Power Marketing

Hurray! We've reached 500 posts on this blog.

The first post was six years ago - March 2006. When I started this blog I had no idea where it would lead me nor how long I would stick with it.

This was my first blog and I entered the blogosphere as a marketing experiment. The question on my mind was, "How will this help my business? The second question was, "How will I measure that?"





I can't put a number on it, but I believe it has been worthwhile. Here are some of the benefits that I've realized from blogging:

• New clients, followers and connections
• Revenue from advertising and product sales
• 500 published pages of material
• SEO enhancement of my websites
• Posts that I can point clients and prospects to with specific examples
• Received encouragement, questions and insights from readers
• Media interviews because of my published opinions 
• Deeper understanding on issues because of the desire to write valuable content

Writing helps you explore topics deeper and clarify your thinking. Writing articles forces you to compose 500, 800 or 1,200 word essays. Blog writing allows you to post a thought in as few words as it takes. It could be 50, 150 or 300 words.

There are many times when a blog post has helped me deal with a client's business issue or unexpectantly supplied an example for a speech.

There were times when the frequency of posts slowed down and I wondered, "What's the point?" You might have noticed that in recent months I've attacked this blog with renewed vigour and purpose.

I've made it to 500. I'll keep going.

Do you write a blog? How is it working for you?


George TorokKeynote Marketing SpeakerCo-author of Secrets of Power Marketing
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Stop Wasting your money on branding and start building profitable relationships


Listen in to my interview on PR 101 Radio as host, Erica Taylor, interviews me on the above topic. If you are wrestling with branding - you better listen. Could save you alot of money and agravation. Listen live and ask your questions.


When?

Live Wednesday Sept 24
12:00 noon - 1:00 pm PDT (California time)
Special Guest - George Torok


What is PR 101 Radio?

PR 101 Radio - Marketing Advice for Small Business is the world’s first live, call-in advice show providing insight into Public Relations, Marketing and Advertising.PR 101 Radio's Mission is to provide small- and medium-sized businesses (those with under 500 employees) and entrepreneurs expert knowledge and education about how to more effectively market their businesses and avoid costly pitfalls along the way.


Where Can I Listen to PR 101 Radio?

PR 101 Radio - Marketing Advice for Small Business airs weekly each Wednesday from 12pm-1pm PST. The program can be heard on:

wsRadio.com
iTunes Radio
Windows Media Player


The show anticipates drawing an initial combined weekly audience of a quarter million. The program is targeted to an educated audience of small- and medium-sized businesses and entrepreneurs.


Who Hosts PR 101 Radio?

PR 101 Radio - Marketing Advice for Small Business is hosted by Erika M. Taylor, CEO/Chief Publicist for the award-winning PR Agency, Three Girls Media & Marketing Inc. Taylor enjoyed an 18-year on-air career in the San Francisco Bay Area before transitioning to the Public Relations industry. She brings a unique insider perspective to working with the press, launching and marketing a business.

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George Torok
Marketing Expert & Author
Canadian Business Speaker

Marketing Blog Milestone: Post 251

Celebrate your milestones - that's good marketing. Reaching significant milestones in your business speaks to your credibility, stability and persistence. All those things scream lasting value.

This marketing blog has surpassed blog post number 250. This is post number 251.

Let's review some of the best and significant posts over the past two and 1/2 years:


1. It started with a confession and epiphany in January 2006.

Post Alpha - a new marketing blog
Just recently I remarked to a friend that, "Blogs are for hobbyists and dabblers. Serious business people don't have blogs. They have real websites."So here I am starting my own blog. Why?


2. A new marketing term is revealed and defined.

Barketing Defined
A few posts ago on this blog I introduced the term “Barketing”. Since then some of you have expressed an interest in that term and asked for further clarification. Where did the term originate? Right here on this blog. This is the first time in public.


3. An example of using controversy as a marketing tool.

Christian Crusaders want to discuss DaVinci
That headline in the Globe and Mail (May 19, 2006) caught my attention. Why? Because with the reported religious controversy over the movie, The DaVinci Code, this sounded like a different approach. And that statement is a positive one.


4. Lessons to make blogging easier.

How to Create Content for your Blog
The keys to a successful blog are: relevance, frequent updates and practicality. How can you create the content for your blog? Here are a few examples:


5. The best branding example I've seen.

Branding: Death Cigarettes
I heard the best yet “How to create your Brand” story on this podcast with UK entrepreneur BJ Cunnigham.BJ created a company called The Enlightened Tobacco Company in 1991, selling a cigarette called “Death Cigarettes”. It was presented in a black package emblazoned with a white skull-and-crossbones logo. Just imagine how this might appeal to the rebels.


6. A good example of bad marketing.

Travelodge Hotel Accuses You
At the Travelodge Hotel You Are Guilty Till Proven Innocent. At the Travelodge Hotel, (Burlington on the Lake) you are guilty till proven innocent. How’s that for customer service? How’s that for marketing?


7. The power of controversy and how it stimulates viral marketing.

Flick off!
How do you create a powerful viral marketing campaign? Clearly identify and know your target market. Really know them – what they do, where they go, how they think, what motivates them, how to grab their attention and how to speak their language. (How much of that do you know about your target market?)



8. A branding genius in the buff.

Richard Branson has Chahones
Richard Branson has ChahonesRichard Branson has chahones and he likes to show them off. Here he is running nude in the waves. Sir Richard thrives on challenge and controversy. He is the billionaire that has retained or reclaimed the boldness and brashness of a teenager. (How many boomers remember streaking?)


9. Example of partnering with a movie for cross promotion

Iron Man - the latest movie from Marvel Comics
Watch the trailer. It looks sharp. Looks like Marvel has successfully made the transition from comic book producer to movie producer. Several Marvel Comics have been transformed into movies but this is the first movie that Marvel had produced since they decided that they could do it themselves. (It's always enlightening to watch a child grow up.) Can you guess the name of the theme song for the Iron Man movie? Hint: The band is Black Sabbath.


10. Wake up call for small business - stop wasting your money on branding!

Forget branding, invest in relations
George Torok, Financial Post Published: Monday, May 12, 2008
The majority of business owners could be headed for disaster this year. Small business does best when it acts like small business. It does poorly when it blindly attempts to copy big business.The results of an Ipsos-Reid poll in March, 2008, should scare you. It found "a majority (59%) of small to medium-sized business owners have identified branding as a top priority."

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George Torok
Marketing Speaker
Business Speaker

Website Directories

Of course you want the search engines to find your website. You can submit your website to the search engines which simply invites the search bots to visit and crawl your site. Search engines are automated with little human interface. Theoretically the bots are constantly crawling the Internet and will eventually find every website. But who can wait? So submit your "invitation to crawl" to search engines.

Web directories are a different animal. They will never find you because they will never look for you. You need find them, knock on their door and sign their guest book. They will eventually read your entry in their guest book and might list you in their directory. There are both paid and free directories and many do both. You pay to get listed faster and more prominently. In most cases a real live human will review your entry before they list it. It is not near as automated as the search engines. Some say that the human element ensures that the listings are more relevant.

A directory listing does something important that the search engines do not - the directory listing is a permanent (subject to delisting) link to your site. And remember the search engines like your site if there are a lot of incoming links.

So for that reason you should submit your site to the search engines and list it in the directories.

Where can you find directories?

DMOZ
The Open Directory Project seems to be the best directory in which to list and it is free so that is the first directory in which to list. Plus many other directories use the results from DMOZ - including the Google Directory. You just need to look through the directory to find the best category for your site. Invest a little time to get this one right. It is worth the effort.

Yahoo Directory
Yahoo was originally a directory before Google convinced them to get in the search engine business. Then Yahoo bought Overture to have a search engine. The Yahoo directory costs $299 a year to be listed. Perhaps at one time it was worth it - today I don't think so. I'm sure that more people search on the Yahoo search engine than the Yahoo Directory.

There seem to be thousands of directories. I believe it that is worth while being listed in some of them. I suggest that getting your website listed in the first half dozen directories is a primary priority. After that - add your website to directory listings over time when you have the time.

Here is a helpful resource to find more directories:

SEO Company
This company is in the business of SEO and they have compiled a comprehensive list of hundreds of directories including helpful information such as directory page rank.

George Torok

Power Marketing

Marketing Speaker

Say ‘Thank you’ more often - and mean it.

Sounds simple – but I wonder how often you hear it. Do you hear ‘Thank you’ often enough? Do you read ‘Thank you’ often enough?

When was the last time you gave a gift and did not hear thank you?
When was the last time you held open a door and did not hear thank you?
When was the last time you paid your bill and did not hear thank you?

How did you feel when you expected thank you but did not hear it?
Why do you think that is?

We want to be appreciated. We want others to recognize our sacrifices, courtesies and generosities.

We want to hear ‘Thank you’.


The Learning Point

If you want to hear thank you – so do your clients, prospects and colleagues.

Who did you thank today?
Who will you thank tomorrow?
Who else will you thank this week?

Say thank you – and mean it.
Say thank you in an appropriate and meaningful way.
Say thank you often.

Thank you

George Torok
http://www.powermarketing.ca/