Reblogged from Abbi Public Relations, Inc. Blog:

By Abbi Whitaker President of Abbi Public Relations A public relations professional can be one of the most valuable resources for a journalist — a partner who points out relevant news, gives access to valued sources and provides photos and reliable company background. But all too often repeated miscues by PR companies turn them into the equivalent of spammers. Here are 10 irritating habits common among PR media pitchers that can destroy any chance of a lasting and mutually beneficial relationship with a …

It’s become a mantra of the new economy: No one is looking out for you… but you.  You are the only one in control.

Self-security is the new entitlement in today’s new economic climate because we simply don’t trust anybody anymore.  We’ve been misled by mortgage brokers, regulators, rating agencies, banks and CEO’s – to name a few.  To the point, in a recent Money Magazine poll, half of the respondents said they no longer trust their financial advisors.

Personally, I find that a shocking statement, and one that you should take into consideration. If this is now an age of distrust, then “no one is looking out for me except me” is an important consumer insight.

Give your customers a choice.

Does your brand address that core need in a way that honestly separates you from your competition?  More importantly, we all need to do what we can to give our customer a sense of control over our product or service simply by giving them a choice.  By exercising their own choice, your customers will inevitably feel a sense of control over their own environment. But… be careful not to overwhelm them as two options may be more than enough.

Encourage your customer’s to talk.

Pry the door open to conversations – whether in person, on the phone, or even online.   Be sure to do the one thing they need most – ask.  You’ll be amazed that they’ll not only tell you what they need, but feel a sense of relief and confidence in doing just that for your brand.

Make sure they have something to do.

Nothing counters a growing sense of vulnerability faster than taking action.  What if you offered a free seminar about online selling?  How about addressing ways to make your product or service have longer lasting value?  Perhaps you can offer up ways for more budget conscious options?  The basics of human behavior are in motion – and it’s your job to empower them for your brand. .

The bottom line is – if you give your customers a sense of certainty and control, they will repay you with their enthusiastic loyalty. G

One of the hardest challenges in our business is simplifying our client’s message to its core emotions and values.  It sounds so simple, and so many think they can do it for, and by themselves.  It’s more than a challenge to focus on the simple value of a product or service, than address the complexity of the market environment, and the barrage of messaging customers receive every day.

In 25 years of helping people craft and deliver their company’s message, there’s one simple, important step that is often passed by.  Simplifying the message.  Stepping back for a moment and saying with intent – How can we make this simpler?  Then start stripping away at each and every word and thought until you find the very core basics left.

I can guarantee that your target audience will not only be more responsive, they’ll consider your message a welcome lifeline in a sea of complexity.  What is most confusing to them is a result of giving them too many options at once, then not clearly helping them make a choice best suited to their specific needs.

In order to be simple, you must first go to the extremes of complexity – and peel back the hyperbole and marketing speak until you reach the core message that speaks to solving your customer’s problem – or enhances the basic values of their everyday lives.  Then…the message will resonate like none before.

The difficulty is in taking yourself out of your current thinking – and stripping away the constructs you’ve built about your product or service that you’ve convinced yourself is exactly what your customer wants.   Your perspective counts, of course – but your customer’s counts more.  Without polling or engaging them one-on-one, you’ll only guess at how your brand is perceived – and how best to communicate what can best be sold.

No matter what stage your brand development is currently in – whether a start-up or an established product or service – you’ll be well served by taking a moment to step back, and simplify your messaging.

If you’re challenged in doing that by yourself – call on us – and we’ll help you through the process to your success.

If you’ve searched for anything on Google in the past few days, you’ve likely noticed a difference in the results you’re receiving.

On January 10th, the company released what may be the most dramatic change to it’s search algorithm… ever.

According to their release, “We’re transforming Google into a search engine that understands not only content, but also people and relationships.”

In short, your Google search will now be delivered in three criteria:

1. Personal Results, which enable you to find information just for you, such as Google+ photos and posts—both your own and those shared specifically with you, that only you will be able to see on your results page;
2. Profiles in Search, both in autocomplete and results, which enable you to immediately find people you’re close to or might be interested in following; and,
3. People and Pages, which help you find people profiles and Google+ pages related to a specific topic or area of interest, and enable you to follow them with just a few clicks. Because behind most every query is a community.

One thing is certain – the rules of SEO have been altered by this change…and content (as we’ve all been saying for the past few years), truly IS King.

SO…are YOU creating content for your audience?  Content they’re engaged in and responding to?

How will this affect YOUR brand?  What do you think are the benefits and drawbacks of these new search term results?

I have to admit…I didn’t “see it coming”.  The end of the year is already upon us.  As we reflect on many aspects of our professional and personal lives, now is a good time to set goals for the year ahead – and if you haven’t already…write them down to track your progress and successes.

If it isn’t already, incorporating social media into your business’ marketing plan for 2012 should be high on your lists of resolutions, according to Business To Community. The online resource offers up a wide variety of helpful tips for small business owners looking to maximize their social media presence in the new year.

Developing and growing a Facebook fan page is obviously become more important than ever, as it offers free business advertising with every “like” while providing an inexpensive way to offer deals and incentives.

As popular as Facebook has become, it’s wise to diversify your social media portfolio. In addition to Facebook, creating profiles on LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+ and YouTube are also very important. Each channel should provide links to the others to encourage customers to follow the company across as many different avenues as possible.

Getting your social media pages established and visually branded alike is just the start of a comprehensive social presence – adding relevant and engaging content is the key to engaging, and growing your audience of loyal fans and followers.

So… what are you doing reading this?  Get started!  And know that social media is just one slice of the “marketing pie” that you’ll need to focus on in 2012.

What other marketing plans are you making for the New Year?  We’d love to hear about your goals, plans and challenges.

Who doesn’t love the Muppets?  (Satan aside.)

The iconic puppets created by by Jim Henson in 1954  have developed a popularity so expansive, Muppet characters have been treated as celebrities in their own right. The Muppets have presented at the Academy Awards and Emmy Awards; made cameo appearances in such feature films as Rocky III, An American Werewolf in London and Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium; and have been interviewed on the news magazine 60 Minutes.

Muppets are, quite literally, the rock stars of the Sesame Street generation – and have become cultural icons promoting kindness, knowledge and community.

That is… until now.

Enter the new Disney movie released last month: “The Muppets Movie“.  The box office literally exploded as families from across the nation gathered to watch a full length escapade of characters many of us have grown up with.  Reviews have been extremely positive about the film – unless of course, you happen to live in the one city that they film literally “throws under the bus” – Reno.

Imagine the excitement as film producers contacted a local casino, and asked if they could film at their location.  Who would say no to this troupe of fun-loving, kind-hearted icons of America?

“Officials there say the casino’s marquee is what drew the stars in. ‘Apparently they drove by and saw our marquee and just loved it. I think it’s just great for Reno to have an opportunity like the Muppets especially when you think of all the stars in the movie making guest appearances and then the Bonanza Casino, so it’s kind of nice,’ says marketing director Martin Amba.”

Little did anyone know that our dear Muppets would go the way of Reno 911 in depicting northern Nevada at the time. Children who live in this community have been saddened and upset as the film openly makes a mockery of the area’s amenities and lifestyle:

“Reviewers have praised “The Muppets Movie” that opened Wednesday as a comical family flick, but for Reno residents, the joke is on them.The Las Vegas Sun reports that the latest Muppets movie pokes fun of the Biggest Little City in the World several times.

Early in the movie, Fozzie Bear is shown performing a song at a casino in Reno on the edge of town in a Muppets tribute act called the Moopets. The lyrics claim couples don’t need a marriage certificate to get married in Reno. Fozzie’s dressing room is located in an alley behind the casino, where gunfire can be heard.

After Fozzie is reunited with his fellow Muppets, he laments the idea that he might have to return to Reno.”

In fact, the moment that Fozzie “laments the idea” he may have to return to Reno is perhaps the biggest laugh of the film. And the biggest laugh is, of course, at the community of Reno’s expense.

Once again, Reno’s brand is not only tarnished by stereotypes that are not reality – but presented as “reality” in this fantasy.  And who among us can blame these wholesome icons of education and fun for jumping aboard the popular train of making fun of Reno?  After all…it’s fun sport.

That is, of course, unless you’re a child who lives here – and have those icons literally turn on you to announce to the world that you live at the bottom of cultural barrel.  A state you should be ashamed of being part of – but powerless to change.

Thousands of kids in Reno have seen the movie, and from several that have been interviewed – all of them upset by how they were depicted to the world by the Muppets and Disney – perhaps the two most iconic family brands in culture today.

Once again, Reno is the butt of the joke.  And once again – Reno is seemingly powerless to respond or react without looking like we “can’t take a joke”.

Are we powerless to express the richness of northern Nevada?  How can the community of northern Nevada express its sadness that producers once again took a cheap shot at a community that has faced a year of incredible hardship and disasters?  How can we regain our dignity again in the media market?  Would it be easier to accept the brand we have acquired, but don’t deserve?

This is a challenge that your suggestion would be very welcome.

Since its roll-out recently, bloggers and marketers have been talking about the value and potential of Google+Pages for business brands.  Is Google+ Pages going to be the right platform for every business?  Of course not.

No doubt, some brands will hop on any channel and follow the next bright, shiny object, and yet nearly all the pundits agree – every business should consider building a presence there starting right now.  Seriously…right now if you haven’t.

Claim your stake, right?

Get your page before someone else does, right?  Yes…in part.  But that’s just the very start of why you should build a presence on Google+Pages.

Google lives throughout the internet.

Between search engine dominance, and products like Gmail, Google Reader and Android – Google is clearly a dominant force with staying power.  Even if Google+Pages changes its format – the very fact that your business will build a legacy on the web the sooner it starts engaging Google’s portals.   Even if you’re hesitant to dive into Google+ because of Facebook’s viability in social networking, it’s important you own your piece of Google+ for ranking purposes alone.

Unfortunately, it IS more work.

Marketers are constantly faced with more fragmentation and new channels as a daily reality.  Which platforms will grow in dominance in the next year remains to be seen, but it’s clear that Google+ is entering the race to stay.  The fact is – your business brand will need both platforms to communicate to different audiences – and you’ll have to reach out in greater segmentation to them, with more targeted messages.  Equally important is the ability to listen to feedback, and respond when necessary to customers.  Many will be on Facebook – and many will also be on Google+.  It’s important to have a strong presence in both.

So it’s your turn… are you in, out or sitting on the sidelines with Google+?  We’d love to hear your opinion and feedback.

For awhile, I used the “more important things to do” excuse.  Or the “does it really matter if I do or don’t?” excuse for not taking the time to look out into the world, and share perspectives on the ever-changing world of branding and marketing.  The fact is – I have been busier than at any other time in my career.  Looking back on the past 10 months now, I see that my lack of dedication to blogging was more about my lack of dedication to myself – to my own growth and understanding.

Plus…and I mention this with the utmost respect to those who actually make a living blogging (or helping others to) – it’s damn hard work.  Given how hard my most recent project has been, there simply weren’t enough hours in the day.

I’ve “come back to myself” now, and to this thing I love – investigating, commenting, and sharing dialogue about the things and perspectives that motivate me every day.

What happened in those 10 months was nothing short of miraculous.  An empty casino at a key location in downtown Reno was transformed into a 60,000 square foot, three level entertainment, food and climbing/training center.  From Fitzgeralds’ has risen CommRow – Reno’s First Urban Adventure Destination.

In December 2010, I joined the developer’s team to begin the process of designing (and redesigning) the facilities – from concept development through local government approvals – I was able to see every aspect of what it takes to develop an entirely new category of brand – the creative reuse of an outdated casino into a contemporary center for healthy fun.  Positioning the property from its inception, we developed a brand with nothing less than 14 sub-brands – each with their own identity and purpose.

While nobody knew exactly what would become of this idea at that time, we all worked days and nights and weekends to drive toward finding out if we believed it was financially feasibly possible.  Literally tens of “waterfall” spreadsheets later – the decision was made that it was – and the race was on to build it.

Ten months later – we opened the doors to the first three floors with fireworks, concerts and crowds.

And now I’m the development’s Marketing Director/Creative Director/Graphic Designer/Janitor.  As the processes for getting an effort this big off the ground begin to establish themselves, I’m hoping to have more time to dedicate to my first passion – SmartBrand.  And to getting back to building more brands for passionately focused companies.

For now…I have my hands plenty full and have been enjoying every excruciating second.  More importantly…I’m learning so much, so quickly, that I’ve become once again dedicated to exploring and sharing about the business of building brands.

I hope you’ll come back and share your thoughts as I do…and always, honestly, thank anyone reading this stuff I feel compelled to share.

More to come about CommRow’s intents and challenges…and about the world of branding, marketing, advertising…and all their many components.

You likely have heard that the Chinese symbol for crisis is a combination of  danger and opportunity.  In today’s challenging economic climate, never has this relationship been more relevant.  What is a brand to do in this climate?   Embrace chaos.

A seemingly innocuous and contradictory phrase – how can something as unpredictable and disruptive as chaos be used to advantage, much less, embraced? Chaos in an agency upsets people’s lives, inhibits great work, constantly shifts priorities and is generally considered to be the one uncontrollable that keeps the agency from achieving its goals. Or does it?

The World We Live In

What used to be manageable annoyances in an agency have become day-in, day-out crises. Annual client marketing plans and budgets now change on a whim; successful creative campaigns are discarded as quickly as they are developed; key staff shift loyalties as readily as they change their socks; and agency leadership redefines their priorities with each change in client management. And then there’s this social media – empowered consumer – buzz marketing thing – turning the notion of one-to-one marketing into a force that shakes consumer communications to the core.

Building anything concrete on these shifting sands is seemingly futile (and expensive). But we continue to try. It’s been over 10 years since agencies began experimenting with ways to control or manage their changing world. Thousands of change efforts and millions of dollars have yielded one simple conclusion, in the marketing communications business, the only constant is change – chaos is here to stay – and any attempt to ‘control’ it flies in the face of the realities of the business.

The Potential of Chaos

What is lost in this obsession with managing our unmanageable world is the power of chaos for its own sake. We would love to believe that the best strategies and campaigns are the result of big investments in research, developing key insights and proving our concepts in focus groups. A dirty little secret of the business, however, is that the best ideas and the most powerful campaigns are frequently the product of scribbles on a cocktail napkin. In fact, chaos (and its cousin, urgency) can produce exceptional results.

How can chaos result in better work? – Less time to research and analyze produces better gut-level, instinctual and emotional thinking. This puts the focus back on the creative talent, lessens the tendency to over-think the product/brand and allows the essence of the communication to emerge

- Chaos forces people to constantly think about their client’s business – preparing themselves for anything that might come up. Always looking for the next big idea or thing that can be used to move the brand message forward Properly handled, chaotic business requirements at clients opens the door for the agency to step into an expert role and resource for the client – helping them eliminate problems as they come up

- Chaos keeps energy in the agency. It forces staff to be on their toes and creates a sense of enthusiasm and success, as each new emergency is put to bed.

- Ideas win over analytics, every time – and that’s a good thing.

We all love something for free, but valuing the return on a giveaway is not always the easiest metric to measure.  For many marketers and business owners, the value proposition for free giveaways is hard to justify the investment.  Bur who doesn’t want a free iPad, t-shirt or promotional item?

If you want to build a loyal following of brand advocates, freebies can be an enduring and affordable way to create and keep brand loyalty.

Everyone loves a freebie, which is why giving products away is an excellent tactic for anyone in marketing who wants to create brand advocates. Whether you want to improve the number of online conversations about your brand, or reduce customer complaints, a free product is a great place to start.  So where do you start?  How far do you go?  What can you ask for in return?

Seek out bloggers

Pepsi wanted to raise awareness of its updated logo, so the brand  turned to bloggers to help spread the word. Rather than taking the typical path of sending out press released, Pepsi assembled it’s history of logo iterations since it’s beginning – and sent one can with each logo type to bloggers.  Soon after, the bloggers received another set of Pepsi cans with the new logo.

Photo courtesy Adrants.com

Not only did this help bloggers understand the development of the new logo, it also helped them to appreciate Pepsi’s long history in the market place.

The result?  Bloggers enthusiastically endorsed the change, having experienced it personally – and spread the word creating a viral message that Pepsi could leverage for its release for months.  Win.

What can you do to follow the Pepsi model of success?  Research bloggers already in sharing information in your brand category – no matter what it is.  Start at  Google Blog Search to find them, and send them samples of your products or services for them to review.  Simple.

Engage community voices

There’s no question that social media has changed the landscape of finding your community voice.  Twitter is filled with conversations in your specific industry, which enable you to build connections between your brand and your customers.

Give  Follower Wonk  a try to Twitter profiles for keywords specific to you, and in turn, connect to people who are truly passionate about your brand niche.

Reward loyalty

Like many American markets, free clubcards have become the staple of brand loyalty rewards.  From grocery stores to restaurants, providing an incentive for return customer’s loyalty is one of the strongest ways you can build an army of brand fanatics. Even if you don’t have an existing loyalty program now, you can find a forum of conversations just right for you on Board Tracker.

Free works

Walk down the aisle at any farmer’s market, and you’ll be offered a wide variety of fresh fruits or vegetables to sample.  By the end of that walk, if the samples are good, you’ll likely buy more than you ever anticipated at the start – and for good reason.  Free sells.

Even if your product or service is fairly expensive to give away, you can leverage your brand via the web in competition to get it for free.  Giving away your brand is a great way to build lasting loyalty, reach bloggers and reward loyal customers.  At the end of the day, isn’t that what we all really want?

What are some of the best free giveaway campaigns you’ve ever seen?  What brands are you loyal to because they offer free samples?

Sooner or later, it happens to nearly everyone. You’re more than excited about promoting your new service or product… you roll out the marketing campaign and…. it falls flat.  Or maybe your still using sales materials that have previously worked well for years, then suddenly…nothing.  Business comes to a stand still.

This isn’t atypical in today’s changing market.  Previously mass markets have imploded releasing a cloud of micro-markets that have evolved.  Consider the newspaper or the music industry evolutions in just the past decade.  Mass markets are quickly becoming micro-markets, and the days of selling “one size fits all” for either services or products are gone.

Micro markets are, by their very nature, specialized.  A micro brewery obviously isn’t targeting a mass market – they’re looking specifically for beer aficionados and connoisseurs. These people would rather savor a bottle of a special brew than a six-pack of Budweiser.   Conversely, mass markets are composed of a large group of people with a specific need or want – and within them may reside countless micro-markets as of yet untouched.  Consider how a newspaper targets a mass market, while a blog make be the ideal channel for a micro-market.

No matter how big or small your brand, I always suggest focusing on finding a “market within your market” – your target micro-market.

Here are four fairly simple steps you can take immediately to help reveal an untapped micro-market existing within the larger market.

1. Adjust your message. You don’t necessarily have to start over completely…simply adjust it. It may be as simple as saying the same thing with slightly different words as your audience may have grown tired of the “same old headline.”   Ad messaging that worked perfectly in the past simply do not have the same attraction power that they did 5 or 10 years ago.
2. Reconnect with “your people.”  Are you sure you’re really still in touch with your market?  Take the time and start talking to people again. Ask questions about your services and products… and listen intently to their feedback. Getting back in touch, if you haven’t for some time, will guide you to a new relationship based on communication, and not broadcasting.
3. Provide solutions the market can afford.  Simply put – don’t be greedy.  Greed can go well beyond valid price-points. Obviously, you still have to make enough of a profit to warrant staying in business at the end of the day – and your price may be greatly affected by that basic overhead. Those realities aside, carefully reconsider your pricing structure, and how your customers feel about it in general.
4. Adjust your short and long-term focus.  The unfortunate fact is, many industries are dying and not coming back.  When the writing’s clearly on the wall, why go down with the ship? There comes a time when a new plan is exactly what you need.  Over the years, the US Military learned from experience – an entrance strategy is extremely important but at the end of the day, the exit strategy is just as important.

Realistically addressing these four areas of your business up front will help you from making emotional decisions along the way. It should also help you from giving up to soon or staying too long. During this process, you will be able to adjust to the changes in your market as well as discovering new micro-markets in your industry along the way.

How have you adjusted your marketing mix in today’s micro-market driven economy?

Those of you who read this blog from time to time know that I’m fanatical about Reno’s brand perception problems and challenges.  I’ve had more than my share of rants and conversations about the topic, and have tried to keep it light when it seemed that there literally was no hope of ever having Reno thought of again as “fun and contemporary“.

Our old gaming perception had come home to roost, our messaging really wasn’t connecting with our audience, and we were coupled with one of the worst economic recessions on record.  The Reno brand has been last to rebound economically for a number of reasons (which is an entirely different range of discussions).

Since December of 2010, I have been working closely on a project that I believed could help start a new conversation about what downtown Reno is now…and what it could be very quickly. Having worked with this same developer on the Montage, I knew his visions could quickly turn into reality .   Just by chance, the property in the developer’s eye was attached to the one iconic symbol of Reno that most people know well – The Reno Arch.  ”Location, location, location” – I thought.  Here is ground zero for change.

And now, after several months of planning, I’m happy to announce a project that I believe will help to change Reno’s perception as a destination: CommRow.

Formerly the Fitzgerald Hotel Casino, CommRow will be an entirely different, and complimentary brand to gaming.  We’re positioning this new property as an “urban adventure resort”… featuring an impressive indoor rock climbing facility, and (wait for it….) – the world’s tallest climbing wall.  Quite a billing for Reno – and a new market to talk to our tourists both new and old.

Key to a development of this size and scope, parking and accessibility are issues that are paramount to long-term success.  And so the resolution of a long-standing problem with the garage once a part of the Fitzgerald became a cornerstone issue to finalize our path.  As of this week, that resolution has taken place, and CommRow is on its way to a truly monumental grand opening this year.

More important than tourism (can you imagine!?), is how CommRow will be perceived (and hopefully adopted) by our local community.  How we treat each guest will far outweigh the return on the millions of dollars going into renovations and additions.  How CommRow connects to our community will determine its short and long-term success.  I’m a little giddy over the opportunity to help create those connections and watch them grow.

There’s much work to do in a very short timeframe to open this facility on Labor Day of 2011 – and I have faith that it will be done.  Beyond the obvious marketing and advertising needs to launch a property of this size and type, making lasting relationships with vendors and community organizations is key to establishing CommRow as a truly passionate community brand.

Stay tuned for details via Facebook and Twitter as we roll-out products and details between now and the end of this summer!

And of course connect with CommRow on Facebook if you want to stay up to date on this project.

It seems like pretty simple stuff to remember…people are more concerned about themselves than they are about you.  I’m not suggesting we’re all self-centered attention mongers (although some of us may well be), or that your goal in life is to save the world for the sake of others, but in business, I’m constantly amazed at how many focus their brand efforts around themselves.

In our rush to results, we peddle our services or products and engage in non-stop selling.  We too easily focus on our own needs and desires for success, touting our accomplishments and initiatives that we’re certain our clients and prospects will devour.  We easily worry about what everyone thinks of us to fuel our selfish egos.  We’re all guilty of it – myself included.

But if you really want to be successful in building a brand that will attract new prospects, make it be about them. Not you.

Make your focus on solving other people’s probems.  Help provide them answers or directions to answer they may have now, or in the future.  Offer your unique and effective solutions to help make their lives better – whether personally or professionally.  If you can find that one thing that makes someone else’s pain a bit easier to bear, your brand will be successful.

Of course, social media matters – a lot.  But at the end of the day, they are just tools to help your audience get a better understanding of who you really are, and why they really need you.  Social media is worthless without the right brand mindset.

Be helpful and generous.  Be sincerely appreciative when you receive accolades and praise, and equally as quick to be apologetic whenever you screw up.

I think we can all agree that people want to do business with those that honestly care about them and make them feel comfortable and unique. If you do that with the right intentions, then there will be no stopping you, regardless of which tools you use.

How do you use social media to attract new followers?  How is your marketing geared toward conversation and not just broadcasting your attributes?

No matter what stage in your business or career you are currently in, social media can help you achieve some of your goals.  Establishing yourself as an expert with credible authority will help you gather a willing audience if you build and maintain a positive online reputation.

I ran across these five easy steps to consider that were originally posed in one of my favorite online resources – 30-Minute Social Media Marketing.  I think you’ll agree that they apply equally to your personal brand as well as your professional reputation.

I’m not going to revise or alter the original content because I think they are right on point:

1. Begin with Branding
The first step to joining the digital age and starting your journey on the social Web is to evaluate your own brand promise. How do you want to position yourself in the marketplace and in front of your target audience? A focused brand is a strong brand, so determine your niche and use it as your primary brand message and image.

Your audience needs to develop expectations for your brand in order to develop loyalty to it and feel secure enough in your brand message to talk about it with their own friends and connections, particularly across the social Web. You must meet customer (i.e., audience) expectations in every brand interaction or people will feel confused and turn away from your brand in search of another that does consistently meet their expectations. Don’t let your audience get away. Determine your brand promise and position and stick to it at all times.

2. Create Your Branded Online Destinations
Once you know how you want to position your brand in the minds of your audience, you can create your own branded online destinations. The destination you choose to start with is up to you and depends on the types of tools you enjoy using and feel like you can stick with for the long-term. Start a blog, create a Twitter account and get on Facebook, and then play with the features and get a feel for which tools you actually enjoy using. Those are the tools you should focus on using as your original branded online destinations.

Most importantly, choose one branded online destination to be your core branded online destination. This is the place where all of your online content and conversations will lead back to. It will be the central hub of your online presence and will become the go-to place for people to learn anything and everything about your brand and writing business.

I recommend a blog for a core branded online destination because blogs are so search engine friendly and flexible, but the choice is yours.  The most important factor is that your core branded online destination is kept fresh with new content that effectively represents your brand promise and invites interaction and sharing.

3. Find Your Best Audience
Who do you want to connect with online in order to build your business and/or career? You can engage with existing and potential clients, online influencers, experts, customers, and more on the social Web.  You simply need to determine who you want to talk to and go out and find them. Visit Google.com and type in the keywords your audience is likely to use to find brands, businesses, content and conversations like yours. Follow the links. Chances are you’ll end up finding multiple sites where your target audience already spends time.

When you find your target audiences’ online hangouts, spend some time listening to the conversations happening on those sites. What topics are important to them? What gets them excited? This type of information-gathering is extremely valuable and allows you to create your own content strategy to best meet your target audience’s existing wants and needs.

4. Join the Conversation
Look for social destinations such as blogs, Twitter profiles, Facebook pages, forums and so on where you can interact with other people by publishing comments, asking questions, and answering questions. However, you must avoid self-promotion. No one will want to engage with you if you spend all your time trying to sell your writing products and services.

Instead, apply the 80-20 rule of marketing to your activities, and make sure at least 80% of the time you spend on social media activities is not self-promotional and only 20% is self-promotional.

In time, those audiences will get to know you and develop expectations for your conversations. Eventually, you can lead them back to your own branded online destinations through links to related content. There you can deepen relationships. It’s this type of relationship-building that enables you to develop a band of brand advocates online who will talk about your brand and defend your brand against naysayers. There has never been a more powerful form of word-of-mouth marketing, and you can tap into it thanks to the social Web!

5. Publish Shareworthy Content

How do people find information in the 21st century? Do they pick up the printed Yellow Pages directory or go to the library? No. They log into their computers or pick up their smart phones and visit www.Google.com where they type in keywords related to the business, product or information they want to find. You need to be represented in search results when people search for keywords related to your business or area of expertise!

One way to make sure you’re effectively represented is by publishing amazing content that people want to talk about and share with their own connections. In time, you’ll benefit from what I call the compounding effect of social media. The more content you publish, the more entry points there are for Google to find, index and deliver in search results.

If your content is amazing, people will read it and talk about it on Twitter, their own blogs, and so on. This conversation not only boosts word-of-mouth buzz about you, but it also creates more incoming links to your content. More incoming links mean more ways for people to find your content across the web and higher search rankings from Google.

Coming Full Circle
Your social media participation cannot be one-sided.  You need to focus on building relationships, getting on people’s radar screens, and indirectly marketing yourself, your brand, and/or your business. Remember, quality trumps quantity, so don’t spread yourself too thin. Organic growth of quality followers will deliver the best long-term growth results. Every day that you wait to join the online conversation is a missed opportunity.

What do you think about these points to begin your mission to build a solid online brand?  What would you add, change or delete?

I ran across a great post by Jacob Morgan with Chess Media Group  that was produced just a little over a month ago.   If I’m able to accurately convey his point, his approach to convincing prospects to engage social media goes something like this: 

“If I told you that a majority of your customers and prospects interacted  in the social media space, would you invest in having a presence there?”

“But what if I told you that you would never know you made a single direct dollar off of any of those customers and prospects, but you knew for a fact  that they were still there – would you still invest?”

Take a step back and imagine how you might really react.  Would you decide not to go into that space?  Of course not.

For small to medium-sized businesses, the sense of urgency continues to grow as social media spreads into many new sectors of communications (and our lives). But in comparison to the massive undertakings of large companies in the social sphere, how does anyone know where to begin to enter the same space successfully?

Here’s a disconnect.  Small businesses generally do not have internal marketing/pr/media departments.  And if they do, it’s often one employee that is trying to represent them all simultaneously.  Resources are more precious for the small business owner.  What will motivate the decision makers to integrate social media into every aspect of their departmental plans?

I’d be curious as to your experiences on how you’ve managed to really successfully help the small business owner use social media strategically – and affordably.  You insights will be helpful to many, so post away!

As we begin production on a variety of new websites for clients, the topic of strategically choosing keywords for your website meta tags and copy has been a recurring discussion last week.  But as we start to talk about the importance of identifying keywords to focus online copy around, our clients begin to stare at the ceiling and check their cell phones for messages.  Granted, it’s not the most glamorous or interesting of marketing topics, but it certainly is one of the most important to help establish a brand foundation online (and off).  I thought this brief overview might help get you started on selecting strategically smart keywords and keyword phrases for your online marketing.

As nearly everyone is aware, search engine spiders depend on keywords to find your site; as well as search engine users.  It’s logical then to understand that if you have not targeted specific and precise keywords for your website, then you will not be easily found.   And what’s the point of having a website that nobody can find or use?

Targeted Keywords = Targeted Traffic

Let’s say you sell used science textbooks,  but have inserted a less descriptive keyword “book” into your Meta tags and site copy.  The bad news is that you’ll likely not show up in the first 10 pages of search results – and just as importantly, you’ll likely attract a wide variety of potential customers NOT looking for used science textbooks at all.  Do you go back to sites that don’t offer what you’re looking for?  Neither do I.

How DO you choose strategically smart key words?  You can start with using a variety of free keyword tools.

Keyword Tools

Here’s a few great resources that will help you determine keywords that are competitively right for your particular brand:

• Free Keyword Suggestion Tool: Displays how many times a certain keyword was searched for in a given month. Shows all related searches for the entered keyword.
• Google Keyword Tool: Google puts it best -  “The Keyword Tool generates potential keywords for your ad campaigns and reports their Google statistics, including search performance and seasonal trends.”  This is invaluable.

Each of these keyword tools can help you understand what people are currently searching for online today – and identify trends that can help you position your product or service online.  By using these words in your tags and copy, you’ll begin to attract more people to your site that are looking specifically for what you offer.  In the end, it’s all about providing the user a great experience, and if they can’t easily find your site to begin in their process, you’ll lose them before you even have a chance to engage them.

Including Keywords

So you’ve done your research, and you have a list of keywords you think are just right for your audience.  Now where to put them so they’ll perform for you?

• Title Tag: The title tag is perhaps the primary place for your keywords and keyword phrases. The title tag is what search engines grab for the title display in their search results; and obviously, it’s an important part of your search engine optimization strategy.
• Headline: Most people only spend a few seconds scanning a page before they read the details of its content – remember, they’re searching for something to suit their specific needs. This is why headlines are so important; they enable your reader a chance to find what they need as quickly as possible with a minimum amount of effort.
• Content: It’s critical that you incorporate your keywords and  keyword phrases into your site content. This can be a bit tricky and challenging to incorporate these terms into the tone of your copy.  Maintaining a “natural voice” while incorporating these important words or phrases can often require a good copywriter – which in the end can save you both time and money, while producing superior response online.

Smart Keywords Will Increase Your Website Traffic

There’s no doubt, placing well-researched keywords and keyword phrases into your site content and overall structure will attract more targeted, interested prospects to your brand’s website.  On top of that result, you’ll also provide a better user experience to your visitors simply because they will be able to find what they are looking for easily and quickly. Beyond the importance of high rankings, increased traffic, (etc.) your top goal should be to provide the best user experience for every single person that comes to your site, and making sure your keyword phrases serve their needs is a certainly a very important part of that marketing effort.

How have you determined your strategic keywords and keyword phrases?  What experiences have you had in this process that might help others?

Few products or services can reach the level of brand recognition that the millions of ad dollars help create.  Few businesses have the resources or expertise to achieve those levels, but that doesn’t mean that corporate or business branding should be overlooked in strategy and planning.

Branding is much more about creating and keeping a clear, unified vision of a company, with all of its marketing efforts focused on supporting that one central theme….the customer’s experience.

Website and Social Media

I think nearly everyone can agree that a website is a key element for branding any business today.  As the internet continues to grow in popularity as a primary place of commerce, the competition to truly “stand out from the crowd” become more and more difficult to achieve.  And so, the importance of your website continues to grow with the market as one of the key places your brand “lives”.

The explosion of social networking platforms has created a whole other arena for online branding. While having a solid social media presence is another important channel to consider for your brand, using it well becomes even more of a challenge. When you communicate with your customers through social sites like Facebook and Twitter,  you create the kind of direct engagement that can lead to real customer loyalty.

But, while incorporating your brand image (logo) and messages in your social media outreach is smart, nothing is as powerful as engaging your clients and prospects in real dialogue, and helping to spread their messages to your followers as well.   This “social reciprocity” creates a public image of interaction that can strengthen your relationships – and even more importantly, elevate the level of your brand in the competitive market.

The most important thing to remember with a website and social media is that it should remain true in message and presentation to every offline endeavor. If you have a general look to your printed materials, flyers and brochures, the website should capture as many of those conventions as possible. The more unified your on-line and offline marketing is, the more successful they will be in branding your company as a whole.

Logo Products and Community Engagement

Many businesses can also benefit from offline promotions and marketing with logo products and community engagement. While branded promotional items may seem like an unnecessary expense to many emerging or struggling businesses, the reality is these little tokens and reminders can go a long way toward increasing your brand’s perception and reach.  Granted, people may not make a purchase decision based on whose company pen is more stylish, but when it does come time to make the sale decision, they may just be reminded of your offering through that one small investment in a promotional item..

Physically reaching out to your local community is another great way to get people interacting with, and learning more about your brand.   Something  as simple as a one page flyer can be available in group settings that can make all the difference in your sales strategy.  But even more powerful that collateral, supporting a non-profit cause (“Cause Marketing”) may be the most effective of all.  Showing that your company cares about a cause is one of the fastest ways to attract, and maintain a solid list of loyal clients.

No matter if you’re offline or online marketing, branding is key to your business.  Smart branding is using all of the methods at your disposal to increase the visibility of your brand name, and when you leverage your website and social media together as one unified effort, deploy your logo cleverly and embrace your local community, you create a marketing mix that can take your company brand to a new level.

What “marketing mix” has worked (or not worked) for your brand recently?

I love TED Presentations, and look forward to each like presents on Christmas morning.  This one was so on point, I thought it worthy of simply reposting it for your review.  Pine really begins to target today’s consumer behavior about halfway into the presentation… with each minute worth your effort to watch:

Readers of this blog may recall that Reno’s brand perception is a topic that’s close to my heart (and always on my mind) for a variety of reasons.  As my hometown, the criticism of Reno as a “third class gambling town” is far from reality – but as we all know, “perception is reality” and we are deserving of our low-class status perception among our key target markets (drive and fly-in).

For more than a decade, the Reno Sparks Convention & Visitors Authority (RSCVA) has fought not only a massive recession that has changed the landscape of tourism regionally, but also a financially and strategically flailing infrastructure that has routinely sought out-of-market expertise in ongoing attempts to reposition our City’s image via new slogans (“America’s Adventure Place”, “A Little West of Center”, “Far From Expected”) targeting what I consider to be widely different demographics.  Today, the agency is in process of seeking new leadership – and struggling with a current campaign that is not well received (or understood) by locals.

While early signs of the local economy recovery are now trending, I personally don’t believe we will ever abandon the classic positioning line of “The Biggest Little City In The World” as it’s featured on the City’s most famous representative icon – the Reno Arch.  Tourists have long struggled with two concurrent slogans for the City; this classic and any number of short-lived campaigns that seem to come and go seemingly like the seasons.

Why haven’t these newer campaigns caught fire in the minds of consumers?  I’m sure there are many theories – of which I certainly have my observations.  But the bottom line is – they haven’t, and they aren’t – and our customers are continually underwhelmed by older, repetitive special events and a general lack of civic duty when it comes to maintaining clean, safe, non-gaming activities that attract a younger demographic and families looking for an affordable, memorable escape.

Add to that the general malaise that you experience in many of the service providers in the gaming establishments, and you continue to tell your market that you’re one kind of product (“exciting/unexpected/unique”) and they continue to experience another (“expected/antiquated/bland”).  This “brand disconnect” is at the core of our image problem, and it’s going to take a lot more than a catchy ad campaign to actually change perception.

SO…what CAN Reno do to address this ongoing problem?

I believe the answer truly resides in the many businesses located in downtown Reno that are NOT gaming oriented – and those businesses far outweigh the gaming industry in numbers and grass-roots voices.  As small business entrepreneurs will tell you, they don’t have time for politics or huge budgets for marketing – and their voice is often absent due to their time constraints and self-defeating frustration.

News that several quasi-governmental agencies and Chambers of Commerce are in the early stages of merging into one organization are hopeful signs that our community is beginning to truly collaborate from “one page in the songbook” – but the infrastructure that is tasked with attracting tourism to our town is still driven by tax revenues from major casino properties and hotel/motels.  While those entities may have the most financially at stake – the message of gambling/outdoor adventure has not proven one that resonates with our regional market.

So where do we go from here?  Who will listen to the many small business owners that are investing in our community today with new restaurants, bars, retail outlets and services?  Other than joining their Chamber and mixing with one another, how can they be part of, and help craft a unified message that focuses on Reno’s community pride and physical realities?

Where do we go from here?  How do we integrate the community into our regional messaging?  Is it important that we do, or do we simply continue down the path of promoting ourselves as a “friendly gambling town”?

Your feedback and ideas are what really interests me as this stage of Reno’s development.

A friend/coworker and fellow blogger, Mike Van Houten, hinted I should blog something out about Harry Reid’s recent suggestions that Nevada should eliminate legalized prostitution statewide.

At first, I hadn’t really thought about the political pontification as a statement about branding, but of course, it most certainly is.

If Nevada, who’s brand is built on gaming, prostitution and “quickie marriages” is suddenly dropping one of its more iconic brand elements/industries – what does that do to the perception of Nevada nationwide – and worldwide?  How can we simply drop one sin in favor of attracting more industry?  The answer is, in my opinion, we can’t – and really don’t need to.

Nevada’s brand as the a vast desert highlighted by Sin City (sorry northern Nevada), is both well deserved, and protected. As a native Nevadan, I can tell you that the “dirty details” of living in our State are more marketing copy than reality.  Every community has prostitution at some level – we Nevadans just put it in trailers in the middle of nowhere and stick a neon sign on it so the visitors can find it.

Does it affect our quality of life in Nevada?  Threaten the very underbelly of our local society?  Hardly.

It’s a quiet little industry that many accept, some patronize, and few really care much about.

So to Harry Reid I must say – Nevada is the brand – like it or not.  We represent sin – all of them.  And until you can change the perception that Nevada is a bastion of devilish delights – you won’t really change the perception of industry’s morality concerns.  Which is in itself, a bit of an oxymoron.

Do you think Reid’s statements ring true?  Or is it more political posturing?