7 reasons I hated your speech It’s hard to believe how much I hated your speech. I hated your introduction. I hated the middle of your presentation. I hated your so-called conclusion. I hated the way you delivered your talk. As hard as it is to reduce all of the reasons I hated your speech down to just seven, I‘m going to try. Here are seven reasons I hated your speech: 1. You opened your speech without doing anything to get me interested in your topic. 2. You didn’t tell me where one thought ended and another began. As a result, I couldn’t figure out where you were and where you were leading me. 3. C’mon, now. Why didn’t you just highlight your most important points, tell me why they’re relevant, and add some memorable supporting material? 4. You had less energy than the geriatrics at the local senior home. Next time, try speaking about 15 percent louder. 5. I somehow made it through your speech without nodding off. But what should I do next? 6. 7. Visit the Mr.
29 Ways to Collect Email Addresses for Your Business Looking for ways to grow your list of newsletter subscribers? There are a ton of ways to get people to sign up for your weekly or monthly email marketing campaigns. I’ve put together a list for you to read, so you have heaps of options for growing your list. Include a link to your newsletter sign up form in the main navigation bar of your website and/or blog. (Or better yet, include a sign up form in the main navigation bar).Create a “sign up” call to action on your Facebook business page.Create enticing visuals encouraging people to sign up for your list, and post them on social media channels (especially Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn).Attend or exhibit at a trade show or networking event and bring a newsletter email sign up clipboard or book. If you’re tech savvy, bring an iPad or mobile device with you. Bonus: Optimize your site for appropriate SEO keywords, and ensure your business is on appropriate online listings. Have any additional ideas? © 2016, Janine Popick.
How to get the most out of a PR major It is important to understand exactly how versatile a PR practitioner must be to keep up with the demands of clients and the fast-paced field. The best time to comprehend this is in college. Here are six ways to get the most out of your PR major: Get as much internship experience as possible. This may seem like an obvious key to victory in the career game, but some students feel one internship is enough. The more internship experience you get, the better your résumé looks and the more confident you’ll be with your performance under pressure. Tip: Set up a meeting with your school’s career advisor. Practice how to write, especially a good pitch. Writing is a fundamental part of our job. In college I took extra writing classes and wrote for various media outlets. Tip: Never stop practicing your writing. Knowing how to pitch well is also important. Tip: If you don’t already know, learn from Help A Reporter Out. Be familiar with multiple areas of expertise. We all know the state of the economy.
Rise To The Top With Facebook EdgeRank Facebook can be a great place to market your small business; many of you have set up fan pages and are actively building a Facebook audience. One thing you may not realize, though, is that not all of the messages you share on Facebook are being seen by your fans. In fact, many of the posts you share on your Facebook page will only be seen by a handful of people, regardless of how many fans you have. If you want to know why this is and what you can do to optimize your posts for maximum reach, you’ve come to the right place. For the personal profiles of your fans, the default setting on their newsfeed is set to display what Facebook considers “Top News.” Affinity: Affinity refers to the strength of the Facebook relationship between users. What You Can Do: Encourage conversations with fans on your page and start a dialogue. Popularity: As more people engage with any given piece of content, the more popular it becomes in Facebook’s eyes. © 2011 – 2013, VR Marketing Blog.
Hideous query email sparks 6 tips for PR job-seekers This week, my firm received possibly the worst job query I’ve ever seen. That’s saying a lot, given the stacks of résumés and letters sent to our firm each year. Given the tight job market and need for skilled workers in our field, this applicant sets the bar for how not to conduct a job search and sell yourself. Here’s the letter, with some details excised to protect the applicant. All misspellings and missing words are preserved: I am a student from XXX State University I plan on graduating this spring and was very interested in applying at your firm. OK, now let’s look at the letter a little closer. It’s clear from the first line that the applicant didn’t target our firm. Tip: Form letters never work. In the second line, the applicant says his major is “public.” Tip: Proofread your cover letter; then have a friend review it. Near the middle of line 3, the applicant says he has experience in social media. Tip: Offer an assessment of your skills, but make them stand out. (Image via)
The Power of Saying "I Don't Know" Column by Janine Popick, Inc.com "Girl Power Female CEO's" February 11, 2010 Imagine six business colleagues in a meeting and the leader of the meeting says: "Did everyone get the TPS report?" Everyone in the room nods. If you have no clue what a TPS report is and you’re like me, you raise your hand and say, "At the risk of sounding like an idiot, I don’t know what a TPS report is, can you elaborate?" The leader then elaborates and you see a sign of quiet calm come over all of the people that now know what a TPS report is, because you asked. In today's ultra competitive work environment, many people feel the need to be "super workers" and have an answer to every question. I once worked with a guy who was a stereotypical Sales Shark! In another incident, I was recently on a conference call with someone who was trying to get our business. Why do people have to pretend to know everything? The Bottom Line: The Truth Doesn’t Hurt
10 types of addictive content Are you having problems driving traffic to your blog? Is no one is retweeting your content or sharing it on Facebook? The challenge for any blogger is to provide content that will entice and delight readers. One thing to keep in mind is that everyone faces daily challenges and problems. I have found these 10 content types to be very effective. 1. Reviews of products, books or applications in your industry provide a shortcut that saves people time. The other advantage with this content is the companies and people whose product or book you review will share your content with their networks, accelerating its spread and making it more viral. Example: 8 Great Twitter Tools That Will Get You Tweeting Like A Pro This multiple review motivated the eight companies who developed them to tweet and share the review with their networks. 2. A long list of tips, tactics and answers that people can use as a reference works well. Example: 90 Tips to Make Your Blog Rock 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. (Image via)
Article Marketing Strategies: Writing Articles on Topics You’re Unfamiliar With If you're feeling stumped when faced with the task of writing on a topic you're not familiar with, this article is for you... Do you need to write on topics that you’re not exactly familiar with? Perhaps you own a business website and you sell lots of products that you’re not necessarily familiar with. Or maybe you’re a freelance writer and your client’s field is totally new to you. What can you do to write intelligent articles that your readers will find useful? It’s always a challenge to write on topics that you’re unfamiliar with, so we’re going to cover some ways to work around that: 1 – Find out as much as you can about your topic. If you are a freelance writer with a new client, go to that client’s website and read it thoroughly. If you are writing about a topic that’s new to you, likewise do some investigating online to gather information. You are a beginner in this field, and that’s okay. Your articles should teach your readers something... 2 – Put your teacher hat on. Conclusion
6 Ways to Be More Persuasive With Social Media Neil Patel is the co-founder of KISSmetrics, an analytics provider that helps companies make better business decisions. How can you be persuasive with consumers on social media? One of the best books on persuasion is called Influence, in which author Robert Cialdini describes six elements of effective persuasion. I share those tactics below and analyze how they can best be applied to a social media audience. 1. Reciprocation is built upon the theory that if you give something as a gift and then ask the recipient for a favor, they’ll respond in kind. For example, Dropbox will give you 2GB of storage space for free. Another common social media strategy is to give away ebooks. 2. When it comes to making decisions, we often look to other people for clues. Subscriber or follower counts – Are a lot of people following this blogger? Bottom line: When it comes to social media, a large audience is golden. 3. When Cialdini talks about “liking,” he doesn’t mean the “Like” button on Facebook. 4. 5. 6.
25 Online Tools for Freelance Marketers Effective marketing doesn’t happen by accident. Targeting the right customers and crafting a message that’s not only eye-catching but also creates sales is both an art and a science. To help freelance marketers – actually, to help any small business or entrepreneur gather and analyze data, find up-to-date information, and develop new marketing ideas, we’ve put together the following list of online resources:Site Optimization and Search Engine MarketingAnalysis & ResearchSocial Media MarketingAdvertisingPresentationsNews & Online Resources Site Optimization and Search Engine Marketing 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. For advertisers, Technorati can place targeted ads on participating Technorati blog and social media sites. 6. 7. 8. Analysis & Research9. Based on the responses, customers are categorized into one of three groups: Promoters, Passives, and Detractors. Your Net Promoter score is determined by subtracting your percentage of Detractors from your percentage of Promoters. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 16.
5 Ways to Catch the Eye of the Press and Public What do readers want -- and what to editors and reporters want to see? Here are five ways to catch the eye of your audience, whether you're writing blog posts, press releases or doing a Public Service Announcement campaign. 1) Pull Back the Curtain Whatever business a public figure is in, it's a secret world that average people don't get to see. People are always interested in learning secrets. Plus, these aren't hard to write. What may seem like old hat to you -- how a bill really becomes law, what a movie set is actually like, being inside the locker room of the Boston Red Sox -- is completely different and exciting to the press and public. 2) Pick a Fight Peace and happiness is boring. News is about conflict. A lot of times, conventional wisdom is wrong. 3) Revamp Your Products Not simply to freshen up the look. Since everything you do in public relations -- except for radio -- involves the eyes, this is an important issue. There have always been theories about what's effective, visually.
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