Have you ever gone to Facebook to look for the ads?

Have you ever clicked on an ad?

I’m not sure I’ve ever clicked on an ad, but I do know that they know who I am. Nearly every ad I see is related to publicity. They know I’m a PR guy, not a dance instructor. What else they might know about me is plain scary.

Facebook and Wall Street are betting big bucks that you love to see ads on Facebook.

But the real point of this article is to talk about GM pulling its ad budge from Facebook just days before the company went public.

That’s sending a big message.

Not only does it say that GM doesn’t think that Facebook ads work (and really, would you go to Facebook to buy a truck?) but they gave Facebook a black eye by publicly announcing the move at the time when Facebook was gather a ton of momentum to launch its IPO.

Time will tell who the real winner is here, but here is a good example that disproves the adage, “All publicity is good publicity.”

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Dan Janal on Cover of Insights Magazine

I’m on the cover of Insights Magazine! Check it out at http://getei.com/DanGift.html

It gave me an opportunity to share my success secrets. Part of the cover story arrangement was allowing me to give all of my friends access to this outstanding 60-page issue with my compliments.

Check out this great gift of informative interviews with world leaders in business success for yourself.  Just click here http://getei.com/DanGift.html and you’ll get FREE, instant access to the issue.

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If you have a good brand, you can get away with a lot.

Case in point, I was speaking in Nashville recently and decided to catch a concert at the Grand Ole Opry. The featured act was Marshall Tucker, the southern rock group that had a few superb songs in the ‘70’s.

Unfortunately, their lead singer’s best days were behind him. He barely made it through the first song, “Heard it in a Love Song. For their second – and last – song, “Can’t You See?” some teenager on stage delivered the vocals. He did a pretty good job and he got a standing ovation from the crowd – which was no small accomplishment considering that the average age of the audience was 90.

People didn’t care – or couldn’t tell – that the front man they came to see was a shadow of his former self. They did care that they heard the iconic song from an iconic band. That’s the power of branding. If you have a good brand, you can get away with a lot.

As long as you deliver on the promise – a great song performed well – in this case, then the audience is happy. For you, this could mean that your clients would be happy if the work is done by one of your assistants as long as you supervise the process and maintain the high standards for which you are known and for which the audience expects.

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Many international companies talk themselves out of getting publicity in the US. That’s unfortunate because a lot of their concerns are incorrect fallacies.

Here are several ways international companies can build bridges with the US media to get publicity to build their businesses.

1.     Time barrier – Let reporters know when you will be available to talk. Say you are 7 hours ahead of New York time, for example. In many cases, reporters will have all the info they need from your press release or PR LEADS response. Give them lots of information, not fluff, and they might not even need to call you. They can write the story from your materials. This happens quite often.
2.     Cost of phone lines – Use SKYPE so no one is paying for the call

3.     Language issues – Be sure to appoint a spokesperson who speaks English well and understands American idioms. Show your written English to a native speaker. I just edited a press release from Asia and it took longer to edit than it would have taken me to write it! Even Ph.D.s have trouble with English.

4.     Cultural issues – Different countries have different expectations of the role of the media. In the US, the media treats everything you say as “on the record” and can be used at their discretion. You can’t say something and then say, “It’s off the record.” The best guidance is: If you don’t want to see it in print, then don’t say it.

5.     Listen to a media training webinar, seminar or course. The tips you pick up will be invaluable.  I recommend Jess Todtfeld’s Media Training Crash Course http://www.mediatrainingcrashcourse.com/ to understand how the US media works and how to handle interviews.

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By Henry DeVries
New Client Marketing Institute
email: hdevries@ucsd.edu
web: http://www.newclientmarketing.com
Time to read this article: three minutes.

In this guest blog post: How to Attract Clients by Typing and Talking
Learn insider secrets on how to turn your expertise into clients

Henry DeVries, New Client Marketing Institute

If you are an independent professional or consultant, what should you do to increase revenues? Focus on the attract factor.

First, understand that generating leads is an investment and should be measured like any other investment. Next, quit wasting money on ineffective means like brochures, advertising and sponsorships. The best marketing investment you can make is to get help creating informative websites, hosting persuasive seminars, booking speaking engagements, and getting published as a newsletter columnist and eventually book author. This is what attracts clients like an electromagnet.

The first challenge for professionals and consultants is creating new clients. There is a proven process for marketing with integrity and getting a 400% to 2000% return on your marketing investment. To attract new clients, the best approach is the Educating Expert Model that demonstrates your expertise by giving away valuable information through writing and speaking. In addition, you can increase closing rates up to 50% to 100% by discovering and rehearsing the right questions to ask prospective clients.

Rather than creating a brochure, start by writing how-to articles. Those articles turn into speeches and seminars. Eventually, you gather the articles and publish a book through a strategy called print on demand self publishing (we’ve done it under 90 days and for less than a $1,000 for clients). Does it work? Here are a list of business best-seller titles by professionals and consultants that started out self-published (Source: Southwest Airlines Spirit, March 2005):

1.    The One Minute Manager by Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson: picked up by William Morrow & Co.

2.    In Search of Excellence, by Tom Peters (of McKinsey & Co.): in its first year, sold more than 25,000 copies directly to consumers-then Warner sold 10 million more.

3.    Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun, by Weiss Roberts: sold half a million copies before being picked up by Warner.
Marketing With A Book

How much should you invest in the attract factor? That depends on your business goals, but here are some norms. Marketing costs for accounting firms average about 7 percent to 10 percent of gross revenue (Source: The New York Times, November 15, 2001). The typical architecture, engineering, planning, and environmental consulting firm spent a record 5.3 percent of their net service revenue on marketing (Source: ZweigWhite’s 2003 Marketing Survey of A/E/P & Environmental Consulting Firms). Mark LeBlanc, author of Growing Your Business, advises independent professionals to invest 35% of gross profits (after Cost of Goods Sold) in business development, which includes marketing and professional development like attending seminars and events (his are great, I attend several a year).

Here are some of the key benefits of following the Educating Expert Model:

1.    Allows your message to be heard above the noise of all the other professionals and consultants

2.    Systematizes your marketing with a proactive, monthly approach that is simple and affordable to implement

3.    Makes it easier for your clients and business advocates to refer potential clients to you

4.    Creates multiple streams of income because prospects actually pay for you to market to them

5.    Increases closing rates up to 50% to 100% by discovering and rehearsing the right questions to ask prospective clients

6.    Produces all-help, no-hype marketing you actually feel proud to communicate

7.    Quits wasting money on ineffective tactics like brochures, sponsorships and cold-calling

8.    Leverages your time so you get more results in less time

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