Rembrandt’s Blog

“I just paid a small fortune to a big, PR agency and have nothing to show for it!”

“We hired a freelance copywriter, and he took our money and ran.”

“I paid a lot of money for media placements. Isn’t that how it works?”

Yes, folks. These are just some of the unhappy questions I hear from entrepreneurs on a regular basis. And I can understand why.

There is a lot of information out there so it’s easy to rely on an outside consultant to help you get through the maze of PR, social media and search-engine-optimization activities available.

But before you hire that expert, here are a few things to keep in mind:

PR Does Not Equal Press Release.

When someone mentions that you need public relations, do you think of a press release?

While press releases (especially SEO press releases) are an important part of public relations, that’s not what “PR” is all about.

Many of you are already aware of this. But in a nutshell, public relations is basically sending out a specific message to a targeted audience for a desired result.

And the main point of creating this “buzz” is to get your target market, and media members who cover this market, to talk about your products and services. This creates third-party credibility that you simply can’t buy.

And this brings me to my next point…

PR Does Not Equal Paid Media Placement.

Yes, these days many publications are only writing about people who advertise in their publications (I understand money is tight right now, but in my opinion, this is an unethical, journalistic practice), but with public relations, you do not need to pay for media placements.

That’s advertising.

The whole point of public relations is to share an interesting story that people will want to talk about. This means that you can develop the story yourself, or pay someone to do it for you.

But note that when you hire a publicist, you are not paying for the actual media-placement. You are paying for that skilled expert to develop and pitch stories to the media for you. And when media members report these pitched stories, these are the media placements that offer the valuable, third party credibility mentioned above.

With advertising, the credibility of the media venue talking about your business disappears.

Why?

People know it’s a paid placement and that you are trying to sell them something. The same goes with a press release that your company issues. People know you created and posted it so there is no third-party credibility… the news is coming from you.

And as a side note, be weary of the publicist who can guarantee a media placement. This is impossible unless the publicist personally writes and publishes the story.

After all, the final decision on publishing a story depends on the publisher, producer or editor… not the publicist.

PR Does Not Need to Be Expensive.

Now, as I mentioned above, you can do your own public relations and not spend anything to get some great media coverage.

(Insert shameless plug here – Check out my new book, “Simple Publicity – How to do your own public relations to boost sales, awareness and credibility without spending a lot of money at http://amzn.to/simplepublicity)

However, this does take time and effort for the research, media contact and follow up so you may want to look for an outside expert for help. Just be sure to check references, know who will be working on your account and how much time will be spent on your account, and ask about all fees in advance so there aren’t any surprises.

A good publicist (or any outsourced consultant for that matter) will communicate with you frequently, learn as much as possible about your industry and provide regular reports so you know what is going on and where your money is going.

Well, these are just a few, quick tips about public relations to help you understand what it is and how to avoid spending too much money to build buzz.

After all, I hate to see fellow, small business owners get ripped off!

I’ll provide more tips soon. In the meantime, if you need help or have questions about your SEO copywriting and publicity efforts, please let me know here or at www.rembrandtwrites.com.

Ok. You may think I’m nuts, but I’m writing this at 4:45 on a Tuesday morning. I just put three loads of laundry into the washing machine, and I’m now tackling several, SEO writing assignments in addition to this blog.

Don’t hate me because I’m a morning person. I had to train myself to get into this schedule… and have a big cup of coffee on hand…

But I’ve got to tell you, I get a ton of work done before my phone starts ringing and the e-mails start coming in. Plus, I can work with my East Coast clients and the media during their morning hours. With this in mind…

What are you doing early in the morning or late at night?

If you are spending many, unnecessary hours in front of the TV, searching the Web or sleeping, you may want to rethink your schedule.

Just by reducing the amount of time you spend on the couch or in “snoozeville,” you could grow your business by thousands of dollars!

Think about it.

By adding one hour of writing, reading, learning, marketing, or strategic planning to your day, you get an additional 20 hours per month – about 240 hours per year! That’s a total of 10 whole days! (And how much is that to you in dollars per hour?)

That’s a lot of extra time that can give you the competitive edge you need in today’s economy.

… so the next time you decide to crash in front of some meaningless television program, search the Web or hit the “snooze” button one more time, take a moment to think.

By making simple changes to your regular pattern (and having a little more discipline), you can get a lot more accomplished. And while your competitors are “sleeping,” you can spend less time stressing about your business and more time enjoying higher profits and success!

Do you need help getting people to your Web site and building buzz? Please let me know here or at www.rembrandtwrites.com. I offer lots of free insights and information to help you succeed! (Plus, you can check out my new book, “Simple Publicity – How to Do Your Own Public Relations to Boost Sales, Awareness and Credibility without Spending a Lot of Money.”)

Ahhh. Summer. You sit back in your lawn chair with a cold beverage in one hand, and your favorite book in another.

Enticing barbeque aromas waft past your nose, and your stomach grumbles with anticipation.

You catch the sweet scent of roses in the garden and the fresh cut grass from next door.

But wait a minute… something is not right. There seem to be more flies gathering, and you just can’t seem to relax. What did you forget to do at work earlier?

Reluctantly, you pick up your Blackberry and start searching through your e-mails, your extensive, “To Do List” and the Internet.

And then, it hits you…. Now, something really stinks.

No, it’s not your barbeque overcooking on the open flame.

It’s not the kids playing a prank on you.

It’s not a skunk passing by.

No. It has been right under your nose all along, and you just realized what it is.

It’s your Web site!

Sure. You’ve got lots of cool graphics, and your logo shows up really well with a big picture of you in the “About” section.

But who cares… especially if no one can find you online!

Content is king, queen, and all the other subjects!

As Dan Kennedy, “The Millionaire Maker” and author of the “No B.S. Book” series just highlighted in our recent phone conversation (Yes, I’m name dropping to get my point across!), while it’s great to have a professional-looking Web site, what does your copy say?

Are you providing value to your target customers and new site visitors? Is it the right length?

Your site should:

• Let visitors know they are in the right place within seconds;
• Provide answers to their questions;
• Offer a solution, resources and current information;
• Capture e-mail addresses with a free report, newsletter, etc.; and
• Include easy, contact information among other things.

 And once all of this is in place, you really need to:

 Optimize your site for the search engines.

 If your site is not optimized for the search engines, you are missing out on a LOT of site traffic.

And the days of packing keywords into a site to get noticed by the search engines is over. Now, it’s more important than ever to provide valuable information that includes keywords, links, headers, sub-heads, and more.

You need copy that sells.

How to Get Rid of The Stench.

Well, now that you’ve figured out where the smell is coming from, how do you fix it? Well, you have two choices:

1. You can throw the whole thing out and start over, or
2. You can eliminate the smell with fresh, new SEO copy.

Either one of these solutions will work. And you can do it yourself. But unless you are trained to take care of it, the smell will just increase.

Current customers will leave, and new customers will stay so far away, they won’t even know what you have to offer … so with this in mind…

Use A Professional Exterminator!

I highly suggest you spend the money to hire a good, SEO copywriter and exterminate the cause of the odor as soon as possible!

Not only can good, SEO copywriters help you get noticed by the search engines and bring in new customers, but they can also offer new marketing ideas to keep customers engaged and coming back for more. These new activities may include social media, SEO press releases, e-mail auto-responders, newsletters, eReports, and more.

And the best part is that SEO copywriting can be monitored. You can see what’s working and change what’s not… immediately. This makes it very cost-effective, and you get the best results possible.

…so what are you waiting for? Take action!

After all, when your Web site provides valuable information and copy that sells, things will stop stinking. And all you’ll notice is the sweet smell of success!

Now, if you have questions about SEO copywriting, or need help with your copy, please let me know here or at www.rembrandtwrites.com. Plus, I’ve started a new program to help entrepreneurs increase sales and awareness for less than a cup of coffee each month!

Check it out at www.rembrandtwrites.com/newsletter and let me know what you think. Thanks!