Being a Martinet About Neatness...

I was reading an old book by David Ogilvy today and he makes a comment about how he used to work in a professional kitchen in France and the head chef, Mr. Pitard, was a martinet (one who enforces strict discipline) about being neat. He had the chef's clean the kitchen twice per day to ensure the quarters were spotless. David Ogilvy carried many of these lessons over to his agency which grew to be one the best and biggest of his time. 

David's comment for his agency was this, "Today I am a martinet in making my staff keep their offices ship-shape. A messy office creates an atmosphere of sloppiness, and leads to the disappearance of secret papers." 

I tend to agree fully. I am a bit of a neat freak myself and always keep my quarters in ship-shape. I also tend to get a lot more done than the average person, I think partly because I operate in a neat orderly fashion. It's worth taking a look at yourself. Do you keep your office immaculate? Is everything where it should be? If not, I'm willing to bet that you are loosing valuable time and opportunities. 

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The Fundamental Change

Currently the marketing, PR and advertising world is experiencing one of the most dramatic evolutions over the past 100 - 200 years in what traditionally were “tried and true” methods.

I am not sure too many people and professionals fully understand this. I deal with many companies, CEO’s and CMO’s on a daily basis and across the board there seems to be some level of awkwardness and discomfort with the rapid changes.

Over the past 100 to 200 years there have been very workable and fundamental ideas related to how marketing, PR and advertising basically worked and reached a specific audience. There were specific rules and methods to execute strategies that had workable formulas such as positioning, how to write ad copy, how to grab attention via posters, billboards and TV commercials etc. Basic marketing fundamentals like what the typical percent of response will be from a marketing campaign via direct mail, etc.

While all these methodologies worked extremely well all the way up to close to now, unbelievably.... they no longer do. These methods and ideas have run their course and have essentially gone through the stages of infancy from the beginning idea to maturity to dated and now obsolete. It’s incredible to even think about and seasoned professionals clearly seem uncomfortable about it. Speaking to an experienced CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) who wants to still work off of, and hang on to, these old ideas can be rather frustrating as they try to apply something that is obsolete to a new way of thinking.

So what is relevant?

With New Media (social media, etc.) the way to communicate and engage an audience is different. It’s a conversation. It’s on-going and most of how the audience wants to be reached or is receptive to is being decided by the audience - not the marketing, advertising or PR firm. This is a very authentic and transparent approach. We aren’t trying to “spin” a story, we aren’t trying to scream a message and button at the audience to get a response and we aren’t trying to have the audience see a message 7-9 times so they will “act” So what are we trying to do?

We are focused on using new media tools (social media) as a platform to communicate with a specific target audience geared toward your company and use PR to build relations (relationships) with that target audience in order to spark conversations, increase word of mouth, generate buzz and result in interest and reach for the companies’ products or services via acceptance from that target audience.

We are authentically reaching out to get involved with the audience and make a company known to them to build awareness, brand loyalty and stay on the target audiences radar to in turn increase the sales and revenue.

I am sure you would agree that people are more inclined to do business with companies they:

1. Know
2. Like
3. Feel Comfortable With
4. Trust
5. Have a Relationship

Think this through for a second; think of a company you do business with or a person you do business with and then think about why? I am betting it’s because you know them or have a relationship with them or you personally like them or trust them. These ideas are the very essence of why new media (social media) is so powerful. It aligns with the basic way people buy and how sales typically occur.

Now I am not at all talking about spamming people on social media sites or being the “salesperson” that annoys everyone on Facebook! The idea here is to make it natural and in a PR way encompasses engagement, conversations, building new connections, making yourself known and ultimately building real relationships from a given target audience that is desirable to your company that will result in interest in reach for the company and therefore sales and revenue.

It’s not easy. It takes time and knowhow, but, when done correctly, it’s the most effective strategy you, or your company, could possibly apply in today’s market - just ask the audience!

The Good Samaritan

I recently visited my hometown, Chicago, for a family wedding. While en route back to Tampa, I did the inexcusably, unbelievably silly thing of leaving my laptop on the plane.

Of course I had a sleepless night when I returned home and discovered that I didn’t have my laptop. Of course I called the Lost and Found departments of all three airports I had been to that day, only to discover they were all closed and I would need to call back in the morning.

The next morning I woke up dreading how I was going to tastefully inform my bosses that I wouldn’t be able to go into the office that day (no laptop = no work to do). After many internal debates, I decided to say it – plain and simple. My bosses were very understanding and wished me the best of luck on my laptop hunt.

However the stars aligned when I received a voicemail message at home from an American Airlines flight attendant named John Stewart letting me know that he had my laptop and would be keeping it safe until he heard from me. I immediately called him back and thanked him profusely! I asked what he wanted in return and he adamantly told me that he didn’t want anything, maybe just for me to something nice for someone else if the opportunity arose. I had my laptop shipped overnight, thanks to Mr. Stewart calling me when he had arrived to the UPS store to ask which shipping method I preferred. My computer arrived the next day and all was golden.

When all of the dust settled from this ordeal, I realized that there are a lot of WONDERFUL people out there in the world we live in. Despite the bad news we constantly hear about the failing economy, crime and terrorism, there is still much more good in people than bad.

I then asked myself, “What can I do to pay it forward?” Of course, I will be on the lookout next time I travel for stray laptops in need of their owners, but there is a bigger thing that I can offer: SOCIAL MEDIA EXPERTISE. The company I work for, Richter10.2 Media Group, specializes in helping businesses expand using social media such as Facebook, Twitter, etc. If your business could use some help getting up and running in this new day and age of Web technology, then we’re your people.

We have lots of free tools, articles, blogs and links on the subject that can help demystify social media and how you can use it to expand your business.

To learn more click here.

Julia Jaquillard
Richter10.2 Media Group

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Highlight Your Company – What Is a Social Media Press Room?

So, I’m sure you have heard the buzz about the Social Media Press Kit, one of the newest and most advanced tools to maximize your business presence on the Web. Now there’s an even more comprehensive tool that works in conjunction with the Social Media Press Kit – the Social Media Press Room.

The Social Media Press Room is a dynamic information and resource center for companies, products and services. All of the vital information that relates to the company can be accessed here including press releases, blogs, videos, social media and new media pages, real time Twitter status updates, company bio and links to Social Media Press Kits within the company. This is a cutting-edge press room for the digital age, providing all of the information and resources anyone could want or need about a company and its products and services.

It is built directly into the company website with a simple navigation link to the full press room site. Use the Social Media Press Kits for individual sales agents or top executives in your company, and then have a Social Media Press Room representing your entire company for the maximum amount of Web and PR presence. The purpose of this tool is to fully highlight the company.

Get your target public's attention through all of the top social media sites on the web, with one main “room” linking to them all.

Ali Magnano

Director of PR

Richter10.2 Media Group

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10 Ways to Wake-Up in the Morning and Get through Your Work Day!

You know the feeling. That alarm clock goes off, you press the snooze (even though you know that only means that you’ll have to make your shower five minutes shorter), rush out the door and hopefully make it to work on time. The feeling seems unavoidable. As well as after your lunch break at work, when the clock reads 2 pm and you know that you have a few more hours of work to do, but you just can’t help feeling lethargic and annoyed at the thought of having to stay awake.
So what do you do? I have found some simple ways to get you through your work day and arrive at work in the morning feeling fresh and awake.

1) Don’t Eat Dinner Right before Bed

If you have the munchies before bed, a good thing to have is a little bit of fruit or some tomato juice. Something light and fruity. You don’t want to eat an entire meal right before you go to bed because the digestion process takes awhile. Try and leave a few hours in between your last meal and your bedtime and see how you feel in the morning.

2) Leave the Curtains Cracked

Leaving the curtains a little bit open will let some natural light into your room in the morning, which will help you wake up. The natural light can be strong but soothing.

3) Wake Up To The Smell Of Coffee

Get a coffee machine that has a setting for automatic brewing. Set it for a few minutes before your alarm clock goes off and when you wake up you will have a refreshing and lovely smell of freshly ground coffee in your room. Get fresh coffee beans!

4) Stretch Every Extremity

Stretching your arms and fingers out for about 15 seconds right after you wake up will help more than you think. It will get your blood circulating again in your body and helps you feel more energetic.

5) Eat A High Energy Breakfast


You would be surprised how just skipping your first meal of the day affects your energy level. You need to eat breakfast to get your metabolism going and to tell your body you are awake and ready to start digesting food again and making energy for your body. You can drink a protein smoothie, or some complex carbohydrates like a bowl of oatmeal or whole grain cereal topped with some fruit and skim milk.

6) Eat Protein Throughout The Day

Eating protein with your lunch will give your energy levels a boost. Snacking on nuts will also give you more energy, because they are high in protein.

7) Listen To Some Good Music In The Car

Find some good music, and get together an assortment of CDs to play on your way to work in the morning. Turn up the volume. If the weather permits it, open the windows instead of turning on the AC. The fresh air will wake you up, with the sound of the music, and get you ready for the day.

8) Take A Break

Take a break from your work desk when you’ve been sitting for a long time. Walking around to get a little exercise gets your blood flowing and can make you feel refreshed.

9) Chew Sugar-Free Peppermint Gum

There is something about the strong flavor of peppermint that makes you feel refreshed.

10) Cold Water

Cold water is refreshing, especially when it gets hot outside. Keeping your self hydrated throughout the day, and starting with a cold glass of water in the morning, will keep you refreshed and awake. Drink a cold glass roughly every hour, and splash some on your face when you need it.

Ali Magnano
Director of PR
Richter10.2 Media Group
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Social Media Tip of the Week #2 – What is Twitpic?

Recently, I found a really cool new Twitter tool that got me so excited I just had to write a blog about it! Twitpic. It’s how you Tweet pictures.

As you know, the thing about Twitter is that, unlike Facebook or Myspace, you can only have ONE picture, and that’s your default. How frustrating! Well, now with Twitpic, you have a whole album online that you can Tweet and share with other Tweeters.

Now, what kind of pictures would Tweeters most like to see tweeted? Breaking news, humorous ones and Twitpics by celebs were some of the top viewed. Like on-the-scene twitpics of a shuttle launch! (click here) Or the king of Twitter, Ashton Kutcher (@aplusk) tweeting his own photos, of course. (click here)

Now, you can start using Twitpic to expand your Twitter influence.

Ali Magnano

Director of PR

Richter10.2 Media Group

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Photos of Social Media Press Kits!

To learn more, click here and view the site.

Ali Magnano
Director of PR
Richter10.2 Media Group

Social Media will change your Business.

Now, if you haven’t realized that a large amount of the communications of our world are rapidly turning over to the Social Media sites on the web, then you must not have a Twitter account, which means that you need to get one, I suggest as fast as possible, to be blunt, if you care at all about the sanctity of your reputation.

The New York Times has even recently hired a full time Social Media editor (@NYT_JenPreston) – this is a breakthrough. Easily one of the largest magazines in the world is realizing that they need to focus on the Social Media side of things to stay in print and keep the interest of their readers.

How do you fit into all of this? Getting yourself hooked up on Social Media is a start. Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, Linkedin, and several more are sites that you should be actively participating in. You should have a corporate blogger typing away at articles, and maybe upload some pictures from a holiday office party so your clients can see the fun side of your company, and feel like they know who they are doing business with.

This is where we come in. Richter10.2 Media Group is a WebPR firm that deals in Social Media communications. We will make a campaign specially tailored for you and your company to really make it boom. The New York Times, The White House and many other companies across the globe are doing it-you can too

www.richter10point2.com

Ali Magnano
Director of PR
Richter10.2 Media Group
www.richter10point2.com

Client Acquisitions...

There are many many ways to acquire new clients as a company, some difficult that require a lot of effort and persistence and some methods can be very effortless if done smartly and strategically.

I wanted to mention a few of the latter….
Here is a first thought, if you are trying to acquire new clients, the first step in doing so is name out who your target public actually is. In other words, who typically buys your product or service. This will be your easiest sale and most likely to buy. This is an important step if you want to make your life easier as it applies to sales. So here are few items to think about and use…

People like to do business with who they know, which means if they know you because you are neighbors or you went to high school together then the chances of them using you for a service or to buy product that they actually need are much greater. Just think about every time you purchased something, if you know a dentist and you need your teeth cleaned, chances are you are going to call the person you know. So with that said, there are ways to use this strategy online to become someone your target public “knows”. How about the many social media sites, by having your bio, picture and info about yourself etc, once you make connections, people feel they know you and will be more inclined to go to you for what they need.

Another item to think about is the fact of how many people there are in the world that most likely need your product or service but never buy from you simply on the basis that they don’t know about you and have never heard about you. There is millions of potential clients out there for your product or service yet they will never buy from you because you are unknown to them. So how can you make yourself known to this huge pool of potential buyers? Well, for starters I am guessing that every person you know has a computer and has an internet connection which means they are all online. With that said, all you have to do is figure out how to harness the vast reach of the internet to be able to make yourself known and to get in front or introduced to these people. That’s it!! Just make your product or service known to your potential public using the huge reach and easy access of the internet and drive sales through the roof.

The key objective for any company is to make relations with your target public in order to control and increase revenue growth. Don’t waste time on people who are never going to need or buy your service or product, make relations with your target public to introduce yourself and create huge amounts of sales opportunities.

Now, you can go about it in a passive manner (ads, keywords etc) and hope that someone types in the correct keyword or clicks on your ad that hopefully caught their attention so they can land on your site and hopefully call you. Or you can take an ACTIVE approach to prospecting and go out and find your target public demographic online, make an introduction, build relations and create reaches that results in sales for your company. Go and find the business, make your product or service known and get reaches to sell. Simple.
In order to execute the above steps, it is vitally important to use all of the tools and methods available today to broadly get attention, make yourself known and be visible online as well as actively using the tools to find your target public to make relations with.

Go out and get the business and take an active approach to boosting your sales!

Robert Cornish
Managing Director
Richter10.2 Media Group
Robert Cornish
+1 727 447 3600
+1 727 213 6386 fax
robertcornish@me.com

Hey, business owner! Web 2.0. Are you Savvy?

What business is McDonald's in?

Perhaps that is a strange way to begin, but only some people understand that burgers don't have very much to do with it. One of the largest real estate portfolios anywhere is probably a better guess.

What does this have to do with Web 2.0? What is Web 2.0?

Web 2.0 is taking the boring, one-dimensional internet whereby someone simply views a page if it's interesting and turning that into an interactive experience whereby users contribute to a website. These contributions are in many forms; videos, blogs, profiles, updates, bookmarks, etc.

While such interaction makes for an amazing online experience, it was all done for one reason. This same reason that new social media sites pop up every day and MySpace was sold for $580 million.

If you think that reason is for teenagers to have profiles, you also only saw burgers when you saw McDonald's. Once again, it's all about real estate; advertising real estate.

What does this mean? Frankly, the administrators of such social media sites are trying to get more money for advertising. How? By making their sites read highly on search engine rankings.

This is done in two ways. First, they employ every possible SEO technique they can to make their page read highly. Second, the get as many users as possible. This is done by refining and offering as many user-friendly features as possible on their site.

What does this mean to you as a business owner?

It means that you could spend a lot of money using old hat SEO techniques which may well do fine in making your one site read well. Or, you can take advantage of the work social media sites put into reading well and the incredible features they offer. Because out of necessity, the features are truly amazing.

The point of this is that your competition thinks burgers. You need to see what is really going on. Take advantage. When you sign up for an account on a social media site, you automatically have every one of their programmers on your side.

Now. Imagine what would happen if you did that on ten sites...twenty...thirty?

Got it?

For God's sake, TAKE ADVANTAGE!

Spencer Barnes
Director of Delivery
Richter10.2 Media Group
spence@richter10point2.com

Are you effectively controlling attention to attract new clients?

These days the internet is fast becoming the one and only source for researching companies that potential clients use. If you think having a website and possibly even a blog is enough these days to attract new clients and sales, then I will ask you to think about this.

If someone finds out about you or your company via a business card you handed out or a postcard campaign or a referral from a friend or by whatever means and then research you on Google, what turns up? What are the results? Do you feel you are effectively representing the image and reputation you are going after? Are you controlling the search results to guarantee that your new reach gets the data they need to make a decision?

Here is the thing, nowadays it is vital to gain massive attention online to attract the clients you are looking for and turn reaches into sales. The way to do that is to control attention online by controlling every search result on Google to show what you want and to have enough good information that clearly states and defines who you are that you actually get business from the internet.

PR is the step behind marketing, advertising and promotion, you MUST do this before you do anything else otherwise you may as well throw your marketing dollars out the window.

Create a standard Web PR campaign that cleanly reflects who you are, what you do and creates a large enough reach to make an impact. You CAN use the internet as a very successful strategy to drive in sales, you just need to have the correct strategy.

Create attention, attract new clients and increase business.

Robert Cornish
Managing Director
Richter10.2 Media Group
robert@richter10point2.com

The Economy and Web PR as Promotion...

What is the solution for your company in a down economy?

Well, businesses have been taking a real hit lately with the economy having a major impact on their sales and bottom-line. So what are the correct actions to take in order to out-create the down economy and improve your overall sales in this type of economic scene?

Promotion and production and lot's of it. Let's face it, if you were comfortable last year with 10 sales of a given product which resulted in a certain amount of gross income to your company and you are doing the exact same things this year, you simply won't make it. So what do you do? How can you make up the damage with the economic shift to not only get back to the make break point but to actually be flourishing even in this economy?

Well, if you have ever experienced that when you promote your company, gain attention and are making yourself known to many new prospective clients, it resulted in booming sales and healthly profits then you should really look at what your promotional efforts are right now. Are you currently promoting your company on a massive scale? Or have you cut back on promotion, advertising, marketing etc? Many companies cut back and contract in a down economy when in actual fact they should be doing the exact opposite!

Now is the time to PROMOTE! You must look at your promotional efforts in all aspects and ask yourself if it is enough? Are you "getting in front" of enough people on a large enough scale? Are your efforts much larger than last year? If the answer is no then it is time to correct that and start to broadly make your company known on a massive scale, especially in this economy.

So, how should you promote to get your company known, gain attention and generate more leads which can be turned into sales to improve your profitability?

MASSIVE WEB PR CAMPAIGNS!

If you have ever researched a company online or found a company that you did business with using the web, then you know what a valuable tool the internet is and if used correctly can help you create a majority of new business for you.

Web PR campaigns handle 2 functions specifically:

1. Build your image online to create a positive public perception. This means that when one does a search online for your company, you control the search results fully and the results for your company are all positive and are what you would want your potential public to see about your company.

2. We create a massive amount of attention for your company online using many different tools to increase your companies reach and in essence get your company "in front" of millions of potential buyers of your product or service.

The fact is that a sale is made only after you have found a prospective buyer, had the opportunity to make yourself known to that prospective buyer and had the chance to interest them in your company to the point that they have reached for your product or service at which point they can be closed and the sale is finalized.

This is what a Web PR campaign handles. The idea is to make your company known, build positive public perception, control search results and reach millions of potential buyers in order to increase overall profits.

Now is the time to promote your company on a massive scale and Web PR campaigns can be used as a very effective tool to correctly position and promote your company online to gain attention, generate leads, create sales, help to make your marketing and advertising efforts "stick" and improve your overall bottom-line.

To find out how a Web PR campaign can help your company out-create the down economy, please contact us today.

Robert Cornish
Managing Director
Richter10.2 Media Group
robert@richter10point2.com

PR vs. Advertising

In smart promotion, one does not say “the public,” referring to all of humanity en masse, one says, “my public,” talking about his target demographic. It would be as ridiculous for the Leer Jet salesman to promote to the lowest income bracket as it would be to try and sell tractors to a stock-broker.

PR, or public relations, could be summed up as the perception one’s public has of one.

In the case of an individual, this would be as simple as the way he was dressed, his manners, his mannerisms and methods of speech, his aura of competence or lack thereof.

For instance, if someone walked into your place of business looking for a job, their public would be you, as they are actually selling themselves to you. What would happen if they arrived hungover, unwashed and with horrendous body odor? Even if they have a Harvard MBA, their impression on you is not going to be positive.

On the other hand, let’s say someone walks into the same business and is well groomed and dressed, is sharp and sincere in their communication and is passionate about doing a great job. Which person is getting hired?

The second applicant may be seemingly less qualified on paper, but he gets a job because his relations with the people around him are so well managed that the perception of him by them is excellent.

For a business, PR follows through as the same concept, but becomes even more important. Why? Imagine if your business produced high-quality tractors and it’s solvency depended on selling them, but the local farmers all agreed that your tractors were poorly made, because the exterior of your sales-yard is in disrepair and your employees are slobs.

All of the above are extreme examples, but I mean only to point out one thing. It is imperative to have an excellent public image. As further proof, think about how much money presidential candidates spend on their public relations!

Can you imagine what would happen if Obama or McCain wore jeans and a t-shirt during the conventions? It would near-on crash their campaign, because who wants a president that doesn’t even care enough to handle his appearance? It’s all PR.

Also, all examples so far have applied to the real world, what about in cyberspace? At first glance, this may seem like less of a factor, but is as much, if not more important to not just advertise, but have great PR online.

Advertising is just getting the word out. Great, let’s say you advertise and in the sea of other ads, you get someone interested. Then he clicks on your webpage and it is dinky, or nonexistent! You lose money, right there.

Or, here is the more likely scenario. Potential customer sees your advertisement. He then does his homework, by looking you up on a search engine. What does he see when he gets there?

Is your company’s PR good?

In most cases, he sees the competition and they have a nicer webpage and it ranks higher, so they obviously know what they’re doing. Or, your webpage reads first, but right underneath you have a blog post by the one disgruntled customer in the history of your company saying he got ripped-off. Or a thousand other bad PR scenarios that could happen.

What happened in that short space of time? You lost the customer. Frankly, if you show mediocrity in this crucial moment when someone is interested, you will hemorrhage business.

So in this we see that the effectiveness of advertising rests upon public image of your company. We can also see that nowadays, this public image is more important on the internet than just about anywhere else, as there is no salvaging an unimpressed potential customer when competition is just a click away.

Perhaps now it is easier to see the value of PR against advertising; with bad PR, advertising has no foundation on which to work. Plus, a lot of business will come through word of mouth and good PR in general.

Spencer Barnes
Director of Delivery
Richter10.2 Media Group
spence@richter10point2.com

Want more business? Become known and generate interest.

If you are struggling to figure out how you can create more business for your company in this economy and your finding that your old or existing efforts are not as effective as they once were, my recommendation is to look at your promotional methods and dollars spent. Are you using direct mail? Newspaper ads? Cold Calls? How much time and money is going into these efforts?

If your efforts are not resulting in the revenue needed for your company, it may be time to look at new ways to promote, become innovative and make your company known on a much larger scale.

We are all well aware of the internet and how utilizing the leverage expansive communication can do for a company but how can you harness this tool to work to your benefit and get your company "in front" of your prospective clients?

Let's take a look at first making your company known. The key here is that in order to sell anything at all, your potential client has to know about your company. Once they actually know about you then they need to be able to easily access information about your company to understand clearly what you do and how it will fit what they need and at that point you will want to make sure your company stands out from the ocean of competition online.

Seem like a tough task? It can be. Here are the actions that you must be able to achieve in order to make your company known, get your public's interest and get them to reach for your company to become a lead, sale and become revenue to your company.

* Massively make your company known online which includes controlling the entire first page of Google for the search results for your company and no, it's not good enough to just have your site come up in first position.

* Reach areas of the web to "get in front" of new prospects which you normally would not be able to access

* Allow people to easily access you and clearly understand who you are and what you do

* Continually keep your company name in front of all of your prospective clients to keep your company name fresh in their minds

* Make new contacts daily, weekly, monthly using the internet to create new opportunities

* Write interesting blogs and articles to provide your potential clients with useful information which sparks interest in your company

* Personal messages (not bulk mail) to all connections made which will introduce you or your company so you can have the opportunity to sell them your product or service

* A complete overall web presence to be utilizing all that the internet has to offer that will help you or your company become known, gain attention and generate leads which can create sales and revenue.

If the above seems a little daunting and you happen to have the thought that there is no way that you will have time to do all of this, I would recommend a full Web PR solution which includes the entire Web PR campaign and management of the campaign to do all of these actions on your behalf so you can focus on running your business.

A Web PR campaign is a full solutions to truly make your company known on a large scale, generate attention, attract interest to strategically result in revenue. Web PR management is an on-going action to handle every possible aspect of your companies online promotion and to make your company known consistently to generate interest, leads, sales and improve your bottom-line.

The best thing you could be spending your time on right now is selling your product or service to qualified prospects not spending hours upon hours trying to figure out where the prospects are, who the prospects are and why they don't respond to your direct mail.

The thing that will keep your company afloat and expanding in this economy is sales which means you will need a flurry of people to sell to which means you will need to find ways to promote and make your company known so you have people to sell to.

This is precisely what a Web PR campaign and Web PR management is for and what it handles.

It's time to use the world wide web to make your company known on that level. The prospects are out there waiting to hear about you and they actually want what you sell, they just don't know about you.

Robert Cornish
Managing Director
Richter10.2 Media Group
robert@richter10point2.com

It's time to look at how you're generating new clients...

More and more I have been running into clients who are running into problems with their promotional strategies to drive in new business. I spoke to a business owner last week who was spending $5000-$6000 per month of marketing, postcards and radio and is getting little to no return.

I can't help but scratch my head and wonder why anyone continues to pay huge amounts of money on loss leader advertising and marketing campaigns with little to no net results.

The only way that I know of that any sale is made is through generating interest which is the result of being able to effectively "get in front" of a prospective client either through a phone call, referral, email or in person meeting and introduction. So the idea is, how do you get in front of your target prospects to make an introduction and gain interest in your product or service?

If you really look at it, the majority of all business owner and potential buyers are currently online so this accounts for a massive public to go after. The fact is that the internet is one huge networking and prospecting pool! Why bother looking elsewhere? Your prospective clients are online and the only reason they are not buying your product or service is because they don't know about you yet!

By effectively using the internet in every aspect, you could have more business than you know what to do with. Your problem won't be prospects but how to organize them and service them.
The only two things you should be focused on when it comes to bringing in new prospects to sell are generating massive attention online to promote and gain interest and get your salespeople to sell to all of these prospects!! Simple!

Forget the other options and forms of "promotion", your future clients are online, every one of them. Get their attention and interest them in what you offer and your really won't have a "lack of business" or "lack of sales" problem.

Robert Cornish
Managing Director
Richter10.2 Media Group
robert@richter10point2.com

The Movie Promotion Strategy

I was just reading several different magazines that all had the same person in each magazine and while reading I thought about the different demographics of each magazine. I was wondering why this particular celebrity was in the magazine I was reading because it didn’t seem to relate; and then it occurred to me that the strategy is to gain the attention of every single media outlet and demographic to promote their new and upcoming movie.
I realize this may sound like a “no brainer” sort of speak however I hadn’t thought of it before. I am now thinking about what a brilliant strategy Hollywood applies to promote their new up and coming movies and how they seem to be absolutely recession proof. Take a look at it yourself and you can start to think about how you are currently promoting your company in comparison to how you SHOULD be promoting your company….on a Hollywood scale!!!
Let’s look at it for a minute, here are some of the strategies Hollywood applies to promote a new movie:

* An article with the lead actor in the movie in every single magazine they can be featured in
* Newspaper articles, reviews and advertisements
* Billboards
* Park Benches
* Postcards
* TV Commercials
* Internet Banners
* Websites
* MySpace
* Facebook
* YouTube
* Posters on the side of buses
* Taxi cab signs on top
* Posters in movie theaters
* Trailers on every media rich site online

Just think for a second if you didn’t think about how much this all costs but what it would mean to your company and your bottom-line. Imagine creating this level of attention and controlling all of these medias to generate interest in your company.
This level of promotion would drive in sales and revenue on a massive scale. Now, take a second and look at what you are currently doing to promote your company, really look at it. How are you promoting?
Now although you may not be able to afford the same strategy Hollywood applies to promoting new movies, there are ways to gain a massive amount of attention and promote your company online that serve the same purpose and cost a fraction in comparison. While the entire world is going online for everything they need both business and personal, it is absolutely vital to utilize the internet to promote your company and get the attention needed to drive in sales and boost revenue.
Take a full Web PR strategy as an example, this can include:

* Company blogs

* Articles

* Web Video

* Press Releases

* Communication tools

* Social Media outlets

* Press Kits

* RSS Feeds

This is just to name a few, now imagine if your company had a thorough quality Web PR campaign strategy that put your company name in a huge amount of pockets online to dramatically increase attention and actively make your company known which resulted in generating interest, reaches, sales and revenue.
What is your online strategy now? Do you have a campaign in place?
When there are little or big dips in the economy, the safest path to surviving is to dramatically increase your promotional actions that help to increase your sales actions and steadily increase your revenue. I realize that most people start cutting back and contracting their promotion efforts but those same people typically go out of business all together.
From recent news I have read on some of the latest movies, Iron Man ($314M Gross), Indiana Jones ($317M Gross) and Tropic Thunder ($120M Gross), it doesn’t appear that the economy has affected Hollywood in any way which leads me to the idea of promoting your company on a Hollywood scale to gain a massive amount of attention and generate interest to drive in sales and run revenue through the roof while sailing your way through the “bad economy”

Robert Cornish
Managing Director
Richter10.2 Media Group
robert@richter10point2.com

Why Web PR, Really?

These days, it seems that most people are aware that the internet can be at the very least an excellent tool to facilitate communication. It is also true that most business people do recognize that a strong presence online could affect their bottom line.

However, it is still only the truly savvy entrepreneurs and companies that actually push through the barrier of the sheer enormity of the internet and translate those suspicions into actual business created.

What is the difference between these people and those who don’t make it?

Well, to use the analogy of the internet as a sea of ideas and websites, the classic cliche of “sink or swim” can be brutally applicable. Hence, today we see an enormous industry of SEO companies and specialists who endeavor to keep their clients afloat at the top of search rankings using whatever flotation devices will do.

The obvious problem with this, however, is that if you were to follow the above analogue through completely, your website is in fact not a swimmer but just another drop of water; just one more page in that ocean.

Don’t get me wrong here, SEO is fine and a valuable service, for a start. But let me ask you, as a consumer are you that impressed by a top-ranked site on google when the rest of the first page is either completely unrelated, full of competitors or even derogatory of your company?

I thought not.

Well, what’s the solution, then?

It comes down to a frame of mind, really. Are you going to try and get along in the ocean, hoping not to be driven under? Or are you going to make waves?

All cute analogies aside, you can approach your marketing online and indeed any problem in business with either the attitude of making something happen, or hoping someone else will. You can either go out and cause that lead to come in, or that sale to be made, or you can whistle in the dark. Frankly, the latter only and inevitably leads straight down the chute.

How then do you create waves online? You create a well-optimized, easy to use website as your starting point. Then where?

Well, have you ever used a social networking site? Have you ever watched a video on youtube? Did you know that of the top 10 most frequented sites on the planet, 4 of them are social networking and video sites? How about taking the enormous power of all of the biggest and best of those sites and presenting your company and its branding over and over and over again to networks created solely for that purpose?

There are entire online public relations companies that survive on posting blogs, and others that only do online press releases. At Richter10.2, we give you blogs, article submission, social bookmarking, social profiles, professional videos and let’s not forget the kitchen sink until literally all of the best ways to get the word out about your company online are not only covered, but slammed home.

Then, next month, we do it all over again.

What is the end result?

A great first impression whenever someone enters your company into a search engine, a growing and interested audience to your message online, contacts made, business done and as a result, a positively affected bottom line.

In other words, waves.

Spencer Barnes
Director of Delivery
Richter10.2 Media Group
spence@richter10point2.com