Marketing Transfomations Network Views

Blogs: Technorati's Healthy Forecast for Fast Growth

Technorati's third quarter report on  the State of the Blogsphere gives a healthy content population growth forecast: 100,000 new blogs are born every day with 54,000 fresh posts going up every hour. And, the size of the blogsphere is doubling every 230 days. So, jump in!

Knowing that Technorati trac ks over 57 million blogs might be enough to keep you from jumping in - but the report gives away the site's formula for high authority rankings: post often (at least twice a day) and be linked to. According to their system, this blog ranks in the top 2 percent. Now I feel better . . .

Claim your blog and set up a Technorati profile.

 

Chicago Online Calendar Listing Guide

Here's the list we use to post events to online community calendars in Chicago  . . .

CBS Channel 2 News

NBC Channel 5 News

ABC Channel 7 News

Fox 32 News

WGN Radio Community Calendar - 6 weeks in advance

WMBI Moody Radio

 

Chicago Tribune 2007 Event Sponsorship Guidelines

WLS Radio

 

Post a local event on evite.com

List of Chicago Event Calendars

 

Craig's List Chicago Calendar of Events

 

 

Community Media Workshop Event Contacts

Buy Getting on the Air and Into Print - an annually updated guide to Chicago-area media, published by Community Media Workshop

Know of other resources? Thanks for sharing them in the comment section below . . .

Happy [Halloween] Holiday PR: Start 2007 Planning Today

As Halloween trends into a major holiday, why not tap into the promotion potential and be part of the revelry?

For the past two Halloweens, I've promoted my business by posing as a PR Witch. How do I get visibility? By judging the Glen Ellyn Chamber of Commerce's costumer parade, of course. That's me over there getting ready to size up the little ghosts and goblins in the 2005 parade.

I missed it this year. Because I chose to go to Big Seminar in Atlanta, I sent my first-line back-up judges: my bookends, the oldest and youngest of my three kids.

Seriously, I get a big bang out of this. But, I could get an even bigger PR pop than just showing up by sponsoring the parade and sending out a press relesase to publicize it.

What can you do to promote your business next Halloween? Consider these options:

- send out a press release [preferably with video] on or around October 1, at least 3 weeks in advance of your event or promotion

- participate in local events to raise your profile

- partner with collaborative businesses and brew up a bubbling promotion

- sponsor a spooky story, coloring/art or pumpkin carving contest and post the results on the Web

- use the keyword "Halloween" in your online releases with a relevant reference to the holiday and your event or special offer

- email your list with a limited time offer

- host a costume contest/party/reception for adults and/or children, depending on your audience -this could be virtual or real

- establish an annual tradition that your customers and communities anticipate each year

- decorate your store with a traffic-stopper like the flower-arranging gorilla that happened to inhabit a storefront in our downtown for a week or so

- send out a clever Happy Halloween mailing with a bewitching call to action

- take complimentary photos of kids in costume and set them up on your site with the parent's permission

For some spooky Halloween retail stats [from 3.3 billion in 2005 to an expected 5 billion in 2006], check out the ABC News "Is Halloween the New Christmas?" story.

Then watch a video with a Halloween greeting from me . . . http://tinyurl.com/ympprc . . . using helloWorld from VMdirect on my magic webcam.

Like this article? Leave a comment below and sign up to receive more ideas like these at www.transformmarketing.com

Free Press Release Distribution Services to Search Engines

Places you can still distribute an online press release for free:

24-7 Press Release

PR Leap

I-Newswire

PR.com

ClickPress

Express Press Release

Internet Marketing Newswatch

Add any others that you know about by clicking on comment and leaving the URL below . . .

Last Day for Free PRWeb

Today's the last day to distribute a press release for free via PR Web.

According to David McGinnis' letter, PR Web now offers 3 contribution levels:

SEO - $80 Basic with integrated SEO tools

SEO with Social Media - $120 Better with TrackBacks/PingBacks and PR Tag Clouds, Technorati tags, pull out quotes and social bookmarking. Releases also go through Pheedo's RSS and Blog network and first-page position on PR Web is guaranteed on release day.

Advanced Online Visibility - $200 Best- with exclusive eBook creating and enhanced stats. This is the one we use for most of our clients because we love the tracking feature.

Our personal www.prweb.com experience?

It's easy to get number one news placements - if you do the research first and write the release for your targeted keyword pick up.

In April, my Video Marketing 101 release was the top video marketing news story on Google out of 11,000 stories - for two weeks. Maybe starting the release with the word "Google" helped.

Did I get any phone calls or seminar registrations? No, but this was at a low contribution level that didn't include a link to a URL or multi-media attachments. And the release was for a one-time only event. Taking out the date brought in an additional 20,000 reads and made the release evergreen. Tacking on a video preview would have upped my response.

Typically, our clients average over 50,000 estimated reads and 1500 pick-ups by media services and bloggers for each www.prweb.com press release distributed at the $200 level.

Teleseminar PRofits: What's next? You Tell Us

Thanks again to my talented friend Jenny Hamby for writing a killer sales letter to promote our call last week.

And . . . to all of you who listened on the call. . . I'll always remember you as among the first to buy one of my products.

High five to everyone who's reading this - yes! - we did make a profit. Enough to pay for a VIP lunch and dinner at Big Seminar.

While our take is about what I'd make with our entry-level consulting package, this was a huge milestone for me. And, it's one that was much easier to achieve than I thought it would be.

How so?

Like most people who know something, you don't think you know as much as you do until you meet someone who needs to know what you know.

Got that?

Seriously, it astounds me at times when people tell me I have the answers they're looking for.

Maybe you're like that, too. You take for granted your experience, your know-how, your conquests, even your failures - which may be the most important part of success.

So, what did Jenny and I do on the call for an hour? We talked. I gave away lessons I learned the hard way. At the end of the call, we gave out the link to the bonuses.

After we hung up, I pulled out my calculator. The bonuses added up to over $40,000 in projects - and more than $300,000 in free publicity.

While I won't take up your time showing you how I arrived at those numbers, I will tell you that I will never give away this much again - at least on a $29 call like this one.

We're leaving the page up and the price as is until October 10 and then we'll reassess the value.

Mabye we'll get more sales if we price it higher. It's worth a try anyway.

Stay tuned for our next product roll out, an enterpreneurial PR guide.

What do you need to know about? Leave a comment below or call us at 630.942.9542 to tell us about your marketing and PR education needs.

Yellow Pages Reroute: Smart Small Business Marketers Move Local Listings Online

A few times a day I check in to see who's hitting the blog and where they're coming from. Nine times within the last few hours someone's stopped by to check out my post Get Listed Locally - Online about a service called List and Found.

Let's give the people more of what they want, I thought. So here it is  . . . post 2 for you.

Why is this topic so popular? Well, look at this headline's post: Yellow Pages Wipe Out.

Businesses, churches and organizations blow a huge percentage of their ad budget on their Yellow Pages ad. At one church, that's about 70% of their entire marketing budget - ouch!

Although I've never bought a Yellow Pages ad, I do have two business lines. Getting a single line under a subheading in the area directory alway's been enough for me. Sometimes too much . . .

Starting out, I decided to be listed with the writers. After a few calls asking me to write poetry, an import company's contract and a some start over resumes, I switched to public relations counselors. Why? The marketing category was bloated with hundreds of companies that I didn't care to compete with. And, besides, all of our projects incorporate a public relations perspective - whether or not we ever write "for immediate release."

Being listed in the Yellow Pages - anywhere - never brought me any business. Maybe a few serious prospects called, but they were in shopping mode.

The "found" inquiries we get from our directory listings come from The Chicago Creative Directory where you'll see:

CORYWEST
407 Turner Avenue Glen Ellyn IL 60137
630/942-9542 FAX 630/942-9541
Spirited Communications since 1990
Barbara Rozgonyi
e-mail: connect@corywestmedia.com
- Translate content into wired writing; reach readers right away
- Publish an interactive ezine; measure results and grow
- Enhance PR; invite media into online newsrooms
- Refine (or rebuild) your site; align Web messaging with marketing
- Integrate all communications; accelerate goal achievement
Free consultation, ezine and group seminars: connect@corywestmedia.com

And, my Independent Writers of Chicago listing:

Profile		Transformation agent who accelerates marketing with multi-media ramps that bridge the offline to the online worlds. Speaker, consultant and integrated marketing planner. Join our online community at www.betteremailmarketing.com and get free reports and backstage passes to what's working in marketing's inner circles. We'll help you advance your business quickly, profitably and in creative directions. Complimentary 30 minute consultation given away every week. Email or call now to arrange yours.
Education		University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Marketing 2006 National Speakers Association, Illinois Chapter, Candidate University graduate 2006 Alex Mandossian's Teleseminar Secrets graduate 2006 Launched Multi-Media Marketing with Blockbuster Video Marketing Secrets
Years Experience:		20
Years as Independent Writer:		15

Areas of Expertise

Advertising Marketing General

Audiovisual Video/Multimedia

Consulting General

Marketing General

Photography General

Public Relations General

Training Marketing

Writing Samples:

http://iwoc23866.viausa-hosting.com/database/samples/barbarajrozgonyi/barbarajrozgonyi_sample1.doc http://iwoc23866.viausa-hosting.com/database/samples/barbarajrozgonyi/barbarajrozgonyi_sample2.doc http://iwoc23866.viausa-hosting.com/database/samples/barbarajrozgonyi/barbarajrozgonyi_sample3.jpg

By the way, both the Chicago Creative Directory and the Independent Writers of Chicago offer fantastic creative resources. The directories are so good, we use them ourselves when we need some back-up or specialized creative talent.

Here's how we stack up Google and Yahoo!'s local searches - I entered these listings at least a year ago. . .

On a Google local search, CoryWest Media turns up as the number one PR firm in Glen Ellyn.

On a Yahoo! local search, CoryWest Media is the number one PR firm in Glen Ellyn.

Being the PR person that I am, I just set up CoryWest Media's Lost and Found listing to 1. give the readers another post to read and 2. let you know that I am testing this service out 3. show you how I presented my business online and 4. to get your feedback.

Our logo wouldn't upload - have to check with our designer on that. So, I posted a picture of yours truly. It's always a toss up - a butterfly or me.

But people who find me online aren't looking for butterfly images (FYI - nicor's using one of my stock photos in a campaign right now), they're looking for a storyteller or a transformations agent.

And, that's what they get when they call.

Here are some tips about how to get the most from your listings:

- submit your information to every group you belong to - and make sure they're all on your press release and special announcement lists

- be consistent - when you read my collection you'll see a variety of approaches, that's because these were all created at different times. Going forward, we'll set one standard

- get listed online in local directories at least at Google and Yahoo!

- check out your competition and see where they come up, read how they promote themselves and set yourself off in your own way

- if your local competition is a light-weight in their local listing (i.e. no web link, categories, hours, etc.), but their home site is stellar, the complete and well-written local listing site takes the prize in some search contests - especially when people are in a hurry and they don't want to click around

- try offering a new customer discount in your listing, many of ours promote a complimentary 30 minute consultation every week. It's true, we do hold that time open and would talk to people who called, but we don't get called very often. Even so, it makes up look generous for making the offer. (630.942.9542 to set up your consultation)

- sign up for a service like www.listandfound.com for easy set-up and search engine submission

- sleep easier at night because you're spending way less money on your advertising

- get in touch with a marketing consultant you trust and funnel your savings into their services so that you can take that money and make more with it

- same goes for a financial or computer consultant, if marketing's not your sore spot, treat what is with your savings

- recycle your Yellow Pages

If you're one of the listing post folks, share your comments and let us know how you got here and how we can find you online. I'm all for promos . . .

Killer PR: Is Social Media the Suspect?

My call with Jenny Hamby is less than 2 hours away and I'm having a hard time pulling myself away from the research about the future of PR.

Getting ready to present motivates me to run down the latest, the freshest, the most provactive research.

And, most of the time my audiences comment: "Wow! I've never heard that before!"

Yes, I am into marketing PR shock therapy.

So, what will I reveal today on the call?

(Sorry, Jenny for breaking the news here first - I'm scooping your exclusive.)

Here's the deal . . . lots of places, sites and people - like an international PR publishing standards group that's organized to pioneer structures for distribution and reporting, Wikis, Yahoo! groups, Crispy news, feeders of all sorts - are trumpeting the arrival and imminent overthrow of traditional PR by new media.

Well, that's exciting, edgy and controversial now isn't it?

But, how is this way out there PR space ship relevant to Jenny's seminar promoter audience?

Like most marketing . . . it depends - on your where you want your news to go and who you want to read it.

If the pick up receptor is tuned into tags, diggs and media - and your audience is too, check out this Top Rank blog post for a list and primer of  new media resources.

If, however, the news receiver:

1. suffers from technophobia - like many writers I know
2. doesn't know how to read blogs or search for Technorati tags
3. has no clue how to open up multi-media files
4. doesn't know about You Tube
5. thinks an iPod is for teenagers and mp3 is a motor oil
6. actually spell checks and follows a style guide
7. works from a computer that has no speakers
8. might be techo-savvy but needs to be trained on how to interpret the social media format
9. appreciates stories written in a traditional news format
10. prefers to receive plain text email or faxes

. . .  then there's no point in going all out to fit your news into a format that doesn't fit their preferred style. They'll tune out before they ever tune in.

Last week I tested out a social media release format modification. Here's a simple website with everything reporters needed to cover the event - except downloadable images. Because of design copyright concerns, we wanted to keep track of who requested what.

Results?

Every reporter we called wanted the images emailed - and nobody clicked that link. If we're going to use this system going forward, we're going to have to be the ones to train the media on how social media works and how the format can enhance their lives - save time, give resources, etc. Do we have time for that? Do they have time for that?

Real live writers (good ones) appreciate a press release that's more storytelling than writing - that's why so many of our press releases run verbatim.

On another project, following the new social media format for PR web releases brought the intended results: high search engine rankings, blog pick ups and a quick spike in pages visits.

Until the two types learn to interpret each other's languages and technologies, the safest bet is to approach each press release project with the end receptor in mind, whether it's a search engine, blogger, consumer, jounalist or mass-media outlet. Don't get out that shovel just yet old school PR's going to be around for awhile - at least in the local markets.

PR Fantastico : Oprah on TV & Radio

Today will go down in history. Oprah's making her on-air debut. On the radio. Everyday. With Friends. This lady is one multi-tasking media maven and I applaud her (and her friends) for that.

The question for PR people is: will it be any easier to get on the air with Oprah & Friends Radio than it is to get on The Oprah Winfrey Show?

That remains to be seen. After all, the friends are already in place and they're waiting to hear from you. You can ask Oprah's friends a question that they'll answer on the air.

Find out what topics Oprah and friends are working on.

Here's what I love about this concept and program launch:

• collaborating with friends means that many people promote you or your services
• daily broadcasts keep the information fresh and relevant
• two-way communication invites listeners to become a part of the show
• a mix of topics reaches listeners at different places and stages of their life
• regenerating radio is trendy and appeals to a broad cross-section of generations and delivery places that only radio can reach
• satellite radio gets a huge midas touch boost that can only come from Oprah

Watching Oprah and Gail talk about their show this morning on ABC, I rode an exercise bike next to a workout buddy who grew up in the 40s and remembers radio's heyday. "That's all we had back then. Kids today have iPods, TV, the Internet and video," he said. Yeah, we have all that - and satellite radio.

Sign up for a free 3-day trial of XM radio online. According to the site, monthly service is $12.95 with family plans available. Unless your car has XM radio or you want to listen to it online, you'll have to buy an XM receiver.

PR Pirates + Teleseminar: Seminar PR

This article originally appeared in our ezine, MTN News. Subscribe at www.transformmarketing.com and claim your free bonuses.

Note: the <$firstname$> formatting shows you how we personalized this email. When you subscribe, your messages will be personalized, too.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Welcome to Marketing Transformations Network News
~ Engaging PR and Marketing Tips to ~
~ ~ ~ Create Business for Your Business~ ~ ~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

September 22, 2006

To: <$firstname$>

From: Barbara Rozgonyi

Ahoy, <$firstname$>!

Whew! Just got back
to my office after a
day watching the
illustrious Randy Gage
peform/present and
inform/entertain.

Here's a guy who
commands major
keynotes, makes
millionares and
millions, spends
as much on clothes
as other people do
on condos, flies so
much he's topped
out at every
frequent flier level
this year alone,
is known for his
effusive generosity
and is speaking to
sold out crowds in
opera houses in
Russia and the
Ukraine - thanks
to bootleggers. 

Like most of the
National Speakers
Association's
Illinois Chapter
luncheons, this
one was a knock-out. 

Watch for a blog post
that recaps what I
learned in Randy's
6 hour presentation.

Speaking of my blog,
www.mtnlive.com,
I got pinged by
a pirate social
network this week.

Don't worry,
I wasn't injured,
I still have
all my booty
and my ship
cruised into
fresh waters.

Tuesday was
International
Talk Like a
Pirate Day.

When I saw the
promo on the Yahoo!
Homepage, I couldn't
resist writing a post
called "Talk Like a
Pirate Day:
PR Takeaways."

Like long white cat
fur on baggy black
jeans, my post showed
up all over the place.

How's a 10/310 ranking
in a blog search
for a post made on a whim?

Being pinged by a
pirate social network -
that means they
commented on my story -
hoisted my post up to the crow's nest.   

Aaaarghhh!

How is this relevant to you
- or me - you ask, <$firstname$>!?

The lesson is: there's a social
network for everyone -
even pirates - that's
waiting to be tapped
into in the blogsphere.

If you're not a blogger,
that's okay. Writing and
posting public commentary
doesn't work for
everyone or every business.

You can be a blog reader,
though.

Here's how . . .

Go to Google and type
in blogs: your topic.

What do you want to
know more about -
dogs, cooking, marketing,
sales, vacations, pirates?

FYI, I'm researching a
best of blogs list for you.

Think about the PR
possibilities blogs offer:
a mention or endorsement
by someone who's
perceived as a
subject expert
within their community -
they promote your
product for you to
the blog captain's
loyal crew.

Posting comments
to a blog ships your
story to a new breed
of publishers and
captures search engine
attention. 

With today's diverse
array of PR outlets
and packaging possibilities
to choose from, it can be
difficult to cast off
and even harder
to set your story sailing.

Over the course of the
week, several people
shared their PR
voyages with me.

One created a contest
to give away thousands
of dollars in consulting
services, but the press
wasn't interested.
With no coverage,
the contest was cancelled.

Another sent a local
release to a national
distribution list and
ticked off a few editors.
Not good.

One lucky person
was getting media
attention, but doesn't
have a product to sell
so there's no treasure
coming in.

What's your experience
with PR, <$firstname$>?

Do you fall into one of these categories?

-I have no clue about PR -
what does that stand for?

-I've tried sending press
releases and I get no response.

-I get lots of hits on
www.prweb.com, but no orders.

-I paid an agency thousands
of dollars for releases
that got limited exposure.

PR isn't rocket science,
but it is tricky to navigate
any body of uncharted waters
on your own.

Just ask Jack Sparrow -
or a seminar marketer
who has several audiences
to reach, deadlines to
meet and mega seats to fill.

I got my start in the
marketing world as an
inside sales rep for
Dun & Bradstreet's
Plan Services division.
We planned and presented
a few dozen seminars
a year in cities throughout
the Midwest.

Sending out press releases
wasn't in our marketing mix.

Filling the seats in the last
few days often called for
laborious hours on the
phone to every prospect
in the region.

Now, there's a better way.

Next Wednesday, September 27,
Jenny Hamby, the Seminar
Marketing Pro will grill me
on "How to Fill Seminar Seats
Using the Power of Free Publicity."
If you know Jenny, you'll know
why I'm thrilled to have her
interview me. She's one of the
best copywriters in the business.

Check it out at www.seminarprsecrets.com.

Busy that day?

We're recording the
call; order your mp3 at
www.seminarprsecrets.com.

Wishing You Clear Skies and Smooth Selling ~


Barbara

P.S. Talk to me - type what's on
your mind in response to my
post on our interactive blog:
www.mtnlive.com.

P.P.S. Have . . . 
A kid at college?
A client in Gnome?
A mom in Jersey?
A dog in Frisco?
A grandma in Vegas?
See each other live and
on your screen
with helloWorld.

Order your video email
and live instant message
(IM) service now for $9.95.