Target Your Marketing Message & Get Free Publicity by Using Editorial Calendars

In this Issue

1. Help This Brainy Marketer
2. 5 Steps to Targeting Your Marketing Message
3. Roadmaps to Free Publicity: Editorial Calendars
4. Send in Your Shoestring Tips
5. Quote of the Week
6. Now That You've Joined...
7. A Little Fun
8. Resources for Marketers & Entrepreneurs
9. Smell the Coffee

PLEASE TELL OTHERS!
Please forward this to anyone who wants to attract more customers, close more sales, get more website traffic, and find resources to help them compete more successfully in today's market.

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1. Help This Brainy Marketer

Today's question comes from Deborah Meyer in Ohio. She will open a day spa soon, and says, "I have never been a business owner. Getting employees and publicity for my opening will be essential, and getting clients will be the next big challenge. Any ideas?"

And Lois says...

Sure! I'm going to assume you have done all your research and you know your market thoroughly. I also hope you have chosen a terrific location—one that has easy access for
busy, professional women and affluent moms. I'm reading an excellent book right now about marketing to moms, "The Mom Factor: What Really Drives Where We Shop, Eat, and Play" by Nora Lee. It would probably be useful to you.

It will be important to plan at least one special event—preferably several, all targeting different audiences—to initially build the buzz about your day spa. Make sure each
event is really top notch, with terrific hors d'ouvres, maybe some good wine, demonstrations, mini massages and other fun things going on. A day spa must be an inviting respite for the hurried, stressed professional or busy mom. So make sure the atmosphere reflects this, even during the event. Compile a mailing list that includes everyone you know and purchase a list of all the affluent neighborhoods surrounding your location (perhaps within 15 miles). Hire a graphic designer to help you create a fantastic, intriguing invitation and mail it to these two lists. Don't forget to include the media, as well. Joan Stewart and Debra Schmidt produced a 6-part teleseminar series that would be perfect for you. Read about it and buy it here.

Attracting quality employees for a new business is a bit tougher. The best way to find good employees is to network your way to them. Ask everyone you know if they know anyone qualified who would be interested. Consider joining a referral group like Business Networking International (BNI) to find employees and get business, too.

Another good way to attract good employees is to take advantage of the publicity you receive when you begin promoting your company to the media. "Special Report #3: How
to Use Free Publicity to Attract and Keep Qualified Employees" will help you learn to capitalize on free publicity, discover how other companies promote their job openings, find other resources that can help you, and much more. Learn more about it here.

I know my brainy readers will have lots of great ideas for you, too. Send them in and I'll put your solutions in next week's ezine. Send your responses.

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2. 5 Steps to Targeting Your Marketing Message

To win at the game of business, a company needs a good plan. This can be done in-house, with a marketing consultant, or with a full-service marketing firm. Here are five steps to developing and implementing a good marketing message:

1. Determine your company’s strengths and weaknesses.
2. Research your target market/customer.
3. Investigate your competitors.
4. Differentiate yourself.
5. Create a marketing plan and execute it.

To read the complete article with detailed ideas for each step, visit:

Marketing Idea Shop Free Stuff

And scroll down to "image development."

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3. Roadmaps to Free Publicity: Editorial Calendars
By Joan Stewart, The Publicity Hound

If you aren’t taking advantage of editorial calendars from newspapers and magazines in which you want coverage, you’re missing a valuable tool. Don't plan your advertising or
publicity schedule without an editorial calendar!

An editorial calendar is a list that outlines specific topics the publication will address within each issue that year. It also notes topics of special sections and other
supplements. The calendars are printed primarily for advertisers so they can plan their advertising budget months ahead. For Publicity Hounds, editorial calendars are also
valuable roadmaps that help you pinpoint the issue where your story might best fit.

Editorial calendars from several publications, placed side-by-side, give you a bird’s-eye view of which publications you should target with your story ideas, and when. Far too
many businesses learn about special sections only when a newspaper advertising rep calls asking them to buy an ad. By that time, most of the stories for the section have been not only been assigned to reporters, but the stories are generally completely written.

For a free editorial calendar, direct your request to the publication’s advertising department. While you’re at it, ask for the entire media kit. It’s loaded with valuable
information about audience demographics.

By the way, when you pitch an idea to an editor or reporter, don’t expect any brownie points by telling them you’re buying an ad. They don’t care, and the insinuation that you
can "buy" coverage can actually work against you. Editorial and advertising departments at most media outlets are autonomous. So the best advice is: If you buy an ad, zip
your lips. See "Secrets of Perfect Pitching to Reporters."

Need more help using editorial calendars?

Before you contact publications with your idea, be sure you have a great idea. Download a free chapter of my ebook "How to be a Kick-Butt Publicity Hound." By the time you are done answering the questions I've asked you, you'll have several great story ideas you can pitch to the appropriate publications. Download the free chapter (click on link).

Once you have an idea, you might want to write a pitch letter. See How to Write a Pitch Letter More Powerful Than a News Release (click on link).

Reprinted from "The Publicity Hound's Tips of the Week," a free ezine featuring tips, tricks and tools for generating free publicity. Subscribe and receive free by email the handy list "89 Reasons to Send a News Release."

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4. Why Santa's Marketing Works Better Than Yours

It's that time of year again. Santa is everywhere. And my Internet friend, Sean D'Souza, has written a terrific Whitepaper on why Santa's marketing works better than yours.
If you're getting tired of your advertising campaign, or you need a refresher on effective networking, take a look at this fun, FREE Whitepaper, "Why Santa's Marketing Works Better Than Yours."

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5. Quote of the Week

"Only 12 more days until Christmas! Have a wonderful holiday
season, and get free gifts with the 12 Days of Christmas
(in the resources section below)."

~Lois Carter Fay
Marketing Idea Shop

What's your definition of success?
Email your comments to me.

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6. Now That You've Joined, Talk, Chat, Get Help!

Membership is growing—we have 169 members as of today. But the content depends on you. Let's get talking!

Do you have new products you're launching? Announce it in our Success Secrets Forum. Want help with getting more clients? Talk about it in the forum. If you post, I will reply! And if I don't know the answer, I'll find someone who does. Let's chat.

Oh? Haven't joined? There's still time. And the Success Secrets forum is still FREE!

Success Secrets of Women Entrepreneurs forum

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7. A Little Fun

From http://www.emailsanta.com/jokes_santa.htm - Thanks!
There are plenty more where these came from:

What do you get if Santa comes down the chimney while the
fire is still burning?
.........Crisp Kringle!

Why does St. Nicholas have a white beard?
..........So he can hide at the North Pole!

What do you call Santa when he has no money?
..........Saint "Nickel"-less!

Why does Santa always go down the chimney?
..........Because it soots him!
..........(that's one of Santa's favourite jokes! *Ho! Ho! ho!*)

Where does Santa stay when he's on holidays?
..........At a Ho-ho-tel!

What does Mrs. Claus sing to Santy on his birthday?
.........."Freeze a jolly good fellow!"

What do you get if you cross Father Christmas with a duck?
..........A Christmas Quacker!

 

Be sure to visit our past jokes and trivia at:
Marketing Jokes and Trivia and Fun Stuff

Take a look. You'll have fun!

Help keep the smiles coming...please send me your marketing, PR or sales jokes. I'll be happy to give you credit and list your website! Email me.

 

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8. Resources for Marketers and Entrepreneurs

• 12 Days of Christmas

  Every year Mark Hendricks puts together a phenomenal promotion during December. He calls it his "12 Days of Christmas," and you can get some fabulous ebooks and software, totally FREE. Why? Because the authors who participate in the promotion want to build their mailing lists. If you're interested in getting the ebooks and software, all you have to do is sign up for the author's ezine.

  12 Days of Christmas

• Internet Marketing Association of Information Marketers

  If you want access to Tom Antion, who you’ve heard me talk
  about in this newsletter, for as little as $15 a month, join
  the membership group called NetAIM. Each month, you can ask
  Tom questions about your website, ezine, blog, products, or
  any facet of Internet marketing. Joining this group was the
  smartest decision I made this year. I get the latest tips
  tools and resources. And, besides Tom Antion, I can network
  with lots of other leaders in the field and participate in
  online forum discussions. Join now: check it out.

• FREE SEO Ebook by Brad Callen

  Brad Callen has given me permission to give you his 90-page
  ebook, "Search Engine Optimization Made Easy," F*REE. It's
  filled with tips to help you get your website to the top of
  the search engines. It's filled with lots of tools you can
  use, too, and many of them are also given gratis. Just
  scr*oll down to the subhead "marketing" and look for Brad's
  book listed alphabetically:

  Free Stuff

   

• Need More Content?

  Here are some good websites with lots of articles you can
  reprint for free:

  Small Business Software
  Ezine Articles
  GoArticles

• Need Content for Your Website?

  You may reprint anything I have written in my ezine or on my website as long as you include the following paragraph at the end of the articles:

  "Lois Carter Fay, APR, is a marketing strategist, copywriter
  and author with 30 years experience. She is the founder of
  MarketingIdeaShop.com and offers three email newsletters
  about marketing, "Brainy Tidbits," "Brainy Flash" and
  "Success Secrets of Women Entrepreneurs." Subscribe free at
  http://www.MarketingIdeaShop.com
  

  Check out my available articles.

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9. Smell the Coffee...

Ooooo. It's cold today. 17 degrees Farenheit. I don't like the cold. Luckily, I'm sitting in my office in front of my little heater, nice and toasty warm.

I've started to make Christmas cookies. Chocolate Cherry Squares and 3-Layer Mint Brownies. They look lovely on a dessert tray, and everyone loves them...everyone except my husband, that is. He doesn't like fruit and chocolate together, and he's not fond of mint. So I make the cookies, send some to my friends and family, and our teenagers eat
more than their fair share. They make nice Christmas presents. I gave you the Chocolate Cherry Squares recipe last week. Get the Mint Brownie recipe here.

We also usually make fudge and English muffins. Both are delicious. Since my brother phoned me to get the fudge recipe, I put it up on a web page.

Here's my husband's English muffins recipe.

I still have a few presents to buy and there are only 12 days left before Christmas. And I have to mail several of the presents! Eeek. But I do have the rough draft of our
Christmas letter done so I'll be able to get that out in the next few days. The last couple of years I've been so far behind that we sent our holiday letter out in January or
February! So I'm ahead of the game this year.

I hope you are doing well and you're ready for the holidays. Blessings to you and your family.

Peace & Light,
Lois

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