Parenting Magazine Contacts

26/1/12 – Ready Made Online Stores

Caroline — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 12:34:38 +0000

There is no need to panic if you have no idea how to set up a website, and no budget for a designer. Millions of people like you now have their own online stores. Some set up an ebay shop, while others use companies like wahmshoppes.com who set up your store for you from their own template and host it for just a few pounds a month.

19/1/12 – Design for Promotion

Caroline — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 12:21:39 +0000

It is entirely possible to create a website yourself, if you are willing to take the time to learn how to use a little HTML (the coding language that is used to set up websites) or one of the programs which are designed to help novices set up their own websites. The BBC website has some excellent straightforward advice if you want to do it yourself at www.bbc.co.uk/webwise. Whether you are designing the site yourself or getting someone to do it for you, you will need to think about promoting the site right from the planning stages.

12/1/12 – Have A Website That Works

Caroline — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 15:02:18 +0000

A website is a great way to promote your business, and, if you are busy, a website will save you time and money too. A website never closes so you can tell people about your business and generate sales 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Potential customers can find your contact details in an easy and convenient way, whenever they require, and you will reach customers who may never have found you in another way.

A well-designed website can promote and strengthen your company image; your customers will be able to immediately find out who you are and what you have to offer. If they do not find you online, there is always the danger that they will find your competitors. Your own domain name (for example, www.janestoys.co.uk) will establish your presence online and allows you to set up email addresses which are specific to your company. Jane@janestoys.co.uk appears much more professional than a hotmail or yahoo address.

5/1/12 – Local Events

Caroline — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 11:21:00 +0000

Special events attract people to your business, and provide a good reason to issue a press release to local papers. Ideas include an open day, with a behind the scenes look at how your business runs, or a tour for school children. A ‘green week’ or similar event with a focus on recycling makes good publicity, or even a sale or special promotion on a range of products. You can also use your specialist expertise to gain free publicity. Offer your services as a speaker to local groups — anything from the WI to local business forums. People may be interested in hearing how you have started your business, how you make your product, or about your particular services. If you make something, why not offer to do a demonstration. You could also sponsor a charity or fundraising event, or even a local team — football, darts, whatever appeals to you. Invite journalists who cover your area to these events or send them photos afterwards.

22/12/11 – Local Advertising

Caroline — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 12:53:34 +0000

You can supplement local PR with local advertising — and local newspaper editors may be more open to doing a feature on your business if you are advertising too. Advertising in the classified section of your local newspaper can be a relatively cheap but effective way of reaching potential customers. The Yellow Pages and Thomson directories offer free listings for businesses. Other places to advertise cheaply could include local schools’ newsletters, and parish magazines. More people are running local magazines through franchise operations nowadays. These are commercial enterprises funded by advertising, so you are most likely to get editorial coverage if you pay for an advert too. However, it is also worth getting in touch to offer features on your area of expertise or ‘top tips’ in case they are seeking editorial.

15/12/11 – Case studies – selling your own story

Caroline — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 19:07:37 +0000

Sites like this are run by agencies or journalists in search of sensational true life stories to sell for magazines.

• www.cash4yourreallifestory.com

(women’s magazines)

• www.cash4yourstory.co.uk (newspapers)

• www.frontpageagency.co.uk

• www.photo-features.co.uk

• www.eanews.co.uk/stories.asp

8/12/11 – Book Recommendation

Caroline — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 12:09:15 +0000

“I’d managed to get a little bit of possible press interest last week and was planning to try and do some more, then I thought I’d wait for the book. Glad I did, as not only did it clear up things I was confused about, it also stopped me from making a few silly mistakes!! Azma Dar, www.mangobaby.co.uk Get ‘A Guide to Promoting Your Business’ discounted price of £8 exclusively for people on the PMD mailing list: http://www.prbasics.co.uk/

1/12/11 – Quick Steps to Social Media Success

Caroline — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 14:25:57 +0000

Are you on track with social media? Here is a quick guide to get you started or help you check that you are doing everything you need to raise your business profile online:

Join Twitter
Set up your blog
Link your blog to Twitter with Twitterfeed
Link your blog to your Facebook page with Networked Blogs
Add your Twitter page link and your blogs to your email signature
Join LinkedIn, Ecademy and/or BTTradespace if you offer B2B products or services
Join relevant forums and include details of your business, Facebook account, Twitter name or blogs in your signature if allowed by forum rules. Post on the forums every day or two and offer helpful advice.
Pick one or two time slots each day to tweet.
Use a tool like Su.pr to see which of your links shared through social media get most clicked on. Do this for a few weeks to see if certain times of day get better responses than others.
Join Social Oomph (or Hootsuite) and set up recurring and scheduled tweets. Set aside an evening each month to do the tweets for the month to come.
Always reply to people who tweet you and thank those who ‘retweet’ or pass on your messages.

Don’t forget – we include social media contacts for the www.parentingmediacontacts.co.uk databases – it’s an easy way of connecting with the media.

24/11/11 – Support from Clients and Customers

Caroline — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 11:40:42 +0000

Your customers or clients can be your business’s strongest advertisement, so it pays to make it easy for them to promote your products or services. Add in rewards and incentives and you will find that word of mouth is a really effective marketing tool. You could ask your customers for:

Case studies
Testimonials
Referrals

Case studies and testimonials work really well as part of a press release . Today’s homework:

Ask two of your customers for a testimonial – and tell us what happened!

Caroline@parentingmediacontacts.co.uk

17/11/11 – Twitter Shortcuts

Caroline — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 15:22:16 +0000

Using the www.parentingmediacontacts.co.uk lists are a great way of maximising your productive time – here’s a few ways to use those shortcuts when using social networks:

Tweetdeck: helps you divide the people you are following into columns – much easier to see at a glance who’s saying what. You can add in search columns to make it easier to follow topics of interest to you. It also allows you to link Twitter up with LinkedIn and Facebook.

Hootsuite: Does all of the above and allows you to schedule tweets in advance; very helpful if you are planning marketing messages for the month ahead.

Twitterfeed: A helpful tool to automate linking up Twitter, blogs and Facebook. Check out Friendfeed too.

Social Oomph: Allows you to vet followers, send automated replies and schedule tweets in advance.

Twitbacks: Customise the way your Twitter page appears so that you showcase your business in the space on the left side.

Twibes: join groups to help you find like minded tweeters, or start your own group.

Your task for the week:

Pick one tool to try out. See if it makes it easier to use Twitter and schedule in regular promotions. Which tool will you try out this week?