Is Your Marketing Strategic Plan for 2012 Truly Strategic?

So you have a strategic marketing plan. Is it actionable right now? If you are working on your plan, really would like more outside input, and have your business in southeastern Virginia, this session will help you. Susan Long-Molnar, President of Managing Communications Consulting, and guest presenter, Susan Kirkpatrick, copreneur of AdvantaCoach LLC (also the exclusive Independent Business Advisor for Glazer-Kennedy Insider’s Circle for Southeast Virginia) will lead your through information you can use to improve your marketing strategic planning.
When: Tuesday, January 24, 2012 8:15-9:45

Location: Towne Bank, Hilltop, 984 First Colonial Road, Virginia Beach, VA 23454

Fee: $15 includes continental breakfast (SMPS members, Hampton Roads Chamber members, and AdvantaCoach Marketing Power Lunch Chapter Members are $10)

Preregistration Required: Call Susan Long-Molnar, 757-513-8633 or respond to this e-mail.

8:15-9:05-Networking and Introductions
9:05-9:20 Analyzing Your Business Goals and Asking the Right Questions for Growth in Your Organization led by Susan Kirkpatrick
9:20-9:35 Auditing your Strategic Plan for Multi-channel strategies, results, and measurement, and managing progress
9:35-9:45 Additional Q&A overall

And you will receive…
• Samples of strategic marketing plan formats and articles to take for your reference
• Tips for how to engage EVERYONE in the success of the strategic plan
• List of attendees and contact information for future relationship building
• Chance to win a Dan Kennedy book…..
• Complimentary audit of your strategic marketing plan by Managing Communications Consulting with a one hour meeting to review the recommendations
• Free ticket to the AdvantaCoach Marketing Power Lunch

Communicate BIZ Roundtable is a monthly seminar series for small business owners and professionals responsible for marketing, PR, sales and internal communications within their companies. We want you in the room if you are responsible for increasing revenue and/or engaging others to bring success to your organization in 2012! Monthly sessions will be facilitated by Susan Long-Molnar, President of Managing Communications Consulting , who will often be partnering with another expert on the topic.

Making You Marketable

Today’s career market has impacted everyone, especially professionals who have lost positions after years with the same companies and those who are hoping to be promoted. The resume is a given, but there is a whole lot more that goes into being the candidate of choice by employers today. Communicating effectively and implementing a variety of marketing strategies are critical to being the First Choice. Managing Communications Consulting has a new service to assist those in transition: Making You Marketable.

To learn more, download the Making You Marketable information sheet!

Is Social Media Hurting or Helping Your Business?

It is true that perception is everything and the more we use social media and expand our connections, the less control we have over how people feel about us. It only takes one wrong reaction to something political or one inappropriate comment to set a belief about us. We represent our companies in all of our actions whether we intend to or not. What happens when we don’t communicate effectively and consistently on our pages? We can often lose traction or be considered sloppy in customer service or impact how we are viewed as a leader in our industry.

 Susan Long-Molnar, President of Managing Communications Consulting, will address social media from a public relations and reputation management standpoint in the firm’s newly launched seminar “Is Social Media Hurting or Helping Your Business?”  The seminar will be held at the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce, 500 East Main Street Ste. 700, Norfolk VA Contact Sandy Sekeet on April 28^th, 7:45 a.m.-10:00. To register, e-mail l ssekeet@hrccva.com or (757) 664-2530. Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce members pay $15 and non-member $30.

 Attendees will be involved in an interactive forum to learn what impacts a company’s reputation as an aspect of branding on social networking sites, key strategies to improve online reputation, and assistance in how to communicate the value of Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and blogs to others in their companies.

• Learn what impacts a company or individual’s reputation as an aspect of branding
• Evaluate your current reputation on social networking sites
• Consider strategies which will improve your social networking reputation
• Take away strategic planning for the rest of the year
• Bonus: Assist you to communicate the value of social networking within your organization.

About the Presenter:
Before transitioning Managing Communications Consulting to a full-service firm in 2002, Susan Long-Molnar served in leadership positions for three large regional operations in Hampton Roads:

• USAA’s Mid-Atlantic Corporate Communications Manager (regional public affairs, community relations, marketing, and internal communications)
• Cox Communications’ internal communications manager for Hampton Roads (during tremendous growth and acquisition of businesses)
• Director of Business Development and Marketing for Sentara Enterprises, Sentara Health System.

For six years, she also served as the Vice President, Corporate Communications/HR for Medical Laboratory Solutions, Inc. which provides hematology and chemistry equipment services to laboratories nationwide.

 Today, Managing Communications Consulting brings marketing, public relations, and internal communications solutions to clients such as Dunkin’ Donuts, Nutrient PLUS, a national fertilizer company, Strickland and Jones, P.C., MEB General Contractors, 5 Star Medical Transport and Silver Car Service, and Tower Benefit Consultants. 

 Susan is a member of the National Speakers Association Virginia Chapter, the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce Norfolk Board, is a LEAD Hampton Roads graduate and currently serves as President of Town Center Kiwanis in Virginia Beach.

 If you would like to engage Long-Molnar for a presentation at your professional association or business, please contact her directly at 757-513-8633 and visit  http://www.managingcommunications.com/training.php for information on additional presentations.

The Joy of Podcasting

By James Applebach, PR Associate

There are many options for communicating with audiences today. We can keep in contact with customers on websites such as Facebook and Twitter which provide up to the minute updates with the newest thing our brand has to offer and help to develop social relationships. These are quick and easy ways to send and receive information.

However, one thing these tools do not provide is a channel to catch and keep someone’s attention for an extended period of time. We’re always concerned with ‘cutting through the noise’ in the over saturated media market. Rather than being the loudest or the brightest, you can entice your audience to come to you by becoming a source of entertainment.

To do that most effectively follow these guidelines:                                                                                                                                                                       Be Likeable – Podcasts can be fun, and people want to listen to something that will make them feel good. You will not get listeners if your podcast is too dry, or too heavily focused on a product or service. People respond to good humor and humility.

Also, your host or hosts should be upbeat, funny, authentic, and people who sound like they know what they’re talking about.  Production values such as music, good sound quality and a well planned script can also add an air of professionalism to your show. More on this later.

Don’t come on too strong – Mention your company only once or twice during the podcast (perhaps once at the beginning and once at the end). Your podcast shouldn’t be about you, but about your audience. What do they want to know? How can you use your knowledge to fill that niche?

Don’t use jargon – It’s important that your audience knows what you are talking about. If they don’t, they will surely get frustrated and turn you off.

Here is an example of a format a health Insurer could use:                                                                                                                                                  

After an audio brand and music interlude, the hosts should introduce the show with a recurring theme, such as the health tip of the day, and proceed with news on a current issue (such as heart disease). The hosts would then provide information to the listener about measures to prevent this issue from affecting their lives by promoting health guides, their website, and any other resources they can offer for further information. The host could then close the show by reminding the listeners of the company sponsored 5k that’s coming up.

This is a brief description of how a podcast might go. In my next blog, I will discuss how to create a podcast and distribute it to the masses.

“Shut-up! No way?! I can’t believe it!”

By Alisa Crider, PR Associate, Managing Communications

Wow! How could a word that used to mean “to stop talking” now mean “Please – tell more!” It’s easy  to blame the obvious – the media. Those who have seen the popular American teen comedy film, Mean Girls, are familiar with “the plastics,” the A-list girl clique who are the queen bees of their high school. You might recall Regina (Rachel McAdams) asking Cady (Lindsay Lohan) who had just moved from Africa, “So you’ve actually never been to a real school before? Shut up! Shut up!” Cady responds back in confusion, “I didn’t say anything.” Although this may be a comical exaggeration, this scene is not too far off from today’s high school setting.

 Stacy London the fashion expert on What Not to Wear says “Shut-up” all the time in a similar manner. Her use of the word seems to define shock or serve as a substitute to the phrase “Oh my gosh!” My favorite reference however, is in the 2011 Golden Globe winner for Best Comedy, “The Kids are Alright.” Paul (VB native, Mark Ruffalo) plays the birth father and has a tendency to sub “Shut the front door” for a more inappropriate phrase.

 On a different note, “Shut Up” is also a song by the American hip hop band The Black Eyed Peas. The 2003 single is on their album Elephunk. It’s basically the battle of the sexes put into song with the chorus consisting of the lines “shut up, just shut up shut up”. In this case, the word is used repeatedly to get a point across. Funny how a word that used to be frowned upon, is now being sung by 12-year-olds on a daily basis.

So when did the connotation of this word shift and become so casual and “fetch”? It’s hard to point fingers at an individual who coined this term; however, I think it is easy to say it was born out of the millennial generation – people born between 1982 and 2000, ages 10 to 28.

 There are several characteristics of millennials that contribute to this assumption. First of all, they are the first generation to grow up surrounded by digital media. It’s hard to find a person in this age group who doesn’t own an Ipod or have a Facebook account. In fact, many prefer chatting online to talking on the phone. IM-ing (Instant Message) is the preferred communication tool and is where people show off their knowledge of acronyms, like “DEGT”: “don’t even go there,” or “IDTS”: “I don’t think so.” Millennials are technology savvy because they have no real memory of life without computers, cell phones, or digital music.

 Typical Millennial tends to be extremely competitive, confident and optimistic. This contradicts the fact that Millennials also appear to be the most stressed-out generation in history. They seem to require constant encouragement to thrive and are not too humble to make this known. Most are social bumble bees and crave attention and recognition. This explains why most teens strive for the A-list and don’t typically fall short. They devour the popular lingo that echoes through the high school halls because everyone knows “Shut-up!” is much sassier than “No way!”

There is a time and a place for everything, and the workplace is not somewhere the word “shut-up” should be used under any context. Some people may feel it depends on the work environment of the business where they are employed. I personally would not use that language with my boss, but I see other people do. Even if the word is not used in its original context, and is instead used by its millennial definition, I still find it unnecessary and inappropriate. It is slang and has no effective use in the workplace.

  “Shut-up” is now a word with multiple meanings, and it may take a while for all the generations to understand its new meaning.

 Can you believe an entire blog was devoted to such a trivial subject?…Shut-up!

An Introduction to Podcasting

By James Applebach, PR Associate

By now many people have heard the word podcast. However, what a podcast is, exactly, can prove to be a little confusing. The basic definition of a podcast, according to entepreneur.com,is “a pre-recorded audio program that’s posted to a website and is made available for download so people can listen to them (sic) on personal computers or mobile devices.”

The word podcast comes from Apple’s portable music player – iPod – and broadcast. Podcasting is a medium that can provide any type of music, entertainment and news and information. You can browse a podcasting marketplace, such as iTunes, to find podcasts on business, gardening, sports, and many other topics.

It’s essential to point out that many podcasts are not professionally produced. Many podcasters are hobbyists or amateurs who simply enjoy speaking about a chosen topic and creating a community through their show. However, professional media companies such as National Public Radio and Fox News Radio share their syndicated shows using podcasts to provide listeners with an On Demand version of their favorite shows. 

Most can afford to podcast because it requires very little overhead. To create a bare-bones podcast you only need a computer and a microphone. Simply record your voice into a free audio software program, such as audacity, and post it on a website.

From a public relations and marketing perspective, podcasting can be an excellent way to communicate with your audiences. Organizations that utilize podcasting often develop content specifically tailored for their listeners about topics of interest to drive traffic to their website, buy a product or create buzz.

Stay tuned for my next installment on podcasting when I dive into the anatomy of a podcast and how your organization can make a podcast work for you.
 

Some of the podcasts I have enjoyed and recommend are Stuff You Should Know by howstuffworks.com, Fresh Air – an NPR talk show – and The Bugle a news program featuring John Oliver and Andy Zaltzman. These can be downloaded using iTunes.

Social Media as Personal Journaling or Desperate Need for Friends

By Susan Long-Molnar, President, Managing Communications Consulting

You look on your Facebook Wall and realize that somebody has taken up a lot of it with Farmville requests. Even worse, people you barely know personally have just shared their anger over some relationship gone bad or expressed something really inappropriate about their employer without “counting to ten”.

When I grew up, we had diaries…with keys. You could banter away about your day. Share the good and the ugly, in writing, and reread it as much as you wanted, often gaining a new perspective. It seems that some social media has become social journaling. There is something that feels good when we share with people we often don’t see, maybe once a month, and that we don’t even socialize with on a regular basis about the dinner out, our opinions on the outcome of a game or that we stayed at the beach all day. I think Generation Y has created the most valuable source imaginable for finding people to hang out with and bring a bar or concert more people than they could get from any advertising, On the other hand, sharing that someone has really disappointed us or that we are sick of people, leaves people of the details, free to imagine them, or worse, develop a perception which is not so favorable. That kind of communications can be very bad for business or finding a job.

What I typically hear from some clients or business associates is that it all seems a waste of time. I can see why they often have this reaction. How do we spend our time online? You have heard the old saying “what you think about the most is what you will become.” How often do you communicate your values and your goals?

It is not the end-all for building strategic relationships, but it certainly can be effective when you set goals for how you will use your pages. Are you using it to connect with people you don’t have time to call or meet with regularly? Are you hoping that you will build more referrals from your efforts? Do you want your referral sources and clients to get to know you better? Will you share details, news, and events about your business as a valuable media source? Can you build credibility by letting people know how you think, how you react to situations, how you have solved business issues? Can you expand your market by getting connected to people within a particular market segment?

Watch for a blog soon on how to Avoid Wasting Time Blogging and Socializing Online.
I would love for you to share how you have reduced your time online and still maintained a strong presence.

How to Communicate with Gen Y

By James Applebach, PR Associate

In our ever changing media landscape, the people who are on top of trends in communication are usually on the younger side (geeks are an exception). As Generation Y embraces each new social networking invention (Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Skype, etc.) they are further alienated from the reach of traditional media. After all, any one person can only pay attention to one colorful box with flashing lights at a time.

We want to reach this audience, but how? You need to join the conversation. Start by learning about your social networking tool of choice, Facebook, for example. Run a Google search on it to get a feel for how it works. Then, visit the website for instructions on how to get started. If you are having trouble getting up and running, try asking your geek, or the nearest tech-savvy young person, to help get you established. 

Use your new-found online confidence to inform your audience about news in your organization, events and other interesting tidbits. You may even venture out even further and create an account for yourself on your chosen social network.

But remember: No matter how comfortable you get with Facebook or Twitter, there are just some things we’d rather not know and transparency – i.e. the truth – will build solid relationships.

Communicating Community

By Susan Long-Molnar, President

Why is the content from so many web sites canned from some industry source? Back in a day, we advised clients not to use canned newsletters, as the material sounded so impersonal and gave little credibility to building a brand. So why should people ignore this advice when it comes to web sites? This is just another distribution channel (although very influential today). Regardless of the media, the message is like perception…all there is.

Are businesses and their employees really not doing anything in the community because of the slow economy? Although they may be doing less, it is highly unlikely that all efforts to give back to the communities they serve have been squelched. No, more often, we find that there just isn’t enough imitative, time, or know how within companies to communicate what they are doing.

Whether you use a newsroom, press release or community page, your company should be sharing your events, pro bono activity, speaking engagements, sponsorships and fundraising activities, regularly. Don’t be afraid to start it because you don’t have something new to say all the time. We encourage, identify topics and prepare content for our clients. Create an internal survey monthly to gather your potential community news.

Do you have an employee with a particular interest, hobby, sport, or charity which could be a highlight on the web site?

Are you sponsoring a professional organization’s outing? Promote the event, share why you are sponsoring, and anything unique in your participation.

Is someone speaking at a community event soon? What is the topic? Share a description of the organization.

Conduct a survey of your employees on how they feel about the company’s contributions in the community? Share the results you feel are appropriate.

Who is on a community board or committee? Interview and share why this group is important and what are the individual’s goals.

Interview the leader of a charitable organization, share the article, and provide a link to the organization.

And the list goes on…There are more reasons to share than to not do so. Make sure you have a good mix of news and that most of what you are doing is truly helpful to the community. Go for it…as you will not only be helping communicate what is important to your company, but you just never know where you will influence others to support a charity or initiative.

Social Networking Groups: What’s the Value of Joining?

by Susan Long-Molnar, President

I have found over the past year that it is crazy not to join a few groups in Linked In. That’s the first step. The downside is that before you know it, you receive weekly (or more frequent) e-mails when someone has posted a new discussion or event. What is important is how you use the groups so that all of this is not a waste of time.

Selecting a good mix of groups will keep you from social networking insanity. I recommend a couple of national (largely populated) ones in your industry, to keep you sharp on issues and depending on your marketing targeted reach, they may open incredible business referral opportunities for you. Joining a few local ones or those in the geographical locations of your offices will give you the most value. One area which we have recommended to our clients is to spend more time joining groups outside their own industry—where their clients and prospects are members—will usually provide the most opportunities for some serious networking.

So what can you do to get your messages and brand part of the buzz? Here are just a few thoughts…

• Check out the New Members column on the group’s site. Is there someone you would like to know? Go to their web site, send a message explaining that you would like to connect and mentioning that you are in the same group. Usually, they will review your profile, and probably connect.
• Promote your events (whether you are attending or sponsoring) to a wider body of contacts
• Create questions for discussion which either give you information about a particular topic or through the comments, offer opportunities to follow up with potential prospects or referral sources. If it is a question which is related to your expertise or discipline, you can use the material along with your own to craft responses, furthering showing your expertise.
• Additionally, take the time to enter discussions with your own opinions and be sure to follow discussions. If a group is too large, you can start a discussion in most groups to recommend a subgroup to the manager of the group. This will further identify you as a leader in that subgroup.
• Drive traffic to your website, by introducing one of your own articles or something you have read recently, with your own comments. This will give you an opportunity for new visitors from the group and hopefully, if there is valuable information on your site, keep them coming back.
• Most groups are useful for identifying job openings you have with your company, recognizing others in the same group for their accomplishments, and promoting some specific aspect of your business. For example, if I relate a specific PR service on the American Marketing Association group site, our company may become a resource for agencies and consultants who provide strictly marketing services.
• Don’t assume that you don’t fit a group. Stretching a bit is fine as long as there is some connection to the group. If you sell a product, from shoes to residential property, anyone could need your service at some point. Just be sure not to abuse the time you spend in the group. Often, you will make more relationships when you share your leadership, management style, knowledge about an important topic, then info on the specific products. Most relationships, whether online or face-to-face are first developed based on trust, respect, knowledge, and personality.
• Be sure to recommend others to a group as this is helpful to them while giving you an opportunity, once again, to brand your own business.

Start paying attention to the groups others have joined, both within your network and beyond. You can also search the Group Directory easily on your site. If you have other successes in joining groups, please share.

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I love what I do. As a professional communicator for over 25 years and a student of the discipline since I was in high school, I have found the way that we communicate business is a lifelong study. I am the President of Managing Communications Consulting. After communications positions in management for Sentara Health System, Cox Communications, and USAA, my entrepreneurial spirit got the best of me. Why the name when our disciplines revolve around marketing, Public Relations, and internal communications?  Whether the message relates to marketing communications, building a brand or reputation, or redesigning a web site, it is all based on assisting management to strategize and implement effective communications. We welcome you to get to know us better. Please add to the discussions, sharing your own experiences.

Posting Schedule

CommunicateBiz posts every other Wednesdays from its author, other MCC professionals and/or guests.. We take the weeks in between off to rejuvenate and reflect on talk that walks and walking the talk.