Exploring the Art & Science of Marketing
Archive for May, 2006
Josh Steimle
May 10th
Josh, I hope you don’t mind. I thought I would write about a few people in the Utah business community.
Josh runs Utah web design firm MWI and maintains his own blog at Don Loper.com. It’s full of good tips about business, design, seo and much more. If you need a great web firm, call Josh (801-495-4110). His firm did the web site for Garage Technology Ventures (Guy Kawasaki).
Josh Steimle’s 5 Keys to Success via Connect Magazine
1 – When starting a business, ask for advice, not money.
2 – Hire the right people at the right time and put them in the right positions.
3 – Pursue your dreams, but confront reality head on.
4 – When selling a company, if it’s not in the written agreement, don’t trust them. If it is in the written agreement, don’t trust them.
5 – Don’t let negative events in the past ruin positive ones in the future. Learn your lessons and move on.
David Politis
May 10th
I work for David Politis, and since he is my employer and friend, I thought I would take a blog post minute to tell a little about him. (This is his photo from his Deseret News Column Utah Tech Watch).
“David Politis is an award-winning public relations, investor relations and marketing communications professional, with more than 50 industry awards to his credit during his 20-plus years as a communications consultant.”
In fact, I just might write more often about business people in Utah. Hmmm . . . who else? Josh Steimle. You just might be up next Josh.
Utah Real Estate
May 8th
Did you know there are 17,201 actively licensed agents/brokers in Utah? I read that during one quarter last year that 8,000 or so homes were sold. My guess is that this industry is the same as many others where 20 percent do 80 percent of the business. That’s assuming every piece of property went through the hands of a “licensed” professional.
So how do you stand out in a profession like this? I know plenty of people that do very well, but the barriers to entry are slim. There’s no intellectual property that I know of. How do you do well? People tell me it’s name and network.
Is it any different in your field?
Utah Quarter
May 8th
Today is supposedly the last day you can vote on what will become the new Utah quarter.
Voice your opinion, or we might end up with something stupid as a marketing piece representing our state.
v100 2006
May 3rd
vSpring announced its 2006 v|100 today.
“Each year, vSpring asks members of the Utah business community to nominate individuals with ties to the state of Utah who are most likely to lead a successful startup venture in the next five to seven years in the IT (information technology) or biotech industries in a chief executive or chief technical officer role.”
Congratulations to young guns Ryan Money and Brock Blake for making the list. I love the v100 because people are included because their peers said they should be. It just gives it a little more validity in my mind.
10 PR Tips: part 2
May 3rd
No need for introductions on 10 PR Tips if you are a frequent reader, but in case you missed the other PR Tips, you can catch them here. These PR tips were originally put together in a notebook by my employer Politis Communications, but they were limited in number.
1 – If you are going to write a news release or some other PR/marketing copy for possible broadcast pickup on radio or television, consider 15-, 30, and 45- second lengths.
2- SPEECH COPY SHOULD BE WRITTEN IN ALL CAPS AND TRIPLE SPACED . . .
BETWEEN LINES.
3 – Want your firm or organization to appear larger? Quote other executives, besides the CEO, in news releases.
4- “Chief Executive Officer” or any other title, should always be spelled out in full on the first reference in PR materials. CEO is kind of a no-brainer as to what it means, but it makes it easier for the journalist. ALWAYS make it easier for the journalist.
5 – By itself, email distribution of a news release for a publicly traded company does NOT meet the full disclosure requirements of the SEC. My guess is that PR Web distribution, or any other freee newsire service like it, doesn’t meet full disclosure requirements (even though I love PR Web). * check with a securities attorney like Mark Schneider.
6- Printed press kits at trade shows help the journalist know quickly if the information is relevant. CD press kits are nice, but a writer has no way of knowing if the info matters without having to put it in a computer. Time is always of the essence, especially at a trade show.
7- Unless under legal guidance, avoid using the term “no comment” when talking to a reporter. Why?
Q: Mr. Jones. Did you steal the $100,000 from your employer?
A: No comment.
The media will tell the public what the question was and that you said no comment. Guilty or not, Mr. Jones avoided adressing it for some reason, and he now sounds guilty. Come up with a better answer, or have someone else serve as your media relations consultant if you’re in this type of a situation.
8 – Freelancers and contributing writers can be a great source for generating media coverage.
9 – Save annual membership fees by using a public relations agency to distribute news releases via BusinessWire or PR Newsire.
10 – Send evaluation products to freelancers with caution unless you’ve verified an assignment with the media outlet first.
Any questions about this second installment of 10 PR Tips, feel free to contact me.
