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Give Your Personal Brand A January Jumpstart

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FACT: You have a personal brand—whether or not you realize it or choose to manage it. You may prefer to let it be and let your business acumen and client list represent you, and they are undeniably important factors. Nevertheless, be advised that your personal brand is your reputation. It sums you up, in a brief sentence or two, in the minds of peers, competitors, prospective clients and perhaps even power brokers whom you’ve yet to meet but could still, some day, be in a position to evaluate you, however quickly, and advance or limit your preferred business trajectory.

Especially for Freelance consulting experts and other business owners, the personal brand has impact. Rather than leave public perceptions of who you are and what you stand for to chance, it is far less risky to develop and present your personal brand narrative yourself—perhaps with the assistance of a public relations expert or a business coach whose background is not in behavioral therapy or counseling, nor exclusively in traditional employment, even at C-Suite level, but rather in boots-on-the-ground independent business ownership, Freelance or otherwise, and preferably a coach who has had public relations/ marketing responsibility.

Defining your Personal Brand

I’m no fan of Jeff Bezos, but nevertheless, I feel his definition of personal brand is spot-on: “Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.” You can also assert a level of control over your personal brand, because it really is about you being yourself—on purpose. It’s both authentic (being yourself) and strategic (on purpose). You have actually have a responsibility to shape and define how you’re perceived, to the extent that it’s possible. Your personal brand exists to amplify your strengths, does it not?

Use storytelling to build, engage and connect with your community

Heads up—branding, personal or business, is not about your company colors and logo design. Those elements represent the company visually, but they cannot build your brand. Your story does the brand building. Branding expert Chris Do, founder and CEO of The Futur, has spent 22 years building design businesses and also teaching marketing creatives and others in search of client work how to succeed. Do quotes Michael Margolis, founder and CEO of Storied, a strategic messaging company: “A product, service, or organization without a story is a commodity.” Do emphasizes that when prospective customers and clients make a choice between a better product or a better brand, they choose the better brand nearly every time because they can relate to it.

Emotion matters. “Facts tell, stories sell,” Do explains. He encourages those with a brand to build and manage, like you, to share your journey. Tell it like it is—be real about your failures; make people feel what you felt. Author and actress Maya Angelou famously said, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Always remember that your stories can never be copied by competitors. They describe and define you and they are authentic. Use your stories to stand out in an oversaturated market.

As Do sees it, your background isn’t baggage, it’s your superpower. “The origin story of you is the easiest one to tell because you’ve lived it,” he says. Your home town, what your dad (and/or mom) did for a living, the cultural references that were the foundation of the values that guided your parents as they raised you, the stories that they, and your aunts and uncles, shared with you at home and at family gatherings all shaped your worldview. Like Senator and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders of Vermont, a New York City native who grew up in Brooklyn, do not be afraid to keep your accent, your cultural references and your unique expressions. Your story creates cultural currency that connects you with your audience and brings them into your community. Don’t be self-conscious and hide the unique characteristics that define you. Do recognizes those quirks of personality and expression as shortcuts to understanding and trust with people who share similar experiences or just find your background fascinating—and authentic.

Take your personal brand public

Building and sustaining your preferred personal brand requires public exposure and your currency as a Thought leadership is often one of the first thing people think of when they think of a personal brand. You might publish an e-book, but there are other brand-building tools—such as publishing a blog or newsletter, appearing on webinars and podcasts and becoming an active and visible member of a local business group or national professional organization. It’s a great idea to Google yourself to see which links and images appear first and decide what you want others to see when they search your name and your company’s. What impression do your LinkedIn and other social media profiles present to the public? near the top of the search results? Update your headshot, reassess and align your headlines, perhaps revisit your unique selling proposition and align the description across all platforms. 

Finally, evaluate your network connections and go about building a community that is mutually beneficial. Your network is about quality, not quantity. Seek out professional connections across industries, functions, and even geographies. Furthermore, say yes to attending networking events, especially when they’re in-person. So what if you’re doing Dry January—order a sparkling water with a slice of lime and call it your mocktail!

When you meet new people, focus on generosity. Offer helpful introductions, send links to relevant articles, share timely insights. Always follow up. To all who’ve given you a business card, send a quick message to say something like “Great to meet you! If I can be of assistance, please reach out.” You want to do what’s possible to politely encourage beneficial relationships that reinforce your brand.

Thanks for reading and Happy New Year,

Kim

Image: © George Marks (photographer) circa 1950s “Man in the Mirror”

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Mix Master: Balance Branding, Marketing and PR

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When operating a business, whether that means a boutique, one person Freelance entity or an enterprise company that employs thousands of workers in dozens of locations, encouraging sales of products and services is most often the purpose of information that company leaders share with the public. Sharing specific types of information about the company and its services and products with those that research indicates have significant potential to become customers plays a vital role in building and maintaining a thriving business. The ability of said company’s services and products to capture the attention and inspire the loyalty and trust of prospective customers is reflected in name recognition, feelings of credibility and loyalty among target customers and customer evangelism for the company and its services and products.

The information created to be seen by prospective customers is without question a company’s most important communication initiative and it’s known as the marketing strategy—a comprehensive road map that defines how the company will reach out and appeal to prospective customers and convince them to become paying customers. The public facing components of the marketing strategy are advertising, branding and publicity/public relations, along with campaign-specific marketing activities. Ideally, all the aspects of marketing information will function in tandem and create competitive advantages against the company’s marketplace competitors. To most efficiently and effectively implement a big-picture marketing strategy, it is advantageous to follow a certain “order of operations,” a road map that enables each component to support the others. You may be surprised to learn that the road to a high-functioning marketing campaign begins with public relations and publicity.

The goal of marketing—whether the big-picture marketing strategy that includes branding, advertising and PR/publicity, as well as the campaign-specific activities of marketing initiatives that typically include email marketing, networking, social media and content marketing—is to introduce and create an appetite for your service or product. Many marketers (and that would include me) have been tempted to begin implementation of the big-picture marketing strategy with branding. We tend to assume that presenting an identity, a brand persona, for the company and its services and products will most immediately resonate with prospective customers. We’ve been taught that prospects will more readily understand and value the service or product by getting familiar with the brand, which would make that function the first step in cultivating loyal customers who, we hope, will give good word-of-mouth by making referrals and becoming advocates.

However, in the 2020s era to begin a major marketing campaign with branding is very cart-before-the-horse. Today, PR/publicity exacts considerable influence on the perception of product or service credibility. Maybe it’s the inevitable result of Instagram and TikTok? In the here and now, start-up founders and marketers for existing businesses must acknowledge the power of PR in their arsenal of promotional communication resources. Strategic and consistent PR/publicity is now recognized as the way to encourage visibility and instill credibility that distinguishes your company and its services and products in the marketplace. Marketing, and its advertising component, will drive awareness but the PR spotlight can make your services and products seem trendy and trustworthy and create an aura that drives sales.

PR is visibility and credibility

Publicity is born of look-at-me attention and buzz. PR means press releases, blogs, podcasts, special events and influencer shout-outs that echo through the digital metaverse and put your company’s name on the lips of target customers. PR expands marketplace awareness that sparks name recognition but it is not a direct method of generating leads or driving sales. Instead, PR works in the background, cultivating and elevating your brand’s reputation.

So make yourself visible on behalf of your business; you might start by exploring how to become a podcast or webinar guest or participate in a panel as a speaker or moderator. You could also research local events that resonate with your values, and the values of your target customers, and engineer another opportunity to receive visibility as you simultaneously verify your belief in corporate social responsibility.

Incidentally, be aware that CSR is sometimes a decisive factor in B2B and B2C purchasing decisions —today’s consumers increasingly prioritize ethics. B2B services company BusinessDasher explains that 84% of customers evaluate a companies’ ethics and values when considering a purchase, and 63% say they would prefer companies with whom they do business to adopt ethical business and social practices.

As noted, promotional communications are under the marketing umbrella and there is a degree of overlap between all marketing functions, but Public Relations/publicity and marketing have their differences. PR/publicity is focused on establishing and expanding the company name and reputation of its services and products by being seen in the right places. PR can encourage positive word of mouth so that prospective customers will realize that your entity is open for business.

After you’ve developed and implemented successful PR/publicity initiatives over several months or even a year, consult your marketing data to check on metrics that indicate when it could be advantageous to launch a boots-on-the-ground marketing activities that include implementing a sales/marketing funnel, publishing a newsletter or blog, setting up email campaigns, or stepping up social media presence, all to continue and further solidify customer engagement. Step Two in your marketing strategy is about shifting gears and bringing in high-quality leads you can convert into sales.

Marketing attracts customers

Marketing refers to everything that brings information and images that represent your company and its products and services directly to potential customers, to capture attention, educate them about your services and products, inspire trust and loyalty and promote sales—it’s Step Two in your promotional campaign. Great marketing doesn’t so much sell your product or service—rather, it creates a desire for your product or service. Effective marketing generates actions that are measurable, whether that’s clicks, email sign-ups, subscribing to your blog or newsletter and eventually, sales. If publicity is about awareness, marketing is about attraction. Now is the time to leverage the visibility that was generated by PR/publicity and use it to reach out to prospects and cultivate relationships, now that you’ve achieved name recognition and familiarity that are the seeds of trust.

As you know, a key component of marketing is content marketing, which is information that educates prospects about your product or service; particularly in B2B, content marketing has become the new advertising. In fact, the Content Marketing Institute found that 80% of corporate decision-makers prefer to review information about products or services that’s presented as objective research, rather than advertisements, which are considered to be biased. One study has put the number of prospects and customers who believe advertisers have integrity at 4%.

Customer trust in traditional advertising has tanked, especially for Millenials and GenZ.  Wharton Magazine reports that 84% of Millennials not only dislike traditional ads, but also distrust them. For companies that would like to expand their market reach, these statistics send a clear signal. Investing only in advertising and marketing campaigns is unlikely to move the needle. To develop a good reputation for your brand, it’s recommended to start with PR/publicity and then move into marketing activities that include content marketing, networking, podcast or webinar appearances and publishing a blog or newsletter.

Brand is identity

The impact of brand identity is revealed in the sum total of how customers experience and perceive your business and its services and products, from product packaging to tag line, price structure to social media presence. A brand encompasses all the touch points that shape how customers feel about interacting with the brand. The interpretation of those touch points belongs only to the customer because engaging with a brand involves emotion—what people feel when they see your company name, logo, service, or product. It’s your company’s identity and reputation and it expresses and represents what it means to customers.

Your brand will be nurtured by ongoing PR/publicity, from CSR inspired events to your active involvement in professional associations or business organizations. along with content marketing activities, from case studies to email marketing. Associating your company with respected business organizations and community events can only elevate its visibility and brand reputation—characteristics known to encourage brand loyalty and sales.

Identify what motivates customers to buy

To understand the motives behind your customers’ purchases, tap into information that’s provided by the inward-facing aspect of marketing—market research. After all, the best decisions are data-driven. Yelp’s Trend Tracker can give a big boost to the ROI of your marketing activities with analytic insights that are available to you free of charge—join the mailing list and you’ll receive data that is relevant and updated monthly and enables those who pay attention to access boots-on-the-ground marketing info that can steer the effective promotion your products and services. Supported by Trend Tracker data, you’ll be positioned to detect and quickly respond to customer preferences, adjust marketing strategies and/or tactics to better align with shifting customer priorities and maybe even tweak your service or product line to reflect a significant shift in customer tastes.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: David created by Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (1475-1564, Republic of Florence) and unveiled in 1504, the statue has been housed at Galleria dell’Accademia in Florence, Italy since 1873.

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Getting Things Done: 10 Tasks to Outsource in 2025

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Outsourcing is the practice of delegating certain business functions to an external agency with the goal of enabling the business to focus on primary tasks and responsibilities. Outsourcing enables Freelance consultants and other business owners to devote time and talent to the organization’s core functions by selectively delegating certain tasks to a highly skilled external expert.

The importance of outsourcing in today’s business world cannot be overstated. It is a valuable resource that, when implemented wisely, has the potential to offer significant benefits to businesses of every size, in particular cost savings that would be associated with hiring one or more employees to do work that is instead outsourced and obtaining access to specialized skills that are not available within the organization. Outsourcing promotes effective time and resource management.

Devoting time to functions that are core to your business and gaining useful professional expertise that can upgrade how your business functions are the most persuasive motivations for introducing outsourcing to your entity. Accessing specialized professional skills that would otherwise be unavailable to your organization can be a game-changer that has the potential to enhance productivity, efficiency and even the current or future profitability of your venture. Increased operational efficiency, positioning the business to grow, expand, or scale and promoting risk management practices are additional benefits that can be derived from strategic outsourcing. As businesses strive to become agile and remain competitive in a rapidly evolving market, outsourcing has become an integral part of business strategy.

In addition to choosing the right business functions to outsource, it’s also important to know what you want outsourcing to enable you to achieve. Keep goals in mind—do you want to improve productivity and operational efficiencies, save money, protect your IT network security, or increase profit margins? Set goals and record their starting metrics; continue to follow and measure the impact that outsourcing has on your entity.

Oh, and let’s not confuse outsourcing with off-shoring. Outsourcing is a way to get work off your desk and an opportunity to access special skills that you don’t have in-house and enables you to concentrate on business functions that are best performed by you. The purpose of off-shoring is to find cheap labor, typically located in a developing economy, and paying laborers there to work at an hourly rate that is considerably lower than what is paid in a developed nation. Off-shoring is about minimizing costs by transferring certain business functions to locations outside of the U.S., taking advantage of international currency values and slashing business expenses (payroll, for example) as a way to increase profitability.

Below are 10 tasks you may want to consider outsourcing in 2025, perhaps by hiring a fellow Freelancer.

  1. Accounting and Finance Delegating your entity’s accounting, bookkeeping, or other financial functions to a trustworthy external provider can include tasks such as cash-flow management, tax preparation, payroll management, financial reporting and auditing. Staying compliant with tax laws and regulatory requirements is crucial for every business and an experienced outsourced accountant will have deep knowledge of current laws and ensure that you’ll avoid fines, penalties and legal problems. Additionally, accounting firms typically have in-house expertise in risk management and are able to identify potential financial lapses before they escalate. Freelancers and small business owners can further benefit from the guidance of an outsourced financial expert who has detailed knowledge of the company’s financial position should they inquire about the feasibility of scaling, growth or expansion, or where money can be saved. When interviewing prospective accounting/finance outsourcing experts, consider asking these questions:
  • What’s the biggest financial challenge for a company like this in today’s business landscape?
  • What specific accounting/finance services do you provide?
  • Can I expect monthly, quarterly and annual reporting? Will recommendations be made where necessary, based on the numbers?
  • Will you help me set realistic goals for business growth?

2. Customer Service tasks can range from answering customer queries and handling complaints to providing technical support and managing social media interactions. Your outsourced customer service specialist can provide these services through various channels such as phone calls, emails, live chat and social media platforms and allow your business to provide support 24/7 and otherwise enhance customer satisfaction and the customer service experience that impacts your brand. Your external providers will likely have a team of trained professionals who can handle a wide range of issues and ensure high-quality service. You can help the experience by using automation tools to integrate FAQs and chatbots, complementing human support. When investigating customer service outsourcing, the questions below should be helpful:

  • Does the outsourced customer service candidate possess superior communication skills and highly evolved Emotional Intelligence and excels at clear and empathetic communication?
  • How familiar is the candidate familiar with your preferred support platforms, like Zendesk or Intercom? Multichannel experience is crucial.
  • Define clear and reasonable guidelines for response times to customer questions and tone of voice, in order to maintain consistency and meet customer expectations.

3. Human Resources Under the HR umbrella are numerous subspecialties, such as talent acquisition, payroll processing, benefits administration, training and development, compensation strategy, onboarding and background checks. Delegating HR tasks to a specialized HR outsourced service provider is proactive risk management that will ensure your company’s compliance with labor laws, for example.

HR experts are responding to the evolving business environment that calls upon those in the field to meet the special circumstances of Freelance workers and fast-paced agile business practices. There is now Freelancer Management System (FMS) software that allows HR companies to efficiently manage hundreds or even thousands of Freelance worker, who could be located anywhere in the world, and seamlessly implement their onboard, store documents, manage projects, send invoices and make payments.

As noted above, there are many HR subspecialties and no one is equally adept in all aspects. When addressing this suite of critical business functions, it’s imperative that you work with an outsourcing HR partner that best suits your needs. Insightful questions to ask when considering an outsourced HR talent for your entity will likely include:

  • What services are you most qualified and comfortable supporting? N.B,. it’s important to consider both current and future needs, such as the possibility of scaling or otherwise expanding your entity, which could necessitate talent recruitment.
  • How long will it take to implement the services you need? Also ask about the software or cloud computing required to support those services.
  • Which metrics and reports will be provided? Your HR expert should discuss the reports you’ll receive and how often you’ll receive them.

4. Information Technology Needless to say, your business entity cannot function without the right technologies and they must function reliably and seamlessly. Freelancers and SMBs frequently seek out outsourced IT expertise for essential services such as network management, cloud computing, cybersecurity and website maintenance that ensure your IT infrastructure operations are seamless and secure. Your preferred outsourced IT expert will have invested in state-of-the-art infrastructure and technology that enables business clients (you) to access cutting-edge technology that can maximize productivity and even give your company an advantage over competitors. The following questions will give you useful info:

  • Do you operate 24/7?
  • What services do you provide?
  • What is your approach to security issues?
  • Do you (and possibly also colleagues) work from home, in an office, or as a hybrid?
  • How do you manage power outages?

5. Market Research Is there something you need to learn about your customers or your industry as a whole? Whether you’re thinking about launching a new product or considering expanding into a new market, proper research is integral to the process. In the world of business, knowledge is power—competitive intel, analyzing market trends, identifying target audiences and discovering niche markets directly impact the profitability of your venture.

A diligent market research maven who knows where to look for the relevant data and how to analyze the information can be a game-changing resource for supporting informed decision-making. Those insights can shape product development, marketing strategies and even overall business direction.

In most businesses, data and market research are integral to business success, but data deep dives are known to be rather too time consuming for single person entities maintained by Freelance professionals or skeleton crew sized SMBs. Actually, in nearly every organization, workers should direct their focus to implementing data rather than finding it. Interviews with market research outsourcing candidates can include the following questions:

  • Describe a market research project where you identified a significant trend or insight that impacted business strategy?
  • How have you used quantitative and qualitative research methods?
  • How do you stay updated on the latest market research techniques and technologies?
  • What steps do you take to avoid bias and ensure that the data you collect accurately reflects the market you’re studying?

6. Design and creative Very few people have artistic talent, making outsourced design and creative work a common request. Many professionals accept the limits of their creative ability and delegate design to the artists, who can produce a professional, brand-building appearance for a website, social media pages, logo or business card, December holiday and thank you cards and even branded swag items to send to your most loyal customers when special occasions arise. You might explore the following topics and questions when discussing outsourcing a design project:

  • Review candidate portfolios to ensure their style matches your brand’s aesthetic.
  • What experience do you have with video editing and animation?
  • What is your experience using Artificial Intelligence and how does it fit into your creative process?
  • Discuss and agree on the number of design revisions are included in the project fee.

7. Search Engine Optimization SEO is essential for driving traffic to your website. Freelancers specializing in SEO can audit your site, optimize content and improve your search rankings for competitive keywords. To ensure that your website does what you want it to do, that is, function as your inbound marketing engine and hub for many marketing functions, you should regularly update site content with fresh, optimized info to maintain visibility. You will do well to explore the following topics and questions when seeking to outsource SEO:

  • Ask to see case studies or client testimonials that verify tangible results.
  • Discuss and agree upon the SEO strategy, that is, a clear plan that will prioritize keyword research and backlink-building tactics.
  • Ensure that regular progress reports will be received and that performance results will be incorporated into data-driven strategy and/or tactical adjustments.
  • At what point can you expect to see the SEO needle move in a positive direction?

8. Data Analysis Data-driven insights may need translation and interpretation, so that you can be confident about the story your numbers tell. A data analyst can help you make sense of your business metrics and therefore enable better decision-making. Your business data guru can identify trends, predict customer behavior and provide actionable insights that will guide marketing campaigns and strategies, or even new products or services you might launch. To find the right analyst, ask the following questions:

  • Choose an analyst who’s familiar with your sector to ensure that you’ll receive relevant, timely, actionable insights. How familiar is the candidate with your industry?
  • Review case studies to see examples of past projects so that you can assess candidate ability to make actionable recommendations that drive results.
  • Ensure the candidate is proficient in the use of analytical tools, such as Google Analytics, Microsoft Excel and Power BI, SAS and also the role of AI in data analysis.

9. LeadGen One of your smartest and potentially most successful outsourcing moves can be to stimulate the all-important leadgen process by using marketing automation that’s supported by the Artificial Intelligence capability known as AI-powered Intelligent Virtual Assistance. Time is money and Freelancers who want to drive results would be wise to investigate IVA outsourcing options to streamline their marketing/sales funnel operations. Smart forms, your AI “Agent,” will engage potential clients through interactive conversations, social media, or even direct telephone calls, to efficiently capture leads and qualify them in order to enhance customer acquisition. You’ll also receive regular updates of relevant metrics, most notably your campaigns’ cost per lead and the number of leads that originate from specific professional audience segments. Then, all you’ll have to do is nurture those leads and persuade them to convert. Reach out to your leads across multiple channels, conduct targeted email campaigns, or even host webinars—whatever you need to convert to customers. When meeting with a leadgen outsourcing expert, explore the following questions:

  • How do you create leadgen campaigns that you can expect will produce the desired results?
  • By what standards do you identify robust leads?
  • How do you measure and adjust leadgen campaign results?
  • Please give an example of a challenging leadgen situation you encountered and how you overcame it?
  •  How you have handled objections and rejections in leadgen?

10. Public Relations Freelance consultants often don’t have time to pitch themselves to editors of business publications, speakers bureaus, podcasts and webinar hosts, or business organization liaisons who can schedule them to speak of make an appearance on a webinar or podcast. But everyone knows that PR is an important component of brand-building and positioning oneself as an expert in the field. Authoring a blog or newsletter and social media activity also matter, but face2face interaction has a special impact. To make sure that you don’t allow this important marketing function get lost in the shuffle, consider outsourcing.

While most PR specialists want to design a strategy and use it to shape their client work, it’s usually possible to have your own goals and hire the PR expert to make them happen. Still, understand that an external PR agency can bring a fresh perspective to your business. Your outsourced PR expert can offer unbiased insights and innovative ideas that may not be apparent to you. This outside viewpoint can be invaluable for identifying new opportunities, addressing potential challenges and crafting messages that distinguish you in a crowded marketplace. Another set of eyes can see your brand from a different angle and recognize creative and impactful PR strategies that you did not anticipate.

Furthermore, PR agencies have established relationships with journalists, media outlets, influeners and others in the promotional communications sector. These connections are routinely leveraged to obtain media coverage for clients and amplify your brand’s message. By outsourcing your PR activities, you gain access to this extensive network, which is a resource you would be unlikely to build and maintain on your own. A well-connected PR agency can open doors to new opportunities and ensure that your brand is heard by the right people. The following questions will be insightful when meeting with potential candidates for outsourced PR:

  • How do you develop PR strategies for clients?
  • How do you obtain media placements and coverage for clients?
  • Can you share examples of how you’ve improved a client’s brand visibility or reputation?
  • Do you have case studies that showcase your work and results in our field?

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: ©ARTpok/ Shutterstock

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Getting PR: On-Message Expert Source

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Not every Freelancer enjoys selling, but every Freelancer knows that selling is the name of the game. You may have a kickin’ inbound marketing strategy that keeps your pipeline filled with good prospects but if you want to close deals, you’ll have to sell. It’s a fact of life—-Freelancers and all business owners are more or less forever in selling mode, always on and ready to promote the brand.

Then again, there are times when it pays to shut off your sales spiel because it won’t work. Social events are the usual no-fly zone for a sales pitch but there is another, less obvious, scenario where a sales pitch is a faux-pas—when speaking with a journalist. Surprise! It may feel counterintuitive, but it is a fact. When you’re lucky enough to win the PR jackpot that a conversation with a journalist brings, anything beyond your short form elevator pitch, presented as self-introduction, is inappropriate. What sounds like a sales pitch is a turn-off to reporters. Here’s why.

One, the journalist is not your prospect. S/he is not interested in buying your product or service. Resist the temptation to sell someone. Two, it’s not the journalist’s job to sell your product or service, so why would you waste time explaining features and benefits and how your offerings are so much better than the competition’s? Don’t go there.

A journalist’s purpose in life is to tell stories that interest and inform readers. To do that, they must identify compelling topics. They also need facts and expert opinions to convince readers of the relevance of the stories. When an invitation to speak with a journalist arrives, a media savvy Freelancer knows to present yourself as a successful entrepreneur and expert, a qualified source who will be on-message and make the reporter look good.

Be the expert source

When a journalist puts out a request for contributors on whatever topic, as is done at Help A Reporter Out http:// http://HelpAReporter.com , it’s your chance to pitch yourself first and foremost as an industry expert. The reporter is searching for a source, a credible expert who can produce a few good bullet points on the topic before deadline. Your products or services take a backseat.

If you are chosen for follow-up, prepare ahead of your interview and be ready with three or four succinct and punchy, memorable quotes. If one or more of your quotes is included in the article, even if the publication is small and local, you’ll reap the benefits that earned media, PR, can bring—-credibility, trust and exposure to new prospects. That’s a lot more impactful than any sales pitch you can make.

If the reporter has in mind a profile that spotlights one or more entrepreneurs, discussion of your product or service may be integral to the story. If that’s the case, avoid the technical, in-the-weeds aspects and instead, focus on the benefits and value-added that clients receive from your product or service. Use the five W’s of journalism to create bullet points for a product or service overview:

  • Who does your product or service help?
  • What is unique about your product or service?
  • Why should readers care?
  • Where is this being used?
  • When should someone use your product?

Credentials have clout

Before reaching out, a reporter in search of a good source will probably tour your social media accounts to see the content you’ve posted. If you’ve built up a significant following, so much the better, but the size of your following may not be the most important factor when evaluating a potential expert source.

Journalists trust academic and professional credentials and that trust can outweigh even a sizable social media following. While social media might help journalists discover you, they’re looking for someone who can truly educate their audience. Emphasize your degrees, certifications, experience and awards to establish credibility when introducing yourself as an expert source to the media. If your social media following is impressive, by all mean include it.

  • Education (PhD., MD, CPA, MBA)
  • Professional (university professor, partner at a law firm)
  • Achievements (published a book, awards and citations received)
  • Media exposure (copies of articles in which you’ve been quoted)

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (R) is in uniform and on-message at a joint press conference with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Kyiv.

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A New Year’s Resolution for 2023—Be Visible

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A New Year will soon welcome us and with its arrival you will reach a naturally occurring turning point, or inflection point, as thought leaders like to say. A New Year is one way that the universe gives you a nudge that can inspire a beneficial reset personally or professionally.

It may be your custom fo create a short list of resolutions, goals to set you on a path that leads to a successful and rewarding year. Maybe you prefer to think of the process as giving yourself a fresh start at the top of the year—whatever! This year, I respectfully recommend that you plan to rev up your PR strategies. It’s crucial that you establish yourself at top of mind amongst those who are likely to become customers for your services or products by showcasing your EAT qualities—Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness, still prized by Google. As well, aim to promote your dependability, authenticity and relability, all in service of building loyalty to our brand and stimulating customer retention and referrals. Here are five good promotional ideas for you in 2023.

Attend conferences

One of the best ways to meet professional colleagues and also grow your skill set and perhaps even find a client or a referral partner is to attend conferences. They can be quite energizing and inspiring and leave you buzzing with good ideas on how to do business with more intention and finesse. Conferences allow you to network with other business owners, Freelancer colleagues and traditionally employed executives and can open the door to lucrative new business.

Join, or at least occasionally visit, your local Chamber of Commerce or other professional organizations in your town. Find out, then get involved. One of the best ways to become known in the community is to be actively involved with the people and the commerce that make the town run.

Give talks

Freelancers market the skill set(s) that define their business and for that reason, you’re naturally positioned to take on public speaking. Along with teaching, there is no better way to showcase your expertise than to get yourself in front of an audience of colleagues and peers. As you attend conferences, make inquiries about speaking opportunities. Organizers routinely seek out those who can deliver a topic that will interest their members. When you join a neighborhood business or professional association, you’ll improve your chance to receive an invitation to speak. Furthermore, seek out webinar and podcast organizers are also in search of guest speakers.

BTW, speaking opportunities are more than delivering a keynote address. Introducing a speaking, moderating a panel, or appearing on a panel are also great opportunities for public speaking. Regarding potential venues, contact local libraries and other nonprofit organizations about talking to their members. Libraries, especially, have added career development information to their programming. What business topic can you address? Start outlining a 30-45 minute talk now and then go to work on the Power Points.

Community involvement

Your current and prospective customers will find you more relatable and authentic when you demonstrate your corporate social responsibility through your involvement in local philanthropy. Potential causes can be as varied as a Christmas tree lighting in early December to a 10K road race that raises money for math tutoring services for financially disadvantaged children.

PR campaigns

If you’re going to teach and give talks, then you’ll need to build an audience. News of your upcoming appearance is the perfect excuse to send a press release to your neighborhood paper. Read a few issues and familiarize yourself with the names of reporters, especially the business reporters. Find out how often the paper is published— neighborhood papers are usually free and published weekly. Once you get the particulars worked out, call the editor or business reporter and introduce yourself. Confirm who should receive your press release.

Furthermore, make it your business to learn all the free online listings services. The Patch is a great free listing service that’s available in many communities in America, both small towns and big cities. Finally, if you can muster an advertising budget, buy a business card size ad to run for two (or more) weeks simultaneously with the story featured in your press release and/or online listing, to amplify the impact of your story. Talk to the paper’s ad rep to see what types of deals you can get for advertising (within your budget) to stay in the public’s eye.

The above strategy also applies when you participate in a community charity event, or should you nominated for a business award. Kick your PR campaign into gear and savor the flattering publicity that flows to you and your business.

Promotional items

One of the best ways to get people interested in what you have to offer is to give something away. It doesn’t necessarily have to be your product, though it certainly can be. Giveaways can be an effective way to get people through the door of a physical store or to visit your website.

Consider giving away inexpensive but useful items that feature your company logo —-note pads, pens, magnets, tote bags and mugs, for example. Those items are popular and will keep your name visible. Whatever you give away, know that consumers recognize your goodwill and may reward you with more business. Are there local fundraisers that are looking for sponsors or door prizes? Find out how to get involved with these functions and get your products and your name in front of a prospective customers.

Merry Christmas and thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: © Kyodo News June 1, 2019. Yumi Ishikawa, writer, actress and founder of Japan’s #KuToo movement. The social media hashtag references the Japanese words for shoes, “kutsu,” and pain, “kutsuu,” with a nod to the #MeToo movement.

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Get Multi-Channel Marketing Right

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Much has been written in recent years to extol the virtues of multi-channel marketing. Business owners and marketing department leaders are urged to create a consistent, unified message/ story for their company and its products and services and blast that message to a broad range of media outlets and platforms, the better to reach as many target customers and prospects as possible.

That’s excellent advice as I see it, but there’s more for marketers to consider. The noise level in the 21st century marketplace is so overwhelming and calls for clearly defined strategy and execution plans if you expect to achieve the ROI you want. A one-size-fits-all mindset isn’t going to work.

Because storytelling and messaging are the heart and soul of marketing, a more precise and effective method of using multi-channel marketing is needed to fully realize your marketing objectives when communicating with various audiences through multiple marketing channels. To get the most out of your marketing campaigns, define the purpose of the message/ story you’re putting out to your niche audiences and understand the reach of every outlet and platform you intend to use.

For example, recognize that the purpose, message and platforms that are most suitable for PR/ brand promotion will differ somewhat from the promotional strategy you’ll follow when the objective is to drive sales, announce that you’ll speak at the Rotary Club next month, or grow your blog audience. Read on to get useful ideas on how you might approach some typical marketing agendas.

The objective is PR/branding

So you’re trying to persuade a media outlet to mention you in an article? Start by reading few issues or posts, so you’ll get a feel for the topics covered and know who writes articles about your subject of interest. Next, call and email the business editor and pitch your proposed story. Articles must have a story theme that could be of interest to readers. Popular themes, I’ve noticed, are wellness initiatives, participation in a community event that’s sponsored by a popular local charity and green/ environmentally supportive business practices.

Your objective to receive earned media exposure is to build your brand through name recognition and enhance your company reputation by publicizing the good work that you do. I’m sure you understand that singing the praises of your products and services would be the wrong message for this agenda and requires a different emphasis for your marketing message/ story.

The objective is selling

When selling is your focus, the marketing message/ story will speak to decision-makers and key stakeholders, including end-users. Addressing the most common and dramatic pain points for the use of your product or service and emphasizing the most desirable outcomes is a must.

Marketing messages expressed by way of content marketing such as case studies, a workshop you’ve presented, an article you’ve written, or a webinar or podcast in which you appeared can build trust and confidence by letting you showcase your know- how.

The marketing message/ story will paint a picture that helps prospective customers envision how the features and benefits of your product or service can efficiently address their purpose for using what you sell. Testimonials and on- line reviews also speak convincingly to decision-makers in this instance.

The objective is repeat business and referrals

Customer retention and referrals can be enhanced and encouraged when customers feel valued and part of something bigger than themselves—-a community. Social media is tailor- made for this aspect of your multi-channel marketing strategy.

If your customers skew younger, Tik Tok and SnapChat are ideal platforms for posting videos that make a memorable point in just 60 seconds—- a one minute movie! Twitter is great for posting updates, the platform you use to remind your audience that tomorrow at 4:00 PM they should tune in to your webinar or podcast. Facebook and Instagram are great places to tell stories with photos and longer videos. That’s where you give brand fans a behind-the-scenes look at you and your team and let people get to know you a bit.

Your customer retention and referral marketing message/ story will be subtly different from the PR and selling scenarios. Brand enhancement will incorporate your values and social responsibility but will also subtly reinforce the results achieved with your (first-rate and reliable) product or service, after- sale support and customer service, The story presented will be a feel-good, but you’ll want to embed a purpose and a gentle call-to-action. Come back to see us again and tell your friends!

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: An auctioneer in action at Sotheby’s in New York City.

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Online Reputation Management and Your Brand

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A business owner’s work is never done, it seems. Along with recruiting customers in an increasingly challenging business climate, fulfilling customer expectations, providing excellent customer experiences and instituting procedures that ensure pleasant and efficient after sale support when needed there is, as well, the responsibility to monitor and manage the online reputation of your brand, your business and you. Creating, enhancing and perhaps also defending the online reputation of your brand must be an ongoing component of your company’s PR and SEO marketing strategies.

Developing and nurturing an appealing and trustworthy brand for your enterprise has always been the cornerstone of comprehensive and effective marketing campaigns and strategies. The pandemic-induced acceleration of numerous online communication formats has compelled business owners and leaders to amplify the online presence of their brands in order to effectively compete.

As a result, it is more necessary than ever to carefully curate, align and script all marketing themes and messages used to promote your brands along with the associated image, audio or video content posted to an array of platforms. Business owners and leaders would be wise to actively shape and manage the online image and reputation of their brands to continually reinforce brand narratives and positive perceptions.

Online Reputation Management is now an ever more critical branding function, essential as you develop marketing and branding strategies that build name recognition with the power to attract customers. A trusted brand is a valuable resource and can create for your business a loyal troop of boots-on-the-ground influencers who are motivated to write positive reviews in online rating sites and dispense word-of-mouth endorsements that can make or brake your business. From the online content that communicates relatable brand stories that build trust and loyalty within your target market to search-friendly platforms and key words that promote your brand’s online visibility, you can create an electronic architecture that supports and sustains an appealing and confidence-inspiring brand.

To help your business overcome the multi-year impact of the coronavirus pandemic, do what you can to allocate resources to create and implement a robust Online Reputation Management strategy. For best results, assess the efficacy of your online branding strategies by employing the tactic of social listening.

The act of monitoring social media and other online platforms helps track mentions and notifications about your brands and facilitates quick responses to customer compliments or complaints, which are the building blocks of an effective engagement strategy. Social listening means discovering patterns and connecting the dots in the comments or questions heard in monitoring. Social listening reveals to you the big picture—not just the trees, but the forest—and encourages you to analyze the context and larger trends that surround those (online) conversations, so that you might discover opportunities to act that enable you to better speak to and serve your market.

The customer data and marketing platform Clutch.com recently reported the following:

  • 54% of digital marketers consider Online Reputation management necessary for the success of their company
  • Brands frequently utilize social listening, following the social media outlets favored by their customers, to gain insights into what is trending or waning in customer preferences and priorities
  • The primary benefit that companies gain from investing in Online Reputation management is growth in sales
  • 35% of businesses queried plan to allot more time and money to Online Reputation management

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: Fredric March as Dr. Henry Jekyll in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931) directed by Rouben Mamoulian

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Strategy: Win a Business Award

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One often-overlooked business strategy that brings many benefits to a company is competing for (and winning!) a business award. Competing for a business award and being named a finalist, that is, eligible to win first, second, or third prize, is a big vote of confidence for the chosen organizations. The recognition sets your business apart from competitors, implies credibility and expertise, enhances your company’s brand and stature and is almost certain to increase the number and quality of prospects, clients and referral sources your business receives.

There are more ways to win than you might think. Sponsoring organizations are typically generous with the number of awards and categories they choose to honor. More awards and more categories are an incentive for business owners and leaders to become contestants because there will be more opportunities to win. More contestants means more entry applications received by the sponsor and more tickets sold to the awards banquet (when those activities resume), since every finalist will buy at least one ticket and some will buy a table.

In addition to its role as a revenue enhancer, sponsoring awards is good PR for the organization, which could include the bank where you keep your business account. The awards not only distinguish the group as a prominent member of the business community, but also attract and help to retain members (or customers). In the best of American traditions, business awards are a way for many to make money. That could mean you, too.

Full disclosure—-as a result of the destabilizing impact of the coronavirus shutdown, I declined to accept an invitation to return as a preliminary round judge in The Stevie Awards/ Women in Business category (there are eight in all), an honor I’ve been happy to receive for six of the past eight years. Judges are neither paid, nor do we pay to participate. I do it because I enjoy experience and it looks good in my bio. https://stevieawards.com

Be advised that as with any marketing campaign, there are expenses involved. You’ll be required to join the sponsoring organization. You must pay the award entry fee for every award category that your company pursues—-best new product launch, business of the year, best workplace, social responsibility award and so on. You must buy one or more tickets to the ceremony (even when it’s virtual). The awards process could represent the entirety of your outfit’s annual marketing budget.

The time needed to prepare your award entry and determine which supporting documents will best communicate who you, your team (if applicable) and your company is another cost. Creating an impressive and persuasive entry application can be a laborious and time-consuming undertaking.

Furthermore, an assessment of your company’s readiness to pursue an award may reveal that it would be advantageous to build for 12-24 months before your organization is prepared to compete for an award. But that’s OK. Taking steps to analyze the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of your organization (are not most of us facing the threat of the COVID economy?) will pay dividends in and of itself. Just be objective about your company’s chance of winning and understand the time and money likely to be involved.

Choose a target award

Potential contestants are advised to do some homework and discover awards that are sponsored by local, regional and national organizations, whether business networking organizations (chambers of commerce), industry-specific associations (such as the Bar Association for attorneys), or your business bank. I recommend that your initial forays into awards campaigns focus on local sponsors, particularly for those of you who are Freelance consultants and small business owners generating less than $500,000 in annual gross revenue.

After compiling a draft list of possibilities, check the award entry criteria. It’s likely that candidates must join the organization in order to compete for an award and that will be your first expense. Annual dues may run from a few hundred dollars to $1000 or more, depending on the sponsor. Confirm also when new members will be eligible to compete for an award. Next, investigate other entry facts—-the entry application deadline, the fees and whether candidates must be nominated to compete for the award.

Read the specs and select the categories in which you can expect to do well—-excellence in your field, customer service, new product or service launch, community outreach, environmentally-friendly, for example. Within the categories offered, where might your company step to the front of the pack?

Finalize your choices and prepare to compete, being sure to give yourself ample time to collect, evaluate, or create the supporting resources you’ll need to enter. The good news is that if you plan to enter more than one category, most of the content developed can be used in multiple entry forms.

Tell a compelling story

On nearly every award entry, there’s a section that asks for more details about your business, your team and you. Be sure to provide all of the information that is requested and as well, tell a story beyond the statistics. Let the judges feel your personality and understand what makes your business stand out. Here, you can share unique information that might not fit elsewhere in the entry application. Customize your message by sharing relevant success stories and achievements that address the award category you are entering.

Construct a strong beginning, middle and end for your story. Reveal how you overcame challenges to reach new heights and back up your claims with hard evidence. Feel welcome to include good visuals like charts and graphs, or the persuasive appeal of client testimonials. Keep your application punchy and concise, using short sentences and statistics to underline key points. Bullet points are an effective way to ensure that judges can absorb your performance metrics quickly.

Describe what motivated you to launch the company. Detail the company’s vision, mission, guiding principles and values and what you and your team are passionate about and which accomplishments make you most proud. Tell your story from your heart. Before hitting the send button, or sealing the envelope for a hard-copy mailing if required, add a personal note and thank the sponsoring organization and the judges for their consideration of your entry. Then conjure up some positive thoughts!

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: The inimitable Academy Award, Golden Globe Award and Grammy Award winning actress-singer-dancer Judy Garland in A Star is Born (1954), for which she won the 1955 Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Musical

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Press Release: To Send or Not to Send?

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I’m impressed! You have news that you’d like to share with the world, with a particular emphasis on those who are potential clients and referral sources for your business venture, and you are sophisticated enough to think outside the box in an old-school way and consider sending—-ah ha!!—a press release. Yes, a press release remains a relevant tool, the standard route to media outreach.

While most everyone else chooses to make big announcements by way of social media you, sophisticated Freelancer friend, understand the reach and power of traditional media outlets, be it radio, neighborhood newspapers, or digital-format regional business magazines. Social media is great outreach but there are times when you want to get beyond your followers and obtain third-party support that implies objectivity and real world legitimacy.

Be aware that a press release is a marketing and sales tool. The idea is to communicate a message to customers and prospects through the vehicle of a print or online article, adding the authority and credibility of the publication to the message.

Before you go online and remind yourself how to write a press release—Who, What, When, Where, Why and How—first ask yourself these two questions and follow a couple of pointers. These may sound stringent but they’ll help you make a rational decision regarding media outreach for your organization.

  1. Am I newsworthy? Do you or your company that regularly receive media attention? If so, then you are newsworthy. Press releases by larger, established, household-name companies receive more attention than smaller companies and startups. Have you or your enterprise received any media attention at all? If so, that puts you at an advantage. Or, have you served on the board of your local chamber of commerce, library, or neighborhood business association? Are you a long-term and active member of a neighborhood group, school, Rotary Club, or place of worship? In other words, are you well-known in your community and can you leverage your renown to persuade an editor or reporter that you have sufficient name recognition among the media outlet’s readers or listeners that would motivate them to learn more about you?
  2. Is my story/announcement news? To get your message communicated through the publication, you’ll need to convince a reporter or editor that your message (or the story surrounding it) is newsworthy. Your story must have the potential to appeal to the readership of the publication, or listening audience if podcast or radio. So if your goal is to fill seats at a conference, don’t send a press release. The most important element of a press release is that it’s helpful to reporters, by offering them news of interest to their audience. Journalists don’t care to help fill seats at your conference.                                                                                                3. Write like a reporter   If your press release looks and feels like a real article, reporters will often just file it as a story with minimal editing. Therefore, it’s up to you to make sure that your press release looks and feels like a real news item. Avoid using business jargon.                                                     4. Call media outlets to confirm interest in your story Before sending a press release, call all media outlets on your wish list and ask to speak to the (business) appropriate editor or reporter. Do yourself a favor and read 3 – 4 issues to familiarize yourself with the types of stories that are carried and the names of reporters who cover your topic. Then, contact the reporters that you really want to cover the story. Mention that you’ve read their stories and name at least two. If you reach an editor, still make it known that you are familiar with other stories in your category.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Photograph: (circa 1988) Phil Donahue (L) and candidate for president George H.W. Bush on The Phil Donahue Show.

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Free Media Exposure

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Media exposure can be difficult to come by for Freelancers and small business owners. In particular, “earned” media mentions,” i.e., publicity obtained through promotional efforts rather than publicity obtained by way of paid advertising, is usually the most effective form of media exposure and can go a long way toward enhancing a Freelancer’s brand.  A well-expressed quote in a respected publication can make a Freelance consultant or business owner look like an expert that smart people want to do business with.  Earned media exposure can be instrumental in helping a business to establish name recognition and respect among its target customers.

The best tactic to use when looking to attract the interest of reporters and editors is to position oneself as an expert. The good news for Freelancers is that everyone who provides professional services to paying clients is considered to be an expert in his/her field. The public welcomes and trusts tax tips recommended by an accountant and legal advice offered by an attorney. In addition, those who’ve authored a (nonfiction) book, whether traditionally published or self-published, that addresses a topic that editors feel would interest their readers can also be chosen to receive valuable earned media.

When you’ve made the decision to pursue earned media exposure for your organization, Step One is to decide where you’d like your story or quotes of your expert advice to appear. Research local online or print publications and assess the stories that are featured. You might start with your neighborhood newspaper or a publication that specializes in business topics. If you belong to a business or professional association, by all means look into contributing an article to the newsletter, getting your book reviewed or mentioned, or getting yourself quoted. Hint: active members always get publicity.

Step Two is to learn the identity of the reporter or editor who covers your topic. The easiest thing to do is call the publication and inquire. While you’re on the phone, find out when the publication is on deadline and avoid calling the reporter or editor at that time.

Step Three is to write a press release that makes editors and reporters want to follow-up on your story. Make your press release attention-getting with a good headline. Instead of trying to be witty, just give the facts. A good headline might be: “XYZ Biz wins Chamber of Commerce award.”

In the first paragraph, introduce one key newsworthy fact or piece of information in a single sentence, such as “XYZ Group today announced plans to open a solar-powered restaurant by late 2019.”

A common mistake in writing press releases is using it to tell the entire story.  “People write way too much. Tell them what the story is about and why it would be good for their audience,” advises Paul Krupin, former attorney and founder of iMediaFax.com, a media advisory service in Washington state. The press release should not be the first draft of a reporter’s article.  The purpose of your press release is to entice a reporter to contact you and write your story, or persuade an editor to assign your story to a staff reporter.

Furthermore, don’t make the mistake of trying to sell your product or service in the press release. “The media is adverse to anything that looks like advertising,” Krupin warns. “They want to educate, entertain, stimulate, or provoke their audience.”

BTW, there are subtle yet substantive differences between the journalistic needs of print, radio and TV media outlets that reflect audience expectations and preferences.

  • “Print media focus on facts and figures. They talk about strategies,” Krupin advises.
  • “Radio and television don’t lend themselves to detailed information. It’s about sound bites, tone and excitement. For radio and TV producers, you want to tell them why their audience is going to love what you’re going to say, or hate what you’re going to say. The focus is on the emotional reaction: Why am I going to be entertaining?”

Be advised that media outlets are not interested in helping to publicize the products and services that Freelancers and other business leaders are trying to sell. Krupin, who is also the author of Trash Proof News Releases (2001), works closely with his clients to tease out a story angle that could interest readers or viewers of the target media outlets. “What do you know that people don’t know, but they would like to know?” he asks.

For example, Krupin recommended that a photographer discuss how to hang pictures, rather than discuss the technical aspects of how to take pictures. The two created a press release that led to a number of print articles that featured his photographer client as the expert.

Finally, be patient as you wait for the ROI from your earned media. A customer may contact you months or even years after reading about you and your business. A reporter could contact you several months later to get insights on another aspect of your topic, which would result in still more earned media exposure.  Concentrate on developing an earned media strategy by identifying a story angle that would interest readers as you build relationships with reporters and editors who can give you the desired media exposure.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Photograph: By Andrew Laszlo. Entertainment columnist and host of television’s longest-running variety show (CBS-TV) Ed Sullivan (l) interviews Fidel Castro in Mantanzas, Cuba in January 1959.