Posted by admin on June 3rd, 2008 — Posted in Plugging
As an entry level position to PR, I found myself typing up a forecast by a major Public Relation’s firm for a major pharmaceutical company of what life would be like in the year 2000. Market research predictions included telephones with monitors that could help you see people while you talked, fax machines that could transmit information over telephone wires, microwave ovens for reducing food defrosting time from hours to minutes and other devices that have certainly come to pass. In the lifestyle area, predictions proved less valid. Not only would Americans be enjoying longer lives, it foretold, but they would have shorter work weeks, more vacations and overall, a more leisurely lifestyle. An iota of truth, but mostly wishful thinking when we read 2005 front pages.
I will always remember being called to account because the final document the Client saw had several typos. Presentation counts in this field.
PR firms attempt to influence the major media who in turn help persuade viewers, listeners and readers to think or act in a particular way. The people who enter the profession and those in the media usually have a gift of gab, a facility with the written word, a decent IQ and a certain love affair with risk.
Fortune tellers don’t make much money. But most PR firms charge a substantial amount of money to present their client, product or service in a positive light to the media. People are continuously reporting polls or surveys as if they are fact, when, in truth, often the questions asked are the reason for the results tendered. Trends are so swift these days, just when buzz begins, another bee is buzzing a different tune.
Here is the PR agency drill. A brainstorming session consists of several persons who try and identify a project, tag line or campaign hook that will capture the right response from the media while delivering the Client message. Then a qualified person writes the plan, another person interfaces with the Client and still other people “pitch” the media. Often times in large firms, a separate TV department usually has close ties with the producers of various programming. You can pitch the same story to ten different venues, and come up with ten different responses. It is an expensive process.
Since everyone is trying for the biggest hits first, and the spots are truly limited, the pitchers have to be focused and persistent. Then it becomes a numbers game. The more balls you throw, the more likely you are to get a strike. The more strikes you pitch, the more likely your team will win, and the competition will be beaten. The more consistent your story, the more believed you will be. The more you can afford to spend, the more you get to use credible spokespeople to help tell your story. It is a numbers game.
So by all means pitch “Oprah” first if you have a story that will hug her heart. Next work the syndicated morning shows. Then try the syndicated writers at the major news services when your news is hard and important. Talk to AOL when you have the money, or put it in the movie theatre, the newest venue for enlightening if not annoying a captive audience.
But you can also tell your story with incredible reach and exciting response if you
use newspaper mat features to newspapers nationwide via Points of Persuasion Syndicate. For $2100, your message gets faxed to 10,000 plus print and online newspaper outlets immediately. Newspapers use the free columns. Your message gets printed exactly as you tell it, or your captioned color illustration tells the story just the way you approved it. You’ve increased your chances of the public reading a product or service mention, you’ve had the help of expert PR people with years of presentation skills behind them, your story will stay on their editorial website for six months to a year, and you get quarterly usage reports to help impress you if you are the business owner or your Clients if you are an agency.
Best of all, the educated, well-off suburban consumer gets time to find out something informational that can help them and their family live a better life. It seems likely that any marketer would find this a low-budget risk worth taking.
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Myrna Greenhut is currently president of P-O-P-S(http://www.p-o-p-s.com), a service designed to supply incremental PR impressions for companies, Associations and PR agencies. As a consumer product publicist, she has been with numerous independent and advertising affiliated PR agencies like The Rowland Company, Ogilvy & Mather, Cairns & Associates, D-A-Y as well as having done major freelance PR projects for Avon Products Incorporated
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Posted by admin on April 6th, 2008 — Posted in Plugging
Do you want to give gourmet food baskets to your family, friends, or even your business clients? There has never been a time when it has been so easy to find gourmet food baskets in a variety of choices and in every price range. With the internet, you literally have thousands of gift choices. You may even get a little overwhelmed with all of the choices-should you get the flavored oils and pasta basket, or the breakfast basket with homemade scones? Choosing gourmet food baskets just takes a little research-but the choices are definitely out there.
When you are choosing gourmet food baskets you need to think carefully about the recipient or recipients. Are you giving the basket to a young child who is just learning to cook? Do you want to give a basket that has all ready to eat foods, or do you want to send a basket that requires some cooking? Are you giving it as a shower gift or is it in recognition for a job well done? It is very important that you research carefully so that you do not commit a social or business faux pas by giving inappropriate food baskets (such as giving meat to a vegetarian.) You can find gourmet food baskets with everything from homemade cookies or hand-dipped chocolates to flavored popcorn, to cheeses, to smoked seafood. It is also fun to find baskets that include cooking tools and gadgets as well as a cookbook thrown in.
Gourmet food baskets can be given as a one-time offering or they can be given on a regular basis (such as a “basket of the month” club.) The monthly baskets (or bi-monthly or quarterly) can seem a bit pricey overall, but when you divide it over time, it is not so costly. These types of gifts are usually more appropriate for family and friends rather than a business associate or a client.
Choosing the company that sells the food basket is almost as important as the contents of the baskets. Your reputation may depend on the quality of the basket, so choose carefully and shop around.
Eriani Doyel writes articles about Food and Gifts. For more information about gourmet food baskets visit =>http://www.foodax.com
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Posted by admin on April 5th, 2008 — Posted in Plugging
Oh Grand and Glorious Southern Guru, I am perplexed.
What ails thee, my peabrained little grasshopper?
My sleep has been short, my walls have been climbed, my hair has been pulled.
I must know the difference between advertising and high art.
Oh Great Creator, please give me the answer.
Stir no longer, little vacuous one. Art is in the eye of the beholder, and yes, advertising can be high art.
But Holiest of the Holy, whilst I acknowledge there is a role for subjectivity in the appreciation of art, and that art and advertising similarly use form, colour and symbol to convey messages, and that both can be aesthetically pleasing and accessible, and that both share the goal of changing behavior and attitudes, and that both often highlight the tension between reality and ideals and can shape aesthetic tastes, does not an adequate answer to my question depend upon a precise definition of the term art?
Are there not different degrees of creativity and originality? Are there not different types of art?
Surely Majestic One, advertising is not “high” art, but rather popular, propagandistic art?
Not so, little inchworm. Art is a function of apprehension, ergo, there is no difference between “high” and “low” art.
But Mighty Aphrodite, do not ads see the world only through a blinkered lens: as products and services, as target markets and audiences?
Do they not promote only consumerism and uphold only the status quo?
Are not their motives restricted by budgets and deadlines, and by the necessity of pushing product?
How can ads experiment with ideas for their own sake when fettered by this capitalist manacle?
Do ads not craft specific messages for specific audiences at specific times?
Is not their goal to elicit singular responses?
Do they not aim to please, to arrest the intelligence and to allay our fears with easy solutions, and are they not primarily concerned with positive reactions?
And does not the prerequisite of mass appeal demand mediocrity?
Does not art allow for a delight in, and the free play of, ideas for their own sake?
Truly outstanding art rarely secures immediate popularity, n’est-ce pas Mon Dieu Seigneur?
Does not art encourage many ways of looking at the world?
Is it not often purposefully ambiguous and open to conflicting interpretation?
Surely, oh Towering One, artists do not worship audiences in the way advertisers do?
Do they not intentionally break boundaries, counter the status quo, and question accepted beliefs?
Many spend decades deconstructing society, transcending political, economic and religious systems, do they not?
You listen not, my pint-sized parvenu. Art is in the eye of the beholder. Hence an advertisement, even if it’s only one in a million, can be high art.
But Lord of the Rings, is it not the sale that motivates the creation of advertisements?
Does this not put advertising solely in the realm of the shallow and material?
And thusly, are not ads only original in the context of commerce?
And furthermore, did not the great Canadian literary critic Northrop Frye suggest that ads are farcical, ironic and trivial (and that their prodigious power rests here precisely because we view them as a joke, without analyzing their bountiful effects)?
In short, Monsieur Le President, are not advertisements viewed primarily with scorn?
And does not true art inspire awe?
And does it not create new ways of looking at the world and increase our depth of understanding about the meaning of life?
And, as such, does it not reside squarely in the realm of the deep and spiritual?
And does not great art burst forth with such stunning originality that it changes the way we see the world and ourselves?
And are great artists, those rare geniuses, not moved by more than the simple desire for coin, and do they not dwell deeply on the profound questions of man’s universal condition?
And is not the equating of “high” art with advertising symptomatic of decadent, hollow, bankrupt, violent societies, which value material goods, “happiness” and facile solutions above all else?
And as such, All Knowing One, is this not an equation we should actively oppose?
Get not thy knickers in a knot wee Gordian. Your philosophizing incites me to slumber.
Nigel Beale is an Ottawa, Canada based writer.
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Posted by admin on March 30th, 2008 — Posted in Plugging
If you’re thinking about buying a comforter for your bedroom, don’t shop without this information! Knowing what to look for in a quality comforter can save you money in the long run by making your purchase the best quality for the money.
By saving yourself from some of the common mistakes made by bedding buyers, you will be much happier with the selection you purchase.
When choosing comforters, it is important to understand the materials used to construct the bedding as well as the construction methods used. Let’s take a look at some of the factors you need to be aware of before making your purchase.
Feathers or down are commonly used as filling material. There’s a really big difference between the two, however. Down is the inner plumage of ducks or geese. It has a great many tiny, very fluffy “miniature feathers” and no long feathers or quills.
Check the product information carefully to be certain of what the contents of the bedding you are considering really is. Both feathers and down are effective insulators against the cold, but down is the more efficient of the two. Down is much softer and warmer than feathers.
However, people with allergies can have problems with either filler and may need to resort to allergy-proof bedding. Some down products are created to be hypoallergenic and may be used by any except the most severe allergy sufferers. Quality bedding will be made of down rather than feathers, but is very expensive when used as the only fill. So comforter manufacturers compromise abit by adding some feathers into the mix as well to add to your comforter’s insulating ability.
Another fill that may be found in bedding is polyester fiber. This filling is not as luxurious feeling as down but can make an effective insulator nonetheless. Preferred by allergy sufferers, a very good quality selection using polyester fiber fill can make a great bedding choice.
An important factor to consider when purchasing your bed covering is fill weight. Fill weight is the amount of filling used between the top and bottom covering of your bedding.
The greater the fill weight, the more filling is contained in the bedding and therefore the more body heat will be held in through the insulating factor of the bedding.
If you live in a cold climate and reduce your home’s thermostat at night, you’ll want to purchase products with a high fill weight.
If you live in a more temperate climate or want bedding for summer use, you will probably want to choose a lower fill weight or remove the top bedding from the bed at night to sleep in cool comfort.
Fill power refers to the amount of space which 1 ounce of down or fill material covers. Because top quality down expands, this number is generated by taking 1 once of fill and compressing it. Once it is freed again, it will expand to cover a specific area.
The fill number 575 fill power means that 1 ounce of the filler covers 575 cubic inches of space. 650 is a very high fill power. The loft of the bedding is directly related to the fill power, as is the insulating properties.
If you live in a warm climate, you’ll be happy with a much lower fill power. A fill power of 575 or below would be great for winters in the Mid-South. Lower numbers would be best for Southern California and Florida while the cold northern state will enjoy a fill power of 650.
Thread count is a factor to consider as well. Especially with down/feather bedding, low thread count fabric can result in filling materials working their way through the fabric and escaping.
Higher thread counts of 330 or more provide a more dense fabric with a close weave that will prevent filling materials from working their way out of the bedding. Higher thread count also provides a silkier, luxurious feel to the bedding. Thread count is much more important when buying bedding that contains filling than if you are buying sheets.
The actual construction method of the shell of the bedding is also very important. Inexpensive bedding that contains filling will be constructed with the “sewn-through” method.
This means that the bedding is divided into sections by sewing through the top and bottom and coming back through the fabric, much like the way a quilt is constructed.
Top quality bedding, which is more expensive but will last much longer, uses baffle box construction.
Fabric is used to create walls inside the bedding in which the fill is placed. This provides the fluffiness of true luxury bedding. The bedding fill product is allowed to expand to the maximum fluffiness and you will find no cold spots when sleeping under this type of bedding.
For the very best bedding, be sure to look for the “closed baffle box” or “true baffle box” construction. Closed box construction means the filling can not move from section to section. An open box construction or partially open box construction means the filling can move and create bunches and lumpiness.
Care of your bedding investment is important too! Even if a luxury bedding item that contains fill material says it may be machine washed, you will not want to wash it in your home laundry equipment.
When large pieces of filled bedding get wet, they are simply too heavy for the home machine. Washing and drying can cause lumping even in good quality products. Dry cleaning is the best method to preserve your quality bedding that contains fill.
For only a little more cost, you can insure that your bedding will last longer so you can enjoy it for years and years to come.
Patricia Bowlin informs and entertains you as you shop for home bedding! Find out everything you need to know about chosing the perfect pillows, comforters, and bedding here now.
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Posted by admin on March 27th, 2008 — Posted in Plugging
If you’ve subscribed to an seo newsletter for longer than a week, you’re well aware that writing articles with tips and advice pertaining to your website’s subject is a great way to generate links and traffic. But what if you can’t write or are afraid to write? Well, if you can write software, you’re still in luck! In this article I’ll show you a trick that can still garner you hundreds of links and won’t require you know the difference between adjectives and adverbs.
I’ll use my own little website as an example (I freely admit that I am neither a web designer nor a programmer). My wife and I own By Request DJ & Karaoke Company. Obviously, we specialize in weddings dances, school dances, company parties, and karaoke. We recently went through the process of converting all our CDs to compressed digital audio files which are played from a computer rather than hauling around thousands of CDs. In the process of ripping and encoding our music, I found many tasks were very repetitive and time consuming. Since I know a smattering of Visual Basic, it was simple to write a utility to automate these tasks. I figured that if it was helpful to me, some other DJ might find it helpful to, so I called my utility MP3G to ZIP and made it available for download from my website. I also decided to submit it to a few freeware sites just so it was easier to find.
What happened amazed me. Many of the links to my website from these freeware directories began showing up in Google. Given the name of my company and the descriptions of my freeware apps, this helped boost my site for some very competitive keywords. I decided to submit my software to a few more directories, and that’s when I found two very handy tools: PAD files and RoboSoft.
A PAD file is a “Portable Application Description, and it helps authors provide product descriptions and specifications to online sources in a standard way, using a standard data format that will allow webmasters and program librarians to automate program listings.” It takes the tedium out of submitting your software to hundreds of sites by enabling you to enter the URL to your software information rather than retyping all the information for every submission. It was created by the Association of Shareware Professionals (http://www.asp-shareware.org/pad) and is a free utility.
RoboSoft (http://rudenko.com/robosoft) is a semi-automated software submission utility that contains a list of known freeware and shareware directories that accept submissions. It is only semi-autonomous because it won’t push the buttons for you, but it will fill in the blanks. This still allows you to quickly enter your software’s information to hundreds of websites. Websites who will all link back to your website and most often don’t require a reciprocal link. The RoboSoft database currently lists 420 freeware and shareware directories.
In the two months I have been using these tools I have seen my traffic jump from 800 unique visits per month to over 5000, and the link popularity of the page that has my two freeware apps has gone from 7 to 639 according to widexl.com. While these are small numbers for someone like cnn.com, sprint.com, or even napster.com, they are huge for a small site like mine. Plus, they are beginning to get me links from my fellow DJs who have used and appreciated my tools. I’m certain that they will eventually lead to good things.
So, while it isn’t a tactic that will make you number for “best website”, it will get you a few more links. And it won’t require you to submit any articles with tips about marketing your website.
Tim Smith owns By Request DJ & Karaoke Company (http://www.byrequest.dj) with his wife Tammy. He is neither a web developer nor a programmer, but he can mix like a madman and is an avid “Do-It-Yourselfer”.
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