17/11/11 – Twitter Shortcuts
November 17, 2011Using 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?
Posted in PR Tips | Tagged PR Tips, Social media | Leave a comment10/11/11 – NEW! Let us Write Your Press Release
November 10, 2011If you’re worried about writing a press release, let us do it for you. For just £97 we will create a press release for you to send. Simply send your news to antonia@parentingmagazinecontacts.co.uk and will be in touch to create your release for you.
“The database has been a good source of ideas and help; as a newly published author wiith a very small publishing house, it was great to have somewhere that offered direction as to where to go in terms of marketing/PR. As a result of using the contact list, I’ve had reviews of the books published on blogs and a few small press articles – I’d definitely recommend it!”
Emma Tofi, Author at http://thingleypress.com/
A number of children’s authors are joining www.parentingmagazinecontacts.co.uk as a way to find contacts to review their books, arrange competitions and features. If you have a book and you want to get the word out, here are some helpful ideas: invest time in doing something different every week:
- Send sample copies of your book to magazines aimed at parents of children in the right age group: do some reading to see which ones are likely to cover them. Junior would be my top choice, but is hard to get into.
- Check whether the baby magazines are covering the right age group for your book before sending.
- Do look at women’s magazines and see which have parenting pages which mention books – there are quite a few contacts in the database.
- After sending a press release or copy of your book, follow up with a phone call and ask if they need images.
- Contact libraries with news about the book. This has been a great source of orders for my books
- Write friendly personal emails to bloggers with children of the right ages – use the database to find sites and then look at people’s ‘about’ sections to make sure. You’ll probably need to send sample copies of the books for review
- Send a press release to local parenting magazines around 6-8 weeks in advance of the issue date.
- Be prepared to offer copies for competitions for local magazines and websites: it is well worth it if it spread the word.
- Enter competitions – look out in authors magazines for these.
I hope that gives you plenty to be going on with. If you need more input, I’ve written ‘A guide to promoting Your Business’ which is a workbook that tells you more about how to build relationships and get coverage – from www.prbasics.co.uk or www.amazon.co.uk.
Posted in PR Tips | Tagged marketing, PR Tips, Social media | Leave a comment3/11/11 – Reputation Management
November 3, 2011This week, we’re looking at marketing your business by managing your business reputation and public profile. Do people think well of your business? Have you got a good reputation, or do you feel that most people are unaware of your business ethics and values? If so, you might want to do some reputation building over the next few months.
If you need to develop links with other businesses you could use networking or offer some corporate hospitality. Take a key contact to lunch or invite them to attend an event. To raise your public profile why not support a charity, sponsor a team or do something visible in the community? You could hold a fundraising event and get the local media to cover it, or link up with a relevant charity and donate a percentage of sales or profits over the coming year.
www.parentingmediacontacts.co.uk has a list of charities connected with parenting, children and pregnancy – log on to download the latest PR contacts!
Posted in PR Tips | Tagged PR Tips | Leave a comment27/10/11 – Stick at it!
October 27, 2011People need up to seven opportunities to view your message before taking action. You won’t get much of a response the first time you carry out most marketing activities. If the people you are contacting have not come across your business before you are likely to need to contact them several times before getting results. Allow time and money for repeat marketing activities to make the most of your initial investment.
Use the different contact methods on www.parentingmediacontacts.co.uk to maximise the impact of your marketing – we list Facebook, Twitter, mailing addresses and emails for the contacts!
Posted in PR Tips | Tagged marketing, PR Tips | Leave a comment20/10/11 – Social Media: Linking it all Together
October 20, 2011I link my blogs to Twitter using Twitterfeed. This ensures that my followers get a good supply of excellent and relevant content, whether they are running a business or simply interested in PR. I log on to Twitter once or twice in the day, or occasionally in the evening if I’ve not been around during the day, so I can tell people what I’m up to and thank people who have ‘retweeted’ or passed on my messages to their followers. And I take part in ‘Follow Friday’ where you recommend good people to follow. I share what I’m working on and who I’m meeting, and even occasionally mention what I’m eating! You need to be clear that there is a personality behind the Twitter account or you are missing a great chance to build a relationship with a new or potential customer.
Follow me personally on @AntoniaChitty or get the latest PR tips on @ParentMedia
Posted in PR Tips | Tagged business mums, PR Tips, Social media | Leave a comment13/10/11 – Think ahead – think Christmas!
October 13, 2011Put your Santa hat on, because magazines are now compiling their bumper Christmas editions. If you have a press release or article you would like included in the December magazine, start pitching it now. Some ideas of what you could write about and link to your product:
- Presents
- Stress busting
- Money stretching
- Cooking
- Parties
- Travel
6/10/11 – Press Pack Checklist
October 6, 2011A guide to Promoting Your Business’ … £8 instead of £15 exclusively for people on the PMD mailing list. You can take images and testimonials from here: http://www.prbasics.co.uk/
Press pack checklist
A quick reminder to make sure you have your press pack all updated and ready to go. Have you launched any new products/services? Did your team expand this year? Changed any phone numbers or email addresses? Now is the time to review your press pack and make sure your contacts have all the latest info on your business.
If posting a press pack, you may also want to include some or all of the following:
• A page about your company or your mini-biography
• Business cards
• A catalogue
• A CD of images
• Dates for forthcoming events where you are exhibiting or selling
• A page of your tips or a short article
Keep written inclusions succinct and to a single side. Remember to include your logo and contact details on each sheet.
Posted in PR Tips | Tagged PR Tips | Leave a comment29/9/11 – Social Media
September 29, 2011Looking further afield? Did you know that Parenting Media Contacts also has an International Parenting section? Log in now to get over 40 different international magazine contacts to take your brand global!
An endorsement or coverage in the media can be stronger than any advert as readers and viewers see it as an independent rating of your business. Using the media can be a low cost way to raise your business profile and attract new followers.
Here’s a quick reminder of how you can to maximise the effectiveness of the www.parentingmediacontacts.co.uk database:
- Pitching and writing articles
- Writing and sending news releases
- Writing and sending letters to print media
- Offering expert comments
- Seeking out and putting forward case studies
- Holding media briefings
- Supplying photographs and product images
- Creating and sending media packs
- Providing spokespeople
- Running surveys and polls
- Writing and promoting white papers
- Product launches
- Offering competitions
What will you do this week? Why not spend time coming up with 6-12 ideas for press releases, so you know whether you will be sending a press release every month or bimonthly. Slot the ideas in your diary so that you know which ideas you will work on each month.
Then work out a routine for what you need to do every month when you send out your press release. This may take more time the first time you do it, but you will speed up with practice.
Posted in PR Tips | Tagged business mums, Social media | Leave a comment22/9/11 Social Media
September 22, 2011“It is a really useful PR tool and is accurate and kept regularly updated which makes a change from prehistoric media tools!” Sara Wingrove, Consultant, mi-comms
Remember, remember the 5th of November
Gun powder, treason and plot may not feature in your product range – but perhaps sweets, parties or costumes do? Now’s the time to start pitching Halloween articles to your media contacts. As the nights close in and winter creeps up, editors will also be looking for stories based around the seasonal weather changes too. Could you pitch a story based on the witching season? Get writing now!
Posted in PR Tips | Tagged PR Tips, Social media | Leave a comment
19/9/11 Social Media: Facebook
September 19, 2011If you’re using Facebook socially, it is an easy step to turn it into another way people can find out about your business news. Click on the link at the bottom of any ‘page’ to set up a page.
Once you have entered the details asked for, add some content. If you have a blog use Networked Blogs to add your blog to your page so that the content feeds through automatically. Send messages about your page to your friends and ask them to highlight it to people who they think might be interested.
Once you have a few fans of your page, your messages will be seen by them and, more importantly, by their friends who visit their profiles. The word can spread about your business to people who are contacts of your contacts.
Add in the occasional exclusive offer for Facebook fans of your page and people will have even more reason to sign up. Use Twitter to tweet out to people and ask them to join your group. Ask them to help you find 100 followers, 500 followers, or offer a prize draw for those who like your page once you reach your target. .
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