Tag Archives: public relations

PR Pros Meet Blogger / Influencers

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Vanessa Abron put on another very informative program, this time exploring the interaction between PR Agencies and bloggers /influencers. 

The program featured a number of industry professional who represented either Public Relations firms or were themselves bloggers or influencers.

In segments described by Abron as “fireside chats” sets of two (one PR and one blogger) examined their point-of-view on topics related to how agencies and influencers work together to promote brands who are looking for new communications channels that can reach specific target markets.

Guest Speakers Included:

  • Andrea Metcalf (Blogger – AndreaMetcalf.com)
  • Daisy Garcia (Public Relations Pro – Flowers Communications)
  • Evan Marshall (Blogger/Social Media Strategist – HighFashionLiving.com/Burrell)
  • Morgan Shelton (Public Relations Pro – Edelman)
  • Natalie Craig (Blogger – NatalieInTheCity.com)
Moderator:

  • Vanessa Abron (Public Relations Pro – Agency Abron)

PR pros are of course looking for influencers, typically bloggers or social media “celebrities” who have a trusted following. The purpose is to get the influencer to mention or otherwise promote a related brand. The placement can be paid, in exchange for product, or it can be just because the influencer wants to talk about the product because it is of interest to her or her audience.

Even though there may be some kind of compensation it is important that the placement be authentic.

It was noted that most of the time agencies are looking for big numbers in order to really push their brand but occasionally they will entertain the use of a micro-influencer if that person has a very specific niche.

There may be little or no monetary remuneration for micro-influencers. However a micro-influencer may get “value” if the brand shares the post with their own followers or fans. This can introduce the influencer to perhaps millions of new people who might in turn follow them thus helping them build their sphere of influence. In industry parlance – – increase their UMV or  unique monthly visitors.

Vanessa always does a top notch job on her events. This one was held at “We Work” on Illinois and Clark Streets. She offered pulled pork sliders, salad and some very yummy mini-cupcakes. There was wine and the venue provided their signature beer on tap.

We Work has a number of locations around Chicago. Avery Redlitz gave me and my buddy Tommy Love a thorough tour of the facility.  They provide a number of affordable and flexible workspace solutions including solo offices, two person offices, multi-person shared offices as well as several conference rooms and flexible drop-in work spaces for the occasional users or those on-the-go.

Of course we also had a chance to do some networking and swap a few business cards before and after the event. I was happy to meet a few new people and get reaquainted with a few people I had met previously.

Be sure to find events that will improve your business knowledge and expand your own sphere of influence. Whether you are a blogger or not you do wield some degree of influence within your network. Consider how you can leverage that influence to your own advantage or to the advantage of your clients or customers for the benefit of all of the players.

Talk about those things that truly interest you and that will benefit your readers, that’s what is meant by being authentic.

Learn more about Vanessa Abron Agency and her PR on  Shoestring Budget. See more pictures at #bloggersmeetprpros.

 

Shoestring PR Chicago | Vanessa Abron Workshop

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Thanks to Vanessa Abron for presenting and conducting a first class event last night. Her workshop provided information on how to create a public relations campaign on a shoestring budget that attracted about 30 or more entrepreneurs, musicians and freelance service providers. Vanessa describes herself as a “media relations maven” and provided some insight into why it is important to build relationships with media writers and producers, and how she has personally uses her relationships to benefit her clients.

After a short definition of public relations Vanessa gave a description of how advertising and PR differ, which is primarily paid placement versus nonpaid placement. She was quick to point out that PR is not without its own costs which may include professional help such as she provides, as well as costs related to the execution of your campaign like communications materials, imprinted swag, and other products and services. A shoestring budget PR campaign might include social media, special events, personal appearances, as well as traditional media like newspaper, radio and TV.

After the overview, we broke into groups and worked on a provided case study. I was on the Green Team who was tasked to come up with a social media campaign for our fictional Hip-Hop Performer client. Since I personally provide web video production services, I was happy to see that my team felt video – – specifically Youtube – – should be a key component of the social media campaign effort. One member was quick to point out that when using video on Facebook it is essential to upload the video to the FB platform to get further penetration then you would by simply supplying a Youtube link. A good tip. Video from our Hip Hop client might include performance clips but could also be behind the scenes videos with the performer and other personal connection clips. Another element included encouraging fans to pose with the performer at events and share the photos with their friends. After each group reported their ideas, Vanessa asked us to note how each of the categories crossover and support each other to create a full PR campaign.

The event was held at “WeWork” 20 West Kinzie which is a very cool shared office complex with a nice view of the city from the kitchenette gathering area on the 17th floor, complete with cold beer on tap. Vanessa arranged to have delicious salad-in-a-jar and cheescake in-a-cup for snacks and photographer Ven Sherrod was on hand to take head shots which could be purchased for a nominal fee.

This was more of a workshop then a networking event so I did not have a chance to get business cards or contact info from many of the people I met including a very nice woman who is a fine artist currently working at ComEd. There was a guy who was engaged in some sort of student internship program which I wanted to learn more about. Had a nice chat with Kat Rothstein from Digital Pollen Collective who provides  an array of creative services

In my Green group was a nattily dressed real estate musician, another musician who I met in the elevator on the way up and massage therapist, Marcia Cutright, whose cheerful personality makes you feel better just by meeting her. Before the program I chatted with Trudi Gentry an account exec with iHeart Media, and my friend and UX expert Susan Barahia. In the elevator on the way out I met visual artist Joshua Taylor and barber, Brian Coleman of Gold Coast Barbershop at 100 E. Walton.

I want to give a final shoutout to Sandrel “Sanicole” Young who was on hand to video the event. She is also the writer and director of short film, “Side Effects” that can currently be seen on Comcast On-Demand.

Vanessa Abron has demonstrated through this event that she can deliver, when it comes to putting together a classy event on a shoestring budget. She also managed to assemble an interesting group of talented individuals. Visit VanessaAbron.com to learn more about her follow-up workshops and other services.

Online course from business card to business succcess graphic

Leveraging Media Coverage to Grow Your Business

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By L. Drew Gerber – Guest Blogger

There’s no question you aspire to take your business to the next level, but how to do it? You may have tried networking, Internet marketing or paid advertising but have you tried to leverage media coverage to grow your business? You want to attract loyal customers and increase your profits — that’s part of the equation — but you long for some magical solution. Let me show you how.

It’s no secret that media coverage is by far the best means out there to take you and your business to the next level. But scoring media coverage alone won’t necessarily translate into record sales or a huge spike in your website’s traffic. Like most things, media coverage is a means to an end, not an end in itself. The trick is how to leverage your newfound exposure to reach your goals.  Leverage it in a way to attract potential clients who won’t wait for you to open the door because they’ll be knocking it down themselves. 

Putting your best foot forward to show the public and your target market you’re the person they should be paying attention to, is what will happen when you successfully leverage your media coverage. Once you start scoring media coverage, keep taking action, nurture your relationship with the media to keep it strong and fruitful. 

Here is how you use your newfound media exposure to build your credibility, and leverage it to find more potential clients and customers. Just as you’re using this media coverage to promote your business, product or service, you should also promote that media coverage to your current and prospective clients to really maximize your exposure. Social networking is great for this! Let’s say you land a segment on CNN.  The next thing you should do is tell the world about it via Twitter. If you give an interview on a local radio station, post a link to it on your Facebook profile. You get the picture. Just as the media promoted you, you’ll want to promote the media to get more exposure for your message. That’s leveraging the media coverage. 

If you’ve scored a television interview where you discussed 5 tips that will aid people in their job search or grow their business, suggest they visit your website where they can learn 5 more tips.  Like any technique you employ to grow your business, leveraging media coverage takes a commitment. But you’ll be hard pressed to find any other strategy that will give you such a large return on your investment. 

More and more people are using social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn to search for their information. If a prospective client lands on one of your profiles and finds links to your recent media coverage that’s an instant boost to your credibility. 

Promote your media coverage in your newsletters and email blasts. Media coverage is a great way to give credibility to the information you’re providing, while creating another avenue to re-engage past clients and followers, and make your website a valuable resource for people. 

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L. Drew Gerber is CEO of www.PublicityResults.com and creator of www.PitchRate.com, a free media connection service for journalists, experts, and publicists.  Contact L. Drew Gerber at: AskDrew@PublicityResults.com or call him at 828-749-3548.

Online Networking

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I knew it would be difficult for me to meet all of the 100 people in 50 days I have challenged myself to meet through face-to-face networking alone. I knew I would have to engage people online as well. In fact there is no good reason to separate the two activities. Both online and offline networking are valid ways to make contacts today and business people should be using all avenues available. These two tactics should not be seen as being in competition with one another.  If you are following my challenge hopefully you will get a few ideas and examples of how you might broaden your own sphere of influence.

A few days ago I connected with Sally Chapralis a Chicago area public relations and communications professional. I cannot rememebr now if I saw her name on a group discussion board or if it was one of those suggestions of people you might know that LinkedIn provides. But anyway I noticed we had a few contacts in common and I liked what I saw at her profile and website so reached out to say hello. Sally and I had a nice phone conversation and we learned a bit about each other including the fact that she is a jazz fan. I am looking forward to meeting Sally in person at our next business card to business meetup. Stop by and you can meet her too.

If you’ve been reading along for the past week or so you will remember my new buddy Lonnie Sciambi “The Entrepreneurs Yoda.” Lonnie introduced me to Charlie Newman who he described as “the best negotiator in the free world.” Charlie is the retired Director of International Business Development for the Automotive Component Division of one of the big Detroit auto companies. He spends his time now teaching and developing plans to help smaller businesses startup or grow by building alliances. This is what Charlie had helped big companies do and now he is using his expertise to help small business. Well I suppose based on what he is used to all business is small business for Charlie.  He  has presented his experiences and ideas in a book called “Beyond the Chicken Dance.” As Charlie explained it to me all negotiations and alliances begin with a kind of courtship ritual which he equates to the chicken dance but the real work begins once the courtship dance is over. Though a shrewed and tough negotiator Charlie emphasized that the end game is a win-win situtation. You do not want to enter into what is essentially a marriage with one party feeling like they are on the losing end of what is supposed to be a newly formed team. Check out his book, I look forward to some more conversatons with Charlie, who by the way is also no stranger to a pool cue.

Today I had the good fortune to meet marketing and branding expert, Ben Baker of CMYKsolutions.com Vancouver, BC.  Ben and I also connected online at LinkedIn and ended up having a great conversation. Ben markets a few interesting and diverse products and specializes in helping trade show exhibitors get more out of their trade show experience through better planning and execution of their trade show strategy. I am a veteran of hundreds of trade shows and in fact still manage exhibits for a few of my clients. I know from experience that many exhibitors have no idea what they hope to accomplish through their attendence and typically have poor follow up strategies. In fact in Turn Your Business Card to Business I have one chapter devoted to using your business cards effectively at conventions and trade shows.  Ben offers a needed service and we agreed there was definitly a synergy between our businesses.

My final part of this report is meeting Karen MacNab (again online) who is a coordinator for the growing Connectors networking group I blogged about a few posts back.  The coincidences and ironic twists involved in our meeting are too difficult for me to type out here, but in a nutshell Karen was at the meeting I wrote about earlier. However we connected today because she was seeking a speaker for an upcoming meeting and found me quite by accident at meetup.com. Well long story short we did finally meet but it would have been nicer had we had an opportunity to exchange business cards last week since we were standing in the same room breathing the same air. Its’ great that we did connect but it goes to show you how easy it is to miss an opportunity. My short message as always is to meet as many people as you can and when it is face-to-face, seal the deal with a business card. If it is online follow up with an email. I keep most of my general networking contacts at LinkedIn and will blog later about how that is working for me.

For tonight the count stands at Day 31 with 59 new people met.