I originally started my career in public relations before moving into the marketing function. Throughout the years, there are several skills that  I’lve picked up that have been essential to my role. Here are the five key skills that I believe are a must for today’s marketing professional, in no particular order:

1. Search Engine Optimization: I believe it was Jeramiah Owyang who said that search is your new website. If your website is not optimized to place highly on key search terms related to your business, then you are missing opportunities with your business. It’s important to understand what factors help or hinder your website and the key search terms for your company, products or services.

2. Content Marketing: Placing highly on search engines relies on strong content marketing strategy. This includes not only understanding your keywords, but also understanding your buyer personas and the questions they will ask during the purchasing process. If you’re able to create content that addresses their questions, then not only will your pages ranks highly, but also when they click through, it will be highly relevant.

3. Public Relations: Previously, PR was seen mainly as a way to increase brand awareness for a company, with minimal connections to how it truly impacted a business. With better tracking tools and the importance of online marketing, public relations is an integral element in driving SEO through quality links which promotes traffic to your website – both direct and indirect. It’s integral that marketers understand how to leverage PR and properly measure it as part of a larger marketing strategy and event marketing campaigns related to product launches, tradeshows, and more.

4. Social Media: When you look at the first three things above, then social media becomes an important avenue for distributing your content, driving SEO and increasing brand awareness. I think it’s also important to engage on the channels where influencers, customers, partners, and employees are engaging. This requires understanding where the conversations are happening. For example, new prospects may be asking questions on LinkedIn groups, influencers are on Twitter and customers are in dedicated online communities.

5. Pay-per-click programs: PPC programs are a science. While you may not implement them directly, it’s important to understand the concepts and how they can be leveraged for your overall programs. The goal is to find ways to be present when someone is searching on your company or products/services related to your company. It’s about filtering through all the noise that a person encounters online. An article, a tweet, a search result, a ppc ad. It all adds up and increases the success of your marketing efforts.

I’m curious to hear what other skills are must haves for today’s marketing.

Photo by Gregg Salomon

Finesse Your 30-Second Elevator Pitch

Let’s be frank, in today’s ADD world, it’s more like the 140 character pitch. The goal – can you succinctly describe what your company does and why should I (i.e. the venture capitalist, potential customer, or average joe schmo) care.

Tell a Story

Whether you’re selling cloud-based software or shoes online, take your 30-second elevator pitch and tell a story. Stories engage and enthrall your audience. Product specifications and features do not.

Create a Company Brand or Persona

To me, a brand is communicating a specific persona to the market place. Are you the know-it-all Uncle Joe, chatty Aunt Sue, or gentle Nana Betty? It’s a technique that marketers use to describe their different target audiences. Why not use it as a way to position the company within the marketplace? Personally, I’d rather relate to a person versus a “company entity.”

Develop a Tagline

This is something I read in Jeremiah Owyang’s blog regarding start-up companies at the Disrupt conference. Lacking the first three points, companies should craft a 4-6 word tag line. The tag line would at least provide a springboard to a larger discussion about your company and value proposition.

Empower Your Employees

In today’s world, a company is no longer represented by its founders but also by its employees. As such, communicate the key messages about your company to your employees and empower them to be your ambassadors.

Conclusion: Memorable is more than buzz

In the end, launching your company is more than creating short-term buzz via publicity stunts. It’s about telling a story with an engaging persona that people will remember weeks and months after the launch.

Media databases, such as Vocus and Cision, are great resources for finding reporters and bloggers who cover specific industries and topics. These databases helped augment the day-to-day research that practitioners did to identify, research and verify the best reporter for that particular news story or company.

While these databases have tremendous amount of information, not all of it is accurate or up-to-date. And this is where the problem begins. For companies and practitioners who rely solely on these resources, they cease to be “pr practitioners” and risk becoming “email spammers” as the pitches will be irrelevant and unwanted. Or much worse, being blacklisted by the very reporters they are seeking to reach.

Now consider this from the reporter or blogger’s point of view. Her information has been gleaned from her website, without her permission or knowledge, added to a database, and sold to hundreds and thousands of people. While she may be open to receiving relevant information, she now gets multiple emails with seemingly unrelated content and solicitations. She may or may not fault the media databases, but most likely, she’ll fault you – the PR person who didn’t do his homework.

Don’t get me wrong. I personally use Cision to help me 1. research new contacts at existing outlets, 2. build a media list or 3. to learn more about a particular media outlet. My point is leverage this as one resource for learning more about a reporter. Here are three more tips for knowing your reporter better:

Research Previous Coverage

The best place to begin is reading the person’s previous blog postings or articles. I typically go back at least 6-9 months to determine the type of stories he likes to write, how often he writes, and when he last wrote about my client/particular industry. For example, if he wrote about a trend story about mobile apps for events last month, it’s likely he won’t cover this topic for a few weeks or months.

Review Their LinkedIn Profiles

One disadvantage of the media databases is the lack of background information on reporters. Either to find information or to augment what is available, look up the person’s profile on LinkedIn. As a professional network, LinkedIn is a wealth information – previous positions, personal websites (if available), and location.

While you can upgrade to a pro account to send emails from within LinkedIn, weigh the pros and cons of this carefully. For me, unless we were member of the same group, I would be less receptive to a cold pitch on LinkedIn than via my blog.

Engage on Social Media

More and more reporters are participating on social media (personally, Twitter seems to be a popular choice), partially due to personal interest and partially as part of their job. When possible, I recommend following a reporter. This provides insight on stories he’s writing, types of topics he’s interested in and possible personal information. And when appropriate, you can respond to the reporter; thereby engaging and building a relationship with the reporter before an “official” pitch. In some cases, having a reporter tweet out your story may result in more traffic and word of mouth than an article itself.

These are just three simple tips for getting to know your reporter before the pitch. What other tips do you have? Bonus points for those who can list things about me in your comments =)

Related Articles:

* Three Tips on How to Pitch Bloggers

* A Hidden Rule of PR: If You Don’t Ask, How Do You Know You Won’t Get It?

With my sub focus on virtual events, I’ve been receiving media pitches to attend these type of events. Inviting media and bloggers to attend your event – whether virtual or physical – is a great way to drive awareness of your event.

The challenge? Attending any event takes time out of a busy schedule and away from billable work. Like any media pitch, you have to clearly outline the benefits to entice the blogger or reporter to take time out to attend. This can be a keynote from a industry expert who rarely speaks, details of a research report being revealed for the first time or seeing how producers are using these solutions in innovative ways.

Two media pitches particularly caught my attention for their different approaches. Here is the first I received:

Subject: Hope you’ll join us on 6/16 (note email was sent with only a few day’s notice)

Hi Donna and Cece,

Your site is pretty cool – it’s great that you are aggregating VE content in one place. I hope you will consider joining us this Thursday for the [virtual event]. We create this VE as a way to push the envelope in online engagement… If you have time to drop in, please tell us what you think.

 Curious, I asked how the event is pushing the envelope in online engagement beyond just great visuals. The response I received was:

Great question! We’re trying something new in the pre-show to push interactivity and engagement – we’ll see how it works.

 Ok, as someone who has expressed interest in learning more about the event, this response did irk me a bit. With that said, though I had no information about the “innovation,” I was still curious. I responded asking for more details about the nature of the interactivity and engagement, promising not to write or tweet about it before the event. Here is the response:

I’d rather not share it in advance. It’s not that it’s a huge innovation, I just don’t feel right sharing the concept before Thursday as my colleague [XXX] is leading that part and we haven’t discussed his thoughts on sharing with key industry folks. I’ll chat with him and let you know.

I never heard back from the person and I subsequently didn’t attend the event. By setting proper expectations upfront, I would’ve been more inclined to take a peek at the event. Furthermore, by sending it literally a few days in advance of the event, the organizer was inconsiderate of my time.

Here is a another pitch we received the same week. Unlike the above, this pitch clearly stated what we would see, explained why we may be interested and invited us several weeks early so we could clear our schedules. While I may not attend, my colleague Donna added this to her calendar. Objective achieved!

 Subject: 2-Day Virtual Convention to Showcase Best of 3D Web

Hi Donna and Cece,

I thought you may be interested in learning about a groundbreaking virtual convention that will be held next month entirely on the 3D Web. This July 8th and 9th, participants from all over the world will have the opportunity to attend a virtual trade show for the first time, UtherConvention 2011, which will feature between 100 – 200 exhibitors, including some of the largest players in the 3D internet. The two-day event will include seminars, panel discussions, and virtual networking opportunities. Participants will have access to 3D voice and audio tools, allowing them to overhear and participate in conservations as they walk through the convention hall. It will operate as a real-world convention, but take place entirely online, giving attendees the opportunity to connect with like-minded individuals from all over the world.

Would you be interested? I am happy to send over more information.

 Next time you reach out to media and/or bloggers as part of your event marketing, keep these three simple tips in mind:

1 – what is the event? Provide an one sentence highlight of your event.

2 – why would the reporter/blogger be interested in your event? Include specifics which can be a topic related to person’s area of focus or interesting innovation within the event

3 – when is the event? Send out invites a few weeks in advance so the person can schedule this accordingly.

Over the past week, I’ve seen the stories develop over Sarah Palin’s interesting take on history, Anthony Weiner’s unfortunate pictures on Twitter, and the indictment of John Edwards. In each of these cases, I’m seeing classic PR mistakes that these two seasoned politicians (and yes, Sarah is a politician at heart) make. Here is my top five list of where these folks went wrong:

5. Improperly Built Bridges: While we train our clients on how to take a question and smoothly transition it to the topic you want to discuss, (Clinton was very good at this), Sarah went off the reservation with her response (see video above for further elaboration) to a softball question. The question: “What have you seen so far today and what are you going to take away from this?” The Response: I’m not really sure.

4. Blaming The Pesky Hackers: Oh no, another politician did it again. While Anthony Weiner didn’t get caught with his pants down, so to speak, he did caught with something else in his, hmmmm…. shorts? Weiner immediately blamed the snafu on the most likely criminals – hackers.

3. I Shall Never Tell a Lie, unless it’s in front of a national audience… John Edwards was indicted for using campaign funds to keep his affair a secret. It wouldn’t have been such an issue if Edwards had admitted the affair instead of proclaiming his innocence on national TV. Rather, it tarnished his image and cut his political career short.

2. Mixing Public with Private: In a hyper-aggressive news cycle and always-on social media access, many people have made the mistake of sending out sensitive messages or pictures on Facebook and Twitter. In the end, Weiner is learning this firsthand. Not only did he send this photo publicly to a young female, but also has done this several times in the past. As a public official, this one should have been a no brainer – keep what you want private behind closed doors and not on the Internet for all to see.

1. Not Backing Down: It’s human to make a mistake or for something you say to be misconstrued. When given the opportunity, humbly admit your mistake and the media moves on to the next story. Unfortunately both Palin and Weiner prolonged the media cycle by not admitting to, in Palin’s case, a mistaken take on Paul Revere’s ride, and for Weiner, not taking responsibility for sending racy pictures over the Internet.

What other mistakes did these folks make and what lessons can be taught?

Related Articles:

Sarah Palin: Media Training 101

Sarah Palin: Media Training 201

by heraldpost via flickr

I recently met with a young woman who was seeking advice on how to break into the public relations field. Like many people graduating college over the past couple of years, she returned home and took the first job presented to her. So what would be the best way for her to get started in the PR field? Here are the five tips I gave her:

1. Get a LinkedIn Account: While she was very active on Facebook, she was unfamiliar with LinkedIn. I think this is common with many graduates who engage in social medis for personal reasons versus professional. Many human resource professionals I know use LinkedIn to research and find prospective candidates. Creating a file on LinkedIn is a must alongside a traditional resume.

2. Clean Up Your Online Profiles: Since she was active on Facebook, I advised her to review her profile and privacy settings. Many people don’t realize that their profiles can be reviewed if the permissions are not set to “private.” Unfortunately, the wrong photo or wall post can stop the interview process in its tracks.

3. Join the PRSA LinkedIn Group: Since many of her friends are not in the PR industry, I recommended joining the PRSA LinkedIn Group. The group has useful advice for those starting in the industry and she could connect to other local professionals. There are also subgroups that may be of interest (I’m a member of the technology subgroup).This will help provide her with different views on the profession, as well as different practice areas.

4. Research Local PR Agencies: There are several large PR firms in the Los Angeles/Santa Monica area. I recommended that she do her research to learn more about each company, their culture, and areas of focus. This way, she can narrow down which firms may be of most interest to her. Furthermore, these are skills you need for researching bloggers, reporters and other influencers.

5. Request Introductory Meetings: Many firms and PR professionals are happy to meet with those interested in the industry. From my perspective, an introductory meeting can act an informal “interview”.” If you impress the person with your knowledge and interest, he/she may recommend you to the hiring manager for internal positions. Before requesting any meetings though, make sure to refer to point 4.

These were just five of the tips I provided. Hiring managers – what would you recommend someone do interested in joining your firm or company? PR folks, what did you do to get your foot in the door? Got other questions for getting into PR? Leave them in the comments.

Me? I actually got into PR when I lived in Taiwan as a Chinese-to-English translator for Ogilve & Mather PR.

Last month, I had an opportunity to speak with Scott Albro, Founder and CEO of Focus (note: I am listed as an expert on the Focus network). I previously wrote about the company here and was interested in learning more about the company.

Here is a quick overview of our discussion:

1:10: Where is this space heading and trends? Albro highlights his thoughts on the knowledge marketplace and how human participation will help create and distribute knowledge.

2:50: How does Focus maintain the level of engagement, quality and experience for members? Albro discusses how Focus incorporates human capital for quality control while incorporating up and down voting features.

4:35: Where is Focus headed in 12 months? 5 years? Focus is looking to disrupt the industry on business expertise. With more than 30 million businesses in the US alone, the company is seeking to help these businesses make better business decisions and to open up the world of business expertise.

7:35: How does PR and marketing fit in to the success of Focus and his advice as a CEO? Albro provides an interesting appraoch to PR and marketing with three lessons: focus on product development before marketing; build a community to be your advocate; and focus efforts on a few, high-quality campaigns

Heidi Cohen, president of Riverside Marketing Strategies, has 20+ years experience in direct and digital marketing across diverse product categories encompassing soft goods (such as clothes and uniforms), highly regulated financials services, entertainment-related products, and craft-oriented offerings. Her blog provides marketing related insights grounded in digital and direct marketing. In this installment, Heidi answered some questions via email. You can follow Heidi on Twitter @HeidiCohen.

1 – Your blog seeks to break down marketing into its simplest form – into actionable bits. What do you see are the main obstacles preventing marketers from getting the most out of their marketing campaigns today?

To clarify, Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing blog makes marketing actionable by taking it from the theoretical and showing marketers how to apply these concepts, strategies and tactics to their real life business challenges.

The main obstacles to effective marketing are:

• 1. Need a marketing strategy tied to the business’ goals.
• 2. Jump straight to tactics because it’s easy. The problem is these may not be the most effective way to achieve the business’ goals.
• 3. Don’t incorporate a contextually relevant call-to-action
• 4. Develop a set of metrics that tie back to their business goals.

2 – How has technology increased this confusion? Simplified it for marketers?

Business must consider how technology has changed how the public consumes information (old media, computers, tablets and mobile), how they communicate and interact with others, and how they shop. From a business perspective, it can be a difficult to choose which newer technologies to use to deliver information and products and how to integrate these systems into a firm’s existing systems. Lastly, businesses must think about how their processes need to change to be most effective with the new technologies.

3 – Marketers are now also content publishers. On your business blog you write nearly every day and have fresh content. What three tips can you share with marketers on keeping their content fresh and plentiful?

To keep content fresh, marketers must:

• 1. Develop a writing habit or get a team to create new content.
• 2. Continually add value to the conversation, not reiterate what others have said. Here are thirteen content tips.
• 3. Must mix up the information and formats.

4 – Finally, we’re almost four months into 2011. What top trend are you seeing in marketing/PR so far and why is this something to keep an eye on?

Here are the marketing trends that are evolving this year:

• 1. Mobile is evolving in the US with increased smartphone penetration.
• 2. Social media is expanding across the corporation.
• 3. Every firm, regardless of whether they participate in the social media ecosystem or not, needs these three social media must haves: Social media guidelines, Brand monitoring and a crisis management plan.

I’m a strong believer that a great company is one that empowers its employees. I’m happy to present a byline by Jennifer Prosek , CEO of CJP Communications and the author of Army of Entrepreneurs™: Create an Engaged and Empowered Workforce for Exceptional Business Growth. In this post, Jennifer highlights her three-step process for getting your army ready. You can follow her on Twitter and Facebook.

 The Great Recession sank hundreds of thousands of small businesses and it could have killed mine, too. But it didn’t. At a time when 65 percent of PR firms lost revenue, CJP Communications grew.

That happy outcome was the direct result of a strategy I had been percolating for several years. It began when I was working seven days a week and facing burnout. I was wearing myself out as CJP’s chief rainmaker, idea generator and crisis manager. I knew I needed to reconfigure my business and tap the tremendous talent of my employees.

That was the genesis of the “Army of Entrepreneurs™,” the business model that literally saved my business.

What is an Army of Entrepreneurs, exactly? It’s an internal force of committed, creative employees. It is also a management and leadership strategy. The old economy is dead; innovation and creativity are the new driving forces.

That’s where the Army model comes in. Every employee is empowered to develop an “owner’s mindset,” be entrepreneurial and become a powerful force for growth within the organization.

The Army model was developed in the context of growing a small business, but it works for big companies too. It’s also particularly relevant for women-owned businesses, which account for more than 10 million companies in the U.S., according to the National Association of Women Business Owners.

The Army’s flat management structure and focus on individual empowerment reinforces the culture of many women-owned businesses and helps establish a meritocracy, where employees can advance based on their abilities.

Virtually any business can develop its own Army of Entrepreneurs. The crux of the Army strategy is to create an incentive for employees that align the individual’s goals with those of the company.

To kick-start the Army, I introduced “Commission for Life^TM,” in which the employee who makes an introduction that results in a new client gets a percentage of the revenue for the life of the account.

An Army also needs the right culture, one that is open and transparent. People must be encouraged to think independently and take risks. “Management by empowerment” is essential.

The third essential Army component is a training program–a boot camp for entrepreneurs. What distinguishes boot camp from other training programs is that it’s not about teaching people the skills they need to do their jobs. It’s about how the business works and makes money.

While the economy is still uncertain and challenges remain, looking back, I’m struck by how a powerful team of motivated and entrepreneurial employees — not “order takers” in an owner-led business – saved CJP. That’s proof positive that an Army of Entrepreneurs is unstoppable.

On Thursday, March 31, 2011 at 1 pm PT, I am moderating a Focus roundtable discussion on how marketers can develop and implement marketing campaigns that can drive awareness for their virtual events and attract audiences. Michelle Bruno, Bruno Group Signature Events, and Shannon Ryan, Adviser, Virtual Events, Focus, will also participate on this roundtable.

We’ll address topics such as:

1) When, why and how to leverage social media for your virtual event
2) Strategies to convert registrants into audience members on the day of the virtual event
3) Collaborate with partners, customers and employees to spread the word of mouth

Here are ways you can join the conversation before or during the roundtable:

•  
  • -  submit your own question with FocusMarketingRT as a topic
  • - on Twitter using the hashtag #FocusRT
  • - send questions to me via Twitter (@csalomonlee)
  • - leaving a comment below

WHERE:
Toll-free Dial-In Number: (866) 951-1151
International Dial-In Number: (201) 590-2255
Conference # : 4999006