I made the mistake of walking into a Lululemon store on the weekend. Why was it a mistake? I bought another yoga/gym top. I really do have enough tops to wear to yoga but it was purple, and I didn’t have a purple one. But now I do.
For those of you that don’t know Lululemon, it’s one of the fastest growing apparel companies in the world, selling premium priced, yoga inspired clothes. I love their gear, but I love their marketing approach even more.
Lululemon has created a very successful retail brand by using grassroots marketing techniques. They have achieved phenomenal growth without any traditional advertising — no television commercials, no radio ads, no national newspaper campaigns.
Lululemon has largely relied on word of mouth. It generates buzz by supplying free clothing to yoga teachers, fitness instructors, and the like, and encouraging these "ambassadors" to spread the word. The ambassadors get free publicity on the website.
And of course, Lululemon are masters of social media. Store managers are funded to run their own local marketing initiatives. When I was in the store I signed up for a free weekly running class with a personal trainer.
And now I am giving them PR. Love it!
Want to sponsor me to do something crazy? I am going to attempt to do 108 sun salutes in the Yoga Aid Challenge raising money for Football United which assists recently arrived refugee children and their families who have experienced devastating life situations. Please donate.
Hope you enjoy reading this newsletter.Writing a search engine friendly article
Did you know that search engines read articles too? Offering interesting and informative articles on your website is a great way of building credibility and getting people to come back to your site to read them. It is also fantastic way of increasing your Google ranking.
The aim of increasing your website’s Google ranking is to feature high up in the organic search on the left hand side of the page. The right hand side is paid or sponsored ads – known as Adwords. In addition to search engine optimising (SEO) your whole site, you can write articles on the main keywords people use to search for you.
Choose your keyword
The first step is to determine your keywords. You can do this by looking at a keyword selection tool such as Google Adwords Keyword Tool or check your web stats to figure out which keyword you want to rank highly for.
You don’t want to place all your keywords into one article. Just like a website page, keep the article to one topic. Don't try to jam 3-4 ideas into one; split them up and have 3-4 smaller articles, focused on one set of keywords each.
Key word density
Getting the keyword density ratio correct is critical. Follow the simple rule of thumb of using a keyword no more that 3 to 5 times per 500 words. Aim to use your keyword in the heading, the first paragraph and last paragraph.
Write a great article
There is no point in writing an article that is poorly written – even if it does have keywords. If you are going to write an article it needs to be relevant to your audience and written well. Read how to write an article in our resources section on our website.
A media policy is essential to maximising all media opportunities – for any type of business, even if you are working from home. The following is an example of a media policy which you can use for your business. It should be treated as one of your key policies/procedures.
Example media policy
All media calls are to be treated as important calls and we must ensure that we respond to the journalist’s enquiry and/or interview request in a timely and informative way.
It is important not to respond to any questions on the initial call.
The person taking the call should say:
- I’m not the best person to talk to, but I will organise for the right person to call you back.” OR
- “I am not an expert in this area, but I can get someone to call you back.”
- For spokespeople – “I am in a meeting at the moment, but will call you back as soon as possible.”
The person taking the call must ask:
- “What is your name?”
- "What publication are you calling from?”
- “When is your deadline?”
- “What is your phone number?”
If you can’t locate a spokesperson or your PR consultant before the deadline time, call the journalist back and explain the situation, saying that a spokesperson will call as soon as possible. Do not to do the interview yourself.
I keep hearing, “I don’t have time to do all of these social media things”. At one moment in my day last week I realised I was communicating using so many different applications it was incredible.
As I am running a small business that is in the business of communicating I tend to be open to new applications that help me communicate better with clients, colleagues and journalists.
Let me share with you what I was doing in the space of 30 minutes.
- Chat skyping with a colleague about a work situation.
- On the phone to a client regarding a media release and chat skyping phone numbers and web addresses while on the call.
- My parents skype called me from overseas. We did a video skype call. They have taken an ASUSEee PC travelling with them and I speak to them more now via Skype than when they are at home.
- I posted an article on Public Relations Sydney blog.
- I used Twitter to send a direct Tweet to a client who I couldn’t get on the phone.
- I emailed a client regarding speaking opportunities.
- My mobile phone rang and I had to hand it to a staff member because I couldn’t take the call as I was on the landline!
As an experienced PR Consultant I am expert at doing 10 things at once, and while this 30 minute period of my working life sounds busy, it actually means I get heaps of things done much more quickly than if I couldn’t use these applications.
You most likely already use email and the phone in your business, but check out other applications to help communicate with your customers and clients. Rather than dismiss them as ‘time wasters’ most of these are free and will help with productivity.
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