Publicity Tip - Embrace your fans

The internet has completely changed economic thought. And not just in a grand, hyperbolic sense. There is a fundamental shift when a company begins to sell its products online.
A brick and mortar company is bound by the limits of its storage capacity. It can’t sell 500 000 cds because it can’t afford to have 500 000 cds on hand. This is an undeniable fact. But if you move online, you can exploit a limitless amount of inventory. Since buyers expect to wait a day or so for shipping the product, you can store those cds in a cheap warehouse. It can cost money to have a single cd under the bright lights and watchful eyes of a salesman in a store, but mere cents in simple warehouse.
The Long Tail by Chris Anderson goes into depth about what if means for the future of businesses. If you want your business to flourish in the digital age, I’d recommend this book. The general gist is this – as we move forward, the brick and mortar stores simply won’t be able to compete with the online retailers’ endless stock and cheap pricing. Instead of economics based on scarcity, it’s economics based on abundance. Chris goes over what it means from the supply chain end and what it means from the consumer end, but he doesn’t have the chance to cover the impact it has on the marketing.
So what does this change mean for you?
You need to work on marketing your product with more than ads. Ads should always be used in addition to an actual marketing plan. Online sales are generated by the most trusted and most publicized by fans of the product. That’s we why suggest embracing your fans. Try utilizing a message board, a testimonial form for them to fill out, exercise your social media tools and use publicity. Show off the satisfied people who are urging everyone to buy what you are selling. People are passionate about what they spend their money on. Let your fans work for you and give them the tools to help sell your company.



OutRight Communications is a marketing, design and PR firm that can skillfully craft your public image. Our team works together to ensure that your message is delivered to the public, whatever your message may be. We specialize in long term image crafting, publicity, web & graphic design, press releases & media interviews, author services & book publicity, media buys, and creative writing. Get in touch today to solve your media problems!

A Case Study in Terrible Advertising:

All too often, we see ads that were based on a great idea, but then executed terribly. Coors Light recently put up a new billboard on my way to work. It’s the same design they’ve been running for a long time now with a frosty beer can on the right, and a witty saying on the left. This month’s witty saying? “You’ve just been poked by an Ice Cold Beer”.

I can picture the 50 year old Ad execs of Coors now… “I know! We will run an ad making a reference to that popular FaceBook site! Kids love that place!” Correct they were. Kids of all ages do love that place. FaceBook has been a massive success and leveraging an ad campaign with reference to it is almost a sure fire hit. Unfortunately, they referenced one of the worst things about FaceBook.

The Poke feature on FaceBook is ridiculed in the majority of social circles, mocked by internet commentators and is generally frowned upon by the users of FaceBook. Site users have made valiant attempts to rid the site of this feature, calling it “childish, lame and a waste of space.” The only thing keeping it alive is FaceBook’s stubborn love of their original project. This isn’t anything I would want my brand referencing in a positive light. With a little more research and a little more time spent talking to actual FaceBook users, and Coors could have had a much stronger advertising campaign. “Get poked in real life” is a much better reference than “I’m the creepy guy who pokes people late a night” (on FaceBook of course).

OutRight Communications is a marketing, design and PR firm that can skillfully craft your public image. Our team works together to ensure that your message is delivered to the public, whatever your message may be. We specialize in long term image crafting, publicity, web & graphic design, press releases & media interviews, author services & book publicity, media buys, and creative writing. Get in touch today to solve your media problems!

Staying Ahead of The Curve

I have never let my schooling interfere with my education
- Mark Twain

Mark Twain said and wrote a lot of great things, but none of them resound with businesses today quite like this one. The Internet has fundamentally and drastically changed the way the world works, yet most of us received our education in a pre-Internet world. Have you taken the time to learn how to grow your business using the Internet?

Reading books and blogs about this new, digital business age can help turn your project from small to huge. Taking the time to learn how to grow your online presence and attract clients and readers without using traditional advertising, can save your budget and create a ripple effect of growth.

Make it your goal to spend a couple of hours every week to not only keep up to date on your industry, but to also take the time to learn what you didn’t learn in school. Go get your http://www.sixmonthmba.com/. Learn about becoming more productive through www.lifehacks.org. Step into the minds of New York Times best selling authors and Internet gurus at http://sethgodin.typepad.com/ and http://www.thelongtail.com/

The business world is constantly evolving; shouldn't your education be as well?




Mark Guest is the director of Social Media for OutRight communications

OutRight Communications is a marketing, design and PR firm that can skillfully craft your public image. Our team works together to ensure that your message is delivered to the public, whatever your message may be. We specialize in long term image crafting, publicity, web & graphic design, press releases & media interviews, author services & book publicity, media buys, and creative writing. Get in touch today to solve your media problems!