Last week I finally did my 24 hrs for B&T. I’m not sure if you know about this column in B&T magazine but it profiles the day of someone in the marketing industry. It has been on my list of things to do for, well.... a year. It’s been moved from my monthly list of things to do so many times I didn’t even notice it anymore.
Our clients’ PR always comes first, obviously. But one of my New Year resolutions was to make sure we focus on our PR to help the business grow but also to showcase our skills. So one of our clients is...us!
Alison is our consultant, and updates our action plan just as we do for our clients. I’m now the annoying client that never gets back to her! In an attempt to get me to do the 24 hrs column, she even printed out a blank document with ½ hour intervals on it, and a motivational quote at the top to encourage me to do it!
It worked. It’s done now and hopefully will be printed in the next couple of months. She has also booked me in to do more videos for our YouTube channel, which I’m told, I can’t cancel!
We are half way through the year and it might be time to reflect on how you are going with your New Year resolutions. Is it time to update them? Reflect on them? Or even ditch them and create fresh goals?
Speaking this month: I will be speaking at the Leichhardt & Annandale Business Chamber breakfast on 14 July and SheBusiness lunch in Balmain on 28 July. The breakfast is booked out, but there are places available for the lunch.
WIN a ticket to Macquarie University's Women, Management and Work Conference:
Attend Social Media Women in July to automatically go into the draw to win a ticket worth $2,300 to the Women, Management and Work Conference on 28-29 July 2011 in Sydney. The conference will inspire and inform women who are looking for insights and key tips to develop their leadership skills. Read more at www.lmsf.mq.edu.au/womenandleadership.
I hope you enjoy reading this newsletter.
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Why 'how to' articles work
Writing articles is a fantastic way to gain publicity. There are specific types of articles that work well – the ‘how to’ article is one of them but there are specific ways to write them.
‘How to’ articles can not only position you as an industry expert, they can offer topical, helpful and interesting information to readers and are one of the easiest types of articles to write because they have a 'tried and tested' structure that works.
- Know what you are writing about. When writing a ‘how to’ article make sure you do actually know how to do it. Your information needs to be backed up with real life experience and knowledge.
- Stay on topic. The article should be objective and written in an informative and entertaining manner, but keep on topic. No editor will want to receive an article that goes off topic or becomes a promotional piece.
- KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid). Particularly if you are writing a ‘how to’ on something complex. Avoid jargon and write in short, clear sentences, using sub headings, dot points and bolding to communicate key points.
- Proof read it. Once you are finished, proof read it and then give it to somebody else to read. It is very common for authors of articles to miss mistakes. Allowing another person to read over the article can help. Also, by doing this you can test if your 'how to' article is effective in communicating information to people who are not experts in the area.
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Should you BranchOut?
Most people who have joined Facebook have ‘friended’ everyone they know from people they went to school with 30 years ago to new friends.
Their pages are filled to bursting with both personal and professional information about themselves and yet, in order to network on a professional basis, you need to use LinkedIn and start that networking process all over again.
At least that’s how it used to be until BranchOut was launched.
The BranchOut application, created in July 2010, is Facebook’s largest professional networking service. In many ways it is quite similar to LinkedIn allowing users to create networks, search for jobs or people at specific companies to relay interest to and seek endorsement from previous clients or employees.
BranchOut seems to have one advantage that LinkedIn doesn’t. It uses your existing Facebook network so your contacts are already there, waiting for you to explore as soon as you create your account.
And while on the topic of learning something new, for all you social media savvy people who feel they are starting to get bored by the already existing list of social media platforms – brace yourselves.
Word is quickly spreading about a new social media platform that is yet to hit our Australian social media shores called Kohort. Users are already able to stake their claim by creating their own user account name; however you can’t enter the site yet.
Mysterious or what!?
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Upcoming events
Here are some events coming up that we thought you might be interested in:
Social Media Women July: START UPS, Tips & Tools for Overcoming the Hurdles with Catherine Eibner
Starting any business can be challenging. Practical advice based on experience helps save time, energy and money and a free program that helps support a start-up is the cherry on the cake! Catherine Eibner will share her tips and advice for entrepreneurs on starting a business.
12 July 2011 – Sydney
Marketing Women Victoria social media event
‘Social media’ is on everyone’s lips and smart phones, but how many people and businesses actually get it right? The interactive session will be led by an impressive group of experts in the social media space: future leader of Haystac’s newly formed digital and social media unit, Kristen Boschma and fellow social media gurus Yvonne Adele, Eloise Zoppos and Trevor Young.
13 July 2011 – Melbourne
Chamber of Women in Business presents Sofia Majewski – director of Speak2us
Develop and strengthen your public speaking skills and become a confident and articulate public speaker with Sofia Majewski, Director of Speak2us. Learn about where and when you speak, who your audience is and how to manage nervousness and anxiety.
13 July 2011 – Canberra
Online Retail: Differentiating Online Businesses
This event, run by AIMIA, will help retail businesses entering the online space clearly understand how to differentiate their online offering and integrate with a multichannel retail business strategy. It features speakers from the e-tail multichannel space.
12 July 2011 – Sydney
14 July 2011 – Melbourne
Macquarie University’s Women, Management and Work Conference
Learn how to become an influential leader at Macquarie University’s 23rd annual Women, Management and Work Conference. This two day conference will inspire and inform women who are looking for insights and key tips to develop their leadership skills. Speakers include CEO of Medicare Lynelle Briggs Board Director of CoSolve, Anna Booth and Director in the Royal Australian Navy Captain Michele Miller.
28-29 July 2011 – Sydney
PR and Media Releases That Get Results with Catriona Pollard
Catriona Pollard will teach you how to construct a PR strategy that gets results. By the end of this workshop you will understand how to come up with a media angle, write a pitch, media release, article, case study and editorial. You will also learn how to strategically use these tools to maximise your chance of achieving your PR objectives.
11 August 2011 – Sydney
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