Word of Mouth Publicity

Word of Mouth Publicity
All of you would know that word of mouth is a very powerful
public relations weapon. But not everyone realises that one
of the best ways of generating it is through publicity.
Publicity is getting free editorial coverage in newspapers
or magazines or being talked about on radio or television.

It is very effective when it happens - they say publicity
is seven times more effective than advertising.

What is Public Relations?

Public relations includes a variety of tactics that
strengthen your credibility, enhance your image or
influence public opinion. These tactics, such as speeches,
special events, promotional activities, product launches
and product give-aways; sponsorship, newsletters, annual
reports, articles and media releases are targeted to an
audience. PR involves communicating who you are, what you
do, why you do it, and how you make a difference.

The terms public relations and publicity are often misused.
Publicity is only one function of public relations. It is
media coverage - news stories, feature articles, radio talk
show interviews, television appearances, editorials and
reviews.

Publicity can be gained through effective media relations
such as media releases or news conferences; press kits,
press tours and personal letters or phone calls to editors
and journalists.

PR for You

Most large businesses even those with substantial marketing
and advertising budgets devote considerable resources to
public relations because they realise it is one of the best
and most cost-effective ways for them to attract customers
and increase their business. Small businesses should look
at the benefits of PR and positive media coverage because
it can:

• Attract customers
• Increase demand for your products or services
• Gain an edge over your competitors
• Enhance your credibility and prestige
• Get your message across without the expense of advertising
• Create goodwill in your community

Free Publicity

Reading an article about a product or seeing a story on the
news has a lot more credibility but there are no guarantees
that your story will get a run.

One of the unique characteristics of publicity is that you
have little control over whether your media release or news
conference will be covered. Editors have complete control
over a publicity item. They are the ones who decide if it
will be used and they also have the editorial license to
alter or use only part of it.

This is where an expert can help - one who understands how
to make your media release stand out and be noticed and
also someone who has good media contacts and strong working
relationships with various journalists and editors. Free
publicity is really misleading as it does cost money to
employ an expert to promote your product or to pay a staff
member or yourself (time is money) to handle what is
involved.

The Five W's

Here's a few tips on how you can write your own media
release and attract interest in your product or service:

• First and most important thing - have something
interesting to say - consider the Unique Selling Point
• Write a catchy headline - short, punchy phrase
• Bright opening - strongest point first
• Content - the 5 W's - What, When, Where, Who and Why
• Use memorable quotes
• Title it Media Release and always include the date
• Include contact details of telephone, mobile, email and
website address
• Use letterhead and keep content to one page
• If emailing use strong subject heading and copy and paste
release in body of email
• Send your release to the appropriate person - do your
research
• Follow up - media liaison
• Suggest a photo or photo opportunity that will add to the
impact of having your information publicised

Coordinated Approach

To ensure the success of your public relations campaign, PR
objectives should be clearly defined and developed as part
of the overall marketing strategy. The best results will be
obtained through a coordinated approach to all your
marketing, advertising and public relations activity. Your
key messages, information and branding should be included
on all your marketing and PR collateral.

Publicity is a very valuable tool but is often overlooked
as a true means of creating interest in a product or
service. Normally public relations is an afterthought to an
overall marketing campaign and can represent only a small
percentage of the overall budget but it can work very well
and produce tremendous results.

Not all publicity will help to increase sales but it can
generate public goodwill and promote corporate images,
product awareness and help to build the overall company
brand.

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Sue Currie, the director of Shine Communications
Consultancy and author of Apprentice to Business Ace - your
inside-out guide to personal branding, is a business
educator and speaker on personal branding through image and
media. Sign up for free monthly tips on personal and
professional PR at
http://www.shinecomms.com.au/contactmanager/default.cfm
and learn more about how you can achieve recognition,
enhance your image and shine.

Why the Heck Should I Write a Free eBook?

Why the Heck Should I Write a Free eBook?
You have an idea. A business. A passion. Something to say.

The question is: How important is this to you?

"Well, I have a website/blog/brochure/business card," you
say. And that's a good thing. You should. They're all part
of your self-marketing efforts. They're all virtually
essential these days. You want to have your information
retold, repackaged, and reinvented in various forms, to
suit your audience's content consumption preferences.

So why not take it a step further and turn your singular
information, concept, strategy, philosophy, process, or
knowledge into an eBook?

Make it interesting. Make it readable. Give it titles and
subtitles, sidebars and sass.

Make it easy to download and email.

Share it with people, groups, websites, and associations
that would find value in it, or be entertained by it. (Or
preferably, both!)

More than anything, make it available…for FREE.

"But, I don't have time to spend on creating and developing
a FREE eBook?!!" you yelp. "Why the heck would I waste my
time/energy/billable brain power on that?"

Well, don't you already?

Don't you already think about your own passions, ideas,
business, systems, or solutions in a fairly obsessive way?

Wouldn't you like a clean overview of your might and
mission to hand off to prospects, fans, clients, consumers,
strategic partners, website visitors, email recipients, and
accidental tourists so they could sample your wares?
Experience your voice and style? Scan over your offerings?
Dig into your ideas? Benefit from your expert status?

Essentially, consume a premeditated, decently configured
version of YOU?

What's more, wouldn't it be valuable to YOU to put your
fleeting thoughts and down-the-rabbit-hole analyses into
some semblance of order and refined context? Hey - we're
talking a free eBook here. It doesn't have to be a $20,000
project. Make it neat. Format it nicely. If you can get a
designer to help it look good, that's a plus, but if that's
not possible right now, let it go.

Most importantly - HAVE SOMEONE PROOFREAD IT so you don't
embarrass yourself, or worse, lose business because of
grammar, spelling, or blatant nonsensical communication
skills.

Earlier this year, we joined forces with a fellow business
owner and key strategic partner to create a FREE 18-page
Special Report that generated more than $100,000 in new
client revenue in less than two months. That little
document took us just two weeks to put together. Not bad on
the ROI scale, wouldn't you agree?

Don't make it harder than it is. If you've just got 10
pages, turn it into a Special Report or White Paper. You
can always expand or add to it over time.

BOTTOM LINE: People can't learn to know and love you - your
products, services, passion, advice, know-how, brilliance,
ideas, insights, offerings, deliverables, voice, style,
personality, vision, business, unique promise of value,
philosophies, etc. - if you don't give them anything to
know and love.

----------------------------------------------------
(c) 2007 Epiphanies, Inc. As the "Content Lovers" of
Epiphanies Inc., Lani & Allen Voivod help lifestyle
entrepreneurs and bold-thinking small businesses "A-Ha
Themselves" in fun and profitable ways. If you'd like to
see the FREE report that generated over six figures of
additional client work in less than two months, you can
check it out at http://www.GoNutsin2007.com !

How Bilingual People Can Earn An Extra $150 - $250 A Day

How Bilingual People Can Earn An Extra $150 - $250 A Day
You have something that is very valuable, something that a
lot of lawyers would pay good money for…. And you don't
even know it. With just a little effort, you can have a
very good part time income, on your day off, without even
straining yourself. If you are fluent in English and any
other language, if you are part of an ethnic community and
can get the word out, you can make money translating for
divorce mediators. Think about it, how many people tell you
their personal problems. Some of them come to you just
because you speak their language. They trust you and they
don't know what lawyer to use when they want to divorce.
They need help and can pay for it.

Do you know how many couples are still together just
because they don't know how to navigate the American legal
system? They have heard the horror stories about nasty
divorces and they don't want to get involved in an ugly
court fight. Those kinds of couples are PERFECT for
mediation. If you don't know those people, you want to find
them. You want to ask around the community and see who fits
this description. Now it is time to find a mediator.

Find a good phone book and look under Divorce Assistance or
Mediation. Call around and interview the lawyers. Tell them
that you are looking to establish a referral relationship
with a great mediator. Ask them how many mediations they
have done and what their success rate is. Ask them how long
a mediation usually takes and how much they charge. Ask if
they are predominantly mediators or if they also do
litigation. Ask them if it would be worth $250 for you to
bring them a couple and do the translation for the day. You
may have to negotiate your translation fee but you are
worth at least $150! Just to compare, I have done over 185
mediations and have 100% success rate. I only do mediation,
nothing else. On average it takes me between 4-7 hours to
do a mediation. I have very special skills that most
lawyers don't have in that I was a special education
teacher for many years and have a Masters in teaching
severely emotionally disturbed children, so I have yet to
meet a couple I couldn't work with. But there are a lot of
skilled mediators who are dying for new business. It is
best to work with a lawyer who is a mediator, that way they
can do all the legal forms and get everything done for the
couple. But you need to watch out for lawyers who say they
are mediators but are really just trying to cash in on a
good thing. Make sure that at least half their practice
involves mediation. With just a little work, you can have a
steady stream of clients to translate for and you can help
others and yourself at the same time.

----------------------------------------------------
Ms. Rachman has been a family law attorney since 1996 and
has become so disheartened by our adversarial legal system
that she walked away from a successful law practice and now
only works with couples doing mediation. She is always
looking for business in under served communities. If you
live in Southern California and can do high level
translation, call this office. For more information on how
mediation works and what kind of couples do best in
mediation listen to an audio on the differences between
litigation and mediation at
http://www.divorce-inaday.com

Assessing Your Skills: What Makes You Different from All the Others?

Assessing Your Skills: What Makes You Different from All the Others?
Summary

Make yourself stand out from the competition. The three
skills categories. Put the 3 P's of marketing to work for
you.

Gina had recently been laid off after working as a
marketing manager in a high tech company for the past five
years. She was distracted as she walked through the aisles
of the supermarket. She was thinking about ways to market
herself into a new job. She stood in front of the cereal
selection, overwhelmed by the number of brands to choose
from -- more than 100 varieties.

Suddenly, it dawned on her: This must be what it's like for
hiring managers to look at all those resumes received in
answer to ads and postings. How do they choose? What do
they look for? How does one get selected? How can I make my
product stand out?

The Packaging

The packaging on the cereal box is certainly the start.
Eye-catching colors and descriptive words will draw
attention -- low fat, energy boosting, added vitamins --
all the things consumers are looking for. But what are
employers looking for? The words you choose will be key.
Using words that will interest the companies will grab
their attention.

The Ingredients

The list of ingredients -- the skills you have to offer --
is also important. Gina couldn't wait to get home and write
down her skills and what made her unique to the position.
She had a new slant to explore.

She remembered reading in a book that skills can be grouped
into three categories:

Skills learned through past experience and education
(knowledge- based skills). Skills you bring with you to any
job (transferable or portable skills). Personal traits, the
things that make you who you are. The Assessment Tool

Gina divided a piece of paper into three columns and
labeled them with "previous experience," "portable skills"
and "personality," the three P's of marketing.

In the "previous experience" column she wrote:

- Marketing knowledge

- Communications skills

- Vendor management

- Press and industry relations

- Web channel marketing

- Product development

- Computer skills

Under "portable skills" she wrote:

- Customer focus

- Communications

- Writing skills

- Very organized

- Good at coordinating

- Team leader

- Problem solving

- Project management

- Excellent follow-through

- Good with budgets and numbers

- Time management

In the "personality column" she wrote:

- Self-starter

- Independent

- Friendly

- Well-organized

- Quick learner

- Good judgment

- Good attitude

- Creative

- Analytical

- Flexible

- Good sense of humor

- Goal-directed

When she was finished, she sat back and checked the list
over. She was surprised at how easily the list had come
together. By dividing the skills, the task became
manageable.

Trying to look at everything at once is like looking at
those cereal boxes.

Getting words on paper is one of the most difficult steps
of putting your "ingredients" list together. This is a good
exercise for anyone beginning the search process, or as a
periodic check or inventory. Gina can now use the list to
put together her resume, write a summary statement or
compose a personal statement. The skills will be the
foundation of the strategy she will use to sell herself.
She still has some work to do before she can take her
product to market, but she certainly has made a good start.

----------------------------------------------------
Carole Martin, America's #1 Interview Expert and Coach, can
give you interviewing tips like no one else can. Get a copy
of her FREE 9-part "Interview Success Tips" report by
visiting Carole on the web at http://www.interviewcoach.com

Lightyear Alliance and the Transfer of Wealth

Lightyear Alliance and the Transfer of Wealth
With all this talk about the digital phone service called
VoIP, I decided become a distributor of this service myself
with a company named Lightyear Alliance and give my review
of this company and the product.

According to Business Week, the largest transfer of wealth
in the world is the replacing of traditional telephone
lines with VoIP because this digital phone service is
considerably cheaper and of better quality.

The network marketing and direct sales industry are
profitable commodities in this telecommunication transition
because it gives serious entrepreneurs an opportunity to
capitalize on the market.

I decided to join Lightyear Alliance as a distributor, who
is the first-ever provider of VoIP through the network
marketing business model.

Another commonly known provider that came along after
Lightyear Alliance and is endorsed by Donald Trump is named
American Communications Network or ACN for short.

Many public telecommunication companies offer consumers
VoIP, and others like Lightyear Alliance and ACN are giving
individual entrepreneurs the opportunity to financially
take advantage of the so-called VoIP revolution themselves.

What is VoIP?

VoIP stands for Voice Over Internet Protocol or in other
words making phone calls through high speed internet
connections. The main advantage VoIP has over traditional
landlines is the cost of service.

How Can VoIP and the Direct Sales Industry Profit?

There are two key questions telecommunication consumers and
network marketers need to ask themselves to clearly
understand the significance of VoIP in the network
marketing business sector.

First Question: Who do you know who uses a telephone?

A phone is not a luxury to communicate anymore but rather
it is a necessity. As everyone in the modern world owns and
uses at least one phone.

Second Question: Who do you know who gets paid to use their
telephone?

This is where the key reveals itself as a solution for
consumers and entrepreneurs alike to make serious money
selling a revolutionary product.

After joining Lightyear Alliance as a VoIP distributor, I
have enjoyed the passion shown by those in company for the
product. The leadership within this company is truly
excited about VoIP and they feel this is a product that
adds true value to consumers.

In addition to Lightyear Alliance, the leadership of any
VoIP provider such as ACN, Vonage, Verizon etc. should be
excited about the value of this product because of low
costs to consumers.

I honestly believe the projections that business experts
throughout the world have made as to the amount of money
being transferred from traditional lines to digital lines
are valid. The transfer of wealth has already begun and as
long as consumers enjoy saving money, the transfer will
continue.

I believe because VoIP is a real revolution in
telecommunications that network marketers who sell the new
trend though any direct marketing provider will be
profiting substantially as the transfer exponentially grows.

In summary, it is important for business minded individuals
to watch and study the market trends. Knowing where the
money is going and being able to capitalize on the
opportunity is a necessary skill all entrepreneurs need to
practice in order to achieve their financial goals. The
market clearly indicates that VoIP is a valuable product
that enables distributors to profit.

----------------------------------------------------
Go to http://www.TruthAlwaysTriumphs.com to learn how
entrepreneurs can profit from becoming a distributor of
VoIP.

The Omega Watch Takes Flight

The Omega Watch Takes Flight
There are countless achievements Omega watches have
experienced over its existence, but their association with
NASA is perhaps the most significant. To have the honor of
astronauts sporting your watch in space is something that
Omega has taken pride in. This is the kind of exposure
that can and did assist Omega in gaining success.

It all started in 1957 when NASA supplied each of the
Apollo astronauts with a standard Omega Speedmaster
Professional manual-wind wristwatch. Despite having almost
all equipment manufactured for use specifically for NASA or
in space, the Omega watch given to the astronauts was not.
Because of this, NASA had to go through a number of tests
to make sure the watches were sufficient enough.

Beginning in 1962, NASA began purchasing examples of a
number of commercially available watches. In doing so,
they could better test the various watches on the market to
see what watch would have the best results. After testing
a number of different watches, it was decided that Omega
watches had the best success.

The timepieces that were given to the astronauts were
intended on being worn for intra and extra vehicular
activities, including the moonwalks on the various
missions. Inside the pressurized environment the watch was
simply worn conventionally. However, during the extra
vehicular activities the astronauts wore the watches on the
outside of their pressure suits. In order to adjust to the
change, a long Velcro strap was designed to accommodate the
extra width needed.

The first American to walk in space, Edward H. White, wore
his speedmaster during his Gemini 4 spacewalk. Other
astronauts that have sported an Omega watch while in space
include Bill Anders and Jim Lovell from Apollo 8, Neil
Armstrong and Mike Collins from Apollo 11 and Fred Haise
from Apollo 13. There have been many more astronauts to
wear Omega watches, but these are just a few.

A number of the watches worn by NASA astronauts are
displayed in various places around the world. For
instance, the watches worn by Neil Armstrong and Mike
Collins are currently at the National Air and Space Museum
in Washington D.C. Other places that various watches are
located at include the Museum of Science and Industry in
Chicago, The Omega Museum in Switzerland and the U.S. Naval
Academy in Annapolis.

Although the locations of al the Omega watches worn by NASA
astronauts is not exactly clear, the ones that are
displayed play a big part of history for Omega and NASA.
Many present astronauts still wear the Omega speedmaster on
shuttle missions.

----------------------------------------------------
For more information about Luxury watches visit
watchesonnet.com (http://www.watchesonnet.com). To find a
great deal on Omega Watches visit our Omega Watch Section
http://www.watchesonnet.com/Omega.html).

Make More Without Selling More

Make More Without Selling More
A few years ago, I suggested to my sister, who is a very
good artist, that if she raised her prices on her pieces
that she would sell more, and with the higher price, make
much more for the same amount of effort. Her first reaction
was that she didn't want to price herself "out of her
market."

A year went by, and every time I saw her, I'd suggest she
raise her prices. Finally, after encouragement from many
others, she relented and doubled her price. Almost
immediately, she began to sell more.

Two years later, she now sells her work for triple what she
once charged and has a list of commissions waiting for her
to get to. She has not changed her marketing or increased
her exposure. She simply made her artwork "reassuredly"
expensive so that her market feels they are getting value
for their money.

Pricing is an important component of the success
phenomenon, although many business people have no idea how
to approach this piece of the puzzle. It's taking three
things into account:

1. Your perception of your product's value 2. How much
effort you want to expend 3. The buyer's perceived value

Let's look at your perception first. On occasion, a
business will price their goods too high, often because
they have fallen in love with what they're selling and
believe everyone in the world will feel the same way.
However, more often, the product or service is priced too
low. One reason for this is due to a perception of
scarcity: the person setting the price feels that they
would not spend that much on the product and wonders if
others would feel the same way. Whether the price is set
too high or too low, both are matters of personal
perception.

Now let's look at effort. If you are putting the same
amount of effort and money into the marketing and selling
of your product, having a price that reflects its true
value to the buyer will bring back a higher return on
investment. This is a simple concept, but one that's
difficult to implement if your own perception of the
product's value is not in alignment with a higher price.

So how do you set your price? Here are five things to
factor into your pricing:

1. Examine your beliefs about the value of your product; if
you question how much you would spend, is this a product
you want to spend your money and energy promoting?

2. If you feel good about the product, decide how much you
want to make.

3. Decide how many hours you want to work.

4. Raise your fees to match what you want to make in the
time you want to work.

5. Look at others in your market who are having success
selling and marketing a similar product or service to
determine if you are in alignment with your market.

Finally, there is the perceived value of the consumer. If
the price is too low, the buyer might feel the product or
service has limited value and will be hesitant to buy. On
the other hand, when you have built trust with the buyer,
when they feel they will be getting their money's worth,
price becomes less of a factor in their decision, and they
will be willing to pay more because they know they will get
value for their investment.

The bottom line is that you can increase YOUR bottom line
significantly by pricing correctly, and you will move ever
closer to the Success Phenomenon.

Copyright 2007 © Marilyn Schwader

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Getting your information from concept to marketplace? Visit
author/coach Marilyn Schwader at
http://www.clarityofvision.com . Looking for an accelerated
information products education in an affordable,
easy-to-use format? Go to
http://www.jumpstartyourwealth.com .