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Since we are starting a fresh New Year, I came across TWO exceptional articles from my friend and PR Expert, Marsha Friedman that shares two vital parts to marketing you, your books, and Brand! We can never have too much advice from a Public Relations firm that Marsha runs and is the founder of. Let’s make 2018 our “Year To Shine!”
Marsha Friedman+ by | Jan 3, 2018.| General Marketing, PR Education
The start of a New Year is always a great time to focus on creating a “new you” – or at least an improved version of the old you.
Sometimes we do that through resolutions about dieting and exercise that, sadly, we don’t always keep. Sometimes we enter January vowing that in the next 12 months we will travel more, read more or spend more time with the family.
As you look ahead to all the possibilities that a New Year brings, let me suggest that if you’ve been letting your personal brand languish, 2018 can be your time to shine! It can be the year you rise from obscurity to fame – or at least to recognition as a voice of authority and go-to expert in your field. You just need to be willing and determined to make it happen!
You can bet that if you don’t, someone else – possibly a direct competitor – is going to step into the limelight that you neglected. They will be the ones polishing up their personal brands and, as a result, speaking with journalists, chatting with radio and TV show hosts, and linking to their media success stories on their websites.
Several years ago when I wrote my book Celebritize Yourself, personal branding hadn’t become quite as widespread as it is today. Certainly, some people – Zig Ziglar, Suze Orman and Bob Greene, just to name a few – had become extraordinarily successful at it, but at that time there weren’t always as many ways for people to promote themselves as there are now.
Most of the social media platforms that we have come to take for granted were either in their formative years or were dismissed as being irrelevant or unimportant. How quickly that changed! Now it’s so easy for anyone to create a Facebook, Twitter or other social media account and introduce themselves to the world.
Meanwhile, the old-school ways of promoting yourself via earned media in print, on radio and TV are still around, too. With so many opportunities out there, let me suggest just a few things you can do in 2018 to make this the year you take your personal brand to a new level:
So make a vow that 2018 will be your year! Although it may seem a daunting task, this really can be the year you create a truly authentic personal brand that will positively sparkle by the time 2019 arrives.
That’s a resolution definitely worth keeping…Shine on!
Yes, this is me shining on!! Now to our next article!
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This week my creative team and I were in the middle of just such a session when Jay York, our senior social media strategist, intrigued me with his thoughts about current trends in video marketing.
Let’s face it. With today’s technology, combined with the vast reach of social media, it’s easier than ever to create your own video segments that can become an integral part of your overall marketing strategy. You don’t even need a studio worthy of “Good Morning, America” or special effects that would make you the envy of George Lucas. In fact, the less formal the production is the better.
And once you arrive at your finished product, you can put your video on Youtube, share it on other social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, and post a link to it from your website.
Frankly, you can get a lot of marketing mileage out of just one video – but you shouldn’t stop there because there are so many approaches you can take. You might create a series of short messages filled with insights into your area of expertise.
You might want to show your company culture with glimpses of team-building outings for example. It can show you’re a fun company to work with, or that you’re philosophically aligned and share commonalities with potential clients. These can be deciding factors when choosing a company to work with. At EMSI, we often use videos for those peeks inside the company, sharing them on Instagram!
So, with an assist from Jay, let me offer a few tips on what you should do to get started and get the most out of your video marketing this year:
A video is going to be more relevant in marketing in 2018 than ever before, which means you need to give serious consideration to incorporating it into your overall strategy.
Granted, not everyone enjoys going in front of a camera. I get that! But I also know the importance of video, so I’m going to suggest you overcome any camera fright and, if you haven’t already done so, take the video plunge! And yours in high definition!
About Marsha Friedman
Marsha Friedman launched EMS Incorporated in 1990. Her firm represents corporations and experts in a wide array of fields such as business, health, food, lifestyle, politics, finance, law, sports, and entertainment. She consults individuals and businesses on a daily basis and is frequently asked to speak at conferences about how to harness the power of publicity.
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“Authors, with so many years of experience behind us – not to mention the availability of calendars – you would think we would be better prepared for what’s about to come. Yet, year after year, many of us act astonished and caught unaware by this annual, easily predictable time of year that still somehow manages to sneak up on us.”
Once again, it’s the last quarter! Suddenly, the holidays are here! And before we know it, 2018 will have arrived and just like in the past we’ll be wondering where those final months of the year went and whether we made the most of them when we had the chance.
And too often we will shake our heads as we realize that we could have accomplished so much more with the right planning.
If only…
So before 2017 really starts winding down – and disappears for good – let me suggest a few things you can do with your year-end PR efforts that will help you feel that you did indeed make the most of the moment:
So don’t let these final months, weeks and days of 2017 catch you unaware. When it comes to marketing and the last quarter of the year, we’re all somewhat like a football team in the waning minutes of a game. We may have accomplished a lot up to this point, but there’s still much to do before the final horn sounds.
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NOW, another area we need to think about now that 2017 is winding down?
Marketing, Tax Deductions And Making Plans For 2018…
Just this week I was talking with a long-time client who was looking ahead to the direction he wants his publicity to take when we all head into 2018. The client definitely is planning to be active and signed on for 60 radio interviews that won’t even take place until the New Year has begun. Maybe that sounds like he and his publicity efforts are getting ahead of themselves – after all, 2017 still has two months to go – but actually, it’s smart planning.
Getting your publicity strategy lined up well in advance is, of course, a good idea on its own merits, but there’s a bonus when you spend those 2018 marketing dollars before Dec. 31. You get an immediate tax write-off for 2017! Good promotion coupled with tax savings makes for an excellent start to any year.
And the time to start thinking about your 2018 marketing is now. Publicity should not be a last minute add-on after everything else is set. It needs to be an integral part of your marketing plan as you set goals for the New Year.
Let’s take a look at a few reasons why:
Publicity has power. I can’t stress this point enough! Every day we see what it does for our clients when their names appear in such top-tier publications as the New York Times, USA Today, Forbes and others, or we land interviews for them on radio shows or TV broadcasts. And those who leverage that publicity and the credibility it buys have the greatest success in harnessing that power to build brand recognition.
Don’t forget social media. Traditional media is still very integral to your marketing efforts, but social media is also a key player that you can’t afford to neglect. For one thing, it’s an area where you have the greatest control over your message because you can tweet and post whenever you like. It’s also one of the best ways you can leverage your publicity. Sharing your media interviews and coverage with your followers provides social proof of your expertise and validity of your brand.
Past publicity can’t support you forever. Marketing is just one more area in life where you can’t rest on your laurels – or your press clippings! You quickly become old news if you don’t stay in front of your audience. Too many times I have seen people go heavy with a publicity campaign for just a few months and then sit back and think that should do it. Sadly, it just doesn’t work that way. You’re probably familiar with the adage “out of sight, out of mind.” PR works in the same way. If you don’t stay on top of things, there’s a good chance your competitors will and they will be the ones your potential clients or customers will encounter in the media!
So as you look to 2018 think about how marketing will fit in with your other plans and, if at all possible, pay for that marketing now and save the receipt for your 2017 tax returns. Spending those marketing dollars before the ball drops in New York might be one of the wisest financial planning moves you can make.
Foresightedly yours,
Marsha Friedman doesn’t like sitting still. As a prominent businesswoman, she has run her public relations firm successfully through prosperity and adversity, ironically having one of her best revenue years in the midst of 2009’s recession. As a publicity expert, she has authored the book Celebritize Yourself.
Marsha Friedman launched EMSI – in 1990. Her PR company represents corporations and experts in a wide array of fields such as business, health, food, lifestyle, politics, finance, law, sports, and entertainment. Some of the more prominent names on her client roster are Sergeant’s Pet Care Products, Former National Security Advisor Robert McFarlane, and the famous Motown Group, The Temptations.
She consults individuals and businesses on a daily basis and is frequently asked to speak at conferences about how to harness the power of publicity.
How Social Media Turns You Into A Valuable Media Commodity Marsha Friedman+ by
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All I can say is I just love Marsha Friedman from The PR Insider! I have learned SO much from her through the years about PR, Social Media, Branding, and Book Marketing. She is well respected and very inspiring to many . . . .
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If you’re savvy enough to be using social media as part of your branding efforts – and I know that you are – then you’re also savvy enough to want to get the most out of those efforts.
After all, when you’re using social media for personal or business branding, you’re not out to learn how many of your high school classmates have grandchildren, or “like” the photos of your niece’s wedding.
Instead, your goal – or at least one of your goals – is to build a loyal following and then leverage that following to enhance your marketing and branding efforts as an authority in your field.
Because here’s the thing: the greater your following, the more intriguing you’ll appear to the media gatekeepers you’re trying to attract to spread your message.
Let’s face it, most people in the media are inundated with requests from people who have a story to tell, a product to sell or a service to promote. If you manage to cut through all that clutter and get on the media’s radar, one of the first things they will do is Google your name or your company’s name and check out your presence on social media.
It gives your credibility a strong boost if the media find that you are widely followed on social media sites. Here are just a few ways your social media following can pay marketing dividends for you:
Let’s say, for example, that you’re interviewed for an article that appears in a national publication. If you share a link to the article on your social media sites, you have immediately broadened the potential audience for that article. But it doesn’t stop there. Many of your followers may share it with their followers, widening the reach even more. If you’re lucky, it could even lead to the article or interview with you going viral! You’ll like that and so will the media outlet you helped shine the spotlight on.
Building an extensive social media following and making the best use of it is not only smart, it’s essential if you want to take advantage of the marketing and branding opportunities that social media present.
When the media start checking you out, you want them to be impressed with what they find. And at that point, the whole situation could become almost self-perpetuating. A growing audience can help lead to media attention. Media attention can help grow your audience.
What an extraordinary development that would be!
Perpetually yours,
Marsha
(P.S. If you need professional help with your branding and social media efforts, give us a call at 727-443-7115 ext. 215.)
ABOUT MARSHA FRIEDMAN:
Marsha Friedman launched EMS Incorporated in 1990. Her firm represents corporations and experts in a wide array of fields such as business, health, food, lifestyle, politics, finance, law, sports, and entertainment. She consults individuals and businesses on a daily basis and is frequently asked to speak at conferences about how to harness the power of publicity.
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I am excited and honored to have my good friend back, PR Expert Marsha Friedman from “The PR Insider.” Marsha is CEO of http://emsincorporated.com/about-emsi/, an award-winning, top national public relations agency; EMSI has been delivering highly specialized publicity campaigns for over two decades. “Our specialty is creating angles we know the media will want to cover and will obtain quality media exposure for our clients.” Marsha is a lot like me, as she enjoys helping others by sharing many Social Media tips and advice through her awesome newsletter which I get each week, and highly suggest all authors do on when you visit her website.
She happened to share a couple of articles this past week that I felt needed to be shared as it stress’ the importance of media and social media as part of your book promoting platform or brand. Since I book promote throughout social media, because as we all know, many authors can not afford to hire a PR Firm. So let’s see what advice Marsha has for us today …
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* When Media Opportunities Knock, Swing Your Door Wide Open! *
One piece of PR advice that I have shared with clients over the years is that they need to take advantage of every media opportunity they possibly can no matter how big or small.
Why? Because the media follow the media – or in more generic terms, one thing leads to another!
Here’s what I mean: Members of the media routinely check what topics other members of the media are reporting about and who they are using as sources. If they see that some other media outlet has made use of your expertise, they are more likely to view you as credible and someone they might want to turn to as an authority on your subject.
Just within the last week we experienced a terrific example of this phenomenon when one of our EMSI clients wrote an opinion piece we got published in the New York Daily News.
After the piece appeared, our client was sitting down to dinner with his wife when his cell phone rang.
On the line was someone from MSNBC, calling to check on whether he might be available to be interviewed for the network’s “Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell” show.
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The reason he made their list of potential guests: Someone at MSNBC had seen that New York Daily News article. One thing had led to another!
So with that in mind, what are some steps you can take to improve the chances of getting the media to follow the media that’s following you? Here are a few:
Another thing worth keeping in mind is you need to stay persistent in your efforts and not expect quick results. Unless you happen to be incredibly lucky, one article is unlikely to do the trick. The more you take advantage of opportunities, the more your name is out there and the better the odds that the larger media operations will take notice.
Of course, when that happens, you better be ready! Media opportunities don’t knock every day ….
“Now here is the other article I feel is very important to all authors when out promoting your books. Social Media is a great place to be and Marsha tells us WHY.”
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* The Key Ingredients To Developing A Social Media Strategy *
It’s hardly a secret that, if you’re promoting a brand like let’s say books, a great tool at your disposal is all the social media sites that have sprung up over the last several years and continue to flourish, such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, and others.
But, as I hope everyone also knows by now, it’s easy – much too easy – to make brand-damaging mistakes on social media if you’re not careful. Big mistakes!
In fact, if your aim is to promote your brand successfully, you shouldn’t even attempt social media without a carefully planned strategy. The willy-nilly approach won’t do it, and you even could end up in worse shape than before you started.
So how does someone go about developing a social media strategy that works?
Glad you asked!
To answer the question, as I often do in such circumstances, I turned to one of the team members here at EMSI for assistance. In this case, it was Jay York, our senior social media strategist, who understands the nuances of social media and how to make the best use of social media’s advantages while avoiding the disadvantages.
Jay says these four steps are critical as you develop your social media strategy:
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Finally, Jay emphasizes that consistency is incredibly important. You can’t post on social media once a week or once every two weeks and expect followers to start multiplying as if by magic.
It simply won’t happen!
Your social media platforms need tender, daily care, because once you’ve grabbed your audience’s attention, you don’t want to lose it. That doesn’t mean cluttering their news feed with an avalanche of posts, but it does mean checking in regularly to remind your followers of what you have to offer and that you’ll be there when they need you.
Strategically yours!
You can connect with Marsha on Social Media to stay up to date on more PR Insider Tips and Advice below:
Website at EMSI: emsincorporated.com
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