Cool PR & Mktg Speech Given Today...

I got really lucky: I was invited to hear Lee Carlson, the publisher of NJ Biz (the business journal for our state) speak to corporate women about Marketing and PR.  Lots of seriously well-connected folks, who do all sorts of interesting things.  (Only 1 realtor who is developing a coaching business for divorcing women) it was a lot of fun meeting these folks.

Ms. Carlson led off by asking asked how many people in the room did 10 things PER DAY to market and/or promote their business?  A handful raised their hands.  (I stared at the ugly art, and wondered if I should offer to "stage" their seminar room.)

Hm! She said.  You need to be doing 10. In fact, 10's not enough.  You need 11 and here's the 11th:

"Enter as many competitions as you can and celebrate the victory."

Then, prominently, on all of your marketing materials and press releases you put the results:

•◦          Named as 1 of NJ's Top Builders (means you entered the competition or were nominated)

•◦          Finalist in NJ's 40 under 40 List of Women Who Make a Difference (means you got honorable mention)

•◦          Top 5 Preferred Vendors for Coldwell Banker (you get the picture)

These statements all add credibility.  Each says, "This is someone we should be doing business with."

Better yet, nominating someone for one of these lists earns you huge good will.  She said that most men have no trouble nominating themselves, but women tend to be more reticent.  So build good will by nominating others is a great way for women, especially to get started with this tool.

So, competitions...

Are there any for stagers?

Most newspapers do lists and contests apparently because it boosts advertising, and the supplement with the winners listed lives on coffee tables for a year.

Women Business Owners, Women of Influence, Top 50 Women in Business, Best Place to Work, Broker of the Year, etc.

Anyone here ever won anything?

If we were the ones who suggested a competition to a sponsor, supplier or vendor - Like having a furniture rental company (and some other folks) sponsor a competition "Top 10 Stagers in Texas" - would that make our chances of placing, let alone winning, non-existent?  It's a helluva marketing idea for them, think of the list of stagers they'd have who'd suddenly know their inventory, but what would it do for all of us? 

 (There were some other neat points about PR, which I'll offer up in a seperate post.)