I recently read a discussion on LinkedIn about online PR distribution and it struck a cord with me. As someone on the edge of PR distribution I don’t keep up to date on the latest methods of distribution.  I knew that the days of PR being primarily printed and posted to cherished editors was over but I was also surprised that many of the PR people I’ve spoken to, focus much more on the writing and less on the relationships.

Personally if I was to outsource a service I’d be looking for someone with a passion for what I do or a build up knowledge of my industry.  In particular with PR agencies I’d be looking for someone who could make fast connections into journals and magazines that I didn’t know about or didn’t have a relationship with.  Am I old fashioned in that?  Maybe, maybe not.  Maybe it’s just that I know I can write a story so I’m looking for the other side to PR (in a very simplistic way of course)

The Linkedin discussion was based around online PR  distribution and which one was better.  It seems that you buy services per release or get locked into a contract which allows you to post up articles/releases for this online company to distribute far and wide.  I think far and wide is the key thing here - there seems to be some targeting but the aim is to reach the parts (online and offline) that you cannot.

Some services such as PRWeb allow you to pay per release with a cost from £40 - £200 per release, depending on the level of service and distribution you’re after.  

Vocus who partner with PRWeb give you the tools to manage your own distribution.  They also allow you to build up your media information in the cloud, maintaining your contacts there and of course, allowing for some analytics of your PR work.  This sounds great but the costs can be quite an investment.

Other ones mentioned are Cision, Meltwater Press, Businesswire and Marketwire.  Cision focuses on being able to multi-task within their software allowing you to research articles, relevant journals, build your PR CRM and distribute your content.  Businesswire again boasts the full range of PR services from news distribution to search engine optimisation. Some promote it well but the website was trying to do too many things to give me the quick answers I was after.  I have to say that I lost all interest when I looked at Marketwire’s website and was hit by the phrase “Audience Engagement Cycle”  Definitely not my kind of website, it was trying far too hard to be clever but ended up not actually telling me simply what it did and how it could help. However, as per the Linkedin discussion whatever the service is, it does work for some with some contributors praising it highly.

If you’re going into a contract, do check the small print as this may only allow you one press release per month and not allow you to carry them over to other months.

It’s obviously a complex world that I knew very little about - there are a myriad of tools out there to help you reach the audience you know and the audience you don’t yet know. However I still say that the best way to get to reach a quality audience is to know who you’re targeting and build a relationship with the teams that run relevant editorial.

I’ve written before about attendance at events - the good news when some exhibitions are showing great increases in visitor numbers but also those companies that assume people will turn up without putting in any effort.  It’s the difference between the two that interests me - is it the topic that draws the audience or is it the marketing programme surrounding it?

Good topics inevitably draw people to look at an event but they won’t always get people to attend, especially if there is no call to action.  Why should they attend? What are they going to get out of attendance?  What’s in it for me needs to be very clear.

With most people inundated with information nowadays, we need to make sure that we get our events in front of the potential visitors as much as we can.  Repeating the same event invite is frustrating and will turn off your audience so it’s time to think outside the box.  How can you build a relationship with your audience and give them some information or benefit for free?  

Social media is a great help with this but it is not the panacea that some think.  Not everyone is up to date on Twitter or has the the time to read your fabulous blogs.  So you need to spread your marketing over a range of activities.  

Make sure that you have a good list to start with - don’t use the 5 year old company database that you used last time.  If it’s 5 years old probably best to tear it up and start again.  The time it would take to clear out the deadwood means it would be cheaper to buy in a specific lead database targeted at your customers.  Can you work with other media, affiliate companies and publishers to do joint promotions? But do make sure that any agreement on sharing data allows you to continue to promote the event after the initial contact.  

Once you’ve got a good database work out why this group should attend your event.  Is it chargeable?  In which case, you have to make the registration and payment process as easy as possible so you don’t loose people on the way - once a person is turned off, it’s very hard to get them back on your side.

Think about building a relationship.  Think about how you’re going to tease and encourage more interaction from your potential audience.  What do they need and how is your event going to provide that?  If it’s a small tight-knit community you’re after - can you afford to send some direct mail with a unique angle?  I’m not talking about the calendar with your brand on it but something relevant and useful to the audience that will open their eyes to your event.  If you’re after sheer numbers - as exhibition organisers often are then it’s about getting the message out as far and wide and making sure you have enough avenues for each type of visitor to engage with you.

Lastly, don’t forget it doesn’t all end once they’ve signed up - you then need to get them to the door.  Work especially hard at reminders and making their visit as easy and comfortable as possible.  Give your visitors no excuse not to turn up!

Do you love tradeshows?  Do you relish the chance to stand on a show floor for up to 10 hours and talk to strangers?  I fear not many do - it’s hard, tiring work and even the thought of a good night out won’t always get you through the day with enthusiasm.  However, if you’re not going to try to talk to the visitors, engage them and find out about their interests what is the point of you being there?

Walking around exhibitions I see stand after stand where their staff are just not performing and it really frustrates me - what a waste of time and money.  I do train people on how to make the most of their attendance but at the end of the day it is hard work and it can be hard to stay engaged and interested.  After all it’s also great to catch up with colleagues that you haven’t seen for a few weeks. However, I bring it back to ROI - what are you there for?  The company has spent a large amount of money on the exhibition presence and it’s now relying on you to fill the hopper with leads or promote the brand as best you can.  So what can you do to make the most of the opportunity?

The biggest thing that needs to happen is a shift in attitude.  Exhibitions aren’t an excuse to party all night and recuperate all day.  They are a chance for you to meet new people, to promote your company and make sales (either now or in the future).

So here’s a few tips on how to make the most of each day:
- Remember that you’re there for the company and you represent them in your every action (particularly if you’re wearing company branded clothing)
- Put a smile on your face and leave it there all day as a signal that you’re interested and ready to talk.
- Be interested in others.  Not everyone on the show floor is there for your company or product but who’s to say that they don’t know someone who is.  Think of exhibitions as a chance to find out more about people but if you’re busy have a company strategy for dealing with the time thieves.
- Think of it as networking.  You never know who you might need to call upon in your job - your current (or future) boss might be looking at you leaning on the counter and being rude to visitors.
- Stay on your feet.  If there are chairs on the stand, don’t use them without good reason.  Sitting down and watching the crowds go buy is a signal that you’re really not interested (plus it’s so much harder to get going again)
- Take two pairs of shoes so you can swap during the day or at least walk home in a different pair.
- Drink lots of water and take scheduled breaks.  It all helps you stay fresh and interested.

Lastly, talk to your boss or your stand manager about how they can help make this more useful to your particular role.  Make it a company issue so that you all agree that exhibitions are useful and then you can make the most of them.

What is collaboration? To many it is working together with another company but is that collaboration or is it outsourcing?  When I’ve asked questions and commented on Linkedin it seems to me that most people just see collaboration as working with someone else irrespective of the payments.  I disagree - to be a real collaboration you need to pool ideas and share responsibility for a project.  It’s only when you can work at that level that real collaboration and great innovation happens.

Over the past few years I’ve dabbled at collaboration - I love the concept but have found that you need to identify the people you work with carefully and also know your own expectations and limitations.

The process of looking for collaborators is a great way to expand your network and get closer to like-minded people but do know what you want to get out of it or you could end up with lots of great meetings but little actual benefit.  By benefit I mean tangible opportunities.

I recently employed Kate of Passionate PA to cover a job for me - I was busy on another project and whilst I could manage the client and plan the event I couldn’t actually get out to the event. Kate  went out to Amsterdam on my behalf and managed the onsite logistics for me. Meanwhile, I handled a small event for her whilst she was in Amsterdam. It worked really well and we both got something out of it but I wouldn’t say it’s collaboration.  Our relationship was about networking, getting to know someone personally and outsourcing to our mutual benefit.

Collaboration is about working together towards a common goal. A group of colleagues from Business Xchange have got together to launch an online magazine called Whatify.  This is true collaboration - they’ve sat down, created the project, allocated roles and work together on a future that works of all of them.

So what do you need to collaborate?  Personally I think you need to be able to think outside the box, to be able to work slightly outside your comfort zone, and above all to know yourself and your limits. It’s a sharing of time, responsibility and profit.  It won’t suit everyone and you need to look carefully at the people you are thinking of collaborating with and go into it with an open mind.  It can create amazing things but it is a bit like a partnership so do go into it with your eyes open.

I haven’t found a project that I have time and ongoing motivation to join yet but I’m out there looking as I really do think that for small businesses it’s a great way to open your mind and your working life to new opportunities.

Firstly Happy New Year - I’m not sure that on the 20th Jan I really should still be saying that but as we’ve not spoken since December I feel it’s still appropriate.

So how have your first week’s back at work been?  The first week is always a bit surreal as you transition from family-man and/or party animal back into efficient business person.  These can often be my most productive weeks as I’m raring to go and have a great focus to really move forward this year.  I also start every new year with renewed optimism.  It’s like turning the page on last year’s challenges and opening  up a bright new clean sheet.  I do have my moments but generally I'm an optimist.  I really started out this year with the best of hopes - the recession was on it’s way and businesses were starting to hire/source/employ again. With that in mind it felt like a real slap across the face to have all these business pundits telling me that 2011 was going to be a tough year again.  So what do you do?

As an optimist and with a New Year I’m ready to take on new challenges, learn new skills and generally make a hugely positive impact on my business this year.  But with the constant barrage of negativity from the media is that so easy?

I do think that to some degree we were talked into this recession.  No doubt there was a lot of underhand activity that caused problems but would we all really have stopped spending if the media hadn’t been repeating over and over again the problems?  Frankly it was depressing, no wonder businesses started to pull budgets and not look forward but look to maintaining the status quo.

As a business we all know that the last things we should cut are marketing and training but they are still often the first things to be cut. It’s easy - they’re seen as costs and the return on investment is often cloaked in mystery.  How can you say that that major sale came as a result of a certain tradeshow?  Yes, you had a great presence and got lots of press material, and yes, your staff showed their team around the stand and did full product demonstrations but when the deal is done 3 months down the line the tradeshow (and hence marketing) will rarely get the glory.

So I’m going to walk the walk and talk the talk this year.  I’m starting off the year with a new marketing programme.  I’m investing in the future of my business by making sure that I contact all my ongoing prospects and clients in as many creative ways as I can come up with.  I’m also going to stop listening to the news radio when I get up and instead bounce out of bed with some great music.  Let’s start the year, and each day on a positive note and prove the pundits wrong!

So assuming that we’re all human and can’t maintain perfection and constant attention to all our clients, when do you give your best service?  I’m sure to most of us our instinct is to give 100% all the time, to be on call for our clients whenever they need you but I’m also sure that there are times when you haven’t managed that goal.  So do you find yourself focusing on excellent customer service for new clients or for the larger clients?  Take some time to analyse this and look at what you can do to spread this over all your clients at all times.

I’ve known suppliers who were all over me at the first sniff of a contract, despite having ignored my ‘staying in touch’ calls when I didn’t have a project.  I’ve also known others who have been great until we slipped from initial contract to ongoing maintenance of the service - suddenly the responses took longer and longer to come back.  It’s frustrating and certainly makes me consider whether or not to renew contracts when the time comes around.

All clients are valuable and deserve your best attention, whether they’re thinking of a new event or have been working with you for years.  I’d recommend you to take some time to look at your business and really focus on your customer service - what level do you want to offer and can you maintain it?  What can you do to give that little bit more to clients when things are quiet or when they’re not responding.  It’s easy to stay in touch and give good service when they’re at the top of your mind but make sure they stay there, even when there are no ongoing projects.

Customers don’t always want to be bothered by your calls so think up a reason to stay in touch.  Some customers might not be natural communicators so you need to think outside the box. Has a new hotel opened that they may be interested in?  Have you read a great article on how to improve AV at smaller events?  Try and come up with a reason to stay in touch and think about how you can vary your approaches so that they don’t become dull and repetitive.  Can you send a short letter?  A direct mail piece?  Can you fit in a quick call to remind them to fill in a form for the exhibition next year?  Think about their personalities and vary your approach until you find several good ways to make contact.

I would also say that even if you have slipped up and neglected your prospects/old clients it may not be too late.  Get in touch and remind them of the great service you’ve offered in the past and then make sure that you build up your relationship again.  Think of it as a bank balance - if you’ve slipped into the red you need to work harder to get back into the black but it’s usually possible.  Persevere and don’t dip into the red again.

The events industry has been challenging over the past two years - many companies are holding their budgets close to their chests and just not spending. I could spend hours explaining how to get value from your events but many people are just not listening as they have too many unknowns and it’s all too scary.  As a business owner myself I do understand those issues, at times like this you do need to cut costs but don’t throw the baby out with the bath water. I’ve been lucky - I’ve won some new clients and been able to keep my events calendar going but I’ve not been overly challenged.  However, I always work best when under pressure and so I’ve been looking at ways to get new experiences and keep every hour filled with new opportunities.

The most rewarding work I’ve been doing has been with the Young Enterprise - this charity meets my beliefs and values and allows me to use my core skills effectively.  I’ve delivered programmes in primary and secondary schools and am constantly amazed how these kids can teach me how to run my business better.  From learning how to deal with distracted 5 year olds to presenting to sixty 13 year olds the experiences have enabled me to bring new insight and skills to my business.  Hopefully my own experiences of working within corporate companies, resellers and then setting up on my own has also brought some new thinking from the pupils. All too often then only see one route to work and can’t look beyond the immediate.  I firmly believe the world is your oyster, if only you have the right attitude and the  motivation to reach for it.

I’ve just signed up for the Employability programme which is a 2 hour commitment once a month for 8 months.  
Yes, I’ll probably be preparing the evening before but surely that amount of commitment could be made by most businesses?  You’d think so and yet the Young Enterprise are still short of advisors.  What will I get out of it?  A new perspective, time out to think about the business whilst not working on it, and hopefully personal connections which will help at least one student take a more challenging career path.

What advice would I give to anyone else who wants to support charities?  Match the charity to your own believes and values - you need to put your heart and soul into it or it’ll become a drag.  Make the commitment but stick rigidly to it - some charities can demand more and more time and it’s hard to say no.  If you’re clear about what you can do, then they’ll be able to find a role that’s suitable and not demand more. Don’t think about it as a waste of time - rather like exhibitions, the more you put in, the more you get out.  Be open to new ideas and you’ll be surprised at how your knowledge grows.

It's been an interesting week - one that has questioned my assumptions and led me to question the role of an events professional.

This week, I had my first Linkedin originated meeting ie I didn’t know the person before we met on Linkedin. I met up with another person heavily involved in the events industry and inevitably our talk turned to the future and how events would fare in the new Social Media world.  I've always been keen to promote the benefits of events to companies large and small and compared the ascendancy of our services to that of PR agencies.  My position being that many, if not all, companies now recognise the need for someone to help them write and manage PR - it is seen as a profession.  Events, unfortunately are still considered a “nice to have”, an expense and not a must have.  My vision was for Events to evolve and become the third essential hand to marketing managers.

Hence I was interested to hear at this meeting that he felt that PR was a dying industry!  If they were dying where did events now stand?  It was a fascinating conversation, more so as it was the third time in 7 days that I’d heard this.

No, I don’t think PR is dying, I think it just needs to evolve and evolve quickly.  Do PR consultancies merge with Social Media agencies or do they just switch focus from printed releases to including a plan for social media?  Printed PR has it’s place, particularly in specialist industry magazines but surely PR consultancies now need to prove that they can manage a social media campaign effectively and that they can use their skills to best use on this media.  In this new world many companies will think that their staff can manage the Twitter feed but wouldn’t it be so much better to use a professional who can write effective, focused copy?

I do believe the same can be said for events.  Anyone can organize events but a professional can really focus on the essentials and get you further quicker and with less stress.  However we also need to evolve and whilst events will not be replaced by online meetings and virtual exhibitions we need to work out how they can be combined effectively into the promotional plan for the event.

I firmly believe that we'll be much worse off if we don't meet face to face, if we don't explore new products with all senses and not just eyes and ears.

So maybe PR is evolving and so are Events - we just need to keep focused on our clients and what their clients need.