Holiday Cards-An Opportunity to Make Contact

December 11, 2008

 
As the holidays approach, you are probably swamped with year-end work activities and preparing for your own personal celebrations at home.

The last thing on your mind may be the thought of purchasing business holidays cards, writing messages and addresses, licking envelopes, and buying stamps. But you may be missing out on a great opportunity.

Not only are holiday cards a fantastic way to spread some cheer during tough times, but they offer a great way to get through to potential new clients, investors and sponsors, renew relationships with media members and thank valued customers.

After all, most people appreciate a personalized holiday card and will open this type mail.

Now, you may think it will take too much time and cost too much money to send out cards, but with today’s technology, it can be very easy and cost-effective.

Some services will even take care of printing and mailing for you! (Check out http://www.printingforless.com/holidaycards.html, www.kinkos.com  and your local print shop for help.)

And if you are really short on funds, you can always send electronic greetings through Hallmark, Yahoo! and others.

If possible, try to set aside a few hours to create an address list and send out holiday cards in the next few weeks. It may be a lot easier than you think and well worth the effort.

Not only will you help build business relationships, but you’ll spread some holiday cheer…and we could all use some of that right now!

If you need help with your copywriting and PR efforts, please let me know. Thanks!


Just when hope starts to fade…

November 11, 2008

It’s 4:00 a.m., and I just turned on the computer and took my first sip of coffee.

 

With the stress of the economy, the election and an increase in the number of reporters losing their jobs, it has been an uphill battle to build buzz for my clients.

 

And just when frustration started to get the best of me, things turned around.

 

In the last few days, my hard work paid off. My clients were featured on Forbes, The Discovery Channel, Workwise, The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, and others.

 

It just goes to show you that you need to keep pluggin’ away, and even give  extra effort, when things aren’t going the way you planned.

 

Sure. This can be easier said than done so here are a few sites to help you stay positive and get the inspiration you need to hang in there when times get tough…

 

Quotes from “Power of Positive Thinking’s” Norman Vincent Peale

 

Daily Motivational Quote Widget

 

Small Business Advice from the Experts at SCORE

 

Small Business Help from Experts and other Entrepreneurs

 

Funny YouTube Videos for a Quick Laugh

 

And if this doesn’t work, just think…the Thanksgiving holiday will be here soon. Then, you can take a few days to relax, rest and start fresh when you return to the office!

 

If you have questions, or need help with your PR and online copywriting, please let me know! I’m here to help. Thanks!


Anxious? Try to stop and think first for best results.

October 28, 2008

 

At about 8:00 a.m. Saturday morning, I was scuba diving in a fairly shallow kelp bed. Brightly colored fish swam all around me and I took relaxing breaths out of my regulator.

The only thing I had to worry about was getting my equipment wrapped around a long string of kelp…or so I thought.

Just as I swam through some underwater foliage, a dark shadow loomed ahead. My dive buddy pointed in front of us.

I looked down, and there was a 4-5 foot leopard shark gliding along the ocean floor looking for breakfast (great…as long as that’s something other than me!).

Then, it noticed us, and our eyes met. What a strange feeling to share eye contact with a shark!

My heart starting beating faster, but I remained calm and waited to see what would happen next. Before I knew it, the shark was startled by us and darted away!

I knew that the shark wasn’t going to attack us, but it was exciting. And it made me think how this situation relates to the current economy and public relations.

Whether you are anxiously awaiting a call from a media member, or you are worried about what to do with your money in today’s economic turmoil, it’s usually best to take a moment and think before acting.

Not only will you make better, more informed decisions, but just a little extra time can drastically change circumstances so that you know exactly what actions to take, if any.

Just look at my shark encounter. I didn’t do anything, and the situation remedied itself as the shark swam away.

Now, I’m not saying you should be lazy in your public relations activities or in watching your budget. But when things start to go crazy and your blood pressure goes up, take a moment to relax and think.

Try to avoid bugging a reporter with repetitive calls or taking all of your money out of the bank as soon as you hear the latest financial news on television.

Instead, take a moment to calm down. Look at your situation. Get appropriate information. Then, figure out what you need to do. 

Many times, it’s just a matter of waiting.

Maybe the reporter will call you in a few days?
Maybe a friend or financial advisor will give you a great tax tip?

The point is, it can be difficult to remain calm in today’s world. But if you try to relax a little, things will be a lot easier to deal with and you’ll probably see much better results.

I hope this helps, and if you need assistance with your small business public relations and copywriting needs, please let me know! Thanks!


Financial Help for Small Business Owners

October 14, 2008

 

If you are worried about the current economic turmoil and want some help with your small business financial worries, check out these sites:

About.com
http://stress.about.com/od/financialstress/Financial_Concerns_Managing_Your_MoneyAND_Your_Stress.htm

DebtSteps.com
http://www.debtsteps.com/financial-stress.html

Fortune Small Business
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fsb/fsb_archive/2008/10/01/toc.html

Free Management Library

http://www.managementhelp.org/finance/fp_fnce/fp_fnce.htm

SBA

http://www.sba.gov/services/financialassistance/index.html

SCORE
http://www.score.org/index.html

StartupNation
www.startupnation.com 

SuzeOrman.com

http://www.suzeorman.com/igsbase/igstemplate.cfm?SRC=MD012&SRCN=index&GnavID=84&SnavID=20

Yahoo! Small Business
http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/r-mainCat-m-2-finance-i

http://finance.yahoo.com/how-to-guide/career-work/12825

The more informed you are, the better off your business will be now and in
the long run. Plus, you can save yourself a lot of unnecessary stress and
hassle.

If you need help boosting sales for your small business via publicity and
online copywriting efforts, please let me know below or at
www.rembrandtwrites.com. I’m here to help!


Hot to Get Your Press Release Noticed

May 12, 2008

In the past few weeks, several new entrepreneurs sent me press releases for review. And one major issue stood out. They all stressed features rather than benefits.

 

As a small business owner, it is easy to be so passionate about your new products and services that you get wrapped up in explaining all of the details, background and technology behind it. This is great for credibility purposes, but it is not necessarily newsworthy.

 

When writing your press releases, always think about your audience.

 

Why will they care what you have to say?

 

And instead of focusing on the specific features, talk about the benefits.

 

What will your audience get from using your products and services?

 

For example, a pencil has an eraser. It is bright yellow and provides a way to write with lead. These are features.

 

Some of the benefits of the pencil are that it allows you to erase mistakes quickly, save money over purchasing more expensive writing utensils, reduce stress knowing that if you lose the pencil it can be replaced fast, easily write underwater and upside down with it when you need to, etc.

 

This may be a very simple concept, but it is often forgotten in press-release writing and media relations. Therefore, the next time you read an interesting news item or write a press release, look for the benefits.

 

Make the extra effort to talk about a benefit for each product or service feature. Your press release will be much more interesting and newsworthy, and you’ll end up saving a lot of extra time and effort.

 

Thanks for reading, and if you have any questions or comments, please let me know here or at www.rembrandtwrites.com. I’d love to hear from you. Thanks! 


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