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PLEASE RECOMMEND THIS EZINE TO OTHERS!
Please let everyone who wants to attract more customers, close more sales, earn more revenue, boost their bottom line, and drive their competitors crazy know about this newsletter. Thanks!

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IN THIS ISSUE

1. How to Get Your PR Releases Delivered
2. Better Communication
3. Help This Brainy Marketer
4. Request!
5. Quote of the Week
6. Resources for Marketers & Entrepreneurs
7. A Little Fun
8. Smell the Coffee

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1. How to Get Your PR Releases Delivered

In today's spam-filled email world, it's sometimes VERY difficult to get your news releases and PR pitches to the media person you are trying to reach. These tips hold true for personal emails, too, so even if you don't do P.R., this
article holds some important email tips.

Here are a few ideas to help you be more successful in reaching your target.

Write the release with spam filters in mind.

There are many words that trigger spam filters these days. Learn to write alternative words, substitute zeros for Os or add * in the word to avoid the s*pam trap. You can find out which words are likely to be a problem in this excellent list provided by Dr. Wilson.

Check your content to see what your spam filter rating is.

There are free sources to check your email. One of them is Lyris Content Checker, which checks it against the Spam Assassin database.

Send each email individually, not as a CC or BCC.

The CC function allows everyone to see who you sent your email to so you definitely don't want to do that. The reporters will get irritated when they see you have sent it to all of their competitors. And remember that courting the media is a lot like dating. As my grandmother used to say, "It's better to keep some things to yourself."

The BCC function allows you to hide the list of recipients from everyone who receive the email, but it doesn't hide it from the email programs and filters. These programs know that you are sending a BCC message to a list, and if you send it to 10 or more, it will automatically trigger the spam filter.

You can send your emails efficiently from many database programs. I use ACT! and it allows me to not only send to a group, with each email going individually, but it also keeps track of what I sent to whom.

There are also systems available, like the one I use to deliver this ezine, that are designed to send hundreds and thousands of emails all at the same time. And the best thing is, you can tailor your release to add personal details about each recipient, such as their name and the industry they cover.

Include the recipient's name in the subject line.

When someone sends me an email that begins, "Lois,...", I pay attention. I now that this person either knows me or I have subscribed to their ezine or asked to have them communicate with me for some reason. And I NEVER report these people as spammers. If I don't want to continue receiving information from them, I politely unsubscribe or email them to take me off their list.

Think about it. You respond better when someone uses your name, don't you? It's a terrific way to get someone's attention.

Include [News] or [Pitch] in brackets at the beginning of the subject line.

Again, you need to give the reporter an easy way to spot your news as legitimate. So tell them up front you are sending them news or a pitch and watch your email delivery rate soar.

Include the reporter's column or beat in the first paragraph.

A reporter is always going to pay more attention to your pitch if you are one of their faithful readers. If you start out your email with something like, "Jane, in last week's Tech Tips for Consumers column, you said...", you will surely get the reporter's attention.

Include all your contact information

Nothing's worse than getting an email that you want to respond to immediately and having no way to contact the person except by email. Give the reporter all your phone numbers. And don't forget your physical address and website
domain. Make it easy for them to contact you.

Never include any attachments.

Unless you've been living in a cave without Internet access, you know that attachments are the way that most worms and viruses are spread on the Net. Windows XP strips off most attachments, and most corporate entities don't allow attachments to come through their systems. They can even get you blacklisted so your emails cannot get through. So don't be stupid. Don't send attachments unless someone asks for them.

Provide a link to your website to download photos, graphics, graphs, bios and other background information.

Just about anything that you need to deliver to a reporter can be uploaded to your website. You can include product photos, people photos (remember to make them 300 dpi for print/ 72 dpi for online and in various sizes, so that the
media can choose which size they want to use), bios, background information, sample chapters, and even an entire digital book. If the reporter wants you to send the product or a physical book, then you'll have to mail that. (Duh!)

Always include a subject line, but never put "Hi" or "Hello" in the subject line, especially alone.

Emails without subject lines are usually s*pam, and those that say hi or hello are usually viruses, so no one is going to open them. Be thorough. Include a subject line.

Follow CAN-SPAM rules and allow an easy unsubscribe method to your email list.

Even if you don't include a one-click unsubscribe, you should at least include a statement that tells the reporter how they can get off the list or let you know that their beat has changed. A simple statement that says, "To get off this subscriber list, simply hit 'reply' and put 'remove' in the subject line" will suffice.

Once you have their attention, there are many more things you can do to position yourself as an expert. On March 23, Joan Stewart, The Publicity Hound, and I are doing a teleseminar to give you loads more publicity tips.
It's called, "How to Use the Media to Market Your Expertise." I hope you will join us!

 

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SUBSCRIBE TO SUCCESS EZINE

If you want the inside secrets of how women business owners just like you propelled their companies to levels they never dreamed possible, sign up for our twice-monthly "Success Secrets of Women Business Owners" ezine. It's FREE! Each issue profiles one successful woman business owner and includes her top five (or more) tips for creating a successful business. (No, you don't have to be a woman to
subscribe.)

When you subscribe to "Success Secrets of Women Business Owners Ezine," I'll give you a free special report, "Build Website Traffic by Writing Articles: Top 10 Sites to Publish Your Articles" ($9 Value)!

Read the back issues of Success Secrets of WBOs here.

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2. Better Communication

Last week, Betsy Hamilton of Canyon Communications asked, "Our biggest business challenge is getting client cooperation (they need to provide or approve information) in order to meet their deadlines."

Meredith Hamilton of Expert Communications responds:

"I know in my own practice when I have encountered this situation, it was because I did not establish the relationship in the beginning as a team effort. I have found when I approach it this way as opposed to one of a "service provider" and "client," that not only does the client see things differently, but so do I! From the start, when seen as a collaboration, we set out what is expected of each party and what is needed to obtain the optimum results they are seeking. When a deadline approaches, with this mindset, I can call them and say, "As we discussed in the beginning, to achieve *our* goals on the timeline *we* set, this needs your approval as quickly as possible so *we* can progress to step two."

And Lois says: I hear you on this one, Betsy! Sometimes it's VERY difficult to get clients to sit down, focus and do their part so we can do ours. I've found it helps to have a day-by-day schedule written and agreed to by all parties before I begin a project. It also assigns responsibilities for each step and lists the items needed to proceed. The more organized I am, the easier it is for my client. I also learn who all the key players are and how the decisions will be made. If there is one person reviewing and approving each project, it can move much quicker than when a group is involved. So if I know the decision process involved, I can take that into account when we all plan the schedule initially, and this helps the client to be more realistic in their scheduling. I know that it helps me to have a deadline and a face-to-face meeting scheduled to keep myself on task. It also helps keep the client moving. I can also generally move things along quicker if I offer to call the client to do a phone interview with the people who need to provide information. Sometimes, it's just a fear of writing that is
the stumbling block.

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3. Help This Brainy Marketer

Sarah Cohen of Life's Inner Quest Center writes, "I'm seeking places where I can give seminars on the following subject 'The Secret to Happiness' and 'Stress Less for Success.' Can you offer suggestions?"

How can Sarah find the right places to give her inspiring talks? I have lots of ideas, but I know my readers will be able to help you. How about it, readers? Send me your ideas and I'll print them next week.

In the teleseminar I did recently with Adam Urbanski, he laid out several excellent ways to begin getting speaking gigs...and many reasons why this is a GREAT move for anyone who wants to get more clients. It's available in CD, MP3 and a downloadable transcript and you can read all about it or
buy it and begin learning immediately.

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4. Request!

I'm still looking for testimonials. If you send me testimonials about my newsletters, websites or products, I'll put the best ones on my site. It's a great linking strategy for you. And don't forget to send me your 72 dpi photo!

Thanks to Rowena Fullinwider, Rob Grede and Nancy Hightshoe,
who sent testimonials.

You can get good linking like this, too. Send yours to me.

Lois Carter Fay
Success Secrets of Women Entrepreneurs and
Marketing Idea Shop

 

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5. Quote of the Week

In honor of Women's History Month...

"Opportunities are usually disguised by hard work, so most people don't recognize them."

~Ann Landers

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6. Resources for Marketers & Entrepreneurs

New Teleseminars from Marketing Idea Shop

As promised, we're keeping the teleseminars coming! On March 23, Joan Stewart, The Publicity Hound, will be my guest. We'll discuss "How to Use the Media to Market Your Expertise." It’s all about positioning yourself as an
expert, what constitutes expertise and how to start a publicity campaign.

Then, Paulette Ensign will discuss "How to Promote Your Business Using Tips Booklets" on April 6. I'm still working on a guest for April 27, and on May 11, Dan Janal of Great Teleseminars will be my guest in a seminar on "How to Use Teleseminars to Get Famous and Build Your Business" (working title...this may change).

You can get the full teleseminar schedule—including links to those you missed and how to get a recording—by clicking on the link.

The Ezine Queen Wants to Help You Grow Your Email List

You can have the best products or services in the world. And you can send out the best ezine or emails in the world. But if you have no list, you have no one to market to and buy your stuff. Alexandria Brown, The Ezine Queen, has done it
again with her brand new special report: "101 Simple, F*REE and Low-Cost Ways to Quickly Build a Massive Email List"—and it's receiving RAVE reviews! See the step-by-step plan she's put together for YOU.

 

Get a FREE Ebook from Kathleen Gage

"Street Smarts eMarketing: Quick Start Tips to Jump Start Your Internet Presence to Put You Miles Ahead of the Competition" is a downloadable ebook ($19 value) that you can get free here.

 

Want to Add Audio to Your Website and Emails?

It's very easy to do with AudioGenerator. You just call in on the phone, record the clip and AudioGenerator will send you an email with the code for your website or email. Then you just paste it in. And you can try it for only $1 a day
with unlimited use for an entire week!

 

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You're ready to create a website, but you don't have a design. You want to get it up quickly. A good website template could be your answer. My Template Monster has lots of choices at reasonable prices.

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7. A Little Fun

This doesn't have to do with marketing, unless you're marketing brilliant, talking dogs, but it's very fun. Here's a video clip of talking dogs that is VERY funny. It was sent to me by -- who else? -- Dick Cook of Norfolk Floral Warehouse:

Go here and click on Talking Dogs.

 

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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9. Smell the Coffee...

I try to be light and airy in this section. Thankfully, that's the way I usually feel. But today I'm feeling very frustrated. Grrrrr. I have worked for the past three days to
make changes to my website—I made the links bigger, removed the hover ad on all pages but the home page, and cleaned up the overall look. And now most of the ezine archive pages won't load in Internet Explorer. They load fine in Mozilla's Firefox browser and in Netscape.

I can only assume it's an Internet Explorer problem with the template to which they are attached. So when I finish this newsletter and a couple of client projects, I'll be hard at work trying to figure it out.

In the meantime, if you go to a page on my website and it doesn't work, please consider using Mozilla's or Netscape's browser, which you can download free by clicking on the links.

I'll do my best to get it corrected quickly. If you have ideas about why it's not working, please email me.

I do have one piece of happiness to share. Last week I finally bought a new office desk chair. It's heaven! After 14 years of sitting on a truly lousy chair, I can now say I'm relieved. I don't really need that hip and knee replacement. ;-) My legs are no longer numb at the end of the day. Hooray!

Peace & Light,
Lois

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