Your Branding, Marketing and Public Relations Message
Imagine if you had a clear, compelling and congruent marketing and PR message that consistently attracted business, prospects and publicity. In our Public Relations and marketing efforts, we must constantly be proactive and dynamic.
It’s time to “Kick Yourself in the Brand.”
Today I provided a presentation for the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) in San Antonio, TX that was titled “How to Build Your Proactive PR Strategy in 2009.” More than 90 professionals in nonprofits packed the room to learn as much as they could in 45 minutes about how to get free publicity and make news. There’s such a need for people to understand how to work with the media, create newsworthy stories and build relationships with reporters. Traditional media and how to get print, radio and TV interviews is awfully puzzling to laymen. Add online and social media to the mix and the result is more fear and puzzled faces. A combination of marketing, branding and PR is essential to the success of your organization.
I unveiled my discounted “Communications Audit” program called “Kick Yourself in the Brand” today to the AFP crowd because so many organizations, nonprofits and private businesses readily admit they are experiencing an identity crisis. In today’s meeting, most who attended confessed their marketing, branding and PR messages are completely off-base. The Communications Audits will bring clarity and clear the confusion. I will spend time on the phone (and on-site in the San Antonio area) to interview key players, and review brochures, press releases, newsletters, website content, public service announcements and more. Within a week you’ll have a complete critique on how you can improve your message and develop a compelling, congruent and concise presence. You’d be surprised how important it is to have an outside set of eyes and ears available to help and brainstorm. The other option is to take advantage of my Virtual PR Coaching through “Recession-Proof PR.”
We had people register on the spot, understanding they need to take immediate action and get different results. The Communications Audits, available at www.getinfrontcommunications.com, are discounted for a limited time. The key here is to understand that your presence affects your prosperity. Sign up today and be decisive that 2009 will be the year of your PR success. Let the Identity Crisis and confusion end now! Kick yourself in the brand…
Influence and Success in Life
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen were recently on Oprah and talked about their recently-released coffee table book titled Influence. Trust me, I’m no fan of their acting careers or clothing line but I am certainly impressed with the empire and fortune they have built. They are 22 years old and have out-marketed all of us!
The twins spoke with Oprah about their fashion designs and people who have made an impact on their careers, lives and work. For the book, they interviewed 20 people, including Diane Von Furstenburg and Lauren Hutton.
Who has influenced your career, life and work? If you were going to write your own coffee table book titled Influence, who would you interview?
My list includes Barbara Walters, Diane Sawyer, Linda Ellerbee, Howard Stern, Walter Cronkite, Maria Shriver, Marianne Williamson, Anna Quindlen, Louise Hay, Mary Tyler Moore, Jon Bon Jovi, Sarah Palin, Stevie Nicks, Deepak Chopra, The Dali Lama, Elizabeth Gilbert, Patricia Fripp, Wayne Dyer and Nelson Mandela.
Each person I have listed has had an impact on my values, success, motivation and attitude. Now consider this: why did you choose the people on your list? What would you ask them?
The bottom line: Think about the influences in your life and go one step further: Who do you have the ability to Influence?
Reinventing Yourself and the Shameless Art of Self-Promotion
The Most Valuable Player in the Superbowl was Santonio Holmes, the wide receiver on the Pittsburgh Steelers who caught the winning touchdown with just 35 seconds left in the game. Whether you agree with the referee’s call that Holmes was inbounds or not, it doesn’t matter. The interesting thing in learning more about #10 on the Steelers is that the 24-year-old says he grew up in a rough neighborhood in south Florida, chasing and killing rabbits in the swamps with his buddies for fun. When he got older Holmes says he sold drugs on the local street corner. He always played football. His big break came when he was drafted by Ohio State to play ball.
In an interview with the Associated Press’ Paul Newberry, Holmes said he was able to reinvent himself. He had been given a new chance when he got away from his rural hometown and onto a college campus.
Holmes is like many other famous and not-so-famous people who have had the opportunity to reinvent themselves (present company included). Consider singer and actress Cher, who has morphed before our eyes in many ways and clothing lines for decades. Angelina Jolie says for years she abused drugs, including heroin, and alcohol. She’s now a goodwill ambassador doing wonderful things around the world. Actor Paul Newman launched his own food line and donated proceeds to a nonprofit foundation for children.
It’s all in our personal brand, marketing and self-confidence. Too often, ordinary folks like you and me mistakenly lock ourselves into limiting beliefs from the past. We get stuck listening to negative self-talk and agreeing with other people’s poison that we have come to accept as reality. If someone had told me 15 years ago that I would be selling PR services and providing speaking and training programs, I would have laughed in their face. “That’s not me” I used to say.
You can pursue a new career path, learn a new skill, and explore talents that may be lying dormant. I work with a lot of news reporters who are losing their jobs and are disgusted with the doom and gloom of low-paying and competitive jobs. They lack the self-confidence to believe they have marketable skills that can be used to transition into new careers. Their self-esteem is non-existent because they believe that they are actually worth what their salary says they are worth. Someone else assigned a number to them and they fell for it.
In April, I will be hosting a program for news reporters and media professionals who want desperately to get out of the media business and reinvent themselves. They don’t know where to begin, and how to get out of their own way. I routinely get calls and emails from people who want to know how I made the successful transition years ago. They are hungry for advice, guidance and words of wisdom.
I reinvented myself. Santonio Holmes defied the odds and became someone else.
How about you? Do you need the self-confidence, vision and passion to grow and evolve with these changing times? Contact me at www.getinfrontcommunications.com for coaching and consulting.
