30 Days to Online PR and Marketing Success. Gail Z. Martin

      Look for win-win scenarios.

      Take strategic action.

      Stay visible.

      In the next 30 days, you can see your social media marketing go from zero to zoom by applying the RESULTS formula.

      Recommit to set aside at least 30 minutes each day to developing your social media marketing strategy for the next 30 days. (Thirty minutes is a minimum. Once you get started, you’ll want to spend an hour, so block out the time now.)

      Expect success by throwing yourself whole-heartedly into this 30-day commitment. If the little voice in the back of your head keeps saying, “This is ridiculous. This isn’t going to work,” you are programming yourself for failure. Program yourself for success by writing down 30 things you would like to achieve from your online marketing and PR strategy. Some ideas include:

      – Reach new ideal prospects who may not know about your product/service and give them an incentive to learn more.

      – Gain visibility in local, regional, national and professional media.

      – Position your company as the expert and leader in its field.

      Considering these three examples, come up with your own list of 30 Success Expectations and keep them handy to check back on.

      Seek partners. Success in the online world is just as dependent on partnership and collaboration as in the “real” world. These partners might be trusted vendors on whom you rely for your online marketing tools, ecommerce applications, or PR distribution. They might also be companies in non-competing fields that serve the same customer base with whom you can create products and joint ventures.

      Understand your audience in more profitable detail than ever before with the exercises in Chapter 3. Make a list of 30 things you wished you knew about your best customers – and create 30 questions you can use for quizzes, surveys and online discussions.

      Look for win-win scenarios. When you select among online PR opportunities, be sure the sites you pick are frequently used by reporters, bloggers, and others in the media.

      Take strategic action by putting what you learn in this book to work for you. Be sure to do the exercises at the end of each chapter. Complete all 30 chapter exercises in the next 30 days and watch your online marketing and PR soar!

      Stay visible by keeping your name in the press through online PR. Create a list of 30 upcoming events, newsworthy items or announcements you could promote with online PR.

      Most people put off doing marketing because they think it’s too difficult or too time-consuming. By using the principles in this book, you’ll do more in 30 minutes a day for 30 days than most business owners do all year. That’s the “Get Results” secret weapon – strategic, consistent effort in pursuit of clear, measurable results.

      2 The Most Powerful Online PR and Marketing Tool: The Business Plan

      If the idea of creating a business plan makes your eyes glaze over, don’t worry. This chapter isn’t about the kind of detailed business plan you’d need to get a loan from a bank or money from a venture capitalist. In fact, the kind of business plan I’m going to show you just might be the most dynamic document you’ve ever created, and it is likely to be the most profitable.

      If you’ve already written a business plan, dust it off and take a look at it. If it’s more than two years old, its shelf life has expired. Why? Consumer expectations are constantly changing in response to economic conditions, new technology, and lifestyle shifts. So be prepared to make some changes in your approach to assure that it’s up to date.

      If you’ve never written a business plan, you’re about to find out how to make it your most powerful marketing tool. Pull out a pad of paper and a pen and let’s get started.

      Start off by defining what you mean by “success” for the next 12 months. Success can mean different things to different people. Your definition should be what will satisfy you, and it’s likely to evolve through time. But unless you know what your success target is for the immediate future, you won’t know when you’ve hit the mark.

      Here are some ways to define business success for any given year:

      – Profit.

      – Market share.