MEDIA MOTIVATORS Issues 41 - 45

ISSUE No. 41

IN THIS ISSUE

1. 8M's Quotable Quote
2. The Insiders Guide to the Media - Tips & Advice
3. Media NTK's (Need to Knows) - A Glossary of Terms

Quotable Quote

"Life is a series of sales situations and the answer is no if you don't
ask."

Patricia Fripp, US Speaker and Coach

TIP: In sales, if you don't ask you will never know what the customer wants.

WINNING THE BIG PITCH - THE 7 DEADLY SINS OF BUSINESS PRESENTATIONS AND HOW TO AVOID THEM!

Are poor presentations costing you business?

The ability to deliver a presentation to potential investors or clients is
an essential skill for any budding entrepreneur, sales professional or
consultant.

Whether its a '15 second elevator pitch' or more extensive
presentation, winning over and persuading audiences
is vital in today's competitive capital raising and sales environment.

Learn the secrets of how to make powerful and persuasive
presentations in any business situation and you will win more work.

My premise is every start-up entrepreneur, seasoned business operator or
consultant can win more business by being a better presenter.

Here are the Seven Deadly Sins of Business Presentations and How to
Avoid Them.

1. Not Having a Clear Goal. It is essential to know what the objective or
end outcome of your presentation is. Is it to raise funds, educate and
inform, build relationships, to sell or build credibility?

2. No Structure. This is an absolute must for any presenter - at the very
least have a beginning, middle and end. You may be the best presenter in the
world with outstanding delivery skills but poor structure will lead to a
poor presentation.

3. Not Connecting with Your Audience. Building empathy and rapport with your
audience is critical. Connect with them on three levels - head, heart and
hip-pocket.

4. A Poor Beginning. First impressions always matter. If you have to raise
$8 Million in 8 minutes, make every word count. I learnt this tip from
attending Patricia Fripp's speaking school recently and I think its
brilliant. For business presentations she says avoid using 'Thanks, its
great to be here' as your opener. She rightly points out you've just wasted
10 seconds. At a million dollars a minute that equates to nearly $167,000!

5. Too Much Content. The cardinal sin of all business and technical
presenters. In my media career, I estimate I have attended more than 300
conferences, events and seminars. That's 1500 hours worth of presentations
I've had to sit through and the most common mistake I've seen is presenters
rush and overload the audience with too much content. Remember,
presentations rely on the spoken word and the visual - use the written word
and a handout to provide more detail.

6. The Presenter's 'I's' Are Too Close Together. We all like to talk about
ourselves. As a radio manager, I spent hours listening to and providing
feedback to broadcasters. Those that really connected with their audience
talked with them rather than at them. I observed they used the word 'you' a
lot more than the word 'I'. This led to the saying that with some
presenters their 'I's' were too close together! Here's another great tip I
learnt from Fripp. Record your presentation and have it transcribed. Every
time you see the word 'I', cross it out and replace it with 'you'. She calls
this working on your 'I-You Ratio'.

7. Poor Closer. Again it is beginning and the end that is the most important
part of any presentation. With your closer - what is the key message or
action you want the audience to take away with them as they walk out the
door? In business presentations the closer is often the 'call to action'.
When I heard Bill Clinton speak at a Fundraising event for sick children,
his closer was 'I want you to help'. Simple, direct and effective. Here's
another tip I learnt from Fripp. If you want to take questions, take them
before your closer, because ending on question time is a poor and weak way
to end a presentation. Worse still, you are unlikely to be able to control
the last question. Take questions for a set period before the end, wrap that
section up and then end with a strong closer. I've already tried this on
several audiences and it works a treat!

Media NTK's (Need to Knows)

Embedded: A term used to describe the 600 journalists working with frontline
coalition units in the current war against Iraq. They are living, travelling
and reporting on the war as it happens with the opportunity to provide
immediate interviews with soldiers. Live images of battle are also beamed to
the world via videophones and satellite uplinks. It has provided the most
graphic and terrifying images of live battle ever seen by viewers. Debate
continues whether the reporting is objective given the close relationship
between reporters and soldiers. Many argue it is not the true picture of war
only 'slices of the war in Iraq'.

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ISSUE No. 42

IN THIS ISSUE

1. 8M's Quotable Quote
2. The Insiders Guide to the Media - Tips & Advice
3. Media NTK's (Need to Knows) - A Glossary of Terms

Quotable Quote 

"It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most
intelligent, but the one most responsive to change."

Charles Darwin

TIP: Manage change before it manages you!

THE 7 STRATEGIES TO TARGET YOUR MESSAGE WITH LASER-LIKE PRECISION

How do you connect with an audience so your message matches their
expectations, wants and needs?

In the last edition we focused on the Seven Deadly Sins of Business
Presentations and How to Avoid Them.

One of those Deadly Sins was not connecting with your audience.

So how do you overcome this challenge?

Here are the Seven Strategies to Target Your Business Presentation Message
With Laser-Like Precision

1. Research your audience prior to the presentation. The more you know about
your audience the more likely you are able to connect with them. I'm often
blown away by the number of business people who just don't bother to find
out anything about their audience. The more specific you can be the better.
For example one of the best briefs I received from a client was the
following description of the audience:

"The majority of the group are on a 2 days, 2 nights, 4 off roster. These
are largely process technicians. The remainder are on a 5 days on 2 days off
roster. Day shift people include tradespeople (we call them maintenance
technicians) and lab, administration and professional employees.
Average tenure across the group is 8 years ranging up to over 30 years.
Average age across the group is 38 years. Gender Split: Females 6 per cent,
Males 94 per cent"

What a great start and fantastic research statistics on the audience. From
this I could work out nearly half the audience hadn't been with the company
very long, they were predominantly a younger audience and mostly male! This
provided a strong foundation to tailor my message to connect with this
group. Please note this was an exceptionally good briefing from the client
and most of the time you will have to do the legwork to find out who your
audience is!

2. Find Out What Your Audience Want. Again ask key questions of the event
organiser such as 'What are the key issues impacting on your industry,
business or members?' I always try and meet as many of the audience as
possible prior to a presentation as ask "what's on your mind at the moment
and what do you want to get out of this presentation?". Again be specific.

Here's an example I used for a recent presentation for entrepreneurs and
venture capitalists. When you're trying to raise funds most potential
investors will want to know 3 things. What are the sales projections?
Who are your target customers? What is the exit strategy?
Provide this and you've won them over.

3. Use Examples. Nothing builds empathy and rapport with your
audience as powerfully as examples. Remember you are selling intangible
ideas and practical examples make these ideas more memorable, believable and
tangible.

4. Use Vignettes. No, this is not a type of dressing you put on your salad!
It is a short story, example or incident. The key point is they are easy to
remember and tell. But they must be short and relevant.

5. Use Metaphors. These are powerful words that conjure up vivid images in
the minds of your audience. They are a proven speechwriting technique. I
recently heard former US President Bill Clinton speak. Clinton used the
metaphor of the gap between the human invention of the club and the shield
to describe the present situation in the war against terrorism. He said
"this gap needs to closed". This makes intangible concepts have more impact
with an audience.

6. Be Specific. The more specific you can be with actual examples, case
studies, and results the more laser-like your precision will be in targeting
your message.

7. Use the Incident/Point/Benefit Technique. This one is really powerful.
Tell the story, make the point and then importantly, reinforce how this will
benefit the audience. It took me years to work this one out but it will make
a big difference to the impact of your presentations.

Media NTK's (Need to Knows)

Cloaking: In e-mail distribution, cloaking is the act of masking the name
and address of the sender so that the recipient does not know who sent the
e-mail. It is not ethical and should be avoided.
(Source: Adapted from www.webopedia.com)

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ISSUE No. 43

IN THIS ISSUE

1. 8M's Quotable Quote
2. The Insiders Guide to the Media - Tips & Advice
3. Media NTK's (Need to Knows) - A Glossary of Terms

Quotable Quote

"We recognise that ideas are driving the economy, ideas are making people
rich and most important, ideas are changing the world. If you can get people
to accept and embrace and adore and cherish your ideas, you win. You win
financially, you gain power and you change the world in which we live."

Seth Godin, author 'Unleashing the Ideavirus'

TIP: Learn how to communicate your ideas clearly and confidently to others.

THE TOP 10 MISTAKES EMAIL MARKETERS MAKE AND HOW TO AVOID THEM!

Email marketing is now recognised as one of the most powerful ways to market
and promote your products or services.

The right email can produce excellent response rates and have an
extraordinary effect on the way you communicate with target markets.

But why do some email marketing efforts achieve spectacular results whilst
others are instantly deleted?

How do you promote and engage in responsible, ethical and legal email
marketing?

Well, why not learn from the worst and make a pledge not to engage in these
practices.

Here are The Top Ten Mistakes Email Marketers Make and How to Avoid Them!

1. SPAMMING. This is simply defined as sending emails people didn't ask for
and don't want. You just clog up their email and waste their time. Whatever
you do, don't respond to one of those emails that offers 1 billion email
names for $10.00. Engaging in spamming can do more harm to your business
that good.

2. FAILING TO ASK PERMISSION. Do you like getting email from people you have
never met or heard from? No, nor do I! Always ask permission to send email
marketing. How do you do this? Ask. When you speak on the phone ask, when
you give a presentation ask, when you meet someone new and they give you
their card ask.

Here's an example I use in my presentations and Tom Antion
encourages in his seminars. I offer one of my product packs as a door prize
and ask permission to collect the business cards from people in the audience
to go into the competition. Make it clear that by entering the competition
they are giving you permission to subscribe to an ezine. Provide the option
of participants writing 'no ezine' on the card to still be eligible to win
the prize but not be sent any email.

3. NOT USING BCC. Most of you should know about the bcc or 'blind carbon
copy' function on your email program. This is where the email names of
people on the list are hidden. Always use this instead of the cc option when
sending out bulk email. There are two reasons. Firstly, no one wants to wade
through a huge list of email names before reading the message. Secondly, if
you use cc only everyone can read and copy the email names and the privacy
of these names is compromised.

4. NOT HAVING A PRIVACY POLICY. Speaking of privacy, you should always make
your privacy policy available and accessible. Either have it on the bottom
of the email or detailed on your website. As an example, here is my policy
http://www.8mmedia.com/Privacy%20Policy.htm

5. NOT HAVING AN OPT IN/OPT OUT OPTION. Always provide an option for email
subscribers to opt in our out of your regular email communication. You will
note I provide this option both on my website and in this ezine.

6. NOT HAVING A SYSTEM. The bigger your email list becomes the more
difficult it becomes to manage. Have a system to collect, store and update
your email list. You can start simply and do it all yourself in your email
program such as Outlook, but I found investing in a professional list
management software or company saves lots of time and money in the long
term.

7. NOT OFFERING VALUE OR A BENEFIT. Your email marketing must offer a
benefit to people on the list. This is either a product or service they have
a need for or content, ideas or tips that can make a difference to their
business or life.

8. OVERSELLING. Email messages that are full of sales pitches are big turn
offs for people. Offer rich content and ideas.

9. POOR COPY. Always write interesting, engaging and accurate copy. I've
learnt the hard way through earlier editions of 'Media Motivators', there is
nothing worse for your reputation or image than poorly written copy, full of
mistakes or typos.

I find it useful to make a copy of the E-Zine and then do a test send to
another email. I then read this on screen and in hardcopy, testing links and
proof reading. This process makes a big difference in reducing errors.

10. LACK OF COMMITMENT. It takes time, energy and effort to be good at email
marketing. Despite what you may read in the Spam email, fortunes are not
made instantly or overnight. It takes an investment in purchasing
educational materials, learning new skills, and making the effort to
regularly communicate with people.

Media NTK's (Need to Knows)

Spam: Electronic junk mail or e-mail advertising sent to a mailing
list/newsgroup or any unsolicited e-mail. In addition to wasting people's
time with unwanted e-mail, Spam also eats up a lot of network bandwidth.

There is some debate about the source of the term, but the generally
accepted version is that it comes from the Monty Python song, "Spam spam
spam spam, spam spam spam spam, lovely spam, wonderful spam." Like the song,
spam is an endless repetition of worthless text. Another school of thought
maintains that it comes from the computer group lab at the University of
Southern California who gave it the name because it has many of the same
characteristics as the lunchmeat Spam:

Nobody wants it or ever asks for it.
No one ever eats it; it is the first item to be pushed to the side when
eating the entree.
Sometimes it is actually tasty, like 1% of junk mail that is really useful
to some people. (Source: Adapted from www.webopedia.com)


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ISSUE No. 44

IN THIS ISSUE

1. 8M's Quotable Quote
2. The Insiders Guide to the Media - Tips & Advice
3. Media NTK's (Need to Knows) - A Glossary of Terms
4. 8M's Coming Events

Quotable Quote 

"Don't give in, don't give up and don't back off for the corners!"

Old speedway saying. My thanks to Tony Clarkson from Experience Plus for
sharing this gem.

TIP: Persistence is both a strength and a virtue!

THE TOP TEN REASONS A MEDIA RELEASE CAN HELP GROW YOUR BUSINESS.

How do you stand out from the crowd in your business and personal life?

Do you crave recognition and exposure for your organisation and its
achievements?

Communicating with your customers and stakeholders has become more
demanding, complex and pressure-driven.

Writing effective media releases for target audiences has become an
important skill for leaders, managers, policy makers, marketing
professionals and volunteers.

Here are The Top Ten Reasons you should consider writing and distributing a
media release.

1. FOCUS. The process of researching and writing something interesting and
new about your business provides a focus and helps define, clarify and
communicate what your strengths are. This mere act can deliver a much needed
break from the daily grind and ensure a moment to reflect and plan. It
provides a reason 'to work on the business', instead of 'in the business'.
Often we are so caught up in the day to day tasks of our jobs we don't allow
any time to look at the 'big picture'.

2. IMPROVES MORALE. Nothing helps create better morale than celebrating
achievements, milestones and successes. Writing and distributing a media
release helps do this in the most public way. You can tell the world and
also acknowledge publicly those that have helped along the way.

3. KEEPS EVERYONE INFORMED. There's nothing worse than not knowing what's
going on. When there is an information vacuum rumours tend to spread. A
media release helps provide the facts on an issue and keep everyone informed
from your employees to your best customers.

4. SAVES TIME AND MONEY. Writing your own media release can save time and
money by building your own internal capabilities, contacts and processes. If
you want to know more about how to do this click here
http://www.8mmedia.com/Writing%20Pitching%20Releases%20Seminar.htm

5. IT IS FREE. Getting your media release used by the media provides
thousands of dollars worth of free publicity.

6. INCREASES YOUR CREDIBILITY. The great strength of editorial coverage in
the media is the credibility it brings. Everyone knows advertising messages
are paid for and lack credibility. Being reported in the media provides
third party and independent endorsement that no advertising campaign can
deliver.

7. BUILDS YOUR BRAND. This added credibility is the most powerful, fastest
and cheapest way to build a strong brand.

8. REACHES CUSTOMERS YOU CAN'T. The media provides access to the world's
largest database. It can reach customers that no other marketing tools or
tactics can.

9. PROVIDES LEVERAGE OPPORTUNITIES. Once you have gained media coverage,
article reprints and copies of radio and TV interviews can be used to
further build your brand or credibility. These can be sent to prospects and
clients or posted on your website.

10. PROVIDES CONTROL. While editorial coverage provides credibility, you
also lose control. In an ad you can control every word and image because
you are paying for that privilege. When working through journalists you
lose this control and the risk of being misquoted, taken out of context and
inaccuracies increases. A media release reduces this risk.

Media NTK's (Need to Knows)

News Values: These are the categories that define news to journalists and
editors. Usually divided into five areas: conflict; hardship and danger to
the community; the unusual (quirky, odd and novel eg 'man bites dog compared
to dog bites man'); scandal; and individualism.

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ISSUE No. 45

IN THIS ISSUE

1. 8M's Quotable Quote
2. The Insiders Guide to the Media - Tips & Advice
3. Media NTK's (Need to Knows) - A Glossary of Terms
4. 8M's Coming Events

Quotable Quote

"The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work
and his play, his labour and his leisure, his mind and his body, his
information and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows
which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he
does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he's
always doing both."

Author James Michener and my thanks to Michelle Matthews for sharing this.

TIP: Find your passion and build your life around it.

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THE TOP TEN QUESTIONS TO ASK BEFORE SPENDING ANOTHER CENT ON MARKETING!

There's a saying that half of all marketing efforts are wasted, but its
impossible to tell which half!

I know from hard won experience how easy it is to waste money on marketing.

When I first set up my own business in 1998, I spent tens of thousands of
dollars employing the best graphic designer and printing a great glossy
brochure.

The feedback was 'Tom, that's one of the best glossy brochures I've seen!'

But did it get me customers and help build my business? No! It was a pure
ego trip.

Now I Know better.

Most marketing efforts are done for purely ego reasons alone and almost all
fail to live up to expectations.

So what can you do about it?

Well, I believe the best marketing campaigns are built not on glossy
brochures or expensive TV advertising but on understanding the needs and
wants of consumers and then providing solutions to these needs and wants.

Much of this is done by building powerful personal relationships and using
the media to create awareness, credibility and trust in the hearts and minds
of consumers.

Here are the Top 10 Questions to Ask Before Spending Another Cent on
Marketing.

And, help solve that perennial question of how NOT to waste half your
marketing efforts!

1. WHAT AM I TRYING TO ACHIEVE? Always start with an objective in mind. Is
it to attract new customers in a start-up phase or retain long-term loyal
customers. The marketing tools and tactics for each of these questions will
be vastly different. Remember to set SMART Goals.

=> Specific
=> Measurable
=> Attractive
=> Realistic
=> Time-framed

2. WHO IS MY BROAD MARKET? Who exactly are you trying to target? The more
you can find out about them the better. What industry do they work in, what
is their level of education and income, what are their values and beliefs
and where do they live are just a couple for starters?

3. WHO IS MY SPECIFIC TARGET MARKET? If you have a broad market try and
segment it down. The more specific you can be the better. Think of the best
way to eat a delicious and juicy orange. You must carefully peel away the
astringent protective skin of the orange. Inside is the juicy flesh. When
you have done this, carefully separate each segment without spilling a drop
of juice. Take time to enjoy the texture and sensual feel of each segment.
Segmenting your target market is no different. You must peel away the outer
layer and segment each market based on a range of different wants and needs.

4. WHAT IS MY NICHE? I heard a great saying from fellow speaker Maree Wrack
recently. "Provide the fruit, not the whole supermarket!". Focus on your
strengths and deliver this product or service really well.

5. WHAT PROBLEM CAN I SOLVE? I believe running a successful business is
pretty simple. As Bill Clinton said when I heard him speak in Perth recently
'most of the big things in life are simple'. Being in business is about
finding out about people's problems and then providing a solution for them.

Whether you are running a multi-million dollar enterprise or a business from
home, the principles are the same.

6. WHAT MAKES MY SOLUTION UNIQUE? What is it that makes your solution to a
problem unique? Is it different from all the other possible solutions in
the marketplace? This is commonly known as a 'Unique Selling Proposition'
or USP.

7. HOW DO I REACH MY TARGET MARKET? What is the best way to reach your
target audience? How do they get their information? Is it worth of mouth,
personal referrals or through the media?

8. HOW WILL I DELIVER THE SOLUTION? What is the best way to deliver the
business solution? What are the best and most cost effective distribution
channels for my product or service?

9. HOW MUCH WILL I CHARGE? Pricing is a very sensitive issue. Do you want
to position your product or service as a low cost, high volume business or
high value, exclusive and expensive.

10. HOW WILL I RETAIN EXISTING CUSTOMERS? It is more expensive to attract
new customers than service existing ones. The research shows that if you
increase repeat business by 5 per cent you can increase your profitability
by more than 35 per cent. How will you keep and retain existing customers?

Media NTK's (Need to Knows)

Planned Publicity: Publicity that is the planned result of a conscious
effort to attract attention to an issue, event or organisation.