Now offering “green” greetings…
We’ve been doing these video montages for clients and friends for some time now, but wanted to share that Innovate Services is now officially offering video greetings and “commercials” as one of our premier services. So what can they do for you or your business?
- Send us your photos or video clips; we’ll compile them with our crafty copy-writing skills into a fun, personalized greeting to send to a friend, loved one or professional contact.
- Have a ton of product photos but don’t want to keep sending oodles of files to prospective clients or partners as your portfolio? Send us your product photos and we’ll handcraft a fabulous video portfolio for you.
- Want to be “green” with your event invitations and thank you’s but tired of evite? Let us help you make a custom invitation for your next event…we’ll also take your event photos or video clips and turn them into a thank you attendees will never forget!
Check out some of the video’s we’ve developed so far…
Want us to create one for you? Email us and we’ll get right on it!!
Get your client greetings and keep in touch plan off your plate NOW!
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This holiday season let us take care of your holiday greetings to clients, prospects, colleagues and more! We can even use your digital photos to make your holiday greetings even more personal…and an image of your signature can be used too!
What does a virtual marketing firm do?
We thought we’d share our latest video with you to (hopefully) shed light on what virtual assistants or virtual marketing firms like ours can do for your business. It’s long, so we don’t expect you to sit through the whole thing…but we’d be thrilled if you did. Not only do we provide video / slideshow development support, but we can help you promote products, real estate listings and more with them through the various outlets available.
Let us know what you think – the good, bad and ugly by commenting below.
Simplified public relations and the small business.
As an entrepreneur and founder of two small businesses, I know the challenges that come hand-in-hand with the entrepreneurs life.
Massive to-do lists, not enough time to accomplish all that we desire to, marketing and promoting ourselves and our businesses often taking a back seat to the simple day-to-day monotony that we so badly need to outsource. In my decade plus experience in corporate and entrepreneurial marketing and PR I’ve seen small businesses all too often eliminate marketing from their priorities.
This is a huge mistake. But it can be avoided with strategically and cost-effectively planning ahead to simplify marketing and public relations tasks so that they are virtually on auto-pilot. Using simplified public relations strategies, you can make lasting connections with complementary organizations without spending a great deal of time or money.
What is simplified public relations? In the manner of getting back to the basics, my belief is that at the core of every successful small business are relationships. Relationship building and public relations go hand-in-hand. Public relations strategies don’t have to be complex and scary for the entrepreneur. You simply need to take a look at your desired end result and work backward. From there you can simply plan out your public relations activities on one sheet and schedule them out on your calendar for the year. The hardest part is coming up with the appropriate outlets to contact and researching what news they want to hear.
If you come from a place of service, offering them your expertise and remain genuine, you’ll have an easy time developing lasting relationships with media outlets. They’ll value you as a source and maybe even seek you out for a newly developed story. Just remember to remain professional, appreciative and put yourself in the contacts shoes…they likely get inundated with queries and press releases on a daily basis.
In small business and the entrepreneurial world, positive public relations = relationship building + service + strategic partnerships + informing others. Done right, it can be an invaluable source for business growth.
Copyright 2009 Teresa H. Berger, MBA & Innovate Services PR|Editorial
Creating Positive Buzz: Simplified Public Relations & Marketing Support
People are often visually driven…images motivate and communicate.
Innovate Services partners with virtual assistants, fitpreneurs, mompreneurs, and solopreneurs to help them get their message out authentically; creating positive buzz for their businesses. Our passion is helping spread the word; through avenues like press releases, story pitches, ghostwritten articles, social media, philanthropy and more.
Does our video below help communicate that or are we missing the mark?
Feel free to let us know…business and life is an ever-lasting opportunity to learn and grow. And I’m always up for enlightenment and growth!
Copyright 2009 Teresa H. Berger, MBA & Innovate Services PR|Editorial
K.I.S.S. Tip – Do I need to be a writer to write a Press Release?
You absolutely, positively do not need to be a writer to write a press release. Press release writing is much simpler than the average entrepreneur or solopreneur makes it out to be.
However, you do need to have a clear understanding of what makes you and your products or services buzz worthy. You can’t send out a boring, ho-hum press release to editors and media contacts and expect it to get noticed among the hundreds of others they see each week.
Put simply you need to be able to clearly communicate in the headline and first two lines of your press release why the person receiving it should keep reading. And don’t go for shock value by stretching the truth or making false statements. Be honest, and write your press releases in line with the way in which you run your business; hopefully ethically.
K.I.S.S. (Keep It Super Simple) Keys To Writing Your Next Press Release:
- Include the who, what, when, where and why
- Be creative, but honest
- Don’t stretch the truth of provide false statements
- Keep it to one page
- Always include your contact information at the top or bottom
- Stick to the point; if you find you’re switching to a different angle, use it for another press release
Here is a good press release sample.
Copyright 2009 Teresa H. Berger, MBA & Innovate Services PR|Editorial
K.I.S.S. Tip – What Information is Best For a Press Release
One of my readers recently asked what information is best to include in a press release?
There are key components to press releases that should never be skipped when writing a press release:
- Your name.
- Your company name.
- Your contact information.
- Your product or service name if you’re announcing it for the first time.
- A link to your website (or better yet, an interior page of your website specific to this press release).
- A captivating or at least informational headline that tells people who and what the press release is about.
- A quote from you or a client explaining the problem you’re solving, why you received the recognition you’re telling us about, what your role in the community event you’re writing about was…something that helps the reader understand better your message and business.
- A closing line directing readers to the appropriate site for more information on you and your business.
If you are stumped for topic ideas for your next press release, take a look at our free topic ideas for generating buzz. Up next…case studies — great press release examples.
Copyright 2009 Teresa H. Berger, MBA & Innovate Services PR|Editorial
simplified, consistent public relations | copywriting | copyediting
K.I.S.S. Tip – Organizing your PR Efforts
I was recently asked this question…a question many entre/solo/fit/mom preneurs may have.
“How do you keep your PR (public relations) efforts organized?”
My rule of thumb is to Keep It Super Simple (K.I.S.S.).
Anything can be over thought or over complicated but as an entrepreneur what is the point in complicating your public relations efforts by coming up with an elaborate plan?
Here’s where you should start when developing your PR efforts for your small biz:
- Think about your niche / ideal client / target market…whatever you call who it is you DREAM of working with.
- Where do they “hang out”?
- What do they read?
- What are their habits?
- Determine your objective…more than likely it’s to gain BUZZ for your business, product or service.
- Research your on and off line options.
- Come up with a targeted list of publications and media outlets you know are in line with your business, your target market, and those that feature stories related to what it is you offer.
- Get editorial calendars if available.
- Write up your annual plan…Keep It Super Simple…1 page (the same length as a standard press release)!
- Plan and write ahead.
- Incorporate social media.
- Follow your plan!
Hope that helps shed some light on how to keep PR efforts for your small business organized and simple. If you have more suggestions or other public relations questions for an entrepreneurial business, please share them here or sign up for our FREE K.I.S.S. PR & Editorial Tips.
Copyright 2009 Teresa H. Berger, MBA & Innovate Services PR|Editorial
3 Common Business Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
If you know me, you know I am big on learning; learning in any form, anywhere at any time. I did in fact get my MBA from an accredited online university while working full-time, often pulling all-nighters and writing until my hands were sore…but I did it because I’m passionate about life, achieving goals and working toward my dreams. And I am still learning at all hours of the night and day and soaking it all in.
Some of the lessons I learn from time to time I feel are well worth sharing. As entrepreneurs, visionaries and people who “dream big” we need to stick together and share our knowledge to help each other take our businesses where they’re meant to go. And today, this lesson was definitely worth sharing. Even if it just reminds you to take a step back and consider where you truly want to be in business and life. Enjoy this lesson from someone I consider one of my teachers, Sherri Garrity at The Corporate Fugitive.
We’re already one third of the way through 2009 – are you where you want to be?
Many of us dream of quitting the corporate rat race and exchanging it for the freedom filled life of the self-employed. Or, you may be an accidental entrepreneur, plunged into the world of self-employment due to downsizing, layoff, or business closure.
This number grows every year. Most businesses in the United States and Canada are created as sole proprietorships – and it’s no surprise, for two reasons. One, because it’s relatively simple to do, and two, because we want to be independent and free in our newly staked territory.
There are common mistakes that many new entrepreneurs make when they are leaving the corporate world.
Number one – not taking the time to get clear about what you really want out of your new business.
Would you hop on a plane, without knowing where it was headed? This is the equivalent of failing to examine your business and personal goals.
Many small business owners just don’t take the time upfront to think about what they really want. They start from where they are at the moment and put one foot in front of the other, day after day. They pick up random clients and focus on getting their work done. Most are just relieved to have clients and to make enough to replace their previous income. So where do they end up? Often somewhere they don’t like, and don’t recognize.
The best defense against building a business that you’ll want to invest yourself in, is to make sure you know what you want.
Number two – not knowing who your ideal clients are and what you are selling to them.
Using the analogy of travel again, would you be persuaded to fly first class to a five-star resort on a tropical beach, if you have a phobia of flying and your budget is modest? Not likely.
But this disconnect is something that many business owners create with their potential customers. They do not carefully and deliberately decide the structure of the business enterprise. They don’t determine the services and prices they’re offering in a strategic way. They don’t choose a target market, or figure out what that market wants. They try to sell the five-star resort to the one-star customer.
What’s even worse, they often undercharge, so to the clients they attract haphazardly, they sell at a one-star price.
What ends up happening are business owners who feel very scattered and do not stand for anything in the marketplace.
Number three – not getting help soon enough.
Going it alone sounds great to ex-corporate, solo entrepreneur types, until they realize they not only have to get the clients and do the work, but take care of technical support, marketing, production and customer service. Many new entrepreneurs do not get help soon enough. A good rule of thumb – if someone else can do it faster, better, or cheaper than you, you should not be doing it yourself.
Today the availability of contract help is virtually infinite. There are independent professionals providing administrative and technical support, accounting, marketing and everything in between.
Besides paid help, other forms of support are also important. Finding networks, taking training, and getting some form of coaching are all ways to create support teams for entrepreneurs.
Sherri Garrity is the Chief Corporate Fugitive and creator of the Five Keys Success SystemTM for ex-corporate employees and aspiring entrepreneurs who want to break free from the confines of their corporate experience and unlock their business potential for greater personal freedom and prosperity. The Corporate Fugitive system demystifies the business of setting up, managing, marketing and growing a successful entrepreneurial adventure. Visit www.corporatefugitive.com for free tips on how to unlock the business in you.
Innovate Services PR|Editorial
simplified, consistent public relations | copy editing
4 Essential K.I.S.S. (Keep It SUPER Simple) Tips Before Submitting Your Next Press Release
These are essential tips any entrepreneur should consider before hitting the send button for your next press release.
- Know the publication. What does the content typically cover?; are the articles lengthy or quick one page articles?; is the pub hyper local or covering a wider area?
- Know the Editor/Writer. Whether you’re sending to an Editor or Writer for a publication, you should have at least done a quick search for them online and skimmed some of their most recent work.
- Know your story inside and out. Be prepared for a phone interview or further questions about your press release topic. Know how to convey your story in an interesting manner.
- Know that there are no guarantees your story will get printed. Many things in life are a guessing game, and PR is too. Sure if you write a compelling headline and have an amazing, one of a kind story you might get some bites. But with many small businesses it takes a lot of brainstorming and thought to develop a truly newsworthy press release. And it’s not devaluing you or your business…it’s just that Editors and Writers for publications are inundated with pitches and releases daily. They can’t possibly read and print each one.
So before you send your next press release, consider these tips and if you run into writer’s block consider getting input from peers or a professional public relations expert.
Copyright 2009 Teresa H. Berger, MBA & Innovate Services PR|Editorial
simplified, consistent public relations | copy editing
Innovate Services & Client Media Mentions…
http://www.business-opportunities.biz http://blog.cristinafavreau.com http://www.ivaa.org/pdfs/latestcast.pdf http://www.toiletpaperentrepreneur.com/blog
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