I went to a networking event yesterday -(yes, I am doing my follow up today and tomorrow) - and met an interesting consultant who talked about the POWER OF THE PRESS. She gave a talk at our table about the importance of the press and just validated what I had thought and hoped other media and marketing consultants would agree on. The way news outlets and online, cable, blogs, ezines, etc., are hungry for CONTENT - you may never have thought that your niche in your industry or marketplace may be of interest. May I ask you to reconsider your previous reluctance to use the press to help you get your message into the mainstream marketplace.
I have always been a big fan of PRESS RELEASES and have experiences that they are a great way to BUILD a STORY and to allow yourself the EXPERT STATUS you so richly deserve when you own your own business.
Are you aware of the Power of the Press? Let me tell you a story about one of my clients - a manufacturer of a food product with an unusual name. I wrote and distributed a Press Release for him a few weeks ago.
The press picked up on it - and within a week, my client was on a NEW YORK NEWS report - and what followed was the story being picked up by CNN - and several radio interviews.
How much did the distribution of the report cost - and his total investment? Well, I wrote the PR for him and distributed it for him for a few hundred dollars and the press coverage brought him thousands of inquiries and new customers and ORDERS.
Can anyone guarantee that would happen to your business if we published a press release about your company?
No - but what I can guarantee is that IF YOU NEVER write and distribute a press release - you have little chance to ever get the type of exposure he received.
Even if your news is not exciting to you - you never know where a press release will end up - what "hot button" you might be find for the right buyer at the right time -- oh, and don't forgot about the Search Engines picking it up as well and helping your website and your name come up in the rankings when being searched. You may be saying, "Melissa, what do I have to say that is so important?" Well, let me help you carve out the news and newsworthy from what you are doing or have done. Sometimes we are too busy working our business to LOOK AT OUR BUSINESS - and that is where I can be of some assistance.
Just a thought -- give me a call or email me -- can we get your message out and stir some excitement in YOUR INDUSTRY? YES! Have a great weekend.
Melissa
The Coaching Queen
Friday, April 18, 2008
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Follow Up on Networking
Today I am following up from a networking event I attended last week - I am LATE with my follow up and I am feeling badly about it.
Research tells us that if we follow up within 24 to 72 hours, contacts are more likely to recall what we look like, what our "pitch" was, and be inclined to respond to our follow up.
I often talk with clients who say they only follow up with contacts that they feel an immediate connection with - or see some synergy in the types of businesses each represents. I feel this is a mistake. If someone is an insurance agent - but you don't need insurance, your follow up may spark the fact that at the time they met you, they thought you would be a perfect fit for their brother-in-law's business. If you don't take the time to follow up with the insurance agent (no, I am not singling out insurance agents, you can fill in your own blanks here as to who it is you were not going to follow up with) you never know what type of network she/he has and where you might fit in.
I often hear that clients feel they are harassing or haranguing these connections by even following up -- after all, if they were that interested, wouldn't they call us? Again, that is not always the case. I think business professionals want to have the chance to gauge your persistance and see how serious you are to be included in their circle. Take the extra few minutes to drop them a note, an email, a phone call - your time is valuable, YES, but the connections made by and through other connections is what will help build your own contact network.
The social networking sites are all about deepening the levels of connections and the number of connections we can touch. You are your own best advertisement - and your own best representation. Follow up on networking contacts is an important part of building a business and a referral system. The Queen has Spoken!
Have a great SPRING day - Melissa
Research tells us that if we follow up within 24 to 72 hours, contacts are more likely to recall what we look like, what our "pitch" was, and be inclined to respond to our follow up.
I often talk with clients who say they only follow up with contacts that they feel an immediate connection with - or see some synergy in the types of businesses each represents. I feel this is a mistake. If someone is an insurance agent - but you don't need insurance, your follow up may spark the fact that at the time they met you, they thought you would be a perfect fit for their brother-in-law's business. If you don't take the time to follow up with the insurance agent (no, I am not singling out insurance agents, you can fill in your own blanks here as to who it is you were not going to follow up with) you never know what type of network she/he has and where you might fit in.
I often hear that clients feel they are harassing or haranguing these connections by even following up -- after all, if they were that interested, wouldn't they call us? Again, that is not always the case. I think business professionals want to have the chance to gauge your persistance and see how serious you are to be included in their circle. Take the extra few minutes to drop them a note, an email, a phone call - your time is valuable, YES, but the connections made by and through other connections is what will help build your own contact network.
The social networking sites are all about deepening the levels of connections and the number of connections we can touch. You are your own best advertisement - and your own best representation. Follow up on networking contacts is an important part of building a business and a referral system. The Queen has Spoken!
Have a great SPRING day - Melissa
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
The Tax Man Cometh - Is He Who You Really Fear?
Today is Income Tax Day - probably the most dreaded day of the year! I am also involved in a professional outsourcing company (accounting, marketing, etc.) and we are still getting calls on filing -
The truth is that we tend to hide our head in the sand - if the news is bad, we never want to hear it or face it. I am no different that most in this regard. I have swept so many things under the rug, the rug doesn't really lie on the floor anymore - it is more like a beach - squishy under my toes!
But when you are a small business or entrepreneur, the thing that is hardest to do - harder than facing the Tax Man - is to look objectively at your business and realize that you may not be hitting the mark. It may be time to call in a coach, a mentor, to join a mastermind group, get more education - so that your business can thrive!
I work with clients all over the country who are at first hesitant to admit that The Coaching Queen can help them. But in reality, what I offer is a set of skills - tool kit - that they may have not had access to before. I help analyze their business, and I give them the benefit of over 27 years of experience in business, the good, the bad, and yes, the ugly! I want to help them avoid the pitfalls and failures I have faced - but learned from. I am here to serve and help them succeed.
So as much as we look at the deadline for taxes - we need to look at the deadline of when we will make the call, send the email - ask for help. I worked with a wonderful author, M. Nora Klaver, who wrote a book MAYDAY - ASKING FOR HELP. I read her book and could see myself in so many of the situations and stories of those afraid to ask for help - our pride, our sense of being expected to do it all - know it all - just stops us cold when asking for help.
But in her book, Nora points our that it is when we ask for help, we are taking steps to success and more control in our lives. We DON'T have to do it all - know it all. We are always learning, tinkering, trying new things.
So whether it is you and I who are destined to walk the path together, or you and someone you have thought of starting a journey with to help you achieve greater success, I wish you all the best and ask you to throw out the fear of asking for help as surely as you throw the fear of the tax man out the window every April 16 -- Yes, tomorrow is Another Day!
Melissa
The truth is that we tend to hide our head in the sand - if the news is bad, we never want to hear it or face it. I am no different that most in this regard. I have swept so many things under the rug, the rug doesn't really lie on the floor anymore - it is more like a beach - squishy under my toes!
But when you are a small business or entrepreneur, the thing that is hardest to do - harder than facing the Tax Man - is to look objectively at your business and realize that you may not be hitting the mark. It may be time to call in a coach, a mentor, to join a mastermind group, get more education - so that your business can thrive!
I work with clients all over the country who are at first hesitant to admit that The Coaching Queen can help them. But in reality, what I offer is a set of skills - tool kit - that they may have not had access to before. I help analyze their business, and I give them the benefit of over 27 years of experience in business, the good, the bad, and yes, the ugly! I want to help them avoid the pitfalls and failures I have faced - but learned from. I am here to serve and help them succeed.
So as much as we look at the deadline for taxes - we need to look at the deadline of when we will make the call, send the email - ask for help. I worked with a wonderful author, M. Nora Klaver, who wrote a book MAYDAY - ASKING FOR HELP. I read her book and could see myself in so many of the situations and stories of those afraid to ask for help - our pride, our sense of being expected to do it all - know it all - just stops us cold when asking for help.
But in her book, Nora points our that it is when we ask for help, we are taking steps to success and more control in our lives. We DON'T have to do it all - know it all. We are always learning, tinkering, trying new things.
So whether it is you and I who are destined to walk the path together, or you and someone you have thought of starting a journey with to help you achieve greater success, I wish you all the best and ask you to throw out the fear of asking for help as surely as you throw the fear of the tax man out the window every April 16 -- Yes, tomorrow is Another Day!
Melissa
Sunday, April 13, 2008
The Link to My Press Release -
Guess I didn't get the link in there for the actual Press Release -- here it is:
http://www.free-press-release.com/news/200804/1208124770.html
Hope you enjoy it!
See you Tomorrow......
http://www.free-press-release.com/news/200804/1208124770.html
Hope you enjoy it!
See you Tomorrow......
Back From Vacation and Back to Powerwork
I took a few weeks off for the Spring Holiday - and since I have been back, I have been completely swamped. The Coaching Queen has launched in a bigger way than I even imagined a few months ago.
I have been working with clients all over the United States - and had the pleasure of becoming a Coach for Media and Marketing for a client who manufactures a lozenge that eliminates the effects of alcohol, tobacco and pungent foods from the breath - entirely. This has cause some stir since Police Officials feel that the product will mask alcohol odor and allow suspected drunk drivers of slipping through the cracks. The product has no effect on breathalyzers or field sobriety tests - but the name AH - that is the rub -- AntiPoleez.... Get it?
Well, I wrote a press release for my client talking about the pros and cons - and he received HUGE Media Attention - a piece on Fox News (Both New York Station and Nationally), CNN Headline News, Fox affiliates all over the country. Mancow in the Morning, Jonathan Brandmier, Rock Amato - plus being picked up on The Chicago Tribune and most of the major newspapers.
I have been doing the radio interviews - my client does not feel comfortable talking with the press. I decided to do a Press Release for Coaching Queen - and you can link to it at: Free Press Release
I would love to work with more of my potential clients and current clients to help them see the value of Press Releases in establishing a critical part of long-term successful marketing of their name and company.
I would like to hear your opinion on this - let me know! Happy Sunday.
I have been working with clients all over the United States - and had the pleasure of becoming a Coach for Media and Marketing for a client who manufactures a lozenge that eliminates the effects of alcohol, tobacco and pungent foods from the breath - entirely. This has cause some stir since Police Officials feel that the product will mask alcohol odor and allow suspected drunk drivers of slipping through the cracks. The product has no effect on breathalyzers or field sobriety tests - but the name AH - that is the rub -- AntiPoleez.... Get it?
Well, I wrote a press release for my client talking about the pros and cons - and he received HUGE Media Attention - a piece on Fox News (Both New York Station and Nationally), CNN Headline News, Fox affiliates all over the country. Mancow in the Morning, Jonathan Brandmier, Rock Amato - plus being picked up on The Chicago Tribune and most of the major newspapers.
I have been doing the radio interviews - my client does not feel comfortable talking with the press. I decided to do a Press Release for Coaching Queen - and you can link to it at: Free Press Release
I would love to work with more of my potential clients and current clients to help them see the value of Press Releases in establishing a critical part of long-term successful marketing of their name and company.
I would like to hear your opinion on this - let me know! Happy Sunday.
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