Posted: January 1, 2009 | Author: Rebekkah Hilgraves | Filed under: blogging, marketing, networking, social media | Tags: advertising, HARO, Help a Reporter Out, http://www.helpareporter.com, marketing, Peter Shankman, PR, Shankman, shetech, shetech and company, sponsor, twitter |
For some time now (many months), we have been corresponding with, and following the activities of, the inimitable Peter Shankman (http://www.shankman.com). He is a master of the outrageous, the unthinkable, the effective PR campaign strategy. We follow him on Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/skydiver) and are linked several ways through other social networks.
Peter publishes an amazing list called “Help a Reporter Out” or HARO (http://www.helpareporter.com), which is a karma-based subscription list designed to connect reporters with sources. Its non-reporter members are mostly made up of PR firms and marketing agencies, blog authors, and companies who want to connect with these reporters. Originally a group on Facebook, its numbers grew so rapidly that Peter had to move it to another system that would accommodate its exponential growth (from around 1,200 when I joined earlier in 2008 to over 35,000 as of this writing — kudos, Peter!).
Why am I telling you about this? Because, first of all, you should join, and there are a lot of reasons (I’ll let Peter explain all that). Whether you’re a reporter or a source or a PR firm or some other entity, it’s an extremely high-quality list. Peter screens the queries personally, and also screens the members. As soon as he hears about a pitch that is way off the mark, or resembles spam–or both– he removes the list member in question, often with very humorous (and embarrassing, for the spammer) commentary.
There’s another reason as well: SheTech and Company has decided to sponsor one of the subscription messages in the future (Peter offers space at the top of the message for sponsors). Now, we’re a small firm, just getting our feet under us. This represents something of a risk for us, involving a substantial chunk of our marketing budget. But we know a good bet when we see one. This list comprises exactly the kinds of contacts we want to reach: very high quality contacts around the country who might just appreciate the value of a boutique firm that offers personal service. I, personally, have learned a great deal from watching activity on the list and watching Peter’s movements on Twitter, and take the opportunity whenever possible to help my clients take advantage of the information.
Exposure for us means exposure for our clients. It will also, we hope, mean a number of excellent new clients, which will increase our ability to offer excellent service to all our clients.
Here are some statistics from other recent sponsors:
http://www.covingtoncreations.com/blog/yesterdays-peter-shankman-haro-ad-success.php
and
http://blog.allyzabba.com/2008/12/advertising-that-works/
What this means is that, really, there’s very little risk in the end. We stand to gain, our clients stand to gain. We trust it.
Thanks for the opportunity, Peter!
Happy New Year, all–may your 2009 be filled with joy, love, peace, prosperity, good health, and may at least one of your dearest dreams come true.
Rebekkah
Posted: December 23, 2008 | Author: Rebekkah Hilgraves | Filed under: marketing, networking, search engine friendly, social media | Tags: brand name, branding, Carpet Solutions of Knoxville, Eco Clean Carpet Solutions, exposure, logo, marketing, referral, trademark, ValPak, Vienna Coffee Company |
In our struggling economy, it is more important than ever that you spend time, energy, and yes, money, to market your business. Even if SheTech and Company weren’t in the marketing business, we would say this!
But this is not to say that you must merely throw your money at any marketing program that comes to your attention; that would likely be ineffective, and therefore wasteful.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: December 9, 2008 | Author: Rebekkah Hilgraves | Filed under: blogging, marketing, networking, social media | Tags: kindness, social networking, web design, web sites |
Doesn’t it seem as though, some days, all the electronics around you conspire to behave badly, or not work at all?
Today has been one of those days for me, and it makes me stop and count my blessings. I have my own company, and I must remind myself on days like this that if I didn’t have clients, I wouldn’t have these problems. And if didn’t have clients, I wouldn’t have this business. And that would suck.
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Posted: November 4, 2008 | Author: Rebekkah Hilgraves | Filed under: blogging, election, networking, social media | Tags: election, obama, social media, social networking |
This night marks a new era in American history, and changes the world in which we live. We have, for the first time in our history, elected a black man to be the leader of this country, and by a wide margin. Now it’s time for the divisive politics to end, and for members of both parties to work together for common goals. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: October 31, 2008 | Author: Rebekkah Hilgraves | Filed under: blogging, marketing, networking, social media | Tags: blog, blogging, chris brogan, chrisbrogan.com, communication, networking |
This is a real-life story. We are regularly trolling the web for great information about marketing, public relations, and innovation in those industries. There are a few we visit on a regular basis. One such site, Chris Brogan’s blog, had a great post not long ago asking for feedback from companies like ours… Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: June 12, 2008 | Author: Rebekkah Hilgraves | Filed under: blogging, networking, social media | Tags: blog, blogging, network, social media, social network |
An amazing thing happened with one of our client sites recently: we had barely completed the design and “thrown the switch”, when they started getting hits on the site and queries for the business. Quite literally within less than 24 hours… Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: May 16, 2008 | Author: Rebekkah Hilgraves | Filed under: networking, social media | Tags: networking, social media, social networking, twitter |
Another in a long line of sites devoted to online networking, Twitter is quickly gaining attention as a way to stay in touch easily, and update your community about what you’re doing (you can find us at http://www.twitter.com/shetech). Like any networking/posting tool, though, it can be overused — and it’s highly tempting to do so! MarketingSherpa offers some terrific advice for what to do and what not to do. Read the article here…
Posted: May 5, 2008 | Author: Rebekkah Hilgraves | Filed under: networking, social media | Tags: facebook, fastpitch, linkedin, networking, social media, social networking |
Over the last couple of years, the so-called “Web 2.0″ phenomenon has really taken hold. Social and business networking sites have grown, new ones are added practically every week and people (including yours truly) keep signing up. Why? Because they work!
A few weeks ago, I finally broke down and joined Facebook (feel free to visit my profile!). Now, why would someone nicknamed “SheTech”, who actually specializes in online marketing, resist joining such a phenomenon? Because I knew that I would 1) be bombarded by messages from other Facebook denizens (and I was), and 2) I would spend so much time poking around that my time management skills (such as they are) would fly right out the window.
The stuff is addictive! And it has changed the face of how people reach one another, both for personal and business use.
Late last week I joined another site, geared toward business networking. FastPitch is all about business networking and appears to be built around the BNI philosophy of “Givers Gain” (I had suspected it’s run by the same people, but it turns out it’s not, just highly recommended by BNI’s founder, Dr. Ivan Misner) — you create good karma by referring business to other people, and what goes around comes around. It’s a philosophy of enlightened self-interest, and more and more businesses are jumping on this particular bandwagon.
I haven’t gotten any business out of it yet, nor am I expecting to; however, I have already made some very interesting connections around the country in the way of strategic alliances. There are many members representing companies that do things SheTech and Company does not do, but that would make a great addition to the suite of products and services we offer. Everybody wins.
What is it about these networks that make them so appealing? In this age of global communication, they offer a great way to reach out to people around the world with like interests. We really are social creatures. We like to have friends, and as the world becomes less and less formal, networks such as these offer ways for us to stay in touch with friends, colleagues, family, classmates, etc., without the pressure of having to write perfect purple prose (there are some of us, I admit, who will always be sticklers for language).
Networking sites also offer a way to create “buzz” about your product or service in a way that traditional marketing methods can’t touch. Some of the most successful marketing campaigns I have ever seen were created for next to nothing by way of Web 2.0 sites — one a technology company and the other a musician/composer, both using networking sites to create “street teams” to generate interest in what they do, and spreading the word far more widely and for far less money than any newspaper or trade magazine could possibly offer!
Sign me up!
Until next time…
SheTech
Facebook profile: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1156998576
Rebekkah Hilgraves
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