Fundraising Made Easy

Fundraising. For most people working or volunteering for non-profit organizations, fundraising is a nasty word. Few enjoy it; most dread it and even more fear it! Nevertheless, it is a reality of all non-profit organizations in order to maintain their programs and general operations. Whether you are hosting a big event or a year-long campaign, take a look at the following keys for success. They just might help quell your money-asking fears and turn your next fundraising initiative into a great success.

1. Develop a plan. All great successes start with a well-devised plan. Think strategically and consider all players involved in order to capitalize on organizational talents and connections.

2. Cultivate a “circle of friends” – aka prospective donors. Your organization has an inherent circle of friends that will likely support your fundraising initiatives simply because they believe in your mission. And, you don’t need rich friends either. (Wealth is the least reliable indicator of a potential donor).

3. Make the ask. As part of your strategic plan, you should identify the key players in your organization who would be the best representatives to ask for donations. If you are a smaller operation requiring all involved to solicit donations, devise a value proposition for donors to make it easier to ask. Don’t make it about money but rather the continuation of a cherished service and/or institution.

4. Think and act positively. Keep your head and spirits up throughout the fundraising initiative. A good attitude is contagious and your bottom line will show the effects of that!

Need help spreading the word about a specific fundraising event or generating PR for a campaign or drive? Contact ProMoter Inc. today to learn how a strategic PR plan can help your organization reach its goals.

Is Your Company Missing Its Brand?

BRAND – it is a funny, little 5-letter word that leaves most small business owners scratching their heads with a perplexed expression on their face wondering, “Where is my brand?” It is an easy case to crack, really, and you don’t have to look in the trees or through the big budget catalogs of “brand enthusiasts” to find where your brand has been hiding. In a sense, it is what your company is and has always been. However, there are ways to make that brand more attractive and fresh.

What is a brand? According to the sources at Wikipedia, the word “brand” began simply as a way to tell one person’s cattle from another by means of a hot iron stamp. Today “brand” has evolved to acknowledge the identity of a specific product, service or business. While it is visible through a name, logo, slogan or even color combination, your brand also encompasses the personality and culture of your product, company or service.

What does this means to you? Brands are often a key selling component for a product and/or service. So why does this word affect your business’s bottom line and how can you use it to your benefit? A recognizable brand creates loyalty among its consumers, who are likely to continue to buy from a company with a “brand” they trust. Additionally, a solid brand gives your business credibility in the marketplace.

How do I better my brand? If your business is facing a brand deficit, action is necessary. From a company name change to a logo redesign to the creation of employee brand ambassadors, whether you consider a brand overhaul or a simple makeover, steps taken towards stimulating your brand will have a positive effect on your bottom line. And, once you have your brand in shape, don’t waste any time getting it in front of your target audiences. Many techniques can be very cost effective. For example, a solid social media campaign providing discounts to fans or followers is a free effort, which can build an online community with immense loyalty to your brand. Additionally, Internet marketing such as enewsletters can be done at a low cost with the same effectiveness as direct mail. Furthermore, brand ambassadors (your employees) are an in-house resource that can be cultivated into a vital part of any brand.

Want to do your own brand overhaul? Give ProMoter Inc. a call at (502) 562-1969 or email us at promoter@promoterinc.com to see how we can help turn your business into a brand powerhouse! (And, not to worry, we’ll leave the hot iron stamps on the fire.)

Social Media Etiquette Part 3: Three Traits of a Social Media Expert

Everyone claims to be an expert when it comes to social media these days. However, there is more to navigating the social media space than knowledge of a few tools. If you are considering hiring a “social media expert” to help you with your Internet marketing efforts, you will be interested in Chris Nerney’s blog on Webnewser. In it he outlines the five qualities of a good social media manager. I’ve summarized the best three below for quick digestion.

1. Must understand the technology but love people – Face it, the social media world is full of applications, tools and networks with more popping up every day. And while a basic understanding of these tools is necessary, it is important to focus more on the fact that these tools are being used to communicate your brand and company’s message to your customers. Therefore, be sure you hire someone who is outgoing and can communicate effectively. Social media provides them with the platform to do just that.

2. Must possess intellectual and emotional curiosity – Your social media manager needs to know the details of your company, your products and your brand. However, they must also know how to effectively look at things from another person’s perspective – empathy. This will allow them to create better messages in which your customers can relate.

3. Must think strategically (and communicate the strategy) – If you are thinking about outsourcing your social media efforts, you obviously believe in the strategic potential of this move. Therefore, be sure to find someone who shares in your belief and knows how to communicate that strategy to your customers. This person must also be able to measure the results to determine whether your strategy is working.

Internet marketing is the fastest growing segment of the advertising industry and can produce fast results. However, be weary of self-described “gurus.” Be sure to ask for references and examples of successful campaigns they have implemented to ensure you hire someone with the right skill set.

Social Media Etiquette Part 2: Social Media Goes Great with Your Morning Coffee

When I stumbled upon Nathan Hangen’s blog titled “How to Manage Your Social Media Marketing in 10 Minutes Daily,” I had to reread the title a few times. Is it really possible to effectively manage the plethora of social media tools a company may be linked in to in just 10 minutes a day? This means generating unique content, posting on fans walls, putting out customer fires and tweeting the latest industry-related clippings? It’s true! Read below for some of Nathan’s tips to conquering your social media marketing while you take in your morning coffee.

1. Take One Platform Bite at a Time. According to Nathan, all social media sites are not created equal and, thus, you should not try to divide your time among all platforms as such. Nathan suggests for social media beginners to master one platform at a time before moving on to the next one. Remember to keep branding consistent among all platforms. If you are comfortable among the various platforms, Nathan suggests alternating between platforms on a daily basis. Don’t try to cram all of your social media efforts into these 10 minutes.

2. Respond to Your Fans. Nathan says it point blank in his blog. Your customers (fans in the social media world) aren’t listening to you. They’re waiting for you to respond. But rather thinking this is a negative aspect to social media, realize it is an opportunity for you to create an excellent customer relation experience and add to your company’s narrative. According to Nathan, a bulk of your 10 minutes should be spent responding to your fans.

3. Reach Out and Help People. Social media sites are a great way to discover new customers but Nathan warns against blatantly using these tools as such. Instead genuinely seek out those needing help using searches. It could lead to an invitation to join you on Facebook, Twitter or your blog, but don’t make that the goal. According to Nathan, the goal is to get on people’s radar.

To read more on this topic, visit Nathan’s original post at http://fwww.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-manage-your-social-media-marketing-in-10-minutes-daily/.

Big Picture PR Part 2: Become a Community Institution Through Corporate Philanthropy

Text books will tell you Public Relations is the practice of doing good things and getting credit for it. Sure our mothers always told us we shouldn’t be driven by recognition for the good deeds we do, but this is business. The truth is the strategic use of philanthropy can ultimately help a corporation’s bottom line. It is a real opportunity to garner both community attention and support as corporate philanthropy is one area where a company’s interest and those of the public can intersect. By contributing to local charities, sponsoring an area little league team or hosting a fundraiser for the city’s hospital, you are building a reputation as a community institution.

So what’s the first step towards harnessing the power of philanthropy? You should work with your marketing team to establish a contributions program by doing the following:

• Determine objectives.
• Establish measurable results.
• Assure the budget is sufficient to achieve your objectives.

While press releases and media exposure can result in recognition, these results have a short range of impact. However, corporate philanthropy creates a long-lasting, positive relationship with the community and your customers.

Big Picture PR Part 1: Harness the Power of Brand Ambassadors

When thinking about a long-term public relations plan, it is important to think “big picture.” How can you keep your company’s name and/or brand top of mind with your key audiences even when there is no “news” to announce? Part 1 in this series will focus on leveraging the power of brand ambassadors within your company.

Public relations can be a complex tool involving research, campaigns, analytics, etc. Used effectively it projects a positive image of your company and/or brand to the public. It can require much time, effort and dollars to produce the right results. However, there often lies a large, untapped resource within many companies that can potentially become your most effective company mouth piece – employees. By creating brand ambassadors from your employee roster, you create positive, personal touch points between your company and its customers. Think about it. No matter how much press coverage you garner in a particular month or the amount of dollars you donate to a local charity, a customer’s most revealing impression comes from their interactions with employees. If it is positive, they are likely to think the same of your company. However, if it is not, the reverse is often true. So how do you turn employees into effective brand ambassadors?

Some ways include:
Internal Marketing Efforts
Ask yourself these questions and honestly answer them. Do your employees know the mission of your company? Do they actively strive to follow it while on the job? Do your employees know what your brand stands for and promote this brand? If you answered “no” to the above questions, it is time to think about ways to educate your staff about your company. Hold monthly staff meetings, develop an in-house newsletter or make use of intraweb services. Your first PR priority is to start making stronger connections with your employees.

Promote a Positive Employee Culture
Internal marketing efforts will not only will help your business in the long-run, but it will allow you to cultivate a positive employee culture. When employees feel they are part of something bigger, they have a shift in attitude and work performance often improves. So how do you go about creating a positive employee culture? I’ve already mentioned some ways including in-house newsletters. Use these newsletters to highlight employee anniversaries, after hour accomplishments and other company news. Encouraging your employees to learn more about each other will lend to cohesion within your offices.

Tap Individuals with Strong Personal Brands
Face it – with the dawning of the many social networks your employees have created their own online brand. Sometimes employees are able to keep that brand separate from their professional brand – in most cases they are not. Recognize those individuals with a strong personal brand and use it to your advantage by asking them to promote your company through their networks.

Coming soon: Corporate Community Outreach

Social Media Etiquette Part 1: Is it OK to Reuse Old Content?

This entry marks my 30th post to ProMoter Inc.’s Smart Marketing blog since December of 2008 when we jumped on the blogging bandwagon (around the same time social media came charging down the information super highway.) I’ve covered a broad spectrum of topics aimed at helping you market your business smarter. And, behind every keystroke was the thought that I had fallen upon the latest trend, hot topic and buzz word of the moment. But, what comes of these old blog entries? Would they spend the rest of their Internet days archived amongst the other lonely and dated Internet information?

In an ever changing industry, the basics to smart marketing remain the same. So, is it ok to reuse old content for future posts? Surely there is some type of social media etiquette one should follow while traversing and participating in the online world. According to Rob Birgfeld, there are highly effective ways to give old content new life.

1. Update the post with a forward explaining its relevance today or how times have changed.
2. Reference the post in a new blog regarding a similar subject matter.
3. Add a new comment to the post. This may spark a new conversation.
4. Check the tags to ensure your blog entry is categorized correctly for organic Web searches.
5. Refresh! Perhaps you were off target when drafting your post the first time or even ahead of the curve. Take the entry and revise to fit with today’s social media environment.

By using these guidelines provided by Rob, you can dust the cobwebs off your old blog entries and keystroke new life into them!

Be sure to check back soon for part two in our social media etiquette series.

A New Year Means Resolutions. Make the Most of It!

It’s a new year and that means resolutions. I’ve never been a fan of the tradition myself as I am in the opinion that there is no time like now to change for the better. However, it could be said that there is something almost romantic about starting fresh once the clock strikes midnight and a new year (rather decade) clicks over. Perhaps the resolve to improve is stronger with the idea of a clean slate.

That being said, ProMoter Inc. is very excited about the many opportunities abounding in 2010. But, we aren’t leaving it to chance. We’ve made specific plans (a much better word than resolutions) to ensure our success. How are we plotting our year ahead? You may want to take note.
1. Established measureable goals with start and finish dates
2. Made note of obstacles that may stand in our way
3. Identified key resources and people to help in achieving our goals
4. Drafted an action plan
5. Set up monthly meetings directed at measuring our progress

Our goals for this year include ways to nurture new collaborations, discover innovative ways to help all our clients and partner with our suppliers. Now get your goals on paper and start this new decade off with a great start!