Monthly Archives: February 2016

Blogging, Marketing, Social Media

Marketing Through Other’s Blogs

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“What we yearn for as human beings are to be visible to each other” Jacqueline Novogratz

Millions of posts happen on Facebook and what do you see next to your blog response? A gravatar. A picture that links to your Facebook page. But do you realize the Internet blogs have been allowing you to do this for years and the talented marketers of the world have been leaving breadcrumbs for others to follow?

Gravatars are not new, just overlooked.

Gravatar - Marketing

Here is how you can leave marketing breadcrumbs for others to follow.

Search Engine Optimization  (SEO) companies have suggested the concept of improving Google rankings. You must be active on the Internet.  They recommend being a guest blogger or leaving comments on related websites.

Spammers love leaving comments, and they leave links to a website. Many great people leave comments and have a gravatar with an image or logo that when clicked, links this breadcrumb back to their contact information. Breadcrumbs allow search engines, individuals and bloggers to verify the user. No longer are you a spammer, but a real individual that can be followed and credentials verified to your creditability links.

How to create a Gravatar

I created my first Gravatar years ago, and it’s straightforward to do.   Go to this URL http://en.gravatar.com/ register. Once registered, update your link and contact information. A gravatar will be created with your image/logo and will appear next time you posts to a web blog.

You’re now leaving breadcrumbs on the Internet for bloggers, clients, fans and search engines to follow. Become visible and valuable in your blog marketing in less than 90-minutes.

Here is my Gravatar:

Gravatar - Dale Obrochta

http://en.gravatar.com/balloonanimals

Place your mouse on my picture located in the signature and see my gravatar in action.
Uncategorized

How to Generate a Newspaper Article for Marketing Purposes

Press Release - Dale

The Press Release – The Art of Self-Promotions

Do you feel excited when a friend emails, posts, or calls telling you they just read an article about your company or service in the newspaper? I know it puts a smile on my face.

“Daddy, Ms. Simpkins saw you in the paper!” my son yells as he runs into the house from school. Ms. Simpkins, the 1st-grade teacher, recognized me from an article that was written about a corporate charity event at which I entertained early in the month.

Several weeks later, I’m talking with extended family at a birthday party, and somebody says, “Hey, I saw you in the newspaper.” This is no surprise to me. I have been playing John Appleseed for years.

The legendary John Appleseed introduced apple trees to large parts of Pennsylvania, Ontario, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, as well as the northern counties of present-day. Over time many of the trees grew and flourished. Over the year, I have been planting my seeds…news releases.

News releases have been used by major companies around the world for decades. As long as companies are making “news,” they’re going to keep sending them to news media outlets. Notice I said news media outlets… a press release can be sent to radio and TV stations, magazines, newspapers, and blogs. We have more outlets now than we had ten years ago to publicize a company’s success.

Every year I send out press releases. Some individual seeds make it into the newspaper, while others die before they can even take hold. However, for those that do grow into a story, they generally flourish and generate marketing that I would have typically paid $100’s if not $1,000’s of advertising dollars for, all from a press release that takes about 90 minutes to create.

Writing a press release is not difficult; you need a human interest story built into the press release. In this example, I appealed to the editor’s interest in community, church, and schools. Without this hook, it would be just me talking about a balloon show. Interesting to me, but not the editor’s readers. Bottom line…the article does not get published.

I have found that I don’t have to wait for an editor to publish my story. News outlets are now allowing you to post your news. I could wait, hope, wish and pray that my article gets published, or I can log into an online news outlet and publish my news.

After I self-publish my news, I use social media to share my story. Months later at a family event I hear…”I saw you in the newspaper.” “Really,” I say with a smile.

It’s time for you to start planting your news seeds, for when you do, it will get you the marketing you need to grow your business.

If you’re unsure on how to create a press release, then get my e-document on How to Write a Grand Opening Press Release. This e-document will guide you through the process of writing a press release for a special event.

Marketing

How to Find the Best Clients

FIshing for Clients - Dale ObrochtaFinding the best clients is like fishing. When I fish, I see minions swimming by the shore. My bait and hooks are too big for their tiny months and are not the fish I’m looking to catch. I’m bass fishing, and that requires me to understanding the fish’s characteristics. With a little practice and knowledge, I can skillfully catch a bass.

Fishing is all about knowing what the fish eats when it eats, and where it lives; I use this same logic when marketing. I define the client I’m looking to catch in detail.

I define the perfect client by who they are, their educational background, job title, places they do business, who they interact with both socially and business-wise, and create a clear picture of the perfect client I want to work within the coming year.

I’ve personally evaluated my business and have found people that I like to work with as an entertainer. My crucial client are people who own a business, have young kids, have an interest in sports and the community, are detailed, finically established, religious, and married.

Characteristics of their events are multiple hours, fancy parties, are concerned about my wellbeing, willing to take advice, offer me food and drink, will reimburse for parking, recommend me to others, willing to pay top dollar for my service, and will interact like a long lost friend and not a paid helper.

Now that I have defined who my perfect client is and their characteristics I can now go fishing for them. I now troll networking groups, Chamber of Commerce, sporting and church events for these clients.

Defining my clients is reshaping the way I market and is making it enjoyable and profitable to work with these individuals. It takes works to land these clients, but the results are well worth the efforts.