What You Did in the Sixth Grade

You sat at your desk, sharpened pencil in hand, and watched as your teacher wrote the rules on comma usage and apostrophes on the blackboard. You dutifully memorized the list of prepositions, and wrote carefully on your wide rule notebook paper that you will never end a sentence with one of those words. These rules have served you well your entire life. However, many of those standards, much like the clothes you wore during adolescence, are out of date. If you don’t stay current, you

look as if showed up to work today sporting a polyester leisure suit.

Don’t take my word for it. Check out the list below with links to sage grammarians.

Two spaces after a period – Stop it now!

Ending a sentence with a preposition – Not the offense it once was, or ever was. Worth taking a look at. (Although my fingers did have a hard time ending a sentence with at. It didn’t get any easier the second time I did it.)

Adding an apostrophe s to a word that ends in s – (ie. James’s book.) This is still hard for me to accept. The extra s appears awkward, and seems as unnecessary as wearing suspenders and a belt.

Capitalization of a salutation, or a complementary close – No change here, but the following is a common mistake:

Best Regards,
John Doe

I figured it was time to clear up the specifics of this rule.

The hard part is being bold enough to change. When do you compensate for others? You want to appear fashion-forward, not ignorant. I’ve seen people get fist-pounding mad about ending a sentence with a prepositions, “Didn’t you go to school? That’s not correct!” This is why it is important to remember your audience. Afraid to end a sentence with a preposition in your peer reviewed case study? Fair enough, but if you’re running an ad campaign targeting the youth of America, keep it casual.

If only the English language had slick ad campaigns with good looking models informing all of us of the latest style changes.

Look, commas have a new cover girl!

Make a Flyer that Gets You Business

A friend asked me to review her new flyer while we talked on the phone. This wasn’t the scheduled topic of our conversation, but it was a simple request and I really wanted to see what she had developed. She emailed it to me and we sat in awkward silence as we waited for her creation to appear on my screen. Her team spent a lot of time on it she told me. She really thought I would like it.

When I fixed my eyes on the flyer, I saw what I’ve seen so many times before – a great design that was consumed by a copious amount of content. “It’s very comprehensive,” I said. A quick glance told me there were nearly 1,000 words on the page in front of me. This wasn’t a flyer, it was an essay.



This flyer uses bullet points and a fun design to
make for easy reading.

Flyers are a great resource. You can have one written, designed and produced inexpensively in a matter of hours. The problem is a lot of flyers don't get read because the message isn't clear. The business owner wants to tell their customers everything about what they do and answer every possible question. That’s asking a lot of one sheet of paper. A flyer should serve as a written elevator pitch - quickly and easily digested by anyone.

The most successful flyers can be read aloud in about 15 seconds. Here's three tips for making better flyers.

1. Determine the call to action. What do you want people to do? Call for an appointment, come into the store for a special offer. Decide the desired response and lead with that in your text.

2. Make the copy brief and use bullet points. Does it pass the 15 second test?

3. Know your audience. Are you selling to mothers, business professionals, teens? Make sure the design relates to them, and doesn’t detract from your core message.

Bonus tip: Read every flyer that comes your way. How quickly can you determine what the seller wants you to do? Can you find the contact information? Could you explain it to your neighbor after just an initial glance?

An impressive flyer can be found anywhere - even your front porch. My doorbell rang and to my surprise the man standing before me handed me a flyer that was far better than his competition. He used bullet points to describe his landscaping services, included a couple of pictures and made his contact information easy to find. Can you recall the last flyer you received from a landscaper? Before that moment, neither could I.

One might argue that a landscaper has a simple message to deliver, and therefore his flyer was easier to produce. But you should be able to describe your business, no matter how complex, in the same manner to anyone. You may not cut grass, or trim the hedges, but you sell something to a group of people. If you can’t explain what you deliver in quick fashion, nobody else can either.

The Eggs, The Basket and Public Relations

You've heard the phrase - don't put all your eggs in one basket. Obviously, its good sense to diversify and protect what is yours. The concept crosses over from food into finances, and the fundamentals of public relations. This might seem like a strange position from someone who owns her own public relations company, but I struggled with working with only one large agency when I worked in the corporate world and have watched others grapple with it, too.

The concept of one-stop shopping is appealing, but if all your efforts - public relations, advertising, marketing, etc. are going through the same company - be prepared for some challenges. Some of the pain points I experienced included:

-larger companies can't always turn projects around on short notice

-if you become unsatisfied with the service you are receiving, severing ties can be difficult. Your agency is likely to be the liaison between many important subcontractors - such as graphic designers, web designers, etc.

-it is difficult, even for large companies, to be the expert in everything

So how do you work around this? Consider bringing someone in on a project basis. Notice I said "someone" and not "company." Adding on a competing agency will only increase your challenges with your current agency, and won't solve any of the problems outlined above. In my case, we discussed our decision to bring on an independent PR practitioner with our agency before we actually did it. We explained this was simply a new project we were given and we wanted to take the opportunity to have one person solely dedicated to this initiative. We weren't interested in severing our ties, we just wanted more options.

Ace a Radio Interview and Get Requested

I prepped my client Teresa Berg Photography this week for an interview with Martha Stewart's radio program, Morning Living. Preparation for radio is different than other mediums - particularly since this one was going to be over the phone. There are two big challenges to overcome in these kinds of interviews:

1. You can't see the host so you can't read their visual cues. You don't know how long to speak, or if you're answering their question correctly until someone interrupts.

Solution: If you can, listen to previous interviews or stories the reporter/host has done. This will help you get a feel for his or her style.

2. If an audience member misses your name off the top of the interview, they may never know who you are. Unless the radio program puts your information on the show's website - you're out of luck.

You can overcome this by saying your name repeatedly in robot-like fashion, but the chances are you probably won't get asked for a second interview. So, how do you maximize your interview time, without over doing it?

Solution:

• Provide the producer or reporter your background information including: years of experience, books written, website link, awards won, etc. Include a list of questions you are frequently asked by clients and customers. This will help the host frame their questions, and make them aware of your credentials.
• Make sure your website is up to date with resources, case studies and links. When asked a question that requires more detail or examples, mention your website, blog, etc. This is helpful to the audience, and might encourage the station to link to your website.
• Write a list of talking points and keep it next to you for quick reference. This will come in handy if the interview picks up the pace or if a question takes you by surprise. 

Depending on the show, radio interviews can last for a few minutes or much longer. The best part about the experience is it will likely feel like a phone conversation with a potential client rather than a formal interview. But don't let your guard down too much - you might be in your sweat pants and tennis shoes, but you're still representing your company. Be informative, helpful and remember your talking points, and you're bound to get requests for more airtime.

Authentic: The Now Word for PR and Everything Else

I appreciate words. My ear is always searching as someone else is speaking, listening for those uncommonly used descriptors and phrases. Occasionally, a word will creep into conversations repeatedly. For the last two months I’ve heard the same word mentioned while having lunch with friends, meeting with clients, listening to professional presentations, sitting in the church pew, and even while shaking hands with new acquaintances. When people who have no connection let the same utterance slip between their lips in such a short period of time, it’s time to take notice.

“Authentic” is the word of the moment. As I ponder its meaning, I’ve noticed that clients and others around me who have focused their efforts on living and working in an authentic manner have been more successful.

Much time could be spent on dissecting the meaning of the nine letter adjective, but I will limit my focus to how it applies to public relations.

Crisis Communications: Staying true to who you are/ your company’s mission means you will weather the event far better than lying, back tracking or attempting to deflect the attention.

Media Relations: Authentic people and their companies get more coverage. It is as simple as that. The college planning company that donates time to teaching parents about how to send their kids to school without going broke, the photographer who saves dogs lives with her portraits, and the private aircraft support company with a customer service program modeled after the Ritz-Carlton.

Community Relationships: An honest approach to partnerships will produce stronger connections and better outcomes.

Keep in mind that authentic doesn’t mean altruistic, it just means the organization is true to its message. Some of the most authentic companies that come to mind quickly include TOMS Shoes, Southwest Airlines, Rolex, and Starbucks.

Share your thoughts on the brands you think are the most authentic in the comments section below.

Celebrating New Hardware

Saturday night I received a shiny piece of glass courtesy of eight fellow business owners. Every month I meet with a small group of presidents, CEOs and/or chief cook and bottle washers in a small conference room for four hours. Each of us represents a different industry, and possesses varied experience and expertise. Our self-imposed jury-like seclusion helps us give our full attention to each others most pressing issues.Together we work to solve each others problems, commiserate and celebrate successes. We are members of The Alternative Board, (TAB) an organization which supports small business owners.

My advisers and friends proved their generous nature by voting me Board Member of the Year (technically, my board celebrated a tie between myself and Jennifer Carter who is owner of Talem, Inc., an environmental lab.) The criteria for the award, as I recall as it was shared with me while I scribbled two names which were not my own a scrap piece of paper, included demonstrates the values of TAB, participates, provides guidance, helps others, etc. Ed Riefenstahl, the executive director for the Fort Worth TAB chapter and TCU professor, gave me the award and a pat on the back. For both, I am grateful.

You have to be a business owner to be a TAB member, but I recommend a board of advisers to everyone. We all need support, wisdom and ideas of those who have no interest or investment in us other than witnessing our continued success.

And to my fellow honorees on my board and the others, congrats!

Jennifer Carter, Talem, Inc.
Steve Denny, Web Active Directory
Marc Meadows, Meadows Analysis & Design

E-mail Snags 90 Sign-Ups in 90 Minutes

Every professional speaker hopes for a standing room only crowd. There are several ways to increase the odds of meeting this goal – besides removing all the chairs from the room. Knowing your target audience and leveraging good promotional efforts are at the top of the list. For example, a recent email promoting a client’s free educational seminar produced rock star-like results. The communication was basic in nature and contained no super whiz-bang graphic elements, but still managed to generate an overwhelming response.

Kevin Campbell is the president of College Planning Authority and is passionate about saving families money on the cost of college tuition. He works with dozens of clients one-on-one, and as a community service Campbell speaks to civic and professional groups about college planning. We recently began contacting employee wellness groups about his free presentations. Companies who value their employees enough to have a wellness program know the stress related to money management spills over into work productivity. The organization we targeted had never presented this topic before so we had no idea what our results might be. Campbell's typical engagements garner about 40-50 people, so we hoped for at least that many. However, we never imagined to “sell out” the free event. We provided the following email, and managed to get 90 reservations in 90 minutes.

Subject - Wellness Committee Presents - Save Thousands on Your Child's College Tuition

The Wellness Committee presents "How to Pay for College Without Going Broke" - noon, Jan. 20 at (location).

College Planning Authority is Fort Worth's first comprehensive college planning company. Kevin Campbell is a college planning expert who has been interviewed by WFAA and CBS 11 news. As a service to (business name) employees, he will provide all the inside secrets to saving thousands of dollars on your child's college tuition. Parents of high school students are highly encouraged to attend.

Today, a four-year degree at a state school costs approximately $100,000 and the price is expected to increase. Find out what you can do to lower the expense - by thousands of dollars. You'll get inside tips on filling out application forms, financial aid, scholarships, standardized testing and more. You will also see specific examples of how hard working families have missed out on savings. Sign up today so you're in the know!

 

That's it! The registration email was far from revolutionary, but incredibly successful. The key elements to the high response rate include:

• the built-in audience for the employee wellness program

• the source – the email came from the program director program - not the client

• the client’s expertise and results

• we made them care, if they didn’t already, about the topic by providing the facts on the astronomical cost of tuition

• a sense of urgency communicated at the end of the email

Target your audience, have the information sent from a trusted resource, communicate the problem and objective in a concise manner, and you too could be speaking to a packed house.

LinkedIn: Connect with the Right People

A holiday gathering was the setting of an introduction to the owner of a talent placement company. Over cocktails he told me a about a man he was trying to help find a job. The would-be new hire said his goal was to have 500 followers on LinkedIn by the beginning of the New Year. Hearing this nearly caused me to do a spit-take, though it’s not an uncommon philosophy.

For some reason the unemployed individual was certain that number would be the catalyst to multiple job offers. His methodology was akin to sending everyone in the phone book his resume. A more strategic approach would be to grow his LinkedIn contacts so that he creates a rolodex full of targeted decision makers and supporters.

The process for self-promotion is the same for businesses, products or services. Your message is lost on those who don’t hold your same values or interests. One should spend time on attracting a targeted audience, and providing content that interests them. In fact the more specific your niche, the better off you’ll be.

More fans, followers and alike won’t necessarily bring you job offers, or anything else. A targeted approach toward generating an organic audience base will serve you well. Focus more on the quality of your efforts rather than increasing the quantity of contacts and success will follow.