Rate the tops in social media, PR & marketing

vote for the best in DC

Here’s your chance to cast your vote for the best in social media, public relations and marketing in the Washington, DC area.  I can recommend up to six in each category in my Examiner.com Social Media column and my Examiner.com Marketing and Public Relations column. Please let me know your top rated in any or all of the following categories.

Comment your suggestions below (or email me, Mary Fletcher Jones, with your ideas).  My only caveats are that these should be available in the Washington, DC area and priority goes to local resources.

Thanks for your help!

P.S. I already identified local PR and social media professional organizations in another list, so you don’t have to include those.

1. Category: Online Resources/Web Sites/Blogs (these should be free resources; prefer Washington, DC metropolitan area)

A. Top 6 PR & Marketing:

B. Top 6 Social Media:

2. Category: Businesses (e.g., local contractors, free-lancers, vendors, agencies, retail)

A. Top 6 PR & Marketing:

B. Top 6 Social Media:

3. Category: Products (can be nationally distributed) – think technology, tools, books, services, etc. you can purchase (free resources should be listed in Category 1.)

A. Top 6 PR & Marketing:

B. Top 6 Social Media:

4. Category: Places (must be DC metro area, public, physical locations you can visit)

A. Top 6 PR & Marketing:

B. Top 6 Social Media:

5. Category: People (the most influential LOCAL thought leaders, movers-and-shakers, with links)

A. Top 6 PR & Marketing:

B. Top 6 Social Media:

 

 

BenQ Joybee GP1 Pico Projector

Excerpt: “If the BenQ Joybee GP1 Mini Projector is anything, it is an easy-to-use projector. It is designed to be moved around and set up over and over again. It has numerous features to help even the modest tech consumer create a mini home theater wherever they want.”

Click this link to read the Videomaker article about the

BenQ Joybee GP1 Pico Projector

Twitter Design Contest

Fletcher Prince is sponsoring a Twitter Design Contest!

Eligibility: Anyone who has a Twitter account in the Washington, DC metropolitan area may enter.  The winner will receive a gift card for Georgetown Cupcake.  (If you’re not a cupcake fan, they also have cool t-shirts, mugs, jewelry, etc.)

Deadline: Entries are due by 5 p.m., Friday, October 30, 2009.  Winner announced by Monday, November 2, 2009.

How to Enter: Submit a jpg image of your Twitter page to the Fletcher Prince Facebook Page: http://bit.ly/FP-Facebook.  Fletcher Prince will create an album of Twitter Design Contest entries.

Twitter Design Scoring Considerations

Picture: For company accounts, a clear, legible logo that fits in the Twitter picture dimensions.  For individuals, a current head shot of the person.

Background Image: An original image that promotes the brand identity, or the personal brand of the individual.   Background may provide additional information, but should fit within the Twitter viewing space.  Alternatively, a coordinating background color may be used.

Design Colors: Background color (if image is not used), text,  links,  sidebar,  and sidebar border are customized in brand colors.  Text displays legibly (e.g. dark text on light background).

Name: Identifies person managing account or name of company.

Location: Identified by city and state.

Web site: Identified; links to a relevant landing page (home page, blog, etc.)

Bio: Descriptive of the person or brand.  Includes important key words relevant to the brand or the person’s expertise and/or interests.

Other: Aesthetics and originality of design.  Coordination with overall online brand image.

For inspiration, check out these Twitter designs

http://twitter.com/FletcherPrince

http://twitter.com/MommyCast

http://twitter.com/RichardLevick

http://twitter.com/ukropsgrocery

Tell your friends! Thanks for entering.

Measure social media efforts with quick, free and easy tools

If you’re a small business owner or nonprofit organization manager who has been handling your own social media outreach, then you’re probably wondering at this point in the year if your results are paying off, especially if you started using these new marketing and engagement techniques in 2009.  I have a practical approach for you.  The beauty of this approach is that all these tools are free and easy to use.

Qualitative analysis: start with the basic questions about the impact of your social media efforts

Every so often, you will want to check if your hard work is achieving results.  Nothing happens overnight, but you may examine if your social media efforts are

• Increasing general awareness about you and/or your brand online.  For example, when I go to business networking events, people I don’t know now walk up to me and talk to me because they recognize me from my videos or blog articles.  They are familiar with my company and my services.
• Allowing you to know your customers or constituents better, and be more in touch with their needs, so you can respond to them with products and services they will buy.  Have you been receiving comments or follow-up questions related to your online content?
• Creating any leads for your business.  Maybe you haven’t closed a sale yet, but people have expressed interest in working with you in the future.  That kind of relationship has value.
• Have had a direct impact on sales (or for a nonprofit organization: on the execution of your mission).  And this is the best outcome of all — when you can say without equivocation that a social media effort resulted in a measurable return on your investment.

Quantitative analysis: measure the performance of your social media efforts

If a teacher were grading your social media efforts — your Facebook Page, for example — would you get an A, B, or C?  Or would you find that you had a lot more work to do?  I’d like to know that answer myself!  It isn’t easy to find benchmark data for social media platforms.  I’m sure we would all like to know what is the average expected traffic for a new YouTube video, or how many comments a blog post may tend to get.   One challenge with making generalizations about performance in social media is that there are a few top performers who obtain the most hits, followers, or views.  Viral performance is really not the norm.  And there is no generally accepted way to measure engagement (at least, of which I am aware. If you do know,  however, please add those suggestions in the comments!)

Web Site Performance

Standard: The average number of hits for a web site for a small company (5 employees or less) is about 385 hits per month, according to the folks at HubSpot.

Suggested goal: If you haven’t reached 385 hits/month yet, aim to increase your hits for your web site to that 385 by December.  If you have reached 385, aim to increase your hits by 20% by December.

Your stats: If you have a Yahoo web site, Yahoo provides you with statistics for  your web site.  Otherwise, try using Google Analytics, or refer to your web site stats counter.

Recommendations: If you haven’t done so yet, add life to your web site with linked images, video, and resources.

Blog Performance

Standard: I have not been able to yet find a standard for average blog post traffic and average number of comments.  I tried Trifecta to score the performance of my blog in comparison to other blogs. It’s fast, easy, and free.  And there is always Technorati.

Your stats: If you have a WordPress Blog, you can access stats and charts  like this one:

Blog Views for Conversations in Public Relations

Suggested goals: If you’re just starting out, aim for a Trifecta score of 16% or higher, which puts you well within the respectable emerging blog category (14% is under the radar; 100% is the top category for the highest ranking blogs).

Recommendations:  Now that it’s getting colder (at least on the East Coast!), you may see a jump in traffic.  (1) Add your blog to Technorati.  (2) Include your blog in LinkedIn groups. (3) Hyperlink to your blog from your web site (possibly each page). (4) End each blog with an open-ended question that encourages comments. (5) Add videos to your blog. (6) To increase engagement, add interactive features (e.g., monthly polls and report results). (6) Promote your posts on Twitter.

Facebook Page Performance

Standard: Most Facebook Pages have between 10 and 100 fans.  The average number of Facebook friends for personal profiles is 130.

Your stats: Facebook Insights data provides you with all the quantitative information you need to measure your progress (see sample chart).

Conversations In Public Relations Facebook Fan Page

Suggested goals: Check your Facebook Insights data for ratings of quality of interactions.  The charts provide so much useful information.  If your page doesn’t yet have 100 fans, aim to increase your fans by 20% and your fan interactions by 20% by the end of the year.  Using “Suggest to Friends” is a powerful way to increase your Page’s fan base.

Recommendations: (1) Add Facebook Page buttons to the sidebar of your blog  and a place button on your home page (you can do this with the Facebook widget, or link to Facebook with an image).  (2) Encourage increased participation from fans, such as comments and photos. Ideas: ask for comments, use the Facebook polls feature, post a question of the week, advice column, contest on employee communications topic, etc.

LinkedIn Performance

Standard: The average LinkedIn user has fewer than 100 connections.

Suggested Goal: If you have fewer than 100 connections, reach out to people you have met at networking events.  Then use, LinkedIn to increase hits on your blog from among the communities of influencers on LinkedIn by joining your industry-related groups and associations on LinkedIn..

Recommendations: (1) Add your blog URL and YouTube Channel URL to your LinkedIn account’s basic info section. (2) Research and join LinkedIn groups that are related to your field.

Twitter Performance

Conversations in Public Relations Twitter Account

Standard: The average Twitter user has follows 70 people and has 69 followers, and updates once a day.

Your stats:  Do you follow at least 70 people?  In my opinion, interactions with at least 100 followers are still manageable.  You don’t have to follow thousands to have an impact on Twitter.  Need a chart of your results?  Try Twitter Counter.  In addition to counting your followers, try Twitter Grader which ranks you among all the other people who have tried Twitter Grader (not all people on Twitter).

Suggested goal: Follow a minimum of 100 influencers on Twitter in your field or industry by end of 2010.

Recommendations:  (1) Post links to your content: blogs, videos, image on Twitter (updating your Twitter profile once or twice a day is plenty).  (2) Follow membership associations and experts who are likely to retweet your content.  The best way to get followers is to follow people in your area of expertise.  Conference speakers, reporters, book authors, and bloggers are good people to target for your “must-follow” list. (3)  Another way to find influencers and media covering your field is to use Google Alerts and Yahoo Alerts to get emailed news articles and blog posts.   (4) Try TwitVid.com for posting videos on Twitter.  (5) Catch the night-owls.  While most experts say you should post content during business hours, sometimes late at night or on weekends can be good times to get retweets of your content (people are bored or can’t sleep, and may be more likely to check out your content).  I have increased my followers this way. (6) Put the Twitter icon (with link to your Twitter account) on your home page and on the side bar of your blog to encourage followers.

YouTube Video Performance

Conversations in Public Relations YouTube Channel

Standard: On average, about half of YouTube videos get 100 views in their first month online.

Your stats: Check out your view counts, as well as the excellent demographics information about age, gender, and location of your viewers.  You can compare the performance of individual videos, as well.  The charts are fantastic!

Suggested goals: Increase your views and obtain more subscribers, say by 20%, by the end of the year.

Recommendations:  (1) To get more YouTube subscribers, search keywords related to your interests and subscribe to the YouTube channels of companies and organizations with great video content.  You can also post comments on their channels (not their videos) to get exposure for your YouTube Channel’s link.  (2) Respond to commenters to your videos, if only with a “thank you for watching.”  (3) Embed the videos on your blog (e.g., “video of the week.”)  (5) Put your YouTube link on your LinkedIn page. (6) Create a playlist.  Just creating a playlist can get you more hits. (7) Tweet your video content on Twitter. (7) Ask your Facebook Fans to rate and comment on your YouTube videos (maybe post one a week as a link), the same day each week. (8) Does your YouTube logo stand out?  If not, have it redesigned.

Please rate and review Conversations in Public Relations on YouTube.

Conversations in Public Relations Video Podcast

Video Podcast Performance

Standard:  I am still searching for the traffic statistics for the average small business or nonprofit video podcast (mega-hits like NPR aside).  I am sure there are ways to measure your podcast that I have not yet discovered. In my experience, however, even small scale-podcasts produced by one person can have hundreds or thousands of subscribers and downloads.

Your stats: You have to depend on your podcast host to provide you with statistics, since iTunes, the mega-podcast directory, does not provide subscription or download figures.  I use Podomatic to host my podcast, and I’m using the rankings and charts Podomatic provides as an example. Another free measurement tool for podcasters is Podtrac.

Suggested goal: Without benchmark data, I know it’s hard to compare, so I would suggest that you aim to increase your podcast subscriptions and downloads by a reasonable 20% by December 2009.

Recommendation:  Ask your friends and Facebook Fans to rate and review your podcast on iTunes.  This is one of the most effective ways to increase your subscribers and downloads.  Please take a moment to rate and review Conversations in Public Relations on iTunes.

What are your thoughts?

How do you measure your social media efforts?  Do you have any resources that the average small business owner or nonprofit manager could access?   Please comment with your suggested benchmarks or performance measurements, or your ideas about how to measure results. Budget-friendly strategies preferred!

A happy Fletcher Prince client – Susan Rink

In this one-minute video, Susan Rink of Rink Strategic Communications explains why she enjoys working with the professionals of Fletcher Prince on her social media projects.

How to spend $5000 on marketing your small business

To make money, you have to spend money!

If you’re a small business owner or consultant, you may be considering how to market your business now and in 2010.  And you’ve probably learned by now that to make money, you have to spend money.  (If you’re wondering how much to spend, read my post on setting your marketing budget.)

Every situation is different, and creating a marketing plan is a worthwhile endeavor.  But if you’re short on inspiration, here are some suggestions for how you might spend $5,000 on marketing in 2010, if you haven’t yet built a robust presence online, using Fletcher Prince’s creative and affordable marketing services.

There are a variety of marketing services from which to choose on our web site.  These are just a sample.  You’ll also find detailed descriptions of services there.

$275.  Personalized Marketing Diagnostic. We offer full-scale marketing plan and public relations development for a higher fee.  But to keep fees low for budget-conscious clients while still offering meaningful and individualized marketing advice, I developed a client questionnaire that relies on the client’s market intelligence instead of many costly hours of my research.  In reviewing the answers to your questions and after completing an in-person consultation, I can create a set of recommendations that can help steer the direction for marketing activities and provide you with enough information to make decisions.

• Up to 2-hour interview to review your client form answers.
• Discuss your business goals or mission.
• Review your target audiences and competitors.
• Discuss your strengths and challenges.
• Survey your assets and collateral (photos, logos, web site, social media).
• Recommendations memo.

$450 Social Media Logo Design. If you haven’t invested in a professionally designed logo for your business, now is the time to hire a graphic designer to do it (expect to pay about $1500 for quality work).  Your brand identity and reputation depends on a recognizable, legible logo.

But you will need a square version, which is the preferred variation for Twitter, your Facebook Page, YouTube, WordPress, iTunes, and Flickr.  We can usually redesign your current high-resolution logo as a square version for your social media account for about $450.

$500 Social Media Consultation. You’ve been meaning to do it, but you haven’t gotten around to creating those all-important social media profiles for your company, or for yourself.  This fee covers setting up your profiles, and training you in how to post content on Twitter.  We’ll create accounts for you or your business on Flickr, YouTube, Facebook, and LinkedIn, as well, and I’ll show you how to post content and obtain followers.

Do you want to learn only one of these social media platforms?  I can teach you how to use one, such as Facebook (for example), and help you set up your account for the individual fee of $150.

$300 Blog Consultation. Can you write a short article about your business at least once a month?  Then you should have a blog.  Nothing is better for your SEO.  This fee covers setting up your personal profile and blog on WordPress and training you how to post content, including photos and videos.

$300 Email Newsletter Consultation. If you are already writing articles for your blog, it won’t take that much extra effort to email the articles to your customers, along with a personal message from you and a sales-generating special offer.  You can do that with an email newsletter, which I can set up for you with a 60-day free Constant Contact account. I’ll show you how to create your own email newsletters and announcements and upload contacts. I’ll also give you lots of helpful tips, including when and how often to send email communications to your customers, and how to avoid being labeled as spam.

$2250 Three Online Videos (@$750 each).  There simply is no better way to tell your story than with online video.  YouTube is one of the most searched sites on the planet.  An online video personalizes your brand like no other medium.  Talk about the power of building trust!  Have you ever talked to a group on a topic of expertise for even a few minutes?  Can you think of three things that are fascinating about your business?  If so, then you are ready for video.

Bonus! With the purchase of three videos, I will provide you with a professional photograph (color digital image) you can use for your LinkedIn and Facebook profiles.

$250 Video Podcast option. For an additional $250, we will put your three online videos into podcast format, so you can start achieving views on the popular site, iTunes.

Bonus! If you pick both of these options, I will provide you with 100 printed promotional postcards you can send to your friends and clients to announce the launch of your new online video program (postage not included).

Which comes to…about $4,300.  So I did not spend $5,000 of your budget, after all.   That really is a terrific value, considering all the exposure you will get for your business.  Contact me for more information.

The trends that will power public relations in 2010

Planning for Success in 2010

Many public relations consultants and agencies are regrouping in the wake of one of the worst economic crises in our lifetime. As PR professionals plan for 2010, their questions may include where to look for new business, which competencies to develop, and how to satisfy the revised expectations of current and prospective clients.  Read on for ideas on how public relations consultants and agencies may position themselves for success now and through 2010.

Follow the Money: Industries in the Market for Public Relations

The economic stimulus dollars associated with the American Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) will have a major impact on certain industries now and through 2010.  While banking, retail, and insurance may not experience a resurgence next year, other industries have an increased demand for public relations services, including businesses, agencies, and vendors related to

• Healthcare. A huge chunk of the stimulus dollars will be directed to companies which provide patient care and related services (particularly to low-income individuals), medical research, education and training of doctors, nurses, and nurse practitioners.  Think laboratories, medical supply companies, universities, hospital systems, medical institutes, and pharmaceutical companies.  Wellness projects such as immunization and nutrition programs will also receive funding.  Money will be directed into projects for NIH and into research for  autism.
• Energy industries. Industries will be competing for funding for renewable energy research and development grants, construction projects, and tax incentives.  Expect companies that research or produce energy-saving, low-emissions vehicles to have an increased need for public relations services.
• Technology.  A healthcare-related initiative to provide medical e-records for all Americans and other technological upgrades and innovations will be a huge boost for information technology and database management companies. Wireless and broadband services will also receive government funding, particularly for providing service to rural and underserved communities.
• Utilities. Transforming the country’s electric utilities into a smart grid will be a priority.
• Transportation.  Including airports, mass transit, rail, and highways.  There will be a focus on rebuilding highways and rebuilding roads and bridges in rural communities.
• Construction. Particularly at federal facilities, but also across many other sectors.
• Environmental projects, including EPA-funded projects that will benefit many industries, such as those involved with waste management, providing clean water, environmental clean-ups of petroleum leaks and nuclear waste, emissions control in vehicles, etc.
• Homeland Security and Department of Justice projects, including airport security, domestic violence prevention, law enforcement, border protection, and other projects.
• Education projects, especially those focused on early childhood education and teacher training.  School construction projects mean increased business for construction, architecture, and engineering firms.

In-Demand Service Areas for Public Relations Businesses

Wondering how to position your public relations consultancy or agency for increased business?  In terms of services, what clients want now and in the new year include

• Public affairs, government relations, public-policy related services.
• Positioning businesses to obtain ARRA government grants and projects.
• Digital public relations efforts, such as monitoring, analyzing, and responding to online conversations about the client’s brand, blog relations, and content development.
• Expert social media consultation.  Clients expect their agencies to be involved in social media and to have cutting-edge expertise on all trends related to it.
• Online reputation management and crisis communications consultation.
• Cause marketing, such as “green” or environmental initiatives.
• Employee communications strategies.

Increased Expectations From Clients

One compelling trend in this economy is that client expectations for results from public relations consultants and agencies have increased, while fees have either decreased or remained the same.  Retainer fees and agency-of-record agreements are falling by the wayside in this economy.  Agencies and consultants are expected to do more with less, and clients are looking for these qualities in the public relations firms and consultants with whom they conduct business

• Lower fees.
• Project-based fee structures.
• Increased emphasis on results measurement and associated value with business goals, including metrics for social media efforts and campaigns.
• Demonstrated understanding of marketing, including closer collaboration with advertising agencies or the ability to provide integrated marketing campaigns.
• New, creative, and innovative solutions.  In our high-tech, information-saturated culture, the ability to cut through the noise and grab the attention of target markets has become an even greater priority for companies who hire public relations firms.

For your information, Fletcher Prince is registered in the federal contracting system under multiple NAICS codes, and we have the desirable designation as a woman-owned small business.  Please contact Mary Fletcher Jones to discuss subcontracting arrangements for your federally-funded public relations, marketing, or communications project.

To learn more, read this Council of Public Relations Firms article and this article on the impact of the  Economic Stimulus.

Fall is time to plan next year’s marketing and PR budget

Mary Fletcher Jones provides marketing and PR budget tips

Before you know it, 2009 will be a memory.  If you haven’t done so already, now is the time to develop your marketing and public relations plans for 2010, and that means setting a budget.  But where to start?

Every situation is different, but it can be helpful to have some general guidelines on what is commonly done, then adjust to your needs.

First, let’s talk about your marketing budget: the money you will set aside to spend on email marketing, advertising, direct mail, social media, and collateral materials, such as brochures.   To determine how much you should be spending on marketing for your business, take 10% of your gross sales (last year’s or this year’s projected sales) and spend that amount on marketing in 201o.  If that figure is uncomfortably high for your small to medium-sized business, pare it down to 7% or 8%.  However, if you have a storefront business (with expensive rent), you can spend less on marketing, e.g., 5% to 7%.  Going any less than 5% isn’t recommended, especially in this economy, and particularly if your business is less than five years old.  Another tip is to check out what your competitors are doing in terms of marketing.

If you are calculating a budget for a nonprofit organization with a mission that involves substantial educational outreach, you can go higher, allocating a percentage of your total budget for marketing in the teen percents, but keep it under 20% of your total annual budget.  If that outreach is less important, go as low at 5% to 8% of your total annual budget.

Planning a budget for a special event?  Don’t skimp on marketing.  Use 10% of your revenues to market the value of the event to your target audiences with high quality, professionally designed direct mail invitations and announcements, first class postage, branded social media, and classy email promotions.

What about your public relations budget?  Take 1% of your gross sales (or annual budget) and dedicate that amount to public relations efforts.  Use this amount on online press releases, media relations, monitoring, blogs, newsletters, podcasts, community outreach, and sponsorships.

Create an online news room for your web site

Mary Fletcher Jones describes the essential elements every corporate and nonprofit organization web site should have in its online news room.

For more information about web site design and other communications services, please visit http://www.fletcherprince.com

How to use Flickr to enhance your online image

In this six-minute video, Mary Fletcher Jones shares tips for promoting your business or nonprofit organization with online images, such as photographs and logos. Mary explains how to use photo sharing social media sites, such as Flickr.