Monday Marketing Tips


Each Monday, we will compile articles found online to help with the marketing process that includes SEO, PR, social networking and much more.

Are You Ready to Hire a PR Firm? by Social Media Today

I was in a meeting the other day with the chief executive officer and the chief marketing officer of an organization that is right on the tipping point of success.

They’ve done a lot of the right things: Their sales team has the right connections, they’re gaining industry recognition, and they have the right people both setting the strategy and executing on it.

But when we asked what they do differently than their competitors, the silence was deafening.

So we tried the question another way, “What makes you excellent?”

Again, no answer.

That’s not entirely true. They did try to answer it, but they couldn’t come to a consensus.

Much to the surprise of my team, I cut the meeting short. I closed my notebook (yes, I still carry a notebook), pushed back my chair, and said, “Gentlemen, you’re not ready for us yet.”

Sure, a communications firm can help an organization figure out their messaging and positioning, but if they don’t have the slightest inkling of what it is before they spend money on PR, it’s pretty likely the firm isn’t going to succeed.

READ FULL ARTICLE

 

5 Tips to Bring New Life to Your Social Profiles by Social Media Examiner

When was the last time you updated your social media profiles?

Are they starting to feel drab or dated?

Your social profiles may be in dire need of a refresh!

And are you sharing the types of updates tailored to the latest platform designs and suited for today’s social media marketing?

With recent changes to major platforms, you may be missing out on using some of the cool new options.

To freshen up your social media profiles and take advantage of the latest updates, implement any of the following five ideas.

READ FULL ARTICLE

 

S%*t PR People Do That Journalists Hate by Hubspot

I began my marketing career at a political communications consultancy in Washington, D.C., and it was only a matter of days into each client engagement when one of their executives would say, “have you thought of the TODAY Show?” or, “do you think the Journal would be interested in this?”

It didn’t take me long to figure out that anyone who works in PR is caught in the vast space between fact and fiction, perception and reality, and needs to constantly manage executive expectations while also maintaining effective and fruitful relationships with journalists. Ronn Torossian, a brash public relations expert in his own right, once said of his field: “PR is a mix of journalism, psychology, and lawyering — it’s an ever-changing and always interesting landscape.”

Given the confluence of factors that go into PR on any given day, along with the fact that 99% of businesses I know wish they got more press, better press, or different press on a daily basis, we decided to go to the experts on this issue. We asked a slew of journalists, producers, editors, and bloggers for their ultimate pet peeves: the things we as marketers do on a daily or weekly basis that make them want to scream, cry, block our emails, or ignore PR pitches altogether. Here’s what they had to say.

READ FULL ARTICLE

Atlanta Real Estate Firm Sees Internet Success

$Account.OrganizationName

Atlanta Real Estate Firm Sees Internet Success
Eskimo Advertising Announcement
Atlanta, Georgia, July 15, 2009 Ian Marshall Realty Inc, a forward thinking, progressive Atlanta real estate firm, has seen great success in home sales utilizing the world wide web. An award-winning master of internet marketing and a seasoned speaker, Ian Marshall uses cutting edge online SEO strategies to help consumers market and locate Atlanta properties. In June, the local Atlanta real estate firm reached a milestone with 120 homes sold off the web and enjoyed a 65% year-over-year increase in unique visitors to its site. Ian Marshall Realty, Inc has joined an elite group of national real estate companies that have truly harnessed the power of web marketing.

“The 100+ homes sold off the web milestone is not one to take lightly as we have achieved a feat that few local Atlanta real estate companies will ever reach,” stated Ian Marshall, owner/broker, Ian Marshall Realty, Inc. “There is no way we could have done it without cutting edge technology balanced with our agents’ dedication, focus and understanding of today’s tech savvy home buyer.”

www.ianmarshall.com is Atlanta’s one stop real estate resource for free, useful tools to assist with buying or selling property, moving, financing, and researching schools. After a very productive 5 year career with Keller Williams, Ian Marshall in just 6 short months has built a dynamic real estate firm of 12 hand picked Realtors with over 65 years of combined experience in the business as well as 5 broker licenses between them. Ian Marshall Realty’s agents are all trained for and focus on specific niches in the complex Atlanta market. Whether clients are looking for a loft, high-rise, foreclosure, or are first time home buyers, Ian Marshall Realty, Inc has specifically trained agents to fit any need.

For more information or interviews, please contact Ian Marshall at (770) 361-7068 or info@ianmarshall.com.