How do you use Social Media...

• Do you measure up?
• Do you know how to measure it?
• Do you know how to use it?

Check out this infographic. If you want to know more about how to make social media be a successful tool in your business...send me a tweet @MonteMartin with your phone number and I'll get right back to you...with a phone call...because the oldies but goodies still work for more indepth communication.

Disaster Preparedness: Are you ready?

Disaster Preparedness Kit
produced for the Kentucky
Department of Emergency Management

Resolve To Be Ready

The Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) recently kicked off a national campaign to encourage all Americans to resolve to be Ready in 2011.

I work in the world of emergency response and recovery. Each time I return home from a deployment, I feel blessed to have been able to contribute and do my part to help people in need. It would be amazing if humankind could prevent emergencies and crisis issues. Since avoidance is a futile fancy, the best we can do is prepare.

Geologists have peeled back Earth’s topographic cloak and validated that Mother Nature’s wrath has existed on Earth since the beginning of time. Hurricanes, fires, floods, earthquakes, polar shifts and even giant meteors have scraped, scorched, covered, shifted and altered our planet. In recent years the media has played out numerous tragedies rooted in human calamity, carelessness or intention to harm that cannot be protected by borders on a map.

When disaster strikes, it affects individuals, families, businesses and communities. Though FEMA and the agency’s employees play a huge role in the nation's emergency management team, disasters begin and end on the local level. It is for this reason Americans should step up to get ready because in a disaster-related event, prepared individuals and businesses are a huge asset to critical response and long-term recovery.

You should be confident that your emergency plan is solid, flexible and be sure your emergency kit is fully stocked. Without adequate preparation, a future disaster could mean that you, your family and your business must compete with thousands of vulnerable residents for food, water and critical resources including medical treatment and shelter.

In addition to disaster response and recovery training and hands-on experience under FEMA and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, I’ve assisted businesses, municipalities and organizations develop and update crisis plans and train employees should they come face-to-face with a worse-case scenario.

Are you prepared for emergencies? If not, I can help you Get Ready in 2011. Contact me to learn more.

Spruced Up Releases Spring Media To Action

About two years ago, I began adding custom graphic headers and including photos and logos in Satellite Media Advisories. Several producers offered unsolicited feedback about how the image/graphic grabbed their attention when they were booking the SMT.

A picture is worth a thousand words." So it made sense I should use images to support the words in news releases as well. Below is a recent news release as an example. With media kits, high-res photos are included on a disc or thumbdrive.

Put A Spring In Your “Door”Step with a Personalized Doormat

-A custom doormat is this year's fabulous front door accessory!

ORLANDO, Fla. (April 20, 2010) – A beautifully customized doormat from The Personalized Doormats Company is the perfect way to welcome warm weather while also putting a spring in your “door”step. Keeping more than 50 percent of the dirt outside, doormats are functional, but a personalized doormat is a customized design accessory that is sure to perk up any front door.

"When it comes to a house, what’s out front actually can say a lot about what is on the inside,” said Interior Designer and TV Host Josh Johnson. “For example, how your front door area appears when approaching up close is similar to a home's curb appeal at street level. Does it feel warm, inviting and welcoming? Or does it give off an impression that is drab, unappealing and even a bit shabby? An entryway, whether large or small, sets the tone for your home’s interior and also portrays the personality of the individual or family living there.

At first thought, a doormat might not seem that exciting. But these doormats will fashionably perk up any porch, patio and the grandest of porticos with panache while also fulfilling the ultimate function of keeping the floors clean. The Personalized Doormats Company offers doormats that are stylish, affordably priced and selections in a variety of materials, sizes and colors. By offering personalization, what was once a simple mat at a door, changes the whole meaning of ‘doormat’. Doormats are an integral part of a home’s décor and speak volumes about the owner or renter as well.

“An online company, they have something for every style and budget. Selections range from classic to chic and from simple to just plain stunning. Materials include eco-friendly recycled plastic to beautifully hand-woven coconut fiber and I really love the sparkle of the cast aluminum. A doormat is something every home needs and The Personalized Doormats Company has certainly stepped up the doormat to make it a fabulous front door accessory,” said Johnson.

In addition to a variety of materials, the mats come in sizes and shapes to fit single and double doorways, both narrow and wide. Doormats are made of different materials and depending on the location, some styles are better suited for covered entryways, others are excellent when exposed to harsh weather such water or direct sun and select doormats are very reliable under heavy or muddy foot traffic.

Pura Vida (Live the Good Life)! Stop 50 percent of the dirt from coming in your front door with the stepped-up style of a personalized doormat. Order a mat from www.PersonalizedDoormats.com for a sunny forecast this spring on your stoop, steps, covered porch or drive-up portico.

For more information or to order a doormat from The Personalized Doormats Company, call them toll free at 1-800-899-0620 from 9 a.m. –6 p.m. EST, email CustomerService@PersonalizedDoormats.com or shop online anytime at www.PersonalizedDoormats.com.

The Personalized Doormats Company, www.PersonalizedCoormats.com, is an online retail store based in Longwood, Fla. Founded in 2002 as a small online company, Jill and Alan Mecca purchased the company in 2008. Now offering upwards of 15 different product lines, their personalized doormats are shipped to customers throughout the United States and Canada. The Personalized Doormats Company offers more top-quality personalized doormat styles for homes and businesses than any other U.S. retailer.

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Contact: For more information, to set up an interview or to request high resolution photos, contact Ms. Monte Martin, WOW! Marketing, Public Relations & Events at 407-341-9866 or by email at MMonte@hotmail.com.

Social Media: Twittering About Twitter?

Termed, micro blogging, Twitter is a great resource for expressing a personal brand, thought leadership and corporate brand.

Nielsen recently released staggering statistics about Twitter:

• It is the fastest growing community site increasing 1382% in visits in February 2009 versus February 2008;
• The majority of the user base (42%) is between the ages of 35-49;

Here are helpful tips for tweeters:

• Check out and consider using a hash tag when appropriate as it is a way for people to search for tweets that have a common topic. #(insert topic)
• Change your bio often to reflect a description of a project, not just about you or the reason for your twitter page;
• Include a photo or logo to connect you or your brand to your tweeple for page personalization;
• Monitor your followers. Just because you have lots of them doesn't mean they are desirable followers. Check a few followers and see who they are and what they do ; - ) Let me know what you learn! (you can change your settings to accept or reject new followers); and
• Share the "love"birdies. Retweet! Copy and paste the original tweet, then put RT @ (insert originator’s username) at the beginning of the tweet and share the best links, tweets and gems with your followers. 

Still twittering about Twitter? Not sure how to use it for your business? Contact me today to turn up your Tweet volume and tune into Twitter.

Planning: Spiffing Up For Spring

Are your sales and marketing plans as bright, fresh and appealing as these Daffodils? Or more like a dried up bouquet of flowers that you haven't been able to throw out because they remind you of...something you can't seem to remember?

Or do you even have a plan?

My new online retail client Personalized Doormats, orginally contacted me to write two news releases per month as well as web and email blast content.

During our first meeting, I asked them how they currently integrated public relations (news releases, social media and media coverage) with other sales and marketing functions such as trade shows, email blasts, social media, promotions, special events, community relations, AdWords, etc. Their answer, "We don't. But we probably should. Can you help us with that?"

With their budget and goals in mind, I suggested they hire me to help them develop a sales and marketing plan the first month instead of writing news releases. So, we "worked together" the first month where I got their input and feedback. We had two, four-hour meetings; one, two-hour conference call; and four, one-hour weekly calls where I took them through a series of questions about their business, (past, present and future), competion, sales goals, personal business goals, products, customer service, a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis and more.

The end result, allowed me to take the information gathered to develop a six month sales and marketing plan, including a month-to-month timeline with activities and tactics. As well:

• They'd never thought about joining two key professional associations.
• Now, they are new members and have picked up new business from their memberships. 
• They have a blog, but rarely posted anything to it. 
• From new customer comments, product photos, special offers, tips, videos and news releases will soon begin being posted and in the next six months, as they build their business, they plan to hire me to "ghost write" blog postings on a regular basis.
• Their twitter and Facebook account was set up, but they had no idea how to use social media. As well, the sites were not set up or being monitored correctly for their type of business model. 
• Last week, we had a three-hour social media training session where I taught them how to brand their pages and how to use the various sites - twitter, Linkedin, Diggit, Flickr, YouTube and Facebook - the differences in the sites; kinds of communication messages to post (not overly sales-y, not hard news, but with the intent of it being interactive, educational and informative), how to integrate the various social media sites, fun tips and tools to manage them and how to post, paste, link and tweet from from a technical standpoint.

I am now writing news releases and also formulating a new sales program to reach a market segment they'd never thought about. Not only will it build my client's sales, but this program will allow this new BtoB market donate to their charity of choice while selling my client's product to their customers.

So plan your plan. Write your plan. And work your plan. With a plan, you will see where you are today, where you are going and next year, look back over a successful year and see what made the difference. Contact me today to spiff up your sales and marketing plan this Spring! And...while you are at it... Order a new doormat today and "Put a Spring In Your 'Door'step!"

Blogging: To Blog Or Not To Blog

As a child I had a diary with a key.
Now, I blog online just for me.

In December 2005, I spent five weeks in Costa Rica studying Spanish. Before the trip, I decided I didn't want to be obligated to email or commit to a time for regular phone calls because I wanted to "remove myself from technology," and not miss any impromptu surf session or una Cervasa Imperial on the beach at sunset.

After hearing a few groans/hints/concerns that I would not be in touch with "the world", I decided to start a blog. By blogging about my travels in Costa Rica, my friends and family (mom especially) would know I was ok.

I visited the local Internet cafe every few days. While enjoying the best cafe con leche, I would grab a computer in the corner and write (the cost was about $2.00 an hour!).

After returning home, I continued to blog my thoughts, adventures, lessons, hopes, dreams, occasions and life in general. Writing for me is like exercise, sleeping and eating. I have to do it. A computer makes the task much easier than pen and paper. My personal blog is really more like a diary. At times, I've posted on it daily and then months of working seven days a week and 12-14 hours a days left little time for me. Seeing those months with no writing is like looking at long lost time. Where did it go? What was I doing? What was I thinking?

It's time to set aside "Monte blogging time"! Personal writing can be a word map of your life, without visual pictures. And it is really awesome to occasionally read old posts to reflect, compare, contemplate and see the roads and paths taken.

I encourage you to write in a beautiful book, personal diary or online blog.

To learn more about how to set up a blog for business or personal use, contact me at mmonte@hotmail.com or 407-964-1557.

Measuring Public Relations: The Plan

The Plan. It is the map for your trip.

1. Plan your plan.
2. Write your plan.
3. Approve your plan.
4. Work your plan.
5. Measure your plan.

The "unspoken rule" is to get everyone to stick to the plan, but always keep in mind that is a work in progress and not a "critical path." There is always room for adjusting, ramping up or down, and when facing a round-about, allowing enough flexibility in the plan to try another road that may ultimately end up being a much grander adventure.

Public relations measurement enables an organization, business, government, marketing firm or public relations agency to determine the direct relationship between proactive publicity efforts and the output of those efforts to their "key publics".

For the purpose for this series of articles, it will relate to the media as the key public. (other key publics include employees, investors, board of directors, elected officials, vendors, existing customers, new customers, community leaders,

There are many ways to measure the effectiveness of public relations and they all vary depending on goals and can be as diverse as the differences of hundreds of different services and businesses.

There are five parts to a public relations plan. Below is an example using a "made-up" and very simple example of a plan.

1. Objective. The main thing or purpose. Keep it short and to one sentence if possible. It is the "overarching mission statement" for the plan.

Use our annual special event to solidify our business as a charitable community partner, helps our employees see us a fun place to work and our customers and vendors excited about doing business with us.

2. Strategies. Think of them as painting the broad brush strokes of the picture which always goes back to your meeting your objective.

• Work with a well-known local charity that needs funding.
• Have a local celebrity serve as our spokesperson on behalf of the charity.
• Include current vendors as sponsors.
• Involve employees in the event.
• Reach our customers.
• Get news coverage.

3. Goals. Measurable and specific. Also...be reasonable. Everyone wants national coverage, but is there a national news angle to your event?

• Get confirmation from the local celebrity by January 2o.
• By February 3, identify the charity.
• Raise $3,000 for the charity by using our annual event.
• Host the first task force meeting on January 2.
• Engage the employee participation by 10% over last year's event.
• Secure one major and two minor vendor sponsorships to pay for entertainment.
• Obtain pre-event media coverage to increase company web page traffic by 1,000 new users per week for six weeks.
• Book six media outlets to attend the event as working media.
• Increase business by 3% over same time last year.

4. Tactics. These are what helps you reach goals, they support the strategies and all of them must meet the objective. ANY tactic that does not implicitly focus on the ultimate objective, does not support strategies and cannot be used toward reaching a measurable goal, in most cases does not need to be a tactic in your plan!

• Host a news conference at the (mall, park, downtown, college...place where there will already be lots of people there) with the charity and local celebrity to announce the annual event and explain the details.
• Write and distribute a media alert about the news conference.
• To get a head start on raising money, get the local celebrity to sell and sign their new book and take photos at a certain location (ball game, concert, mall) and get them to donate half the proceeds to the charity.
• Write and distribute news release about $$$ raised by book signing.
• Pitch story ideas for the event.
• Do a media blitz to media outlets with the celebrity and company CEO. Book them for morning radio and noon talk shows.
• Work with celebrity's public relations manager to promote event on the celebrity's web site, communicate event in fan mail, and see if celebrity will mention event at media opportunities, including national book tour leading up to the event.
• Write and distribute media alert about the event a week before and day before the event.
• Do media calls the day before and day of the event.
• Determine needs and secure (food, beverages, tickets, signage, seating, lighting, AV, etc.)
• Monitor media.
• And so on and so forth...all of the things that need to be done to support the event from catering, music, permits, volunteers, pitching media, securing photographer, event post-mortem and so on.

5. Measurement. This proves your success! Go back and see if you met or exceeded your goals? Keep in mind that there can be short-term and longer-term measurements resulting from the event may continue long after the initial event.

• Confirmed local celebrity, hosted task force meetings and identified charity by goal dates.
• Raised $5,500 for the local charity.
• Increased employee participation at the event by 15% over their participation last year.
• Distributed employee survey six months before event as a benchmark. Two weeks after the event the company did a second employee survey. Employee satisfaction is up 15% over benchmark survey. There are no other measurables for the increase (such as raises, incentives, training or programs). Though not specifically attributed to increased employee involvement and the success of event, one consider that the event played some role in raising employee satisfaction. HR will add a question for next survey to determine influence up or down for employee satisfaction.
• Secured one major and eight minor vendor sponsorships which paid to book a very popular band for the event.
• The band provided a signed guitar for us to give away on our web site. Social media, news releases and client email campaign helped double the web site traffic goal.
• Increased business by 20% during the month of the event over last year, and business has remained at 2.9% over last year, even though there was a huge drop in the stock market two months after the event.

Applause. Applause. Applause.

Now, get started on a real plan! If you don't have a plan or need help writing one, you know who to contact !

Getting In The News

Securing one story in the news often more than covers the cost of hiring an expert to do the work. While projects, strategies, goals and clients here are some tips about the costs of getting your story in the news.

Writing

To write a news release usually runs from $300 to $600 (400-800 words or so). It should include:

- A minimum one hour consultation
- Review of marketing materials
- Writing the release
- Client reviews release
- One round of edits

Wire Distribution

This can cost is as little as $300 for one state. (cost varies by state) A wire service charges this every time their service is used to send out a release about your company.

- A national distribution runs about $900+ — this is the most comprehensive premium U.S. distribution and you get:
- Online media monitoring for 30 days
- Premium access reporting from www.prnewswire.com
- Unlimited number of expert profiles to include in ProfNetSM
- Links to ProfNetSM expert profiles with every release you send

For more than 400 words, there is an additional fee of $100 to $150. There is also an additional fee to send a photo or logo.

Most agencies have a membership to a newswire service and the cost for the service is passed along to their clients making it cost less for everyone to be a part of using.

Custom list and distribution

Agencies pull a custom media list, i.e. for a Fashion story: fashion reporters, fashion editors what's new writers, celebrity reporters, lifestyle reporters, women's reporters, and can be thousands of reporters and media outlets, etc. This great for a company with a very specialized product because the custom list identifies the media outlet (TV, Radio, Magazine, Newspaper, Online, Blog) the specific reporter's name, title, beat, email, phone number, address, info about the reporter, etc.

Your agency should share with you the media outlets that will be receiving the release! The list can often be used again for future releases, but will need to be updated at least once per quarter as reporters are always moving around to other publications.

To pull and sort a custom list can run between $250 and $800 depending on the depth and width of the list. (TV, radio, newspaper, magazines, online, blog, freelancer, producer, assignment desk, general reporter, booker, host, anchor, photograher, meterologist, sports reporter, feature reporter, entertainment reporter, bureau chief, DMA, only certain cities, by frequency, etc.)

To distribute a release usually runs around $250 and up. (no matter how many words are in the release and a photo and logo can be attached without an extra charge - there is an extra fee with wire services)

Pitching Is Key

This is the key to getting a story published. Anyone can "just send out" a news release through a wire service or a custom distribution list.

Reporters and outlets get hundreds of releases a day and they usually only read the subject line and maybe the first sentence...that is...if they get to your release.

To ensure they receive...and read your release : - ) a good agency will call the key reporters that are most likely to cover your story to be sure they received the release (statistics show that when a pitch call is made 50% will ask to have it sent again. Calling offers the opportunity to get an even bigger story than is often portrayed in a release (phone interview with morning radio host, chance to personally invite the reporter to come and see the "story" in person, ask what angles of the release the reporter is interested in, provide more information by discussing the story with the reporter, the reporter asking about or offering an angle, or they...tell you they are not interested and hang up.

Depending on the release and story, pitching requires time on the phone and that can vary depending on the project. It is rare to reach a reporter the first time, and many times the news desk or a producer will ask to be called back at another time to discuss the story.

Of late, it seems to take a minimum of three calls to a media outlet to speak to the right person. Then, depending on their interest, time pitching the story can range from a minute to five or ten minutes. Then when sending a follow up email when a story is secured means 10 to 15 more minutes. Agencies usually have a good idea of how long it will take to pitch and can quote a range of hours. Then, ask the agency to keep you updated on results as they are pitching. Depending on results and interest, hours can be added to a pitching project.

Success Story

Do releases right. Hire a great writer. Build a custom list. And take advantage of an agency’s media relations to "sell" a story to the media and reach your target market.