How to write it and

where to send it!

Last night, some of the “unwritten rules” of news release structure and engagement were addressed http://bit.ly/aDKj4H . . . now here’re some basics on how to write a news release, and what to do with it.

     A good rule of thumb guide for your headline is to summarize the “hot spot” of the release in seven words or less and, whenever possible, include your business name in those seven words. Many professionals recommend starting your release with a brief, provocative question that gets a payoff in the text, or with a short summarizing quote that sets up the text.

     When quotes are used, include the source’s name, title and affiliation. ALWAYS (NO EXCEPTIONS) SPELL EVERY NAME, TITLE AND AFFILIATION EXACTLY CORRECT.

     Your first paragraph needs to deliver the meat of the whole release. It needs to answer the questions: Who? What? When? Where? Why? and How? Many times, a rushed editor who’s short on space or air time will just use the first paragraph. And even when the entire release is used, the first paragraph still must serve to “hook in” readers, viewers, listeners, visitors. 

     Give the first paragraph NEWSWORTHY SUBSTANCE and CLOUT.

     Use the balance of your release to support the heading and the first paragraph. Leave details like directions, address, related issues, and secondary points and quotes for the end. Don’t stray from the central message of the release, and don’t try to pack in too much information. Editors and writers discard and delete long rambling quotes and stories. If they want more, they’ll call you.

     Supplementing your release with a captioned photo (especially something unique or candid, which is far better than yearbook profile style) increases your media coverage odds substantially. (When there’s heavy news that day, and not enough room for the release, an editor may throw in a captioned photo. Some news coverage beats no news coverage!)

     Okay, the thing is done. Now what? After getting your media, customer, and supplier contact email and address lists out, my first recommendation (if you haven’t already done it) is to go to www.BizBrag.com and sign up. 24/7, you get a FREE online news release posting, and email distribution to the global, local, or specialized market emails you designate (including any media email addresses you plug in).

     Because BizBrag services are so ideal for do-it-yourselfers, it’s a great place to start and build with. After punching in your “profile,” you just type in your release and even add a photo if you like, then BizBrag dresses it up, puts it into their homepage news rotation and sends it out for you to whatever email addresses you select, giving your business a third party endorsement look. Upgrades are available but not required and I’m told the first 10,000 sign-ups get a super, fixed-for-lifetime discount. 

     Happy News Releasing! 

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Keep Your Delete

Button Handy

While Sorting

Out Prospects!

     I like to wake up every morning feeling thankful to still be here and reassuring myself that I am part of a healthy global society. And every morning without fail, my hopes for the healthy global society part go down the tubes when I boot up.

     There it is in my face: the never-ending daily bombardment of sicko spam messages cluttering up my email system and (until the recent installation of blocking software) my blog site.

     It’s almost inconceivable that there are so many insecure, neurotic, deranged people out there hovering maliciously over their keyboards. Are they zealously rubbing their slimy little hands together? Are they smacking their sinister (and diseased, I’m sure) lips in excitement over having sent out rampaging waves of garbage to millions of annoyed recipients.

     Hey, I’m all for freedom of speech, but what about freedom of listening? Where are the rights of those among us who are simply not interested and haven’t the time to waste listening to or reading (or even deleting) the cursed mental case nonsense that spews forth to our monitors as we sleep and work?

     All of us, I guess, could go on into infinity with this evil, insulting, intrusive subject matter, but I’m not sure there will ever be an answer without regulation, and I’d rather have spam. So I’ll stop this diatribe and instead mention that the whole distasteful issue reminds me that we have to spend much of our business lives fending off spammy prospective customers too.

     It doesn’t matter if you’re in retail, wholesale, manufacturing, or professional practice . . . whether you run a multi-million dollar operation out of a huge complex or you work at your kitchen table . . . practically every day, most business owners and managers and entrepreneurs and sales professionals are forced to spend inordinate amounts of time having to qualify, or sort through, questionable prospects to determine if they are or could be legitimate customers.

     Here’s the point: You can’t be afraid of losing business by being (pleasantly please) direct with prospects. If someone is that unstable, uninformed or uncaring that she or he can’t give you a straight answer as to what his or her needs are, odds are you won’t win a purchase commitment no matter what you say or do anyway. 

     If a prospect is unable to share her or his impressions of your product or service ability to meet or exceed those needs, that person is not ready for you and what you sell. You may be dealing with someone who is on a fishing or tire-kicking expedition, or simply can’t afford the price-tag or the emotional attachment.

     When you’re not ready to write off a resistant or noncommittal prospect, you need to be thinking about how much more resourceful you can be with the time you’re spending trying to turn the QE2 in a narrow river, when a small boat will get you across right away.

     Develop a personal system for sorting out prospects that includes great respect and genuine appreciation (return visits are always possible!), and that injects some reasonable haste. Then stick to it. Second thoughts don’t work in sports or business. Rely on your own judgement, and trust yourself more.  

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Yes, you get

what you pay for!

Stop wasting time looking for magazine articles to guide your way. 

     You will not find actionable, productive problem-solving steps to take in magazines. The so-called experts whose guest-lecture style writing is published routinely in trade and professional journals may arouse your interest, and may carve out some fascinating new research directions, but odds are they haven’t a clue about the kinds of help you really need.

     How can I say that so authoritatively?

1) Common sense dictates (and has been soundly proven) that the best solution to any group, organization or business problem lies within the group, organization or business that has the  problem. A good, experienced outside consultant brought in under your wing can quickly integrate into your group, organization or business— plus bring  invaluable, informed, fresh perspectives to your table. 

People who are skilled at this are generally too busy with hands-on activities to be  writing about their experiences. And even when they do manage to squeeze in a story or two, it will never be de-fined with the exact same dynamics that are giving you headaches.

2) Early on when I couldn’t make enough money consulting, I used to write many of these milquetoast monologues. And, I can assure you, practical application never factored in as long as the publisher or editor was happy and I got paid.

Besides, what on Earth would a publisher or editor know about your business? Most of them can’t even tend profitably to their own affairs. It’s like inviting  the wholeheartedly incompetent federal government to step in and run your business.

     So, let’s get back to the kinds of help you really need. First of all, you need an action approach and realistic, flexible thinking support. Whatever you might read in a trade or professional publication is not likely to be action-oriented, and even if it is, it surely won’t be flexible and realistic enough to apply to your unique needs. While problems are not usually unique, solutions–real ones, lasting ones–typically are.

     The current issue of a major industry trade magazine features a cover story titled “The Making of a Manager” and proceeds to say nothing of any useful consequence. Instead of providing some insight on how to initiate manager development, the article focuses on all the reasons (mostly questionable) to promote from within rather than hire from outside.

     The article offers no input about the important differences that need to be addressed between, e.g., being a sales or customer service rep vs. being a sales or customer service manager. There’s no attention given to the most critical step involved with “The Making of a Manager” which is learning to let go. In order to do the job of motivating others to do the tasks that one used to do firsthand, requires learning how to let go of doing the tasks oneself.

     This is no doubt not addressed because to do so would upset the writer’s premise and purpose to promote internal promotion instead of finding the best person to do the job. 

     BOTTOM LINE: Read trade and professional press items that interest you, if you have the time, but don’t expect to find lasting and productive answers until you’re willing to bite the bullet and pay for someone who can help coach you and guide your people through the solution process.

Visit Hal at www.TheWriterWorks.com

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Only 16%

of Thirty Million

US Small Businesses 

Use Social Media!

     We have already recently heard that fewer than half of America’s 29.7 million small businesses actually have their own websites, and were astonished. When you’re clicking back and forth to your own and other sites all day, it’s incredulous to believe that everyone else is not. Well, now we have more fuel for the opportunity fires.

     Results of a poll http://bit.ly/bWvym3 commissioned by EMPLOYERS, a small business insurance company, was reported today in Angelique Rewers’ final edition of  The Corporate Communicator (rolling over next week into her new online publication, “BRILLIANCE … Rich, Smart and Happy” — Watch for it. Angelique is a sensational writer and online publisher!).

     The poll is a reality slap! 

     Bottom line: You thought the whole world was TWITTER and Facebook crazy and that any business worth their salt had to be heavily engaged in this explosive new media form with knock-’em-dead marketing messages and links galore. Not according to the 500 small business owners and managers surveyed:  the total number of small businesses using social media for marketing is hovering somewhere around a very unimpressive 16%.

     But what does this mean? First of all, consider the vast untapped market potential this information suggests. What a fantastic opportunity this awareness serves for those who focus their businesses on Internet marketing development, and on small business development and related services.

     Just consider the prospect pool. There are more businesses out there who need what you have than there are those who already have it, and clearly everyone will at some point down the road indeed have both feet in the websites and social media arenas.

     Now add to that mix those who already have websites and social media savvy. They either do or will soon need overhauls, updates, upgrades, revitalizations, and expanded, pizazzed-up, better-functioning services. Nowhere does this ratchet up service needs more profoundly than with content development (copywriting) because word content is king in the visual world of the Internet. [If you need help with this and you’ll pardon my brashness, you can find my rates and services at www.TWWsells.com]

     To top off the survey findings, the majority of small businesses leveraging social media are finding it effective, more than half those interviewed believe that having a social media presence is important, and nearly 60 % who do use it say it has provided value to their businesses. So, how much farther does the gauntlet need to be thrown down to you, for you to consider crossing the moat?

     What are you waiting for?

Comment below or Hal@BusinessWorks.US Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You! Make it a GREAT Day! 

When you add

a splash of red

to a sea of blue,

people stop

noticing the blue…

     My wife Kathy (God Bless Her!) has been my business partner for 23 years. It takes an extraordinarily special relationship to survive and thrive in the same workspace AND the same homespace. 

     Oh, but don’t thinkI have a limited perspective on this. I’ve worked with every kind of FAMILY business imaginable … from restaurants, HVAC, farms, clothing, sewage, chiropractic services, heart surgery, landscaping, mattresses, trucking, dentistry, lumber, accounting, candy and travel, to manufacturing of computer and rocket-ship parts that fit under your fingernail. And that’s just my tip- of-the-iceberg list.

     Yeah, you might say, but just doing their brochures and websites doesn’t put you in the thick of things. How do you know what it’s really like? As a management consultant, trainer, coach, and counselor, believe me I’ve seen it all. I’ve managed succession planning, rookie coaching, crisis intervention, family foundations, partnership formations, partnership separations, and one fist fight.  

     The biggest problem with family business is family. Family relation-ships are a hotbed of emotions. Consider the statistics that claim every one comes from a dysfunctional family, which means there are an awful lot of weirdos out there. When the dysfunctional types become part of the family business, people see the business as dysfunctional. When you add a splash of red to a sea of blue, people stop noticing the blue.

Only a handful of really smart family business leaders have the good sense to realize a proven professional can help grow the business AND save the family.”

     When high emotions reign in a family business, you can be sure the business will not be a recommended long-term investment. Business ventures can be immensely emotional and supercharged, but keeping control of all that energy requires great leadership finesse, objectivity, and balance.

     Imagine a ship in a stormy sea, with an angry, blood-vessel-on-the-cusp-of-bursting, near-incoherent, screaming captain at the controls. You’d want to be figuring out the quickest route to the lifeboats. Some family businesses keep these stormy sea antics below deck, but they still take their toll.

You’d want to be figuring out the

quickest route to the lifeboats.”

     Here’s the good news: None of it is necessary. Here’s the bad news: Only a handful of family business leaders have the good sense to realize a proven professional can help grow the business AND save the family. The basic principles of anger management, stress management, time management, communication skills (especially effective listening), goal-setting, and leadership transparency are the ingredients of family business transformation and success. Someone who knows how and when to use these tools can help you get the red splash out of your sea of blue, and steady the controls.  

     The more generations involved, the greater the need. The more family members involved, the greater the need. The solution direction is simple. It takes a commitment to want to succeed, a willingness to share “dirty laundry” with an “outsider” (and a sense of partnership and perseverance with that outsider) to combine forces to make a difference.

     Family business growth and development is directly tied to the 4 R’s: Receptivity, Responsiveness, Responsibility and Respect. If those are present, an experienced coach can help them all work for the good of the business, and the good of the family.  

Comment below or Hal@BusinessWorks.US Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You! Make it a GREAT Day! 

“So, ARE you

The Boss,

or not?”

(Part II of II)

    I heard a couple of resistant barks over my post last night which identified business owner / manager / operator limitations as being “self-imposed,” and which attributed business behavioral limitations to titles.

     Okay, I can accept that certain out-of-touch types of people find it difficult to buy into the thinking that they could possibly be doing themselves in, but the truth is that every limitation IS chosen and self-imposed, or is the result some choice that set that limitation in motion to start with.

     As for behaviors attached to titles, one need not look any further than government and corporate life to see evidence of this. For those who inhabit such grand seas of incompetence — titles are security blankets. Titles are used more to impress others than to designate responsibility.  

     Here’s what happens: I ask you what do you do for a living? You define yourself by saying, “I’m a business owner. I run the Outer Space Music Company; you know, songs for the future; that sort of thing.” I ask you for some recent examples. “Oh, my New Release Manager handles those. But I could check my Archive Manager for some older titles. What is it you’re looking for?”

     Well, I hate to tell you, Good Buddy, but if you own and run a business and have to rely on others to answer questions about the products or services you produce, you have let (chosen for) your title to get in the way of success. You are thinking “I am the Boss.

     When you think of yourself AS the Boss, you think you are entitled to let your specialists handle the day-to-day stuff while you go to The Downtown Presidents’ Club, the Better Business Bureau, and the Chamber of Commerce, and lunch with the bankers and play golf with the investors and . . .”

     You have created self-imposed limitations to be doing what you think you SHOULD be doing instead of what needs to be done. 

     There are in each person’s mind different specific sets of words, terms, responsibilities and behaviors associated with every title. Here’s a quick little word association game for your brain . . . What do you conjure up in your mind when I say: “President”? “CEO”? “Business Owner”? “Senior Executive Vice President”? “Practice Administrator”? “General Contractor”? “Captain”? “Post Master”? “Sales Manager”? “Officer”? “Shrink”? “Lawyer”? “Coach”? “Consultant”? “Princess”? “Union Leader”? “Community Organizer”? “Trainer”?

     Try these titles on 100 different people; you’ll get 100 different answers.

     When you think of yourself as “The Boss” you are preventing yourself from taking necessary steps outside that “Boss Box” to move your business forward. You are limiting yourself, and consequently your business. And it’s your choice.

Open Minds Open Doors. 

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“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson] 

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals. God Bless You.

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

Start with

INTROSPECTION.

Then, add the

decorations. . .

     There comes a time in every economic curve (and especially like now, where the curve has become a plummet) when we must stop the centrifuge that has our backs slammed up against the spinning wall. Nice imagery, huh? Ever feel like that, or am I just imagining things? 

     We need to step off, collect ourselves, take a deep breath, regain a sense of balance, and re-examine what’s going on with our business. You know, take a look at those activities (or lack of) that we haven’t paid attention to lately because we’ve spun ourselves into a state of dizziness (no I’m not talking about that dizzy state on the West Coast!)

     Management gurus seeking creative nirvana in their leadership styles have been urging us all for years to “think outside the box.” I disagree. I’ve watched an endless stream of business ventures think themselves out of the box and into financial quicksand.

     Contrary to their brilliant branding message, even Taco Bell needs to think “inside the bun” in order to ensure consistent quality of food ingredients, as well as service. Thinking INSIDE THE BOX is like circling the wagons, shoring up the foundation, strengthening existing connections and relationships, reinforcing the structural integrity of existing products and services, and promoting value-added innovation all at the same time.  

     It rivals the explosive levels of productivity that surface the day before leaving for vacation (ah, yes, vacations; I remember those).

     A truly great and successful, well-known man whose memoir I’m presently writing, always says (rather authoritatively): “You can’t do two things at once!” 

     I’m thinking about staring so hard out the windshield that you spill the coffee — or worse, reaching to balance the coffee and crashing into the car in front of you. Well, when it comes to business ownership and management, the expression is equally true. Thinking OUTSIDE the box takes you too far away from what you need to be focused on when cashflow is dwindling.

     I’ve often noted here that the best way to do this is with http://bit.ly/Bb1Tw which I guarantee will help you stay focused on what’s important. The bottom line is that you REALLY need to not leave home without it and the “it” is the part about first making sure your home is safely protected, that some one’s around to keep an eye on it for you, that mail and messages will get forwarded or saved.

     Thinking OUTSIDE the box requires that INSIDE-the-box operations are safe and sound and moving forward without you having to risk divided attention. It’s simple when you start with INTROSPECTION. 

Hal@BusinessWorks.US 

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You!

Make today a GREAT day for someone! 

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This is not the time

to back off your 

marketing plan!

     Three times in recent weeks I have firsthand experienced business owners running scared from the economic crunch, straight into the debris left by salesquakes that erupted because each decided they were too afraid to carry out their marketing plans.

     If you don’t think that’s remarkable, try this on for size: all three had already paid 90-100% of the associated expenses to activate the marketing programs that they had planned. Something is clearly wrong here. Fear of failure? Fear of success? Fear of competition? Fear of more government regulation? Fear of being out of step with the marketplace? Fear of the words and images they were about to use?

You live in the wilderness, and routinely hunt for food for your family. The deer you’ve been tracking all day is now ten yards ahead frozen in place, do you load your gun and then turn around, unload it, and walk away?

Do you say, “Oh, I guess I wasn’t really interested in hunting anyway,” or “Our food supply can hold out ’til next week,” or “Gee, I can’t just shoot it because it’s not running,” or “What if I miss?” or “How would I ever get the thing back to the truck?” or “I should probably wait because one more after this and I could end up exceeding the limit,” or . . . 

     When I asked each of the three what made them pull up short of triggering programs they had already paid for, the answers I heard back were just as ridiculous as the hunter example. You would not believe the credibility each attempted to put behind the excuses they offered.

     It would have been like the hunter deciding to sit and take the whole gun apart to make sure all the pieces were clean and properly connected before resuming the pursuit, by which time the deer would obviously be six counties away.

     This is not the time to back off your marketing plan.

     You’ve come this far. You’ve put together the best program you can, and engaged the best help you can afford. Don’t start to question yourself and your efforts and Monday morning quarterback your decisions! Your instincts are what got you here in the first place. Trust them.

     What’s the worst that can happen if the plan fails? What’s the worst that can happen if you do no marketing? What’s the worst that can happen if you don’t find another deer before your food supply runs out?

     Roll up your sleeves and get in the game! This is what entrepreneuring is all about. Stop choosing to fret and start choosing to take action. You’ll get to your destination. Enjoy the journey.  

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 Cars, Copiers,

Cabbage,

Colonoscopies,  

 Microchips,

or French Fries

     It doesn’t matter WHAT a salesperson sells. It’s HOW he or she makes a sale that counts. 

     If you’re “in sales,” you know what this is about. And if you’re NOT “in sales” (technically speaking), you ARE in sales. Think about that one for a minute. Aren’t all of us engaged in some form of selling every day?

     Not knowing or accepting that you are in sales even though you’re not “in sales” is probably a bigger roadblock to your success than a dysfunctional family (which each of us reportedly has!).

     Savvy sales managers and business owners recruit “sales personalities,” not robots dripping with product/service knowledge. Of course salespeople cannot be effective without substantial product/service knowledge, but they also cannot be effective if they are not social animals. Performance features are easy to teach; performing is not.

     We are human so it’s only natural that we gravitate toward people with personalities that come across as authentic — people with “sales personalities.” Why would this be the case? Here we go with this sentence that sounds exaggerated but is true: All customers make all purchases (even those that seem completely unemotional) based on emotional buying motives, not logical, rational, objective ones.

     You may want to re-read that last sentence and give it some open-minded consideration. Human beings do not buy product or service features. They use product or service features to justify their purchases.

     Those people gifted with “sales personalities” are able to sell virtually anything. If I’m looking to hire someone to sell rocket ship parts to scientists, I’ll take a guy who sells railroad cars full of ketchup packets to university buyers over an interplanetary science major who has major research experience in rocket ship construction.

     The ketchup guy can learn the rocket ship parts business. It’s not likely the scientist is going to all of a sudden learn how to turn on the charm and be a great listener. The scientist will typically be preoccupied with talking about what the scientist is interested in talking about, not about first hearing and processing and then emphasizing the benefits the buyers are seeking.

     The scientist will tend to emphasize features (which could just as easily be presented in writing and diagrams) and probably gloss over if not downright disregard any emotionally-based purchase considerations that may –as just one example– have to do with how the buyers’ decisions may have the impact of helping to protect organizational integrity.

     If you own or manage a business and need strong sales support, put aside industry-specific and technical backgrounds as criteria. Focus your recruitment efforts instead on finding someone who’s proven to be a quick learner, who has enthusiasm, exceptional listening and communication skills, and who has demonstrated ability to sell. Period. You’ll get more for your money.

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“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson] 

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals. God Bless You.

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

Hold your nose

and dunk under

 the wave . . . or 

 ride it to shore!

     Surfers (not the TV channel kind!) are actually smarter than they look. They know enough to take a deep breath and either dunk under a wave to get out of the way, or stand up and ride it onto the beach. When your business cash flow is outbound, it’s time to make that same decision.

     If you choose to dunk under — like leave town, change your name, and disappear into some cave or head for the islands (until your butt’s hauled back to jail) — go for it! But prepare (at least) for a stiff neck from looking back over your shoulder 16 hours a day … maybe work for a chiropractor?

     My guess is that when payables tip the receivables scale into the stratosphere, most of us will opt for survival instead of surrender. Certa Bonum Certamen say the Latins (“Fight The Good Fight”) and giving our businesses CPR is certainly preferable to filing Chapter 11. Rule of thumb: One first aider beats a full house of lawyers.

     Okay, so where to start? Make the unpleasant calls to creditors; beg for mercy; give them (and stick to) payback plans. Stay in communication with them no matter how awkward, uncomfortable or embarrassing it feels. DO NOT borrow money to pay back loans; it will catch up with you.

     Consider reputable debt consolidation services. Fill in staff-cutback areas with interns. It’s true a recent President kind of ruined that idea, but truth is that if you’re willing to provide the proper guidance and leadership, you can literally build an empire on the enthusiasm and energy of young interns.

     The best source of interns (and usually a structured program that keeps students focused and offers employers recourse) will come from your nearest community college, though some major universities have established highly successful internship (often called “cooperative education”) programs.

     Interns will occasionally work for free, sometimes for commission or bonus arrangements, and often for minimum wage or less. They require ongoing supervision. You may have to fill out evaluation forms and meet with a faculty or administrative advisor once a semester. That’s it. If this is something you want to make work, make it work.

     If you’re a one-man-band, ask family members for hours in exchange for breakfasts or dinners out, or periodic sports or concert tickets … i-tune cards? Be creative.

     One boss I know who’s struggling to get his business back on its feet reports getting productive work hours from his cousin’s teenage son in exchange for covering periodontal work (teeth braces) not covered by insurance. He gets six months of work from another relative in exchange for new tires on two family cars.

     Be creative. Make it work. Ride it to shore!

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