Rembrandt’s Blog

If you’ve entered the world of Twitter, www.twitter.com, you know there is a lot of junk out there… people telling you what they ate for breakfast, what happened at the dentist, the cute thing their child said yesterday… you know what I’m talking about.

Now, many of these Tweets really are for the birds and may make you stop using this form of social media all together. But there is some good information out there and a great opportunity… so if you are using Twitter for your business, here are two things to keep in mind:

1. Are You Providing Value?
Before you start tweeting and obtaining followers, think about what you’re trying to accomplish.

What kind of information can you provide that will help your business build buzz and credibility? Try to provide your followers with interesting tips, news stories, insights, and links that will help them solve their problems.

2. Are You Home?
If someone sends you a direct message on Twitter or comments about your products and services, follow up. The whole point of Twitter is to communicate quickly and succinctly.

If you don’t respond or take part in the conversation, you might as well end your account. After all, you don’t want it to look like you’re out of the office or “not home.” Plus, you’re losing out on a great opportunity to communicate with customers, build loyal followers and obtain valuable information to improve your products and services.

… so how do you get this done?

Have a Dedicated Tweeter.

Twitter can be a key part of your overall marketing strategy. But to be effective, it’s essential to have a person dedicated to your Twitter account. That person can provide valuable content, share important marketing messages, respond to followers, and monitor competitors on a daily basis.

Now, when you take all of this into consideration, Twitter can take some time (which kind of defeats the whole purpose of sending quick messages, doesn’t it?)

But there are services to help you organize the process. Check out TweetLater, www.tweetlater.com, and this list of services to enhance your Twitter experience here.

Before you know it, you’ll have a big Twitter following and get the most out of your account. But one last word of warning… Twitter can be addictive so watch your tweeting time!

Do you have questions or need help with your small business public relations and SEO copywriting efforts? Please let me know here or at www.rembrandtwrites.com. I’m here to help!
(Also, check out my new PR Program, “Secrets of Becoming a Publicist,” here.)

After you send out a press release, pitch a reporter or do an interview, I find it’s always best not to get too excited about a potential media placement until it actually happens.

After all, breaking news, editing, lack of space, or numerous other factors out of your control can keep your story from actually being published or broadcast.

To deal with this situation, I highly suggest that you note the date the clip is scheduled to appear and then concentrate on other, public-relations activities. For example, you can:

• Add current information about your business products, services and leaders to your website. Your newsroom should list your company’s newest information.

• Attend pertinent club meetings, events and presentations in your region. Tell people about your products and services and share your passion for your business.

• Volunteer to speak about your industry at various organizational functions. Not only will you get in front of your target audience, but you may be quoted as a speaker in a local paper. Reporters usually cover important community events so if you are a part of the activities, you significantly increase your chances of getting some free publicity. And even if press members do not attend, you will build some valuable business relationships in this networking process.

• Send out press releases and announcements on a monthly basis with your current contact information. This will help to remind key audiences and media members that you are still doing business and have great news, information and success stories to tell.

• Keep your eyes open. And as things progress, look for good customer case studies, business innovations, financial and employee growth stories, and unique information that you can turn into a new story, event or announcement.

These are just a few PR activities to add to your routine. But rather than focus on one placement, it’s important to work on an array of public-relations efforts on a regular basis.

Not only will you build awareness, sales and credibility, but think how nice it will be when you open that major publication and see your interview from weeks earlier!

Do you need help with your PR or SEO copywriting needs? Check out my free newsletter at www.rembrandtwrites.com. I also have a new PR Program, “Secrets of Becoming a Publicist,” available at http://bit.ly/BecomeaPublicist.

Feel free to contact me below, on Twitter at http://twitter.com/RembrandtWrites or at www.rembrandtwrites.com. I’m here to help! Thanks!

It’s 9:00 a.m., and I just finished dropping off my television equipment at the local cable company. What a relief!

You see, a few days ago, I received an urgent notice in the mail to call a specific number. My television cable company wanted me to switch my converter box in time for the national change to digital.

No problem. I call the number… busy signal. Then, I call back a little later… busy signal. I call again… busy signal. I wait until the next day… busy signal. You get the idea.

Well, this went on for three days… so I called the main cable number. After being on hold five minutes, the nice phone operator told me that was the number I needed to call, and she couldn’t help me… Fabulous.

Now seriously, didn’t the cable company know I needed to change their converter box months ago? Why did I get the “nice letter” a few days before the national conversion?

And I don’t know about you, but I just don’t have time to deal with this… especially when there are plenty of other companies vying for my business.

Well, to make a long story short, I cancelled my service immediately… (Well, I mean after waiting on hold another 10 minutes just to get through to a “customer service” representative.)

And can you believe it? When I told the representative I was canceling my service because I spent three days trying to get through to the “special” converter box number to no avail, he gives me a lame excuse.

“Well, we can’t help it if our phones get so busy we can’t answer them, he says.” I said, “That’s no excuse. There are plenty of businesses larger than yours that have no problem answering their phones.” He didn’t know what to say.

Anyway, after many wasted hours of my time and unnecessary stress, I now have television service with a new company. But this whole process made me think…

Why aren’t companies like these focusing on their customer service efforts?

It’s a huge part of good publicity. After all, if you treat your customers well, they will tell others. And this is valuable word-of-mouth you can’t purchase. (My old cable company would have received some great press from me online if they would have acted differently.)

Sure… it may be more expensive to put the time, effort and money into training customer service representatives, but it’s well worth it. Just look at http://www.gotobilling.com/Corporate/index.php/Press-Room.html, http://www.printingforless.com/tsrteams.html, http://www.1800gotjunk.com/ and others. They know how to treat customers and reap the benefits of their efforts.

With this in mind, how do you treat customers?

Are they still #1 even though times are tough? After all, with today’s fierce competition for sales, the one who services customer needs the best wins!

Do you have questions about your PR and SEO copywriting activities to help boost sales, awareness and credibility? If so, please let me know here or at www.rembrandtwrites.com. I’d love to hear from you!