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June 24, 2011
Happy Friday! Below are my recommended reads this week from around the web:
Lastly, I wanted to recommend checking out Kyle-Beth Hilfer’s legal blog. She covers legal issues that pertain to small business and creative professionals. Add it to your feed reader for great insights on this important topic.
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June 29, 2010
These days everyone wants to know what celebrities are wearing. They pop up on TV, in magazines and on celebrity gossip blogs decked out in the coolest clothing and accessories. Small designers dream of getting their own creations into celebrity hands. But how do you go about it? Here are a few tips:
1. Pick the Right Celebrity
It doesn’t matter if Chace Crawford is your favorite because he’s so beautiful and appears on your favorite TV show. He may not be the right person to give your products to. Choosing a celebrity who’d genuinely appreciate your products is the first step in a successful gifting to celebs. That means doing your research, so…
2. Follow Your Celebrities
Pick a few celebs that you think would be a good choice for gifting. If you aren’t sure where to start, begin reading magazines with celebrity interviews. They often provide insight into their personal interests and taste. Notice what celebrities wear when they’re not working (you can often find candid pictures of their day to day lives in gossip magazines and on gossip websites).
If you sell vegan shoes, take note of which celebrities have said they’re vegetarians. If you sell Christian jewelry, start paying attention who which celebrities are public about their Christian faith.
Once you’ve chosen a celebrity whose taste or interests match your products, find ways to make contact…
3. Get Online
These days lots of celebrities are online and you can contact them through their Twitter or blog. Celebs that make themselves publicly accessible in this way are also great because you can see what’s going on in their lives and find a perfect moment to offer them a gift.
Pay attention to whether or not the celebrity has an upcoming birthday. Are they getting married soon? Are they expecting a baby? Look for moments like this as an excuse to offer them a special gift.
4. Reach Out
If the celebrity you are hoping to give a gift to is online, reaching out might be as simple as sending a Tweet, email or blog comment. If your target celebrity is a little more elusive, check out Contact Any Celebrity. This paid service hooks you up with contact information for just about any celebrity.
If you have deeper pockets, another options is gifting suites. These are suites that are set up at Hollywood events like Emmys or MTV Music Awards, where business owners/representatives gather in a room and hand out free swag to any celebrity that happens by. Be forewarned that these events can get expensive, and you won’t necessarily know who will show up. On the plus side, you’re likely to be able to actually snap a picture of a celebrity with your products, which helps create proof that the celebrity owns your products.
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February 12, 2010
Every day I check out the 100s of subscriptions in my RSS feed about marketing, PR, advertising, branding, social media, and a host of other topics of interest to small businesses that sell online. Most of what gets posted isn’t earth shattering but I reserve Fridays for the best reads of the week. So here you have it, the most valuable things I read in the business blogosphere this week:
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February 8, 2010
There are loads of how-tos out there on getting press from blogs. Getting publicity is an invaluable way to grow your brand, so why do so many small business owners insist on sure-to-fail tactics? Although many of these seem like no brainers, I see these mistakes frequently in my online travels. So here are a few things NOT to do when trying to get press for your brand.
1. Give Attitude
When you’re trying to get press for your brand, you’re basically asking someone to do you a favor. Press is usually free. Occasionally you may get asked for a sample (my $.02 on that topic here), but in general, asking for press tends to cost nothing. This is why it’s super-important not to be a jerk. Don’t complain if the blogger has a specific format they want inquiries in. Don’t whine if they ask you for high resolution product photos or a press kit. If you’re not prepared to cater to demands from bloggers and magazine editors, don’t ask for press in the first place. The worst thing you can do is give these people a hard time or send them a nasty correspondence.
2. Nag nag nag
It’s totally fine to keep press contacts up to date on new product launches and special events. It’s reasonable to follow up if you’ve sent a sample to someone. What you don’t want to do is be a pest. Hassling an editor or blogger repeatedly with the same (or a similar) pitch, when they’ve given no indication that they’re interested is nagging. Pitching the same contact repeatedly in a short period of time is nagging.
What should you do? Query your contacts no more than once a month and never send them the same or a similar pitch. If you don’t have anything newsworthy to share, don’t bother. Save that contact for the future when you actually have news for them.
The pitch on the left re-frames an already pitched product as one that is timely and relevant. The pitch on the right reiterates information already sent to the press contact that didn’t receive a response the first time it was tried.
3. Link the press to an inadequate website
If you want a blogger or magazine editor to give you some press, you need to provide them with access to quality product photos, quality product descriptions and a good looking website. If your product photos are murky and gray and look like they were shot on your basement’s stained carpeting, fix that before you start asking for press.
If your website looks like it stepped out of Geocities in 1998 fix it. Don’t ask for press until you’ve got a pristine, well-designed, attractive site. While you’re at it, make sure your product information is as detailed as possible. Publishers don’t want to send their readers to a site that’s hard to use, doesn’t provide a sizing chart, doesn’t really have any return or contact information.
Don’t even think about asking fore press from a single media outlet until you’ve addressed all of these issues.
4. Ignore press contacts
Say you’ve got an interested blogger or journalist who wants to give you some press. Make it your number one priority to pay attention to her. If she needs a product sample by Tuesday, Fedex it. If she needs you on the phone at 2 for an interview, make it happen.
All the hard work you’ve put into generating press is useless if you can’t follow through. Make sure you’re on top of all inquiries you receive from publishers. Make yourself easily accessible and easy to work with. Editors and bloggers are pressed for time and often up against deadlines. The easier you can make life for them, the more interested they’re going to be in working with you.
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January 27, 2010
When you’re trying to get publicity for your brand, having a good press kit is a necessary tool. This is where press contacts can turn to find out everything they need to know about your business. Here are some things your online press kit should include:
1. An Introduction
This page tells your press contacts who you are and what you’re about. Be sure to use the juiciest and most relevant information about the people who run the company, the company history, the company’s mission, etc. Make it interesting, relatively brief and compelling.
2. High Resolution Product Photos
A collection of ready to use, high resolution photos of your products can be an invaluable resource for a last minute story. This means images that are set at 300dpi or higher and in JPG format.
Such photos take a long time to load, so it’s a good idea to have low resolution thumbnails on your press kit page that link to the higher resolution version.
3. Past Press
Publishers will probably want to see what else has been said about your brand and who said it. A list of past press is a nice-to-have to a reporter can determine the kind of company they’ll be in if they write about you.
4. Fact Sheet
A quick read that lists of pertinent or interesting facts about your brand. Examples of what one might see on a fact sheet:
- Eco-friendly collection made using 100% recycled materials
- Collection premiered at Fashion Week New York in 2009
- Product called an “indispensable time-saver” by Parents Magazine
- Product available in over 25 different colors
Your fact sheet should highlight any product details not mentioned in your introduction. The format should be easily skimmed so reporters can digest your information as quickly as possible. The fact sheet should point out what makes your products and brand unique, special, interesting and newsworthy.
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January 18, 2010
Hiring a PR professional can be a great way to kick start some publicity for your brand but with so many options to choose from, how do you know you’re hiring the right person of agency? Here are a few things to ask any agency you’re considering hiring.
1. How will you determine which press outlets to pitch for me?
Some agencies or PR people have a pre-made list of press they like to deal with. They use the same list for all their clients. This might be okay’ish if your target audience is the same as their other clients. It’s not ideal. The best option is a PR agency or person that will build a custom press list for your business.
2. Describe your process for pitching editorial contacts.
Many agencies send a blanket pitch to all of their press contacts. They create a pitch for your brand and fire up an email program that sends this pitch to every contact on the press list. It’s kind of like throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks. You’re better off working with a PR person that will tailor pitches to the individual contacts on your press list. You certainly do not want the same pitch going to a parenting magazine and a mens’ fashion blog, even if you sell products for both men and babies.
3. Tell me about the types of clients you’ve done work for in the past.
Hire an agency or professional that has experience working with companies like your own. If you sell fitness clothing, you probably don’t want to work with an agency or professional who mainly works with home decor clients.
With anyone you’re thinking about hiring, ask them what types of clients they’ve done work for in the past. Ask what results they were able to get that client and ask how long they’ve been in their line of work.
4. Do you have an area of focus in the publicity arena?
Some agencies or PR pros focus primarily on print media, others are more focused on celebrity product placement or online PR. There isn’t really a right or wrong answer to this question, but it’s one you’ll want to ask up front.
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January 6, 2010
Last year I published an article about the importance of building a tailored press list, so today I want to show you a couple of handy tricks for actually seeking out publications to put on your press list. In my original article, I mentioned checking things like amazon.com and blogrolls for ideas but here are a few additional tools to consider:
Similar Web
This handy browser plugin can be used to find websites similar to a website you already know about. You can enter modishblog.com for example, and Similar Web will suggest Design for Mankind, Rare Bird Finds, Poppytalk and a host of other design blogs you may or may not know about.
Check it out at: http://www.similarweb.com/
Quantcast
Quantcast is primarily a site for gathering traffic data on high traffic websites. You enter a URL you’re interested in and Quantcast will tell you how much traffic it gets, what types of visitors it gets and most importantly what sites the same audience frequents. If you design wedding invitations, maybe you’d want to search for theknot.com. If you scroll to the lower right under “audience also likes” you’ll see a list of other sites you might want to put on your press list. You can also click each of those links and see where their visitors go, thus generating even more ideas for your press list!
Check it out at: http://www.quantcast.com/
Your Competitors
You may notice that a lot of your competitors have press pages on their websites, browsing through these pages is another great way to find out about press outlets that might be willing to give you an editorial write up. Make a list of all your competitors and check out their press pages, take note of any publications they’ve received press from that you don’t have on your list and be sure to add them on.
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January 4, 2010
Pitching your products to the press is a pretty essential part of running an online retail business. The trouble is, all your competitors are pitching too, so if you want attention, you’re going to need to stand out. It’s not always enough to have a cool product, you need a way to make your product more interesting than your competitors and you need to pitch stories that are timely to create a sense of urgency.
One way you can do this is with a calendar of press-worthy events. What do I mean by this? Look through the calendar and plan out your year. Look for opportunities to make your brand part of the year’s upcoming events.
Will you be premiering at a fashion week? If so which one and when? Figure this out early so you can tell fashion bloggers. Will you be raising money for the Human Rights Campaign in June? (June is LGBT Pride month) If so, alert some gay press well in advance, so you can get an editorial mention that coincides with your event. Maybe you sell baby clothing and you’ll be hosting a cutest baby picture contest this spring? If so, it’s not too early to tell parent magazines and mommy bloggers.
When I plan out my year for my e-tail shop, I look for ways to make my brand newsworthy each month. I come up with a list of who will care and make plans to pitch them in advance. It gives editorial contacts a reason to feature my brand now, rather than “maybe eventually if we’re looking for content.”
When you plan your year’s calendar of events make sure you’re picking events that are most relevant to your brand’s image and figure out all the ways you’re going to promote the event. Getting press is a big and important slice of the pie, but plan your newsletter releases and social media updates to generate interest as well. Sometimes press is generated from general buzz about something you have going on.
Ready to get started? To get ideas for your calendar, take a look these handy resources:
Related Extra Credit Read: Making Charitable Work Part Of Your Brand Identity
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October 6, 2009
The key to brand building is telling a story. Anyone can sell handbags or earrings, part of what makes your products stand out is the personality behind the business. There are lots of great ways to show a bit of yourself to your customers: create a Flickr account, maintain a blog. Share your process, share your workspace, share a bit of you. One valuable way to share with your customers is through your charitable activities. We all like to do business with socially responsible companies, so if you’re involved with a good cause make this part of your brand’s story…
Read the rest of this article on Modish Biztips, where I posted it as a guest contributor >>
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July 28, 2009
You’ll know your business is starting to grow when bloggers begin taking notice. There’s nothing like a little publicity to introduce your brand to new customers. As your brand grows you’re sure to begin getting requests from blogs that either want to review your products or give your products away in a contest to their readers.
Before you head to the post office with your valuable merchandise, you may want to ask yourself “what’s in this for me?” On the face of it, the opportunity to get a blogger to review your products sounds good. The opportunity to sponsor a giveaway practically for free also sounds like a pretty good deal. All it’s going to cost you is your product and postage…
Read the rest of this article on Modish Biztips, where I posted it as a guest contributor >>
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