This week’s Get More Business Show falls on St. Patrick’s day. To honor the occasion we’ve built a whole business show around the theme!  Lot’s of exciting things happening on the show this week!

In a first for us, Sheila O’Mara will be broadcasting on location at her local women’s networking group.  Sheila will be talking to some of the local business owners there and asking them “What is your business a slave to?” We decided to ask this question as a tie in to St. Patty’s Day, because it’s a little known fact that St. Patrick spent much of his youth as a slave.  We’re looking forward to getting some raw feedback from Sheila’s peers and the discussion that will follow!

We’re also going to be spending some time on the topic of branding. Specifically we’re going to discuss whether it makes more sense to brand yourself or your business.  As you can guess, each answer has it’s positives and negatives, but we are going to talk through it and give you the input you need to decide what is best for your business.

We’ve all heard of luck of the Irish, but luck can be a major factor in your business’ success.  We’ll share some examples of lucky inventions that were discovered purely by accident, but are now all household names.  We’ll also share some examples of businesses that were lucky enough to stumble into some really great clients.  Of course we all have the ability to make our own luck, so we’ll weigh in on the best ways to do that.

And to round off our St. Patrick’s day theme, we’ll talk about how to make your business more environmentally friendly and the benefits of “Going Green”

We’ve worked really hard to put together a great show for you.  Hopefully you can listen in, or maybe even call in and share your perspective!

The show airs live on Wednesday March 17, 2010 at 11:30 a.m. Eastern.* To participate, call our hotline:  (646) 595-4184

You can go to the show page by clicking the large microphone in the header or using the links embedded above.  If you want to register with BlogTalkRadio, you can subscribe to the show and receive automated reminders so you don’t miss it’s live presentation.  If you’re too busy to catch the live show, you can always listen to the recorded podcast on the show page, or even here on this blog post by clicking on the player at the top of the sidebar.

*We had some technical difficulties with today’s show and some dead air time shortly into the show. When using the blogtalkradio player, once the silence starts, you can forward the player to 3:45 when we get back on the air.

Jason Sanders @ValuePagesGroup
Business Networking Specialist

Help Spread The Word!

This video is a follow up to the radio show from 03-10-10. I get a chance to share what I think makes good online content (ran out of time for my opinion on the show). I also talk about some of the ideas that were put forward by Josh last week about my charitable social media project Measured Impact, and a teaser about next week’s radio show. Check out the Rich’s Blog Post for more great points on diversification vs. specialization from last week’s show.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hAgv5wiIKQ

Last Week’s Show 03-10-10 (listen to the podcast)
This Week’s Show 03-17-10 at 11:30am EST (or listen to the podcast whenever)*
TVPG Labs- Media, Web Design, and SEO (Search Engine Optimization)  Solutions for Businesses

*We had some technical difficulties with this week’s show (03-17-10) and some dead air time shortly into the show. When using the blogtalkradio, once the silence starts, you can forward the player to 3:45 when we get back on the air.

Jason Sanders @ValuePagesGroup
Business Networking Specialist

Help Spread The Word!

On this week’s radio show, we touched on the subject of diversification vs. specialization. While we weren’t to come to a conclusion favoring one or the other, we were at least able to reach a consensus that it really depends on a number of factors, and that each business has to decide which is right for itself.

In our discussion, we brought up some recent examples of how large companies are diversifying their product offerings so they can capture a larger market share. Among the examples we discussed were fast-food places expanding their menus to add chicken, salads, boutique drinks and healthy food; car manufacturers offering vehicles ranging from subcompacts to coupes, to sedans, minivans and SUVs; and big-box retailers offering dozens of television styles, audio equipment, CDs, DVDs, and home-theater systems and installations.

All of these are prime examples of diversification — trying to offer “something for everyone.” This is also commonly referred to as “one-stop shopping”. The theory is to make it easy for a consumer to get whatever they want under one roof. For the retailer, it’s also a chance to get a consumer to spend more.

But is this good? The answer is a definite “maybe.” And most of that depends on the consumer. For example, a truly discerning coffee drinking might shy away from McDonald’s new coffee drinks since — in their opinion — they’re not made well or they use lesser ingredients or whatever. A true audiophile might not go to a big-box store to buy equipment or accessories since the salesman may not know enough about the product to offer an informed opinion.

This leads us to specialization. Starbucks is a classic example of a specialized retailer. And there are maybe hundreds of stores that specialize in audio equipment for the discerning listener.

But how does this work for the smaller business? Obviously, specialization can work, with some caution. For instance, a business can’t be so specialized that they have too small a customer base. The example we cited was a lawn care service. They may want to only work with residential accounts. They may be under-capitalized to buy the necessary equipment to go after larger commercial accounts. So what can they do? They can offer other services that are familiar to the residential homeowner — edging, leaf removal, mulching, hardscaping and seeding, to name a few. While some of these may require some equipment purchases, they’re probably much less than a commercial-grade mower, and the trailer to haul it, and the extra personnel to man the equipment.

Likewise, an entrepreneur who wants to start a commercial lawn-care service doesn’t want to be bothered with knocking on doors and trying to make a customer one  homeowner at a time. His equipment is probably ill-suited to cut residential lawns.

Another example is in the field of medicine. A general practitioner may see dozens of patients a day, while a specialize will probably see a lot less. Yet they make make the same amount of money at the end of the day. Why? Because the family doctor will most likely refer the more difficult challenges to a specialist. It’s not to say he can’t treat the patient, but his business is built on treating “more common” ailments.

Again, going back to the small business, if you choose to service a niche, it’s can’t be too narrow. You can be in the oil-change business (which is already specialized), but it would probably be akin to business suicide to decide that you only will change the oil of red Chevrolets.

The best bet is to try to service two or three niches, provided they are related services. For instance, a Realtor might specialize in short sales. And he might target his marketing efforts to a certain geographic area. One benefit to this is that he would be seen as an expert in that area. However, our Realtor friend probably still accept any referral for a sale in that area. Again, he has a niche, but leaves the door open for other sale opportunities.

Diversification vs. Specialization? Yes, you can have both.

Earlier this week I wrote a post asserting that the future of twitter is mobile. Using twitter on a mobile device is infinitely more valuable to a small to medium sized business owner, an entrepreneur or a solopreneur.

I can make a difference in promoting my business in between everything else that I have to do to run my business. It’s so much better on a mobile device, because I don’t have to sit down and make time for it, or choose twitter over another obligation that I have to do. When twitter is mobile, I can just fit it in around everything else, which in my opinion is the best way to use the platform.

I thought it would be helpful if I shared my impressions of the current top 3 twitter applications available and review the functionality of each. I’m a firm believer that you get what you pay for, so even though there’s an option to get free versions of twitter apps, for this post I’ll be reviewing the premium versions so I can share the full potential of the applications and spare you a rant about annoying advertising in iPhone Apps.

Full Disclosure: I paid for all three of these applications with my own money and I haven’t been paid to endorse my favorite, although we are looking for sponsors for TVPG Radio’s Get More Business Show.

Twitterrific Premium: Currently priced at $4.99 in the App Store.

What I Like About It: Twitterrific is a very elegant application. I found it to be pretty intuitive to use and the interface reminded me of a single column set up on TweetDeck (I’ll save my review of the TweetDeck mobile app for another blog post). It is easy to set up and use multiple twitter accounts on this application. I also like the way you can save searches for tweets by a specific twitter user to be accessed easily on the front page of the app. Twitterific has a handy feature to pull in tweets from people on twitter who are “Nearby”. You can also choose the online destination of the media that you post to twitter through the app. I think the note feature, which allows you to attach a note to a person’s profile (the notes are only saved on the mobile device) can be very useful.

What I Don’t Like About It: Twitterific, when compared to it’s two competitors is light on features. Perhaps this was done intentionally to maintain the simplicity and elegance of the application, but in my mind the price should reflect that choice. Even though there are instructions on how to set up a bookmark in Safari to tweet links from the iPhone’s browser, I can’t seem to find any way to shorten those links from within the application, let alone connect my bit.ly account. There’s no way to report twitter users who are clogging up your stream with spam. There’s also no way to see how many times a user has been listed and by whom, which makes it harder to determine who deserves a follow back and who is a spammer. It only offer’s 4 options on where you want your pictures and videos to be stored. Noticeably absent is the ability to store media on your own Wordpress blog. Also noticeably absent is a map to show exactly where those “Nearby” tweets are. But one of my biggest irks with this app is that it still doesn’t work in landscape mode (when you turn the phone to the side to make typing easier). This has got to be one of it’s biggest drawbacks.

Comments: If you’re not interested in bells and whistles and aren’t interested in connecting with people who are local to you and are also on the Twitter platform, this might be the right App for you…as long as you don’t mind overpaying. [...Click here for a complete list of features from the Twitterrific Website]

Twittelator Pro: Currently priced at $4.99 in the App Store

What I Like About It: Twittelator is a feature packed Twitter Application. My impression from using this application is that the folks at Twittelator are determined to dominate this segment. Not only do you have all the functionality that Twitter provides online, but they’ve also gone above and beyond to search out any and all conceivable functionality and pack it into this app. Unlike Twitteriffic (but like Tweetie) when you search for twitter user’s near your location, you are presented with an interactive map as an interface. You can tweet photos, audio, and video, either by recording it inside the app or by choosing it from your media library. Twittelator also allows you to tweet the song info of the song you’re listening to on your iPhone. You can choose from 14 pages of emoticons and symbols to spice up your tweets. In fact I recently spent 2.99 on a different twitter application for this purpose only to realize that half of it’s functionality was already covered by Twittelator. Links to pics appear as thumbnails in your twitter stream. This is awesome! Out of the three, I think Twittelator has the easiest method of selecting hashtags (from list that is autopopulated showing the hashtags you’ve recently used) shortening tweets (yes, you can plug in your bit.ly account) and selecting users for @replies (also from an autopopulated list like the hastags, but that list is followed by an alphabetic list of everyone you follow). If you want to message someone, but you can’t remember the exact spelling of their twitter id, you no longer have a problem with this feature and it saves you the trouble of doing a search by their first and last name. Sometimes features win over elegance (depends on who you ask).

What I Don’t Like About It: I could see how some people might be overwhelmed by all these features. Some of them aren’t exactly intuitive. The placement of the “hot spots” on the tweets to link to additional information wasn’t what I was used to. It took some playing around with it to discover it’s potential. This effect is exaggerated when you’re using this app to manage multiple twitter accounts. I admit, I sometimes get lost in this app (temporarily) because of the abundance of features and what I could only describe as a bit of a quirky flow. I’m not sure if the flow is a result of organic growth and adding a bunch of new features over time, or if it was a lack of planning, or if someone else just thinks this feels natural. It feels natural to me now that I’ve spent some time with it and have adusted to it’s layout, but that wasn’t my initial impression.

Comments: Out of the three applications, this one has the most features and I would consider it the best value. Like an exotic performance car, buyers should expect little quirks here and there, but those quirks define the character of the experience. This app delivers the goods through deep features that mean lots of value to the user. There are a lot of additional features that this app has, I just picked my favorite ones for this post. [...Click here for a complete list of features from the Twittelator Website]

Tweetie 2: Currently priced at $2.99 in the App Store.

What I Like About It: Tweetie seems like a mid-point between Twitterrific and Twittelator. It has a lot of features, in fact most people would probably be very satisfied with the features that Tweetie provides. This app walks the fine line between elegance and feature rich. The interface is quite intuitive when you consider all the options that the user has. You can tell that it has been well thought out and it has a nice flow to it. I don’t get lost in this app. There are several features that are really cool. I love how tweets that are replies show the avatar for the originating twitter user, with a small inset of the recipient’s avatar. Another sweet feature is that the app “tears the page” when you refresh to pull in the most recent tweets. This gives you a visual reference of where the last update ended and the new update begins. This is very helpful. Tweetie has a great feature that allows you to create a contact in your address book by importing the twitter profile information. I have to admit, that’s pretty slick. With the latest version, there is also supposed to be an integration with foursquare, but I haven’t been able to figure out where to activate it (perhaps it’s because I haven’t authorized geo-tagging on my twitter account). This application packs in a lot of value for a lower price than its competition.

What I Don’t Like About It: I’m not crazy about how it handles the block feature and the report spam feature. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad they’re there, but as prevalent as spam is on twitter, I would like to be able to use that functionality without pushing so many buttons (There’s several more keystrokes required than with Twittelator.). Tweetie 2 isn’t quite as feature rich as Twittelator, but it has some unique and valuable features in it’s own right. Overall it’s hard to fault this app.

Comments: Tweetie 2 is a great app at a great price. There are some bells and whistles that it doesn’t have, but the trade off is elegance, an intuitive interface and ease of use. Most twitter users would not consider this application to be light on features. [...Click here for a complete list of features from the Tweetie Website]

Summary: The first twitter application that I bought was Twitterrific. Twitterrific is still the most popular twitter app in the app store, but it’s not the right application for me. I need more features. After experiencing the competition, I wish I had spent that five bucks on something else. Out of the three choices, Twittelator is my current favorite. I love the flexibility and all the features. The folks behind this app seem to be making a serious effort to be the leaders in innovation in their segment. I like to support innovation. Having said that, I can see why Tweetie is the choice of so many of the movers and shakers in social media circles…people like Jack Dorsey, co-creator of Twitter. Tweetie 2 is really a steal at it’s price point. It is no doubt poised to be the popular choice, as it combines valuable features and intuitive design.

Hopefully this information has been helpful to you if you’re considering purchasing a twitter application. Who knows how these companies might change and improve their products in the coming months as all three are jockeying for the biggest piece of the pie.

If you use one of these three applications and agree or disagree with my analysis, I’d love to hear your opinion. Leave me a comment and let me know what you think.

Jason Sanders @ValuePagesGroup
Business Networking Specialist

Help spread the word!

You are struggling with capital for advertising and need to get your message out.  You use all of the social media tools you can think of, but can’t seem to grab a hold of local consumers. Sound familiar?   It is a common problem for many small business owners and there are a few ways to pick up a bigger market share and save money in the meantime.

On last week’s (March 3, 2010 edition) TVPG, Get More Business, Radio Show my partners in crime – Jason Sanders, Rich Bradley, and Josh Chandler discussed these issues and Rich came up with a fabulous list of top ten ways to get FREE PUBLICITY.  Another avenue that we discussed was volunteerism.  For as much as FREE PUBLICITY is near and dear to my heart – volunteerism is even closer and I would like to share a few insights with you.

It is no secret that I do a bunch of volunteer work.  I get a personal rush when I can give my time, talents or treasures to benefit others.  I volunteered long before I ever owned a business, but after becoming a business owner I found that volunteering not only helped me help others, it also helped me grow my business.  That was never the original intent, but has been a fabulous side benefit and can be for you too!

I have found that people generally love to give referrals.  Most businesses thrive on referrals.  Giving a referral though depends on a couple of things.  The first thing is how well a person knows you or your work.  The other is if you do a good job and deliver on your word.  If you can build a relationship with people and can fulfill those two criteria, people will happily refer you to others when the opportunity arises.

Here is where the volunteering has helped me.  There are several organizations that I volunteer for –  those people that I volunteer with and for, know me and they know that I make good on what I say I am going to do.  WhenI  fill or exceed their expectation for performance, that helps them form an opinion that I am trustworthy, reliable, good hearteded, etc.  When it comes time to refer, are they going to refer me – you bet!  By volunteering I have increased my referral business tremendously and in ways that I never expected.

Now is that why I do it – NO, but it has been a great benefit.  Here are a few others.

1.  Sponsor an event for a non profit.  I found out that when you agree or your company agrees to sponsor events for a non-profit it is a ton of work, but also a ton of free advertising.  Last year another small business owner and I agreed to sponsor/host a fashion show for our local domestic violence shelter.  This was a benefit to all of us in ways we never even considered.  Of course, the shelter benefits because they got the money and the exposure.  The two of us end up learning a tremendous amount about how connecting yourself with a good cause brings you more blessings than you can imagine.

Because the shelter was a non-profit they are allowed certain privileges.  Marketing avenues like free PSA slots on the radio stations, a half hour show dedicated to the event on the community access channel,  and press releases in newspapers and church bulletins.  Each announcement had our names and businesses connected to it as the sponsors of the event.  It was amazing.  All of a sudden people throughout the community knew who we were and wanted to know more about what our businesses did and we didn’t pay for any of it.  Being connected to the shelter really helped people form a positive opinion of us and our businesses.  Was that our goal when we started the planning process – NO!  Was it a fabulous end result – YES!!!!

Another benefit for us was that we walked in to all kinds of other businesses and stores and organizations looking for donations and support.  We met a ton of people who we never would have really had a reason to contact, but ended up developing good relationships with them and again the referrals blossomed.  It is hard to walk in to an establishment and basically cold call for your business.  It is much easier to walk in as a representative of an organization that needs that business owners help.  Inevitably the conversation ended up in a discussion about our  businesses and by that time, we were comfortable and the conversation was much less awkward than if we hadn’t had that bridge.

Now I will caution you – sponsoring events is a huge undertaking.  It takes up a ton of time and energy, but the rewards far outweighed any inconvenience.  Each time I walk into that shelter and know that those ladies and their families are using hot water, I know it was worth it! ( the money we raised helped them to purchase a hot water tank that had broken the day we showed up with their check)  Beyond that was the building of our businesses and that was a perk we never imagined.

2.  Get involved with a charity and support their events with your business.  Let’s say the American Heart Association is having a Heart Walk in your area.  Wouldn’t it be great to support the cause with a team that rounded up pledges and walked in the walk?  Then when you are walking, you all wear t-shirts or polos or carry a banner that identifies your organization/business.  Do you think that the AHA are the only people that will benefit?  No – your walking attire will elicit questions or at the very least create name recognition for your business.  Again if someone is going to refer a business, does it not work in your favor that you were seen as a contributor in the walk?  If people knew nothing about you or your competition, but remembered that they saw you at the walk, don’t you think that will be a tip in your favor?  Again – is that why you do it, NO! Can it be a benefit – absolutely!

3.  Donate services or items to auctions, raffles, etc.  The name recognition is priceless.

These are all some very easy ways that volunteerism has boosted my business.  I am very transparent though – I did all of this long before I was a business owner, so my motives are genuine and most people see that.  If you have been established for a long time and have always said no or rarely participate in charitable events, your motives may be suspect … but do it anyway!  The good that the organization you are helping will outweigh any personal gain.  It is okay for both parties to benefit.  There is no reason volunteering can’t be a win-win situation for all involved.

Volunteerism is a great way to network throughout your community.  Making a difference is a tremendous blessings and I have found that the more I give away the more I get back.  If you have not tried it, I encourage you to go for it.  I don’t think you will be sorry.

Because of some research I’m doing for tomorrow’s Get More Business Show on the topic of Social Media, I’ve been surprised to read recently written articles by prominent (although cremudgenly) authors desparaging Twitter and the idea of instant unrestricted communication.

I don’t expect everyone to jump on the twitter bandwagon, but I honestly thought I wouldn’t be reading any more of those articles.  Twitter isn’t an infant anymore.  In my mind, it’s value has already been proven. But that doesn’t change the fact that there is a large percentage of people out there who detest what they haven’t been brave enough to try.  And I guess it turns out that pandering is still an effective way of connecting with people who already agree with you…but I digress.

In talking to people, I find this rejection is based mostly on fear: fear of what they don’t understand, fear of what they cannot control, fear of change.  But the truth is that the world is changing – FAST!  I remember being knee high, watching Captain Kirk with my dad as he barked orders into his communicator…thinking….”Wow, that is so cool!”  My friends and I fashioned our own communication devices out of 3×5 vertical spiral notebooks which we incessantly flipped open and shut while mimicking the oh so cool sound of the device.  Captain Kirk never had anything as cool as my iPhone though.

In many ways twitter is at the forefront of this mobile movement. I have to confess that twitter on the iPhone is infinitely more engaging and valuable than twitter on my computer in my office.  Mobile Twitter apps allow me to filter information in additional exciting ways (by location).  By using twitter on my iPhone, I can instantly share pictures and video that I’ve shot on my iPhone.  I can fill the empty spaces in my day with interactions and relationship building.  I can make difference in promoting my business in between everything else that I have to do to run my business.  It’s so much better on a mobile device, because I don’t have to sit down and make time for it, or choose twitter over another obligation that I have to do.  When twitter is mobile, I can just fit it in around everything else, which in my opinion is the best way to use the platform.

So what is the best twitter app?  I know I’ve promised this before, but I’ll be delivering a blog post this week to compare what I consider to be the top 3 paid twitter apps and analyze the strengths and weaknesses of each.  Check back for it soon!

Jason Sanders @ValuePagesGroup
Business Networking Specialist

Help spread the word!

Just in case you forgot to mark your calendars, it’s that time of the week again. Time for the Get More Business Show!  This week’s show is going to be all about social media.  Yes, the social media topic gets beat into the ground a lot, but with this show we want to take the road less traveled and give our audience some specific guidelines that we use to shape our own social media activities.

A common mistake that we make is to approach social media as a broadcast platform and overlook the two way communication vehicle that exists to help us build relationships with our peers. We’ll be sharing our ideas on how to build reciprocity with social media, and how we use it to engage our client base and grow that client base through our social media connections.

Many people get overwhelmed and give up before they’ve had a chance to reap the benefits of the work that they have put into social media.  Once your accounts are set up, and it dawns on you that the content that you create and share is the fuel that drives social media, it can feel overwhelming.  Some have a hard time imagining how they can think of new and engaging things to say and share on a regular basis. The truth is that anyone can do it. We’ll share tips on how you can create content that captivates people’s attention and do it around your busy schedule.

We’re going to discuss Diversification VS. Specialization. I promise. Are you looking to a nitch market to help you get through these tough economic times, or are you looking to increase your footprint by offering new products or services? We’ll share our thoughts on these two approaches.

I have to admit that I was shocked by Josh Chandler’s blog post this week. He and I haven’t talked yet to discuss our differences of opinion about the Measured Impact initiative that I introduced during last week’s show. We’ve agreed to air it out this week live on the radio. I’m going to expect Josh to clarify a few things, and who knows…maybe he wants me to do the same. Will we come to a consensus? Will we end the show as friends? Tune in to find out!

The show airs live Wednesday March 10 at 11:30 am Eastern.

You can go to the show page by clicking the large microphone in the header or using the links embedded above.  If you want to register with BlogTalkRadio, you can subscribe to the show and receive automated reminders so you don’t miss it’s live presentation.  If you’re too busy to catch the live show, you can always listen to the recorded podcast on the show page, or even here on this blog post by clicking on the player at the top of the sidebar.

Jason Sanders @ValuePagesGroup
Business Networking Specialist

Help Spread The Word!

On last Wednesday’s live broadcast of “Get More Business” Jason Sanders discussed his charitable initiative “Measured Impact”.

The idea in principle would be to help promote charities to those on Twitter with high follower numbers (in the Twitter Top 100) and in turn get a direct conversion to help the selected charity.

Now, this idea did spark a reaction from me (and it wasn’t a good one!)

Firstly, the concept of targeting the Twitter Top 100 isn’t going to work. Each of these “Twitter celebrities” hasn’t got a shared interest in gaining social equity, their only concern (the majority of the time) is to get more famous.

Another thing to consider about these famous Twitter users is that the majority of their following consists of spam-bots. I’d say about 75% of any given user on Twitter is followed by spammers, so where is the true benefit in targeting a user with 1m+ followers when a large number won’t even see the update!

It’s not to discount those like Brandon Mendelson who are using their fame on Twitter for the right reasons. But, honestly how many of the Twitter 100 do you believe cares about making a difference on the platform?

Do they even know it can do such a thing? Perhaps, through Jason’s efforts it could promote a greater level of change in how celebrities perceive Twitter’s ability to deliver amazing results?

I’d like to be in support of Measured Impact, but in it’s current form I don’t really see it taking off.

Here’s some ways I think Jason can promote the charities on Measured Impact more effectively

1) Talk to Top 100 charity bloggers

The key difference between using Twitter Top 100 and charity bloggers is that it’s more niche and selective.

I think that blogs provide a far more dynamic way to build a long term relationship between the charity and the potential donator. Here’s why:

• Built in comments -  This enables a charity to launch an initiative and get instantaneous reaction and feedback from others about their work
• Sharing tools to other social networks (besides Twitter) -  By using blogs they are not limiting their message to a place their audience may not be. Twitter doesn’t always equal success if your audience doesn’t care or use the social network!
• Multimedia functionality -  A charity can boost their online persona on a blog more effectively as they can include powerful imagery and attached videos to push their message forward. You can’t do that via Twitter (on the same page!)
• Active links back to the charities homepage -  If the charity has promoted it’s initiative with the above tools, and then includes an active link it speaks far louder then a 140 character message can (even if it’s sent by Ryan Seacrest!)

2) Go local, but think big

Isn’t there surely a great opportunity for Jason to utilise his existing network on “The Value Pages Group” to promote his work at Measured Impact.

I’d like to see how he could work towards creating an offline network of like-minded peers who could help work and promote Measured Impact and a selected charity to people they know. Never doubt the power of real, honest offline communication between peers!

3) Provide online interactive tools for charities

If Jason could expand his offerings at “The Value Pages Group” to create a fee-based video and audio solution for charities (to promote via Measured Impact), aren’t more people going to be more in tune with the message because there’s a physical and personable representative from the charity talking about their initiative?

I’d like to see more charities consider why they aren’t using a blog, considering how minimal the setup is and how easy websites such as the “The Value Pages Group” can make things for them.

I think, I’ve rambled on enough here. I’d love to hear all your thoughts on the matter.

Thanks!

This week’s TVPG, Get More Business, Radio Show revolved around two topics that are near and dear to my heart – volunteerism and Free Publicity.  Is it possible for the two to intertwine?

You bet!  As a matter of fact, I have built the majority of my business on the basic “how to get free publicity” principles.  As a very small business starting out, I had very little budget for advertising so I felt the need to get very creative with my marketing.  Honestly I relied heavily on my volunteering opportunities to help me build my business.

Rich Bradley came up with a fabulous list of ten ways to advertise for free or very little cost.  Each one makes sense, is easy to accomplish and doesn’t even require tremendous amounts of work.  Whether you are just starting out, rebuilding a brand or launching a new product or service, these ideas can set you apart from the rest.

First on Rich’s list was informal networking.  This can be done in a variety of ways and can be based on your preferences.  If you are a member of the Rotary or the Lions Club, Little League or Scouting, you have a built in network that needs to know what you do.  That doesn’t mean that you cram it down their throats, but striking up a conversation about what you and another person do for a living is a natural conversation in this type of environment. Have your sixty second commercial perfected so that it feels less like a sales pitch and more like an explanation of your passion.

Next was Event Hosting.  This can take place in several ways and is only limited to your creativity.  If you have a venue – letting other organizations host an event there is a great way to get you some publicity.  If you don’t have a venue, then seek out locations that can compliment what you want to do.  I have held Staging classes in several venues – like a furniture store, a home accessories store and spoke about senior staging at assisted living facilities and nursing homes.

Don’t forget about making Charitable donations. Make a donation and tell people about it.  This can take many forms – donating to auctions, providing door prizes for events, table decorating for an event or being a sponsor for whatever.  One of my favorite ideas is to donate books to the library – especially a children’s book.  You have spent less than $25 dollars and have a great opportunity for a photo op that can run in the local newspaper and then you can blog about it and put it in your newsletter.  FABULOUS!!!

Many people are uncomfortable with blowing their own horn.  A great way to eliminate the uneasiness is to have a third party write a press release or announcement and distribute it.  This can take place after you have made a charitable donation, hosted an event, or when you participated in someone else’s event.  The only caution we have is to read the release before it is sent, just to make sure all of the information is correct.

Next you could try co-hosting a special event.  This is a great way for someone else to pay for your publicity.  Try Co-op/co-branded advertising, such as bringing in a ticket stub from one place OR something like Merchants of Main Street.  I have provided classes and information sessions at locations that compliment what I do.  I have also partnered with other companies that provide complimentary services.  Giving a class during a furniture store’s huge annual sale event was a great benefit.  They were already doing advertising so anything I added was just bonus.

The next few items on Rich’s List were internet related.  Social media can be very time consuming, but if you do it right, the pay off is fabulous and it is free for the most part.  If you develop a website (which everyone should have in this day and age) you may have to pay for hosting, and your domain name, but the benefits are large comparatively.  Blogs were something I thought I would never do, but the payoff has been tremendous.  I have gotten leads that have turned into jobs and have been offered several business opportunities because of my blogs.  If you are serious about getting your message out there for very little money, a blog is an excellent way to do that.

There are countless other social mediums to use – facebook, twitter, linked in, etc.  You choose what you want to use and then use it.  All of those accounts are free and they all lend a transparency to your brand that is necessary for building relationships with consumers.  The caution with these types of outlets is that they can be time consuming.  I set a limit each day, but I make sure to check my sites each day.  It is that valuable when building your brand.

Regular communication is vital to advertising and a great medium to use is email.  Whether you build a data base and just send regular email or you use a medium like Constant Contact, this is a great way to stay connected.  Newsletters, Items of Value, Specials that you are running, and Holiday wishes are all great ways to communicate through email.

The next idea is one of my favorites.  Establish yourself as the expert.  Find a reporter in the newspaper, on Facebook, on TV, etc. then make contact and offer your services.  When I first started out I contacted our local newspaper.  I knew I couldn’t afford to advertise there, but wanted the exposure.  So I called and offered to write a monthly article about the industry.  I agreed not to promote my business, but could offer education.  It has saved me roughly $1000 in ad costs and my name, photo and contact info is in the paper every month.  The Paper has even contacted me about features they need “expert” advice for. I am fortunate to have such a great relationship with our local paper.

One of the last items on the Rich’s list is personalized correspondence.  This can take the form of thank you cards, phone calls, follow-ups, calls or emails, visits, lunches, breakfasts, etc. This a great way to maintain your relationships and the cost is really low.  Sending a thank you note for a referral someone gave you will make them feel great and want to refer you again.  A personal touch is so valuable especially when relationships are new.  Everyone likes to feel special – make the effort it is worth it.

Next post will be about the volunteer factor.  It has been my most valuable tool to date.  Giving of yourself – whether time or other resources – is such an asset and will help you establish a positive reputation for yourself.

Publicity for Free is vital and you should be using it every chance you get.

If you missed the live radio show – you can check out the podcast here, or you can use the player on this page at the top of the sidebar.

Wow! So I just checked in and it seems that it’s been a little over a month since my last blog post here. Ouch! Tsk Tsk…. My goal has been to be much more consistent with my posts than I have been. I promise I’ll be doing better.

If you only follow me here on IdeaBox as my personal blog, you may have just thought I took a little vacation. Sadly that is not the case. (A vacation sounds really good right now!) Instead of relaxing I’ve been super busy in another little corner of my network, over at TVPG Radio.

I participate in a weekly radio show, called the Get More Business Show on BlogTalkRadio. Up until September of 09 I was hosting the show solo and featuring one guest per week. But then I got really busy and the show ended up on the back burner. Now that things are getting more manageable, the show is back and I’ve changed up the format to include several other co-hosts and a more diverse and fun format based around the same theme. Needless to say, these changes involved a lot of adjustments and planning to make the website just so and ensure that we give our audience really helpful and entertaining content.

This week marked our second show with the new format and I’m really thrilled with how the show is turning out. We have lots of ideas to make it better that we will be experimenting with as time goes on, but the group of people that I work with on the show are amazing and very talented and a blast to work with.

Now that the heavy lifting has mostly been sorted out over at TVPG Radio, expect to see more blog posts here at the IdeaBox. I’ve been brewing up a host of great post ideas and I’m excited about unleashing them here. There’s still no time for me to relax though. I’m going to be ramping up the Measured Impact project here in the next few weeks and I’ll also be hitting the pavement locally here in South Jersey to share The Value Pages Group with the local business community and recruit some fresh members. Who knows, some of the local businesses that I talk to may even be interested in the Promotional and Design Work we do over at TVPG Labs. As things develop, you can rely on me keeping you updated with our progress.

To everyone who follows my progress and all my regular readers – You guys are awesome!  Thanks for your continued interest as I work through all these projects, bootstrap these goals, and dream outside my comfort zone.  I really appreciate all the support, feedback and good advice I get from you guys…and girls, of course.

Jason Sanders @ValuePagesGroup
Business Networking Specialist

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