Speak, don't sell

By Charlotte Cheek

So, you have a speaking engagement! Good for you, but now, what do you say?

Your first instinct may be to get up in front of the room and talk about your spectacular business. It may seem easy to talk about the work you are passionate about and know inside and out. You may try and entice your audience to hire you or buy your products. But think before you act!

CEO of Yahoo, Marissa Mayer, is a well sought after speaker in the United States. Recently, she delivered the keynote address at the 2014 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada.

In today’s world, we are overwhelmed with advertisements. According to the American Association of Advertising Agencies, the average American encounters approximately 560 ads per day.* So, the people voluntarily coming to your speaking engagement are not going to want to add your 25-minute-to-hour-long advertisement to their daily list of ads. Your voice may be lost in the noise of endless ads.

Fifty percent of a sale is being in front of the room. So, get up there and be passionate, but don’t sell. The sale will come on its own without a glorified in-person commercial.

Your New Goals while speaking, besides selling:

• Be Passionate – Talk about a hobby you are passionate about or something you have learned in your career that can help the audience. If you are passionate and interested in the topic, you will be much more likely to be interesting. You can keep an audience engaged and they may even learn a few things, which leads us to our next goal...
• Be an Expert – Gain credibility with your audience by knowing your stuff. The audience will trust you more when they can tell that you are knowledgeable, which can lead to them trusting you in your field of expertise (aka your job).

So what are you passionate about? Wine, animals, social media, or art? The possibilities are endless and people will want to listen!

*https://ams.aaaa.org/eweb/upload/faqs/adexposures.pdf

Building a Beneficial Relationship with the Media

By AMY MARIE OROZCO

Quick! Name the business page reporter for your local daily newspaper. The one whose beat includes your company.

A gold star for you if you knew the reporter’s name. If not, not to worry, you can find it easily enough by checking the morning paper or Google-ing it (“[name of newspaper] + business reporter”). Then, you’ll have completed the first step to building a relationship with the media—knowing an individual’s name. This first step is critical in helping you secure publicity.

Contrary to what many might think, journalists are human beings. They only appear monster-like sometimes because they are constantly racing against a clock, and that race leaves a razor thin margin for niceties such as common courtesy and politeness.

Learning to navigate reporters’ tight schedules and pitch stories quickly will help you get on their good side.

The next step to forging a relationship with the media is not to take any of the aforementioned lack of civility personally. While it’s hard not to be offended and arch your back after being hung up on, just remember, it’s not you. It’s the media. And, they don’t see their behavior as rude. It’s how they get their job done. They act that way toward everybody.

Now, to build a long lasting and beneficial relationship with the media, try the following. (Remember: don’t take anything personally.)

Introduce yourself. Pick up the phone and call. Most likely you’ll get voicemail so have a 15-second message ready. Follow up with an email. Let the reporter know about your expertise in your field. Offer a few story ideas with unusual angles. Most likely you won’t get a response, and that’s okay.

Mind the time. Journalists are always on deadline. Use a direct approach. Stick to a point, and stick to what you know. Return calls and emails quickly. Use first and last names and, when possible, answer Who, What, Where, When, Why without being asked. A deadline is hard and fast. It’s not a target.

Be reliable. Don’t stretch the truth. Don’t spin. Ever. If you don’t know an answer to something, say so. (And, if asked to speculate on rumor or innuendo, do yourself a favor and don’t.)

Help them. You’d be surprised to what extent journalists use the Internet to do their job. Is your Website media friendly? Is there a Press tab? Are key personnel names and contact info readily available? High resolution photos of products and people easily downloadable? A clear and concise write-up on your company available?

Stay in touch. Keep them in the loop. Email is the preferred way; an occasional phone call is okay. Expand your social media. Link one of the reporter’s story you find interesting on your company’s blog. Re-Tweet. Follow the reporter on Facebook. Remember, there’s a thin line between persistent and annoying. Be careful not to cross it.

Nothing too earth shattering, is it? Maybe not common sense, but easy enough. Yet, so many business people are in the dark. Follow the above guidelines, and soon you’ll have a relationship with a local reporter and your name will be in lights.

For more information on building relationships with the media, read Dorie Clark’s piece on the Huffington Post or Abbi Whitaker’s post on Ragan’s PR Daily.

So You’re in the News, Now What?

By AMY MARIE OROZCO

Congratulations! Your company was featured—favorably—on the front page of a large metropolitan daily newspaper. Way to go! You can’t buy publicity like that.

And the story spun into a 30-second bit on the nightly news? Priceless!

Go and bask in the glory … I’ll give you 5 minutes.

So, now what?

First, I’m going to assume you have covered the operations side of things. Ready for the resulting onslaught of orders. Materials in place. Distribution channels clear and open. Staffing ramped up.

Now, I’m going to tell you how to parlay your 15 minutes of fame into an eternity of publicity. Don’t let this avalanche of good fortune go to waste. Here’s what you must do:

• Thank the journalists responsible for putting your company’s name in lights. No need for a gift, but a phone call and an email or handwritten note will do the trick.
• Buy reprints of the newspaper story. Get it in digital form, too. Then create professionally produced reprints. Post the reprint on your Web site, Facebook page, and the rest of your social media.
• Link to the 30-second news bit to your Web site and all social media.
• Remember to use SEO and back links to further drive traffic to your company.
• Share your news with ALL your clients and prospective clients. Copies of the reprint go via snail mail. An email blast or your e-newsletter goes into everyone’s inbox.
• Think re-purposing and reusing. Did the newspaper article refer to you as an expert in your field? Add that to your list of credentials. Did the newscast recommend your business? Better put that on your Web site.
• Find out how the reporter decided to do the story. From a press releases you sent? A customer? How do you find this out? You ask them directly! Use the same tactic in the future, but don’t rely on it solely.
• Pitch other media with your news. Like a trade magazine or a radio talk show—now that you’re an expert.
• Keep your press kit updated. Always.
• Stick to your publicity calendar. Continue sending out press releases. Be regular with blog posts. Is your Web site fresh? Don’t rest on your laurels.