Jennifer Melnick Carota, aka The Gift Therapist, of Pittsburgh, Pa., writes:
“I have recently launched a new business, Virtual PR 101, that specializes in affordable social media marketing strategy, promotion, and coaching for small businesses and nonprofits.
“Services are provided a la carte, and range from basic blog set-up to the full development and execution of Facebook and Twitter outreach solutions.
“How can I promote my services to entrepreneurs and organizations who may be under the impression that PR services are too expensive or not within their budget? I really want to help small businesses and charitable organizations get noticed! Any help your Hounds can provide would be greatly appreciated!”
Thank you so much for posting, Joan. The direct link to my PR-Social Media Services page is http://www.JenniferCarota.com. I apologize for any confusion. I don’t profess to be an expert by any stretch, but wish to reach out and teach others how to expand their marketing efforts to include free social media tools such as Facebook, Twitter, Blogging, etc. If I can create a well respected brand on a shoestring, so can others! The success of the Gift Therapist speaks volumes. Thanks so much everyone! I look forward to your feedback!
Jennifer, I urge you to reconsider what you had to say about not “professing to be an expert by any stretch.”
If you want to sell services, you had darn better be an expert in whatever you are selling.
What, exactly, is an expert?
recommend that anyone who is an expert or wants to be one read the excellent White Paper on the topic of expertise. You can find it at my website at http://publicityhound.com/expertise.pdf. It was written by a group of professional speakers, but much of it applies to experts in any profession.
If you read the White Paper, I think you will quickly understand that you are an expert in the topic of PR to some extent. And there are many things you can continue to do to build on that expertise.
P.S. You do an amazing job of promoting yourself.
Give away something for FREE…works every time.
You’re so right, Leslie.
Free tips lists, ebooks, special reports, White Papers on social media and PR would enhance Jennifer’s credibility and expertise.
Here’s an article at my website that gives lots more ideas on other types of freebies:
http://publicityhound.com/free_publicity/Articles/PressReleaseFreebies.htm
Offer free or low-cost teleseminars or group programs (using social media to promote them, of course!!) to introduce your concepts to your target audiences. Having a fixed price option to get people started is a good way to get them in and get them started.
Offering structured programs for ongoing services also lowers the barrier to entry for new clients … take some of those “a la carte” services and bundle them together into a package – like “Social Media Start-up Package” — including an audio or video program that you can re-use, consultation with you, and follow-up evaluation of it once they’ve implemented it. Give a small discount for buying the package over the a la carte options — the buyer knows what the price will be (you can even offer payment options with installments along the way) and you sell more than you would with a single one of your services.
Bridget, it sounds like you’ve had some experience with Internet marketing.
Bundled packages, payment options and teleseminars are all excellent suggestions. Thanks for responding.
No offense, but wondering why I would hire someone to do my PR that can’t figure out how to do their own? If your business is doing low cost PR via social networking then do that for yourself. So many people use the social networking sites to promote themselves or at least have gone the step of setting up a “fan page” or a page just for the business on those sites. Find them, Friend them, then contact them and tell them how you help them take it to the next level.
Julie, one of the reasons that “Help this Hound” is so popular is because people (me included) are too close to our own situation or challenge to be able to look at it with a fresh set of eyes.
In fact, I included my own Help This Hound question ***about publicy*** in last week’s newsletter. I’m the publicity expert and SHOULD have been able to come up a long list of clever ideas to promote the 500th issue of my free ezine. But I’m juggling three major projects and I’m pressed for time. So I reached out to my readers for help.
They made several excellent suggestions. And I now have a contest under way, thanks to two of the ideas.
Many people who need help are PR people. And my readers have been very generous with their help and ideas. Jennifer was smart to submit her question to me.
Volunteer with a non-profit or government-supported organization for small business, like a micro lender, SBA Women’s Business Center, Small Business Development Center or SCORE. I used to work a micro lender/WBC, and was always looking for an expert to speak at networking groups. If they were willing to share half an hour of their time and knowledge, they were more than welcome to hand out cards and spend a few minutes talking about their services.
Once you book a couple of these gigs, make sure that they’re getting listed in networking calendars, the events section of the paper, etc. for additional exposure – and more attendees (so long as it’s not a members-only type event, of course). Then not only are you sharing knowledge with the organization’s clients, you’re helping promote them too.
And of course… use your own social media efforts to get the word out about what you do, who you target and how well you do it! Create a blog with tips; partner with nonprofit bloggers like Beth Kanter, Katya Andresen, or Kivi Leroux Miller; use Twitter to connect to local entrepreneurs who are already using and therefore interested in social media.
A blog is an absolute must!
Here’s a tip for getting onto the speaking circuit.
If Jennifer is willing to speak for free in her own community, she’ll find dozens of business groups that would love to hear her talk about how to use social media as part of a PR campaign.
Once she has won them over, she can then try to convince that same group to sponsor a half-way workshop with her. People pay to attend. She gets part of the revenue and, more importantly, she will have people in the audience who will want to hire her to do the work for them.
This was an important part of my marketing strategy when I started my business.
I went to your site. I was very impressed with your page showing up number 1 on my Google search. However, all my screen-reader showed was a video. No place where I can contact you. I need you to look at my sites, http://www.map-n.org and http://www.energydrinks.simmonsbosscreations.com/index.HTM and let me know what needs to be done. Thank you.
@Julie–I am very confident in my PR and Social Media abilities. I’m merely looking for creative strategies to break through the cost barrier. Many small businesses and entrepreneurs have very solid stereotypes about PR/Social Media price structures, therefore, making it much more difficult to penetrate that market. And thank you all for your wonderful ideas! I especially love the “Start Up Package” idea. Thank you Bridget for that one 🙂 And thank you Joan for providing me with this awesome opportunity to ask the hounds!
Jennifer, here are three ways to break through the price barrier:
–Case studies on how small business people have seen a return on investment from social media. You can use me as an example if you wish. This week, my VA started posting more items to my Facebook Fan Page. In at least three cases, an item led directly to the sale of a product. I know a professional speaker who booked a $7,500 keynote address 48 hours after writing a tweet.
–Video testimonials from those same people who have seen ROI.
–Linking from your blog or website to other people who are blogging about their social media success stories.
Hi Jennifer —
First of all, the name “Gift Therapist” doesn’t express what you’re trying to do here. Secondly, demonstrate the value of your service – there’s plenty of data to support the value of “investing” in social media. Clearly communicate how what you’ll be doing will pay for itself many times over in increased traffic and sales. Third, follow Joan’s example of providing free tips so that your target market realizes how little they know about social media and how much they NEED you! Good luck!
Thank you all so much for contributing your ideas and support. It’s always 100 times harder to come up with workable ideas for yourself when you’re knee deep in the thick of things. It seems all of my creative energy goes to my clients! @Nancy–I built the Gift Therapist brand using social media and free resources found on the internet, including Joan’s website 🙂 Because I was so successful in such a short time, I was encouraged to start a business helping others understand and utilize social media and public relations. And here we are! Sorry for the confusion, Nancy!
I found this site through Jennifer’s posting and suggestion. I’m looking forward to learning more and checking in from time to time. Great comments all in all.
Offer to speak at a Chamber of Commerce function. It is a great way to get exposure – these events are always promoted in the newspaper and in the chamber’s email newsletters. Plus, there is implied endorsement from the chamber.