Archive for October, 2007

So, I’ve been told today is World Internet Day.

I have to say, my reaction was along the lines of…"There really is such a thing? Who knew!"

Well, in honor of this illustrious day here are some factoids for you that are, um, pretty much meaningless.

The internet began in…ah, no one knows for sure. There’s the theory that it all started way back in 1969 as a network by the pentagon but no one, not historians, not the pentagon and not Al Gore agree on that so the only thing everyone seems to agree on is the fact that it did NOT begin in 1969.

The term "internet" was coined in 1996. So, no matter who created it and when, the phrase became commonplace in the late 90’s.

Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet), says the Internet is a worldwide, publicly accessible series of interconnected computer networks that transmit data by packet switching, using standard Internet Protocol.

Internet World Statistics reports that as of September 30, 2007, 1.244 billion people were using the Internet. WOW!

Now, here are some interesting links if you want to know more. They are in no particular order.

• Alexa – check out the most poplular sites by country. 
• Netfactual – “just the facts mam”… 
• Internet Society - history of the internet 
• Internet Traffic Report – monitoring the flow of data around the world

You know, my post on the simplicity of Public Relations (PR) got me thinking…

As usual, questions started popping into my head about the uses of PR and exactly HOW it can help a business. So, I came up with a few questions that can help you narrow down your Public Relations goals:

1. What marketing objectives do you want your PR efforts to help you reach?

• Increase sales
• Introduce a new product or service
• Generate sales leads
• Increase company or product awareness
• Promote a special event
• Promote a community/charity event
• Become known as an expert source in your field
• Seek the public’s help with an issue

2. What message do you want to send out?

• This is your key message

3. What target audience or demographic do you want to reach?

• You need to identify your audience. Who is the person you want to strike up a conversation with?

4. What media do you want to focus on?

• Identify media outlets whose market demographic is the same as your target market
• Identify the key people in those media outlets and their contact information
• Learn how those key media people like to receive their PR information

5. What action do you want your target market to take in response to your media coverage?

• Email
• Online Purchase/Store purchase
• Call
• Attend your event
• Take a look at your web site or blog
• Participate in a contest
• Leave a comment on your blog
• Leave a product review on your web site

6. What’s your timeline?

• Determine ahead of time the period of time in which you’d like to launch your PR campaign and be ready to answer questions when it gets picked up.

Okay so there you go…some questions to get you thinking about your PR efforts. Next week, we’ll focus on the creation of a press release.

Oh, and by the way, your Friday Fun Quote is from Carrie Underwood’s song “So Small” Go take a listen. You can click on track 3 to hear the whole song – pretty cool.

“Cause sometimes that mountain you been climbing is just a grain of sand. And, what you been out there searching for, forever, is in your hands. And, when you figure out that love is all that matters after all…it sure makes everything seem so small.”

And, a brief note from one of our affiliates…

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So, I was catching up on some blog reading and I have a plethora of blogs I like to read at different times. You know, blogs about life in general written by people who give a little peep into their exhistence (the funny ones are my favorites), mom blogs where I can empathize and give my two-cents because there are a lot of things that I am but being a mom is probably the biggest part of being me, entrepreneur blogs (because I have an affinity for those independent-minded individuals who need to carve their own path) and then there are the general marketing blogs that everyone talks about and reads. I know you know the ones I’m talking about…the ones where the blogger used to be a big CEO at some big company and their experience at said big company makes them, um, some sort of expert…yeah, I only read those to keep up with what everyone else is reading  – they are NOT and I repeat, NOT my favorites.

However, occasionally I come across something in one of those ‘said’ blogs that peeks my interest. This came from Andy Sernovitz (whose blog I DO like) and the reason I liked it is because he was just kind of pointing out that dude…it’s really not that hard to get coverage in the media for your business or product. Plus, he has a cool video on how to make eggs in 2 minutes.

Here’s what he said.

Getting covered in traditional media doesn't have to be so hard.

1. Ask for it  
2. Put a package together  
3. Pitch your client instead
4. Go local
5. Use web-ready press releases
6. Write it yourself

Yep. I agree.

You know I went to this event recently at our local Chamber of Commerce called ‘Meet the Media.’ It was sad. I mean, it was S-A-D. The majority of the businesses who came out to meet local media reps were walking around with conjured up images of complex marketing and pr campaigns to get the media guys and gals to notice…

Now, at one point in my life, a long, long time ago, I happened to actually BE a media person. I got press releases galore, lunch invitations and even free gifts (which I always politely returned or else could be accused of being biased, which is a joke because everyone, even news editors and news people are biased). But we were always and I do mean always looking for a new angle and very often just a little tidbit of something to take up space. Yep, that last one is called ‘filler’ and even the big publications, radio and tv stations need ‘filler.’ Plus I always liked it when my job was made easy. Check out the term ‘spoon feeding’ to get a clear idea of what I mean by easy.

In any event, everyone seemed to be making it so very complex and difficult when in actuality it’s simple. There are, of course, no guarantees that your information will get picked up or even if it does get picked up, it might get cut at the last minute but it’s worth the effort to make a pitch and follow up with your media people.

Now, here are a couple of resources you might find useful.

• PrWeb – http://www.prweb.com
• GiftsListMedia - http://www.giftlistmedia.com/ (Be sure to tell Amy@giftslistmedia.com that Sonya over at TrulytwistedMarketing sent ya)
• Also, be sure to check out your local media resources…see #4 Go Local…

This has nothing to do with pr but it’s a hilarious blog and I love to read it – Crazy Aunt Purl!

"Do every act of your life as if it were your last."

-Marcus Aurelius
(considered the last of the "Five Good Emperors" of Rome
and one of the most important philosophers of that time)

Just sharin' the eco-friendly love in honor of Blog Action Day. Check it out…

"The 11th Hour is the last moment when change is possible. This film explores how we’ve arrived at this moment — how we live, how we impact the earth’s ecosystems, and what we can do to change our course."

Check out the trailer here. 

So, today is the day…the much anticipated, Blog Action Day!

"What is it?" you might ask and why is this important? Well, let me expound a little on this whole idea. It's quite cool - one topic, thousands of participating blogs and tons of blog readers. The topic is 'green.' The being good to the environment kind of green. AND all the blogs that are monetized will donate their proceeds for the day to an environmental charity.

Check out treehugger, gigaom, lifehacker…yep, the really big blogs are in on it too, not just us little guys. It's looking like the cumulative effect of all these blogs will be to spread the "word" to thousands upon thousands of people and open up a plethora of new ideas and spaces to get the environmental conversation started!

So, in keeping with that line of thought, here's my official Blog Action Day post.

I thought it would be cool to create a listing of online green resources, places you can use to answer your questions and get started on the green pathway to enlightenment.

Here goes… 

• Green Info link
• Wikipedia's Environmental Issues
• Low Impact Living
• Healthy Living with a Twist
• Your Green Home
• Digg's Environmental Stories
• Zero Footprint Calculator
• Sign a Petition for Cleaner Air and Adopt a Square Mile of Sky

Ok, that's it for now…more 'green' resources to come so check back later today!

This book came to my attention several weeks ago.

The premise is that by changing the way you view work/life you can achieve your dreams and goals. Sounds simple and pretty fabulous, right? 

However, not so easy. The problem is that people don't know WHAT they really want in life which really HAS to be defined in order to know what dreams and goals to shoot for.  

So, here's your explicit warning. If you don't know the "WHAT," the advice, examples and resources provided in the book won't work.

However, if you can detail out your intentions. It could be  revolutionary.

If you accept the challenge set by author Timothy Ferriss you'll be able to alter the current conventional view of the daily 9-5 grind and free up your time to enjoy loftier pursuits like spending more time with family, travel and cultivating activities that feed your soul.

I encourage anyone to check it out and read it with an open mind. And, as always, feel free to let me know what you think!  

Ever ask a marketing person what the fundamentals of online marketing success are?

I did and was sorely disappointed in what I heard. A lot of mumbo jumbo about brand recognition, joint venture, affiliate marketing…

It didn’t really satisfy my appetite or get to the bottom of my question.

So, I started thinking about the core competencies…what IS it that would be the backbone, the very root, of any marketing endeavor. What does every marketing person need to know in order to set up marketing for their business. I came up with a list of five things.

1. Strategy
2. Insight
3. Creativity
4. Technology
5. Optimization

The strategy is the game plan for what we want to do and how we are going to do it. It requires the knowledge of the relationship between your customer and your brand and the outlets and channels used to reach those customers. It also requires an explicit understanding of the mission of the business and overall goals for success.

Insight is akin to intuition. I particularly like this one because it requires you to think intuitively about what it is you need to know about your customers – you know, get inside their head, walk a mile in their shoes…be familiar enough with them that you can speak to their needs, wants and deep emotional desires.

Creativity is the way you translate your brand into untapped or under used avenues to reach your customers. It requires an intimate understanding of new media, online trends and market conditions and the ability to think outside of what is considered the norm.

Technology is what keeps things running in an online environment. Understanding what technology is being used and how it affects your marketing channels as well as basic business operations is very important. Add to that an awareness of new technology and the best use of new technology for increased exposure and new customer acquisition – also pretty important to know.

Optimization is the pulling it all together for seamless integration. Yeah, sounds easy but in truth it’s not. Seamless integration almost never happens. There’s always something that crops up when dealing with technology. However, running an optimized campaign, measuring return on investment and monitoring your stats is the only way to really know and understand if the marketing endeavor was successful. So a good understanding of how to set up and create an optimized campaign…yep, also pretty important.

Okay, so that’s my simple list of the “Fab Five Marketing Must Haves.” You can call them Sonya’s secret theories or crazy ideas or whatever you feel comfortable with.

The point is these are the basics. I’m sure they can be expounded upon, lengthened and stretched and most likely there’s more to add to the list. Hey,this is a petrie dish, remember? It’s an internet science experiment so go ahead and add on, throw in your own opinions and let’s mix it up a little.

**Photo © UW-Madison University Communications

A brief note from one of our affiliates…

The internet advertising is the most effective and successful means of introducing products and attracting customers. Once a thorough professional helps and website development is accomplished one can start looking at other steps necessary to strengthen the position. One can always promote his or her business through search engine marketing, which helps in association with famous search engines. Many netfirms take advantage of various professional service providers. One of such service provides include dedicated hosting websites. Many online and offline businesses indulge in internet network marketing in order to compete and become prominent.