Erich Stauffer

Tag: Social Media Management

  • How to Effectively Deliver a Press Release

    This is a guest post by Leslie Bailey, a freelance writer in Indianapolis.

    As a blogger and freelance writer, I receive dozens and dozens of press releases a week. About 98% of those are deleted…and that’s on a good day.

    Despite what old-school public relations professionals might say, press releases are no longer the only way to get the attention of the media. Social media and modern marketing are far too strong of a driving force in this sector to ignore.

    That’s not to say however, that press releases are a lost cause – if you handle them correctly.

    Here are a few tips from my personal experience that will help you get the most out of your press release. Note: these tips may not apply in every situation; consider each case on an individual basis.

    The easiest way to do this is by checking of the ‘Five Ws’ – Who, What, Where, When, W…and I don’t mean within the copy of your press release.

    WHO

    If you’re targeting a specific audience – what’s that? You’re just sending out mass emails? Let’s start over.

    To get the most value out of a press release, consider reaching out to your subject in a personalized manner. No one wants to feel like they’re part of a cattle call. Unless a publicity email addresses me by name, I don’t read it.

    Blogger, Madam, “Hi there” or my favorite yesterday, “Hi lovey!,” don’t count. Find out the person’s name and address them by such (be sure to spell it correctly!)

    WHAT

    What does the person who you’re contacting cover? If you are trying to pitch the latest and greatest diaper, you should probably note that I don’t have children and have never written anything related to babies. Look at media contact’s previous or recent work to see what topics they usually write about.

    WHERE

    Where are you sending this press release? Make sure it’s the subjects preferred method of communication. I’ve had people contact me through Facebook, Twitter, and other various platforms to ask for my email address. If they’d take a few minutes, they’d see it’s listed very clearly in several places.

    WHEN

    Timing is everything. If your media blast is concerning something Christmas related, it’s as effective to send it in July, as it would be to send it on Christmas Eve. As a blogger, I like a six-week lead but when it comes to print publications, the time varies. For a newspaper story, I need about four-weeks notice while something pointed for magazine, two and a half months. Each publication is different though so be sure to consider the timing of your release.

    WHY

    This is key not only within your content but also when considering your recipient. Why does this person care what you have to say? Referring back to the matter of ‘what’, a food writer isn’t going to care about the latest in fall fashions just as a fashion writer doesn’t care about the best place to create a Fantasy Sports Team.

    IN CONCLUSION…

    You’ll notice that all of these suggestions take TIME. Sure, you’re a busy person and you’re trying to get a message out to the greatest number of people possible but if you can’t take a moment to find out someone’s name, why do they want to spend hours covering your news? They won’t.

    Do your research, make a friendly and personalized introduction and see how much further it takes you.

    You can follow Leslie @Lesalina.

  • Big Data in a Small Shop

    Four ways to react to client insights

    So, if you have read any business journal, blog, or magazine in the last year you’ve heard ad-naseum about the power of Big Data. Combing through the digital exhaust that all consumers produce to better understand their preferences and habits can produce big dividends to big companies who have big data (notice the trend here?). But what if you are a small shop? You can’t pay MBAs and Quants to comb through your data to produce insights and most likely – you don’t have the mountains of data to pore through anyway. But, I’m here to say that Big Data is simply a way for a large company to feel like a small one. Your small business has the advantage!

    Big Data is simply about responding to client behavior. It’s just that the huge companies have to hire those big guns to get down to knowing the client behavior before they respond to it. But your small business can gain that client knowledge without the technical know-how and the sterility that can come from a numbers-only approach like Target recently used to predict when their shoppers are pregnant.

    So, ask what your clients think about you. Then be flexible, and most importantly, do something about what you hear! Here are four ways to how to ask clients what they would like more of:

    • Add comment boxes on order forms (both online and offline). If you’ve got the space, add some open ended prompts to get them writing. Be creative and write like a human because you are one (and so are your readers!).
    • Ask your best clients what it would take for them to leave you for your competition. That will show your their sensitivity points and give you some target areas to focus on.
    • Write thank you notes for business are simple and effective. Send a thank you note with a brief survey with plenty of open-ended questions and offer a thank you gift when they return it.
    • Engage with your clients via Twitter. This is a no-brainer to get with your most influential clients and just have a conversation with them on why they are your brand champions.

    A company who views their client as a number has nothing on a small business owner who truly cares about his or her clients. There is no better way to show that you care than to heed their desires and innovate new products and services to meet their needs inside of the relationship they already have with your business.

    This is a guest post by Jason Cobb. Contact Jason today to boost your brand and grow your sales via effective social and web marketing.

  • 3×300 Sale on Social Media Management

    For a limited time, Erich Stauffer is offering Social Media Management for $300 a month for 3 months to boost your online presence and increase business

    Call 317-572-7521 or email us using the contact form – just be sure to mention “3×300” to get this package deal, which is normally priced at $600 a month. Save 50% by acting now.

    For $300 a month your company will get these business-booster services:

    • Daily Facebook Updates
    • Daily Twitter Updates
    • A blog entry (post) once a week
    • Online classified ad entries once a month
    • A 5-minute video shot and posted on Youtube once a month
    • Brand monitoring to discover feedback on the web
    • One hour of one-on-one business consulting from Erich Stauffer

    Erich Stauffer will “ghost” as you or update, post, and blog right alongside you. We’ll take the time to learn your writing and posting habits; and the services, products, and culture of your business before representing your brand online.

    Call 317-572-7521 or email using the term “3×300” to get this package deal, which is normally priced at $600 a month. Act now to save 50%.

  • Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2010

    As a fellow business owner I can understand that it’s been a wild ride over the last couple of years.  Since I created Erich Stauffer back in 2007 we have seen markets rise and fall, businesses start and fail, and entire economies collapse.  Next year promises more of the same, or worse, but we have reason for hope.  There will always be a place for the kind of business owner that adds value to each customer interaction because people will always have needs to be met.  Meeting customer’s needs and exceeding their expectations no matter what happens will continue to pay dividends despite the economy.

    We have gone through several changes since 2007. We added more services as our customers have asked for them, such as search engine optimization (SEO), social media management, and traditional advertising assistance in addition to our original web design and development services.  Jason Cobb, Chris Hendrickson, and most recently my wife, Suzanne Stauffer, have all worked hard to serve our customers since 2007.

    Jason Cobb and Chris Hendrickson have served as executive and sales managers, respectively, but will both be transitioning into sales support role part-time as they take on new roles in other endeavors.  Because of Suzanne’s work over the last year I have promoted her to Marketing Director and Vice President of the company, while I am remaining as CEO. In this role I lead and guide the direction of the company.

    I want to personally thank you for your business over the last year and together look forward to not as things are, but as they could be.

  • Introducing a Brand New Way to Market Your Business

    Grow Your Business Organically

    A lot of SEO companies market how they will promote your business online using Internet marketing and online advertising techniques, but Erich Stauffer noticed a gap between where promotion stops and business begins and so we used social media management to not just promote your business, but grow your business.

    Digital Marketing Strategy

    We’ll work with you to create a comprehensive strategy to marry your business brand, vision, values, products, and services with traditional outdoor, radio, TV, and yellow page advertising alongside social networking and social spaces like Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and other technologies like apps for the iPhone and Android phones.

    SEO is Not Enough – Content Marketing

    It’s no longer enough to have a top-ranking website in Google if your web site is not converting traffic, your story is not consistent, and you are not creating lasting relationships with customers. Erich Stauffer can help you to do all three with content marketing.

    Social Media Management

    We are excited to offer social media management to help your business organize and streamline their marketing efforts with a consistent message that is in-line with their mission, vision, and values. We believe so strongly about this product that we would be happy to take you out to lunch to show you how it works in a one-on-one session. Are you interested in learning more?

  • Getting the Right Marketing Mix Using Social Media

    Currently there are many social websites that have created a platform for you to speak directly to and with your current and future customers.  There are also many tools that help manage this relationship, pushing the same content out to all platforms at once, or changing it slightly using built in rules.  There are no hard and fast rules for the Web 2.0 landscape because it is all still so new, but what we can do is look to those businesses who are having success in these new areas.Know, trust, buy. Erich Stauffer Marketing Consulting.

    We measure success by the three methods, “know, trust, buy.”:

    1. Brand awareness. (Does the customer know you?)
    2. Brand favorableness. (Does the client trust you?)
    3. Increased sales. (Does the client buy from you?)

    Blasting your message out to one or as many social media sites as you can will help get your brand more noticed, and so achieve more awareness, but you also need to be genuine.  The best Internet marketers make sure to engage with the customer and not just try to sell them something at every turn.  The medium lends itself to this sort of engagement and turning down the opportunity to do so may break the trust, or the brand favorableness.  Once you have established both the know and the trust, then the customer feels free to buy from you, but there is value to both brand awareness and brand favorableness even if the one who you are impressing does not buy.  Once the goodwill is out there, the person you engaged with may refer you to someone else.  Like the butterfly flapping it’s wings, even the smallest twit on Twitter may lead to a hurricane sale on the other side of the world.