Medical community recoginzes the power of the Internet

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Web sites are more than places to buy electronic products, or collect information about a company. All industries, including the medical field, understand how important it is to have a visible image on the Internet as part of their pr marketing strategies.

Recently our company, Carson Marketing, Inc., was contracted to design a web site for a boardInternet Marketing certified internist. The web site was created for Dr. Hedyeh Golshan. Unlike the typical site that is sometimes difficult to find what you are looking for, this site is geared to be extremely user friendly. The clean graphics, and bright, yet subtle colors, creates a strong image for the doctor. We used her photo on the main page so that patients can feel they have a personal relationship with the name. This was all part of the pr marketing strategy we used in developing the web site.

The site is simple, with few pages, but enough information to help those seeking a medical doctor, like Dr. Golshan, to feel comfortable enough to further contact the doctor to arrange for an appointment. When discussing the site development with our pr client, we made sure to communicate in the site what was necessary for potential patient’s to know. This included listing a chart that shows the provider ID# for the different insurance plans. As simple as this sounds, it has helped those seeking a doctor by eliminating unnecessary phone calls to Dr. Golshan’s office asking for the doctor’s ID#’s.

So how does this all fit into a publicity campaign? As I have been saying for years, “Publicity is Everywhere”. That includes a pr clients web site. The Internet may be your only visible contact with potential, and existing customers, clients, or in this case, a patient. Having a clean and uplifting web site can enhance a company’s image and establish a branding identity. If your company needs to freshen up an existing web site, or need a new web site, call George Carson at 949-477-9400. Our creative and web marketing programs are designed to get you noticed!

How to get more publicity from your web site

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PR Clients should use their web sites more often as a publicity tool. If you are a pr client and you have a publicity agency, then be sure to include web marketing into your pr marketing strategy campaign.

Why do publicity professionals choose to not use a pr clients web site in their publicity strategy just doesn’t make sense to me. Maybe publicity professionals are not secure withweb marketing cyber marketing. Or they feel more in control doing traditional publicity such as press releases, articles, press conferences, or other promotions. These are great, but if a pr client has a web site, why not include that as part of the pr marketing strategy? Yes, it does take a lot of work, planning and coordinating the web marketing of a web site. But then again, like I said, many pr companies, or publicity professionals rather not go into areas unfamiliar because it takes more work than they want to do.

I’m not saying that all publicity firms do this or ignore a pr clients web site. It just seems common business sense to me to include cyber marketing to drive traffic to a site. This in turn will build awareness, increase sales, and will build branding for any pr client.

Ok, let’s get to some things you can easily do to market your web site as part of your publicity campaign.

First, are you a local company, such as a local Orange County, or Chicago business? If so, you can target regional customers by using Google’s “geographic box”. The Google algorithm has the smarts to determine the query calls for results that are local. If you have several locations across the US, this works for each area you have a location. An example would be if you type the words “Orange County Publicity Agency“, or “Chicago gyms”, you will see at least 10 results with maps showing these businesses.

Second would be do a series of press releases to reach specific local areas. This sounds like more work to write a main release, then custom tailor it to fit different geographic regions, but it works.

These are just two ways to do web marketing. There are many others, including, business blogging, article submissions, offering webinars on your web site, and more. Try these, if your publicity professional just isn’t ready to make this work for you, call me, George Carson. I’ll make sure you get noticed! Carson Marketing, Inc, 949-477-9400.

Does your pr client need a “tagline”?

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I’m sure all of you know what a “tagline” is, right? Well, if you are not sure, then visit Wikipedia for their true definition.

A good tagline is one that is used with a company name, or logo. PR Clients are constantly searching for the right tagline that meets their philosophy, or helps set them apart from the competition. Companiestaglines for publicity clients that succeed in finding the right tagline are usually copied. For example the Nike tagline, or slogan as it is sometimes referred to, is “Just Do It”. What about the milk tagline, know what that one is? Right, “Got Milk“. But is seems that pr clients get tired of these and feel a need to change it every few years. That is something all advertising agencies and publicity professionals need to consider. If your pr client feels it is time to change, be sure you do your homework. Do they really need to do this? Are their customers thinking of them as an old company, or stale in their products/service because of the tagline? If so then maybe it is time to change.

An article in marketing pros discussed this in brief. The article mentioned Tate Linden, author of Stokefire blog, said many companies are not quite sure what a tagline is supposed to do. If that is the case, then maybe they don’t need or shouldn’t have one.

Just like those successful taglines, Just Do It, and Got Milk. Everyone was placing their logo, or name with these tags. Another person, Spike Jones says “never pick a tagline that just anyone can use” He goes on to say if you can easily place the tagline with another company logo, then it isn’t a good tagline.

I agree in most cases, but if you are able to conquer the market with a generic tagline like Just Do It, everyone knows you stole that from Nike.

Taglines are not just for pr clients and their companies. Look at TV shows, like The X-Files. Their tagline was “The truth is out there”. The shorter the tagline, the easier it is to remember.

So does your pr client need a tagline? Or do they already have one but are not using it wisely, or are they not including it in all their pr marketing strategies? If that is the case, maybe you need to promote the tagline with their name. As publicity professionals, and marketing agencies, it is up to you to guide yourr pr clients in making the right decision. If not, then someone else might take away that business from you. Need help, give me, George Carson a call. I’ll make sure you keep that pr client with taglines that work for them.

Publicity Professionals Know How Important Social Networking Is, Or Do They?

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Are professional publicity firms and their staff really using social networks for their pr clients? Or are the pr clients telling their publicity professionals and pr agencies to look into getting more involved with social networking. If you are a publicity professional, you will say yes. Ask a pr client, and you might get a complex answer, or just plain “no”.

If you have a pr marketing strategy plan, or a publicity plan, then include marketing to the social networks. It is more than asocial networking group of kids connecting. There are a bunch of different networks on the Internet today. If you recall from my article titled “Social Media keeps growing…” you will learn about the different types of networks. Including those that reach seniors.

Today I read an article, front page of the business section, in the LA Times. It was all about MySpace and how it is now keeping up with Facebook. At one point Facebook took the lead with the social networks. Now, the owners of MySpace, News Corp, has hired hundreds of programmers who speak to this audience to create a slew of new features to compete with Facebook. Good article. In more than just how the two are competing. It is telling publicity professionals that social networking is a mainstay and you need to make your pr marketing strategies part of the overall campaign for pr clients.

It doesn’t matter if you are a local publicity company in Orange County, or a national publicity agency, you need social media networking. I spoke about other types of business networking such as linkedIn. These are geared to business professionals, but soon you will start seeing “business networks” similar to MySpace where companies of all sizes will share their thoughts, strategies, and business philosophy. So get going and get into social media networks. Not sure how to do that? Then give George Carson a call at 949-477-9400. He can get you noticed!

Is Social Media Becoming a Business Tool?

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Do you have a pr marketing strategy that is ready to include social media?

We hear a lot about social media and all the new web sites that are popping up to get in the action. Now it seems that AOL, the 4th popular search engine, is gearing up to show it is part of this new social era.

The problem might not be that AOL needs to think like everyone else. When you visitsocial media networks the ParentDish.com site, it is targeted to a specific audience. As a marketer, I think that is a smart move. Because you cannot have a social media site that is too broad based. It just won’t work. Even the AOL Blog tries to stay within their own profile.

On the other side of this popularity with social media, one major segment is still not considered. Know what it might be? I believe in the near future we will start seeing “social media for business”. I wouldn’t be surprised if a programmer, or a search engine company like Google, isn’t already developing this. The problem I see is going to be how the business model will be presented. Probably more general in scope. Like MySpace. But I truly believe that segmented social media business sites will be part of a pr marketing campaign for all pr clients.

This may take a few years to mature, just like Facebook and the many other sites that exist today. Why do I believe this to be true? Because blogging in the business community is already happening. It is in major companies as well as small to mid size companies. PR Marketing strategies now include blogging as part of the business culture. Just as it was among the youth a few years ago, now social media is the place to be. So it only makes sense that “business” will soon begin to embrace this media as a pr marketing tool. It will be an excellent way for executives and all businesses to exchange their philosophy, their business culture to others, and possibly become a place to learn how to grow a business from a CEO’s perspective.

How Many Press Releases Do You Send Out Per Month?

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Your pr marketing strategy should include a series of press releases each month. So what is the total number of press releases to send per month? We recommend at least three per month. You don’t want to issue the same release every other week, but rather find a new angle, or create new releases each week.

publicity press releasesWe do not recommend flooding the media with dozens of press releases, especially if they are not newsworthy. That will get you negative publicity and probably be recognized as a pest to the media.

Your pr marketing strategies should outline for your pr clients a series of releases to meet the objectives of your publicity campaign. For example, if a pr client is introducing a new product, that warrants a press release. When the product has an impact, or makes an improvement to something, this can be another press release. Basically, follow through with the first press release to see how you can continue to get media attention. Reporters and publishers need good content and stories for their readers, so when writing your pr clients press releases, give them solid information that will want readers to learn more.

Keep away from “sales writing”. Press releases need to be informative, give features as to why the product or service was developed. Tell how it will affect the market, or industry. That is what reporters are looking for in their publications.

If you need help in getting your pr marketing strategy, or publicity campaign in gear, give us a call. We have the contact and expertise to get you noticed. Make the call; it can be the step you take that advances you ahead of the competition.

Do You Have A Blogger On Staff?

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More and more major corporations are hiring staff bloggers, now being titled Chief Bloggers. This is proof that blogging is making a serious impact on corporations as well as small to mid-size companies.

No longer considered a trend but now part of the business daily activity, business blogging is a mainstay for pr clients as well as any company that has a pr marketing strategy. Publicity professionals have seen the positive results that blogging has and are finally asking pr clients to add daily business blogging to their pr marketing campaign. Several high profile corporations see the need to blog. A few of these corporations are Coca-Cola, Kodak, and Marriott to mention a few. According to a recent article in Advertising Age, over 11% of the Fortune 500 companies have corporate blogs. Smart publicity professionals know how critical a publicity campaign with blogging can have on a company’s branded image. It is now more important than before to get the word out and the best way to do this is having your own business blog site.

More aggressive business blogs are from Kodak. An article in Blog Herald, dated April 3, 2008, describes that Kodak has two business blog sites and hired chief bloggers to maintain them. Blogging should be part of your pr client’s business tools. No longer can it be taken as a part-time or as a pass-time project. Just ask CEO-President Jonathan Schwartz on Sun Microsystems. He has helped direct the company and improved the image with his business blogging. This doesn’t mean that the CEO, or owner needs to do the blogging. But many of the top executives direct their chief bloggers on the topics or give approval before a blog is posted. This may seem staged in some ways, but as I said before, it is a pr marketing strategy that is making a strong impact on business. Make sure your pr client, or company is using their blog site to keep that branded name in front of customers.

Blogging or Press Releases, which is better?

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With all the activity and “publicity” that business blogging has received this past year, pr clients, and publicity professionals are clamoring to get a blog site for themselves and companies. Is having a business blog the best choice or just a publicity campaign the way to go?

Good question, but there isn’t one answer. First you need to do some soul searching about what it is you arebusiness blogging, blog sites trying to achieve. If you are a pr client that has a product to launch, or a service to promote, then a publicity campaign is what you need. With that said, let’s back up a second. Keeping in mind that publicity press releases are good, an article is best. Look at your pr marketing strategies that you are developing. While you may not get an article in a publication, or it may be a few months before that reporter gets your article published, then consider incorporating a business blog site to further the exposure. The blog will also get you noticed sooner. And you have more control as to what can be said. Unlike an ad, you don’t want your business blog site to be all commercial. Keep to the facts, make it interesting and give some examples as to why this new product can improve things like a person’s lifestyle, or a company’s profits. Basically, make it productive, not a sales pitch.

This brings us back to creating a solid pr marketing strategy for your pr client, or company. Make sure that your pr marketing strategies include a well-planned publicity campaign. This should consist of a business blog, a promotional program, a series of press releases and an article that can be submitted to reporters, editors and publishers in your industry. I read an article called “Is your press release passive?” Other tips on good pr writing can be found at their main site. This touches on a few important issues in writing releases. This can also be a simple guide in writing your blog for that new product or service. business blogging, blog sites

So what have you learned in this blog? Hopefully that a business blog is as important as your publicity campaign. Ok, I need to now explain that just having a blog on the web doesn’t get you noticed. It requires a lot of backend marketing. A couple of years ago, a simple blog site was all you needed and it got a lot of attention. Today, you need to market your business blog site. That brings me to our company, Carson Marketing, Inc. We can market your business blog site. If you do not have a business blog, then we can help put your company into the blog sphere so that you get noticed. Give us a call. We’re just 10 numbers away at 949-477-9400 to making you a successful blogger.

Are You Optimizing Your Email Campaign?

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When creating a pr marketing strategy for an email campaign, you want to make sure it is delivered. That can be a problem if you are not using proper email best business practices.

No matter the type of email campaign, or the size of your list, you should follow the best business practices and strategies.email campaigns One tip is to earn the trust of the ISP’s. Why? Think of your own in box, or junk mail. If your ISP let all mail through, you would probably receive hundreds more of junk mail a day. Internet Service providers protect their customers from spam, or junk by providing standard protocols and policies that block unsolicited bulk mail. Wouldn’t that be great if our Post Office had a similar program? I would like that!

Ok, back to getting optimized email campaigns. To make sure your list is valid, follow these few rules:

Have relevant lists

Make sure your recipients are allowing your messages

Have a professional email that is well-designed

Be sure to use email authentication

These are the basis of getting your pr marketing strategy campaign to be professional. If you need to know how to get authentication, then check out Sender Policy Framework (SPF). If you have specific questions about the basics, or doing a roll-out email campaign, check out the FAQ here. Remember, potential customers are just like you, no one wants to be hammered with hundreds of junk email, so make sure your message is something customers would like to know more about. Email marketing builds or destroys a company’s reputation. Read my blog that talks about “email reputation” to learn more.

Useful Web Sites

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If you are like a lot of media research people, or a publicity professional who is always trying to find useful web sites for your pr marketing strategy project, I have something of great value. First, realize the Internet is pack full of information that makes it difficult to find what you are looking for. Google has done an excellent job in allowing more than keywords, butlooking for web sites allows you to use key phrases for a finer method of narrowing your search. Ever feel lost in the Internet? Im sure you have.

Publicity professionals, pr clients and all advertising companies use the web to gather information for creating marketing plans, or developing a pr marketing strategy. Knowing where to start can be a great help. But how do you do that? Is there a place that actually has grouped, or categorized sites for all us web surfers to find “stuff”?. The answer is yes. Ok, your saying, get to the point…here is a useful web site that has a good listing of subjects: PINAKES, A Subject Launchpad. The site has an array of topics to find most anything from Music, to high tech to arts and humanities to biotech and many more categories.

It may not be the super list of all lists, but as I said, you need a place to start and this is just one of the many useful sites that can get you pointed in the right direction. So the next time your pr client, or publicity professional has a research project, or you need more information to make that next presentation, check out PINAKES.

If you are really ambitious and want to dig deeper for information on a specific topic, then consider sites like DMOZ, the Open Directory, or About.com, or intute. Each has resources that will get you surfing. But beware, this can get habit forming. You might just find yourself spending hours looking and not doing the research project your had started out to do. Put a time limit on your research, and bookmark sites that could be of value. Then go back and make notes on those sites that can help complete your project. For more information on web site listings, call Carson Marketing, Inc. Ask for George Carson.