment.

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How Your Photo Can Attract 3,000 People

Photos Attract Prospects and Visitors

Every Picture Tells A Story.

People respond more strongly to websites and brochures with photos. “Our brains process visuals faster, and we are more engaged when we see faces,” according to the Media Psychology Research Center.

Here’s how to get started:

Show customers using the product in an eye-catching shot. People actively engaged with your product — holding it, eating it — are a powerful endorsement. Who enters a restaurant with empty tables?

Have an employee speak with a client (or stand-in) for a photo. Add a caption that cites the impact of an intangible service: it saves time, saves money or generates an uptick in sales.

Put people in the scene. Visitors at parks point admiringly at the view and museum-goers enjoy the exhibition.

Potential attendees will project themselves into the photo. If a couple is shown pushing a baby in a stroller on a paved garden path, a prospective visitor will consider visiting with a parent who uses a wheelchair.

Share the photo with the press. The reporter will quickly grasp the excitement of an event or the beauty of a location and its appeal to readers and viewers.

Having a photo in hand makes it easy for the editor to include it in the article, without sending a staff photographer to your premises.

Because a digital camera costs only $100, every business and nonprofit group should purchase one and keep it handy. Snap away to capture satisfied clients, visits by dignitaries, activities in progress, special occasions and more.

Ready to stage your story-telling photo? Contact me at Janet@JanetLFalk.com, set an appointment here or call me at 212.677.5770. Let’s talk about who and what might best promote your business in a photograph.

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PS Here is the photo that attracted 3,000 visitors to the Cherry Blossom Festival on Roosevelt Island.

Make Your Season’s Greetings Card Memorable

It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Time to Send a Holiday Card.

You send a greeting card in December to clients, vendors, supporters, colleagues, VIPs and others.

Is your card having maximum impact?

Would the recipient notice if the sender was changed to Megabucks, Inc. or United Nonprofits?

Plan now to send a holiday greeting card that reinforces the brand and qualities that make your group distinctive.

Find a visual, design an image or take a photo that captures what is unique about your company or organization. Ideally, no one else could appropriate that creation and call it their own.

Use that image as the centerpiece of your holiday greeting, whether a printed card or an email message.

In January, when your recipient removes all the holiday cards taped to the office door, you can imagine her saying, “This is the card from the folks at DEF,” without opening the card to confirm the sender.

Or you may get an immediate email reply, in thankful appreciation of your distinctive note.

As a writer, I send an email with a Holiday Haiku. Most recipients recognize the difficulty of composing a 17-syllable seasonal poem and they remember reading it.

May I offer you some help creating a memorable visual or message for your holiday card, or your own haiku? Contact me at Janet@JanetLFalk.com, set an appointment here or call me at 212.677.5770. Let’s brainstorm some ideas that align with your group and your successes.

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Back to School — As a Teacher

Showcase Your Insights.

September = School, for students, teachers and parents.

Executives in business and nonprofits need to keep current with best practices and new developments, so they also go to class.

Consider how you might share your expertise with contacts, clients and prospects in one or more of these venues:

Networking group: Some groups incorporate a 10-minute pitch by members into their regular meetings. Your networking contacts will feel more at ease referring their favorite clients to you after they see you in action and hear the impact of your products and services.

Give a guest lecture at a contact’s course: Someone you know may teach a continuing education class. Offer to give insights from the field in a 20-minute presentation.

Center for management training: Peruse the quarterly calendar of workshops and then propose an interdisciplinary session for their target market. By straddling two content areas, you create a niche.

Small business center and economic development group: Government agencies at the municipal and state level offer a variety of business management classes to support small and medium-sized enterprises. These businesses may soon grow big enough to need your services as a consultant.

Webinar: There are companies whose sole line of business is to host webinars for speakers to give sessions and promote their businesses. If you’re shy about facing a room full of new faces, you might prefer the digital broadcast space.

You may join me at Managing PR and Communications on Top of Everything Else, on Thursday, September 19, 2013 at 9:30 am at The Support Center for Nonprofit Management in New York City.

Or tell another contact.

You will not be quizzed afterwards.

Have you got a timely subject for a class or workshop? Contact me at Janet@JanetLFalk.com, set an appointment here or call me at 212.677.5770. Let’s consider where you might teach a session and promote your business.

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Drive More Traffic to Your Website — Without a Blog

No Blog?
No Problem!

You can write as a Guest Blogger.

Companies that frequently post on a blog attract as many as five times more visitors to their websites than companies that do not blog.

If you do not have a blog, you still can participate in the blogo-sphere: become a guest blogger.

Do the blogs you read publish work by others? If so, as appropriate, introduce yourself to the blogger/host and offer to write a guest blog post.

After the post is published, create a short bitly link to distribute your idea in the social media universe in the format of a question via the LinkedIn Groups to which you belong, with a summary answer and a link to your blog post. The topic may generate some comments — as well as drive traffic to your website, where readers can learn more about you.

I submitted a guest blog post, When Nonprofits Fail to Communicate, to a colleague and then shared it on X (Twitter) and LinkedIn. The editor of an online publication read it; she not only asked permission to re-publish it on their blog, she invited me to submit my own articles.

Of course, I accepted.

Here’s how you can prepare for your next professional association meeting: Pre-Marketing Can Maximize Your Success at a Networking Event, as published on Philanthropy Journal‘s blog.

Have you got a hot topic to blog about? Let’s consider where you might write a guest blog to get your word out. Contact me at Janet@JanetLFalk.com, set an appointment here or call me at 212.677.5770.

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Client + You @ Business Meeting = Speaking Success

Team Up for Speaking Success

What better testimonial of your expertise.

You belong to a business or industry professional organization, of course, to network with prospects and keep up-to-date on news and trends.

These monthly meetings offer an incredible opportunity for you — and a client — to showcase your expertise.

That’s why I suggested a client, Denise Shull, as a speaker to 100 Women in Hedge Funds, where I serve on the Communications Committee.

As a panelist, Denise promoted her approach to risk management: understanding feelings, senses and emotions can improve decision-making by hedge fund traders — and by everyone else.

Her anecdotes recounting the impact of self-awareness struck a chord with 200 women executives in the hedge fund industry.

Plus, she sold nine copies of her book Market Mind Games: Profiting from the New Psychology of Risk & Uncertainty.

Are you and a client ready to tell industry colleagues about your productive engagement? Let’s talk about where you might speak up for business growth and success.

Contact me at Janet@JanetLFalk.com, set an appointment here or call me at 212.677.5770.

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Client Success Becomes a Case Study and Article

Turn a case study into media, marketing and promotion.

Everyone loves a success story: clients are ecstatic with the outcome, colleagues learn a lesson the easy way and you get the credit.

With the client’s permission, or referring to a generic identity (a cultural institution), draft a skeleton essay. State a theme and list three to five bullet points on the strategy, implementation and results of a recent client project that serves as an example of best practices.

Send this outline in an email to the editor of a relevant trade publication, and ask for the appropriate word count and deadline for an article.

After you’ve gotten the go-ahead, write the article to the required length and include your website URL and phone number in your one-sentence author’s bio.

Falk Communications helped Audrey Winkler of OMG! Organizational Management Group submit an article detailing a successful project. Upon publication, she extended her audience via X (Twitter) and LinkedIn activity, using a link to promote the article and her excellent results.

If you’d like to be recognized for your outstanding client success, I’d love to toot a horn for you. Contact me at Janet@JanetLFalk.com, set an appointment here or call me at 212.677.5770.

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