Advertisement Ideas: 30 Days To Jump Start Your Marketing & PR!!!

Advertisement Ideas: 30 Days To Jump Start Your Marketing and PR!!!

Are you maximizing your message? Are you overwhelmed when you hear Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Tumbler, Stumble Upon, Vine, LinkedIn? Have you sat down to plan, implement, and evaluate an effective marketing and public relations strategy? I am amazed by the many entrepreneurs who tell me they do not have a marketing plan. I often respond if you don’t know where you are going how are you going to get there. This entry is designed to be a road map on how you can jump-start your marketing and public relations in 30 days. It is based on a track record of success in obtaining media coverage for those who have chosen to work with me. It piggy backs on the concept of plan your work and work your plan. If you want to attract customers/clients you must have a strategy to do so as the idea of build it and they will come as a strategy is becoming less and less effective. Every day you open to accept clients/customers you should be doing something to market your business.

Advertisement Ideas: The 30 Day Plan

Create your message and announce it to your staff. Develop your logo that will be synergistic with your message. Put out a media release to your media contacts and your email list.

Decide where you are going to promote your message, write and send out media releases.

Promote across your Social Media platforms. Choose 4-5 to use and see which gives you the most reach. You can do this daily, weekly, every other week, or monthly. The key here is to give content that will be of service and value to your audience.

Begin to attend networking events and deliver your message then follow-up with the people you spoke to with a special offer.

Create a you tube channel and start posting videos that are relevant, entertaining, and resonating.

Research and find media outlets to advertise with. Make sure all ads have a strong call to action. Continue reading Advertisement Ideas: 30 Days To Jump Start Your Marketing & PR!!!

Advertisement Ideas:Plan Your Work And Work Your Plan!!!

Advertisement Ideas: Plan Your Work And Work Your Plan!!!

The Jaycees is an international organization of young men and women aged 18-40 who provide leadership training through community service to its members. I was a member of The Jaycees from 1989-2002 and again from 2003- 2008. I served in many offices including Chapter President, District Director, Regional Director, State Vice President, State Chairman, and State Director of Training. One of the greatest tools that I acquired in The Jaycees was The Chairman’s Planning Guide, which helped to plan, implement, and evaluate the various projects that The Jaycees held. This tool taught me to plan the work and work the plan. It asked questions like the primary purpose of the project, the goals of the project, who was responsible for certain tasks associated with the project, what the budget for the project was, and the time-table for completion. This tool has been used by many to successfully launch business. As I reflected back on the days of my involvement with The Jaycees I realized that in all of our plans their was a marketing component. This made me ask the question to you do you have a marketing plan? I then asked if not how are you reaching your potential clients/customers?

This is a question all entrepreneurs and marketing professionals must answer. To evaluate this ask where am I marketing, how am I marketing, what returns am I receiving? Many times a business decides to do a print campaign and they try to put everything into their ad and thus it looks to busy and people pass over it. When placing an ad remember a catchy headline a great offer, your contact info. Ask yourself what pain does my product or service take away? Then develop a campaign around that which is consistent with your brand messaging. In social media and TV and Radio many people try to over power the audience and oversell and thus do not get the anticipated results that they expected. To avoid this remember that facts tell stories sell and use these mediums to engage your audience by having a story that is relevant, entertaining, and resonating. The most effective way to reach customers is to be where they are. For example if your target demographic is mothers of middle and high school aged students in Broward County you want to check out www.labonitakidz.com and consider being in their Fall Issue with a message as to who you are, what you do, and why people should use your products or services? Continue reading Advertisement Ideas:Plan Your Work And Work Your Plan!!!

Advertisement Ideas: The Fortune Is In The Follow Up!!!

In all that we do in business from advertising to networking we must realize that the fortune is in the follow up. As a sales representative for La Bonita Kidz and Teenz Magazine, www.labonitakidz.com, I approach many people about advertising. I have learned that the people I leave literature with will not call me back so I must contact them to close the sale. Today I stopped by a few places that I had approached a couple of weeks ago and left the copy of the magazine so they could see the finished product and decide if it would be a good fit for them. In the next few days I will call and email them to remind them of the opportunity to maximize their message.

Once you advertise and get people to do business with you it is important to cultivate that relationship as people will continue to do business with people they know, like, and trust. Are you gathering the clients information and sending a thank you note or other information about your products and services. By keeping in contact with clients/customers you will build a tribe and they will begin to recommend you and thus strengthen your brand. The key is to follow-up and be aware of who is doing business with you and to show them appreciation. With potential clients/customers you want to show them how your product and service will be of value and service to them without overselling. Continue reading Advertisement Ideas: The Fortune Is In The Follow Up!!!

Advertisement Ideas: How To Drive Business With Effective Advertising!!!!!

Advertisement Ideas: How To Drive Business With Effective Advertising!

As an advertising executive I am asked all the time, JDOGG how do I know that an advertisement in your magazine, La Bonita Kidz and Teenz will work? My answer is you don’t however I can tell you one thing if you don’t advertise you will be at a disadvantage. I am asked how do I know the ad will be effective? Again my answer is you don’t that is why I am here to help you to effectively maximize your message. The key is to have fresh ideas that none of your competitors are using so that you stand out from the rest and build your brand.

One thing to remember is to be creative in your advertising so you will attract business. One idea I gave to an advertiser, who owned a car, was to advertiser Topless Car wash with a disclaimer ( we wash everything but the roof) $12.99 you want the roof done $13.49. This worked as his business increased. When I worked in the bowling industry we used programs from The Bowling Proprietors Association of America to drive business and we did extensive local area advertising to fill the leagues. One promotion I implemented one Summer was Beanie Baby Bowling, where the kids paid $10 for 2 games of bowling, shoes, and a beanie baby. The first week we had 40 people filling 8 lanes by the end of the summer we had 110 bowlers filling 22 lanes with the reaming lane filled with summer league bowlers. When I worked for Footlocker I would take the friends and family coupons and distribute them in the mall and at the local high school, sales increased by 138% when I did that. The key is to understand that word of mouth advertising, print advertising, radio and TV advertising, and social media advertising will work if you are creative. Continue reading Advertisement Ideas: How To Drive Business With Effective Advertising!!!!!

Advertisement Ideas: How To Create A Positive Presence In The Community!!!!

Advertisement Ideas: How To Create A Positive Presence In The Community!!!

What have you done today to let people know who you are, what you do, and why they should use your products or services? Did you send out a tweet, post on Facebook, post on LinkedIn, post a blog entry, hand out fliers, attend a networking event, make calls to those you haven’t spoken to in a while, sent emails with a special offer, or did you choose to do nothing? If you are not reaching out to people on a regular basis you are missing out on growth opportunities. Remember in many cases you get a few minutes to make an impression that will last for a long time.

Advertisement Ideas: The Ways To Create A Positive Presence In The Community!!!!

The first thing to remember when creating a positive presence in the community is that customer service can make or break your company!!!!

On Thursday (4/25/13) I was out scouting locations to host a workshop when I went into Lefty’s in Coral Springs. I stood at the bar for nearly 5 minutes and finally walked to where a group was standing in the food prep area and asked if the GM was in I told her that I had been waiting for nearly 5 minutes and by the way 3 people just seated themselves and may need a server. Her reply was don’t tell me how to run my restaurant. At that point I said I guess I won’t be holding my workshop/meeting here and I left. An employee followed me out of the restaurant and confronted me about going to other restaurants in the plaza. I simply stated I do not want to argue with you I am doing fact-finding. A few moments later the GM came out and confronted me saying I had embarrassed her in front of one of her food suppliers. I stated that is business wishing her Namaste and walking away at which point she called me a liar. I went to my car and thought wow they weren’t that busy but they had time to be confrontational. Guess who won’t be patronizing Lefty’s. Continue reading Advertisement Ideas: How To Create A Positive Presence In The Community!!!!

Advertisement Ideas: Your Business Doesn’t Have To Be Slow!!!

Advertisement Ideas:Your Business Doesn’t Have To Be Slow!

As I sell advertising for La Bonita Kidz and Teenz, www.labonitakidz.com, I hear over and over my business is slow I can’t advertise right now. I always think why is your business slow? The answer is simple because you are not advertising and you are missing opportunities. I also think the reason your business is slow is you are shutting out ideas because of your programmed response of I am not interested. By not being interested in opportunities and not advertising your business remains slow. The reality is that your business doesn’t have to be slow. You have the power to drive traffic by being creative and proactive. I have covered this in this blog on several occasions and those who have used some of the ideas have shown a spike in their business.

Having an awareness as to what is happening in the marketplace will help you to increase your business. Ask yourself what pain do I take away? After you answer this question then you can come up with a plan of action to promote yourself effectively and create a desire for your products or services. This month baseball season started and I began to think how can one capitalize on the fact that people are going to be following their favorite team for 162 games and how can I use this to my advantage? The answer was to promote things like Pitch Like An All Star, where I teach people how to improve their copy writing and presentation skills. Or Hit a Home Run With Your Publicity, where I teach people how to secure free publicity through effective media relations. By incorporating the baseball theme you create something that is relevant, entertaining, and resonates with your desired target audience. Continue reading Advertisement Ideas: Your Business Doesn’t Have To Be Slow!!!

Advertisement Ideas: Finding Your Why!!!

Advertising Ideas: Finding Your Why?

As I sat at lunch today (4/5/13) at The Progressive Black Men National Conference along with Clifford Townsend, a Mindset Coach and Speaker I had the pleasure of hearing a presentation by one of the alumni members about finding your why? As I listened to him speak about brotherhood and finding your why I thought what if a business could convey their why in advertising?

You can visit www.pbm1989.org to find out more information about Progressive Black Men and the work they are doing. You can even consider sponsoring them and having an opportunity to share your why. The key is to define your why.

In finding your why ask yourself why am I in this business? Ask why I opened my doors this morning? Ask why you are promoting what you are promoting. I have always stated that facts tell and stories sell. By having a why story you will resonate with people who can relate to you and thus want to do business with you. I am often asked JDOGG why do you do what you do? My answer is because I have a desire to help other people excel and I have learned if you help enough people get what they want you will get what you want. I also answer because I know that marketing works for people do business with those they know like and trust. By sharing your why with others they begin to know you, like you, and trust you. Continue reading Advertisement Ideas: Finding Your Why!!!

Advertisement Ideas: Jeff Zelaya Shares Tips On Maximizing Your Message

Advertisement Ideas: Jeff Zelaya Shares Tips On Maximizing Your Message!!!

Recognize these 4 men? They are Anthony Robbins, Les Brown, Deepak Chopra, and Dr. Wayne Dyer. They all share one thing in common and that is they are personal development speakers often referred to as motivational speakers. In the following entry Jeff Zelaya explores the anatomy of a Motivational Speaker.

Everything about a Motivational Speaker

by Jeff Zelaya- Guest Blogger

There are several individuals who think that there is no difference between motivational and inspirational speakers. These types of speaker might be the same and different from each other in various ways. Before, a motivational speaker is known as the one who is just speaking in front of people professionally. But, there are many professionals all over the world who said that a motivational speaker is more than just a professional who speaks in front of people. They motivate their audiences to do or believe in something or someone. This type of speaker is a professional speaker, trainer or facilitator. They are the ones who speak to their audiences and usually do it for a fee. Continue reading

Advertisement Ideas: Let The Madness Begin!!!!

Advertisement Ideas: Let The Madness Begin!!!

Every March college basketball fans become very engaged with The NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament filling out and charting the progress of their bracket picks. This had me thinking how are you as a business engaging your customers and keeping them engaged? One way to do this is to do a tie-in to March Madness in your advertising campaign. Have you thought about doing your own bracket contest, offering a special to those wearing their favorite college basketball jersey, or hosting a watch party. Today for example The University Of Miami Hurricanes will face University of Pacific and you could do a special promotion if The Hurricanes win or a contest to win Hurricanes Memorabilia. The possibilities are endless if you plan your marketing strategy, implement a marketing strategy, and then evaluate how well the strategy worked. Being proactive in the market place is the key to success. Continue reading Advertisement Ideas: Let The Madness Begin!!!!

Advertisement Ideas: Confessions Of A Professional Marketer

Advertisement Ideas:Confessions Of A Professional Marketer!

I must confess that I do not know everything, however I have come to learn that I know more than most when it comes to marketing. I have observed that there are many people who have a great idea but have no clue as to how they are going to get people to buy into the idea and support their vision. I have had a very interesting week as far as dealing with people who wouldn’t know a marketing strategy if it came up and bit them on the butt.

I received a call on Tuesday (3/12/13) from a gentleman about doing some media relations work for an event he was planning.I was very excited as the event was benefiting troubled teens and I am always open and receptive to helping children. I told him my rate, he initially agreed to pay the fee so I immediately began to work on the release. I delivered a proof to him via email only to have a scathing email sent back that he and his business associate were un impressed. I called and was told what I had delivered was crap(he actually used harsher language), I offered to rework the release and he told me he already did that. I asked him for partial payment a sI did put time into writing the original. He refused to pay saying I didn’t deserve anything. I did the right thing and sent a make good at no charge for at the end of the day I must be a man of integrity. Continue reading Advertisement Ideas: Confessions Of A Professional Marketer