Scrappy Marketing Solutions Blog

Peter Shankman's "If I Can Help a Reporter Out"

About a month ago, I subscribed to a relatively new e-newsletter: Peter Shankman's "Help a Reporter Out" (or HARO, for short).  I read about it in a blog post by Denise Wakeman: Help a Reporter Out: A Goldmine for PR Opportunities.

Each day, you'll receive up to three emails, each with anywhere from 2-10 queries per email. They'll all be labeled with [shankman.com] in the subject line, for easy filtering. If you see a query you can answer, go for it! HelpAReporter.com really is that simple.

I built this list because a lot of my friends are reporters, and they call me all the time for sources. Rather than go through my contact lists each time, I figured I could push the requests out to people who actually have something to say.

In the past three weeks, I have forwarded more than 15 queries on to people in my network.  Reporters have submitted queries seeking experts in such areas as Unique Organizing Niches, Craft Store Owners, Las Vegas, Podcasters, Photographers, Teaching Kids Values, and Thanksgiving Traditions.  (Actually, the queries run a MUCH wider gamut than that - those were just some of the queries I forwarded on.)

The venues for which journalists write also run the gamut - there are some smaller community papers, online communities, blogs, as well as The New York Times, HGTV, and full-fledged books.

As Denise said, this really is a PR Goldmine.  If you want to promote your product/business to a wide audience, you can hardly beat the "free press" of being included in an article.  It provides much more credibility than buying ad space, and is definitely cheaper.  Plus, when you are quoted in an article, or your product/business is featured in an article, you 'become' an expert.  People see you as a "go-to resource" in that topic area.

I haven't seen a ton of craft-related queries come in, but that's where your "PR thinking cap" comes in.  Think outside our craft box, and spin something to see how what you do could fit a given request.  DON'T pitch blindly, mind you - someone looking for molecular biology resources will NOT appreciate you sending info about your line of paper-craft storage.  But if someone is looking for resources in organizing a home office, how could paper-craft storage provide a creative and unusual solution?  If a reporter posts a query for decorating trends for the holidays, what ideas could you offer? (And yes, both of those queries have been posted recently.)

Almost every day I read a query that I'd like to post here to go out to the craft marketing masses.  But rather than posting journalists email addresses here (something I'm SURE they would NOT appreciate, either!), I thought I'd just let you know about the HARO newsletter, and let you sign up yourselves.  Yes, it does arrive three times a day, and yes, there are more queries there that won't apply to you, than those that will, but I think subscribing is a valuable marketing tool.  And, as Peter says, "the good Karma is immeasurable".

If you are a reporter/writer/journalist seeking sources, you can also submit requests for resources. I've passed this query link along to several writer friends, and they are really impressed with the resources they've seen.

If you respond to any HARO query, I'd love to hear how it turns out!  Be sure to come back here and leave a comment!

Know a Teen with Mad Digi Skillz?

I ran across an interesting article today, posted in the online version of Ventura County Star: Teen choice: summer job or business owner.  In the article, the writers "ask teens looking for a summer job to seriously consider the advantages of starting a business instead."  And check out one business opportunity they highlight:

We know a teen who built a business scanning shoeboxes full of old photographs and building digital albums for people. The work is tedious, but this photography enthusiast views it as a master class; she sees thousands of photos every week, improves her computer skills, and gets paid for it. Thanks to a class in Photoshop, she has the skill to fix damaged images for an additional fee.

If you have an enterprising (and tech-savvy) teen in your house, you might suggest they offer these services.  If you already have the equipment, startup costs could be minimal.  They could advertise in local parenting newspapers and church bulletins, and hang up flyers at grocery stores.  They could leave business cards at local scrapbooking and photography stores.  They could also post a service listing on CraigsList and other local resource sites (though you might consider having them use your email address or a PO Box for contact information, just for added teen security, and screen potential customers/clients).

Those of you who offer scrapbook-for-hire services could also add scanning to your list of services, then outsource the task to a local teen (maybe one in your own home!)

Finding Free Press Release Distribution Sites

A client recently asked me if I had any recommendations for free press release distribution sites, so I thought I'd share my answer here:

You can try http://i-newswire.com or http://www.prlog.org/ - I have seen scrapbooking press releases there, but have not used either of them myself.  I have really only used PRWeb, because I get consistent results from them.

Mashable.com compiled a list of 21 sites with free distribution - worth a look-see!  20+  Free Press Release Distribution Sites.

I also advised her that any release should be submitted to me - Scrapbooking Industry News is probably the easiest free distribution you can get for this market!  :)

Marketing Idea: Create a Tradition or Ritual

Via Meg Cox's Traditions newsletter, a link to TrashTheDress.com, a rather scandalous yet innovative concept - celebrate your recent marriage by trashing your wedding dress.

Why? … Why not? You’ve made a commitment to your husband. He’s your one and only true love, right? Then you’ll never need the dress again. And no, your daughter won’t wear it in 20-30 years. So you have two choices:

1. Suffocate it in plastic and throw it in a closet
2. Show your husband how committed you are by trashing the dress, and get some great fun pictures while you do it!

Trash the Dress photo sessions have been featured on Good Morning America and in the New York Times.  So this is quite a bit more than just a meme hidden in the underbelly of the Internet.  According to the NYT, "Christa DiPaulo Becker, 31, said that sitting in 2005 for her post-wedding Trash the Dress shoot with John Michael Cooper, the Las Vegas wedding photographer [is] credited with starting the trend..."  Cooper's concept spread to other wedding photographers, and (also according to NYT), "interest in these photos has even led to the creation of a Web site, trashthedress.com, which Mark Eric, a 35-year-old photographer from Alexandria, La., said he started to display his own Trash the Dress images."

A comment in Meg Cox's newsletter got me thinking about the marketing angles of a concept like this:

It appears to have been the brainchild of a photography studio looking for new income streams, and the idea caught fire with some brides.

"...the brainchild of a photography studio looking for new income streams"...  So.  What tantalizing ritual could you help document in your scrapbooking business?  First, take the easy route and check with local photographers, and see if any of them offer Trash the Dress photo sessions.  If so, try pairing up with them to offer Trash the Dress scrapbooking sessions using their photos.

From there, brainstorm other rituals or traditions you could help customers document...

• a Break-up Book of all the losers they dated, or as a post-divorce therapy tool - consider partnering with a local divorce therapist for referrals
• a Letting Go or "Say Good-bye to..." workshop - what dreams or expectations don't "fit" anymore? (also good for purging clutter or extra scrapbooking supplies!)
• Put a positive spin on bittersweet times - kids starting kindergarten or leaving for college?  Offer a class layout project on "Before I Had to vs Now I Get to" (also good for post-divorce)

Scrapbooking is about documenting the events in one's life.  How can you help your customers tell the stories of non-traditional milestones?  Or put a different spin on the traditional ones?  I'd love to hear your ideas - please leave a comment below!

Shameless Self-Promotion with New Year’s Resolutions

In the words of Photojojo blogger Nichole Esmon, "Goodbye 2007, Hello Two Thousand and Awesome!"  (love the phrasing of that)

It's New Year's Eve, and many people's thoughts turn to resolutions.  Why not take a cue from Esmon and the Photojojo blog, and use resolutions to remind your customers of the great content you've been offering them?

A little background...Photojojo.com is an online store that sells photo-related products.  As such, their blog offers tons of valuable photo-related resources, presented in a fun, edgy writing style.  For New Year's, Esmon compiled a tip list of 19 photo resolutions for Photojojo's blog/newsletter.  Many of the tips refer back to content previously posted on Photojojo's blog. 

Very clever - a Scrappy Marketer's Hat Tip for this marketing-via-resolution-tipsheet idea.  It's actually quite useful for their readers - the tip list provides links to posts readers may have previously missed, or forgotten to follow up on.  But putting all these links in one post also reminds readers how much they enjoy reading Photojojo, and that oh yeah, they've been meaning to check out that cool gadget in the store.  Plus, all the internal links to specific posts also help with search engine juice.  Win Win.

So - what kind of resolutions list can you come up with for your business?  Triscape, makers of digital scrapbooking software FxFoto, could provide a list of "5 Photo Organization Resolutions for 2008".  Author Lisa Sanford could write up, "10 Cultural Holidays Not to Miss in 2008".  A local scrapbooking store could put together a simple "Getting to Done - 10 Scrapbooking Resolutions", with tips on quickly working through your stash (of photos AND/OR supplies!). 

What tips could you offer that would highlight content you've already written, and that would point people to the products/services you offer?  Give it some thought and get posting!  Feel free to leave a link to your professional resolution list in the Comments!

Email & White Paper Marketing Idea from Carolee's Creations

A great email marketing idea recently arrived in my inbox from Carolee's Creations.  Essentially they've created a whitepaper to address a common concern for their target audience  (In scrapbook speak...they created an idea sheet to help use your stash.)  Then they sent out an email blast to let people know the white paper was available.  Georgana also posted about it on her blog.

According to Wikipedia, a white paper "is an authoritative report. White papers are used to educate customers, collect leads for a company or help people make decisions."  Whitepapers are typically offered by companies as a marketing tool.  They are written in article format, presenting a problem, then offering a solution.  That solution is usually points to a product or service that the company offers.

In this case, the white paper/tipsheet/idea sheet [PDF] addresses how to get past "Christmas Card Chagrin" - "that sick gnawing feeling in the pit of your stomach [when] thinking about the expense" of sending out handmade Christmas cards. The four-page PDF describes creative ways to work past that problem, including specific examples (with sketches) of 15 cards created using one sheet of stickers, four sheets of cardstock, and one stamp (all Carolee's Creation products).

Try this marketing technique yourself!  Think about what concerns your target market has, and put together a white paper describing how to solve it, and how you can help.  Then send out an email and post to your blog to tell everyone that the paper is available.

A Scrappy Marketer's Hat Tip to Carolee's Creations for this marketing "hat trick" - marketing by white paper, email newsletter, AND blog.

Marketing by Customer Review: Scrapbook.com

Another great marketing idea, this one from Scrapbook.com: Review A Product Win $25!

Scrapbook.com is giving away (3) $25 superstore-shopping-sprees to three lucky product reviewers!

Here’s what you need to do to be eligible to WIN:

1. Choose an E-book or digital product from the superstore that you own (or will soon own)
2. Go to that products page in the Scrapbook.com Superstore
3. Write a 50 word (minimum) review of the product (posted to the product page)

All reviews are eligible provided that they would likely be deemed helpful and informative by a person who does not yet own the product.
That’s it! Simple, right?

Clever marketing - offer an incentive to get your customers to dish on your products!  Since the contest does not imply the review must be positive, I don’t see any ethical problems.

Here’s what I like about this promotion:

• it will (most likely) provide lots of reviews in their online storefront, which boosts the confidence level of “looky-loo’s” - they see lots of reviews, they think a lot of people must shop here, they feel secure doing business with the site.
• they specified that the review must “likely be deemed helpful and informative by a person who does not yet own the product”.  That kind of guideline will help someone write a review.
• they asked for reviews on their *digital* products.  What a great way to highlight a specific segment of their business!
• they included this promotion in their e-newsletter, which is also archived online - instant search engine mojo, and easy to pass the word along to friends (viral marketing)!

You could do something similar in your business:

• every other month, solicit reviews/testimonials about a specific type of product or service - paper one month, classes another month
• change up the incentive every so often - store credit one month, personal consulting session another month.
• have customers apply to be on a rotating “Review Board”, of say, a three to six-month term.  During that term, they get special goodies for their service.
• definitely post about any kind of contest/promotion on your blog and in your newsletter

A Scrappy Marketer’s Hat Tip to Scrapbook.com!

Viral Scrapbook Marketing: Tinkering Ink Blinkies

I recently spotted a great grassroots/viral marketing idea on the Tinkering Ink BLOG. They are offering “blinkies” graphics for people to post in their message board signature lines (aka “sigs”). The little animated graphics scroll through various marketing slogans and feature some branded Tinkering Ink images.

TI goes a step further by providing coding instructions on their blog and on their message board, specifying how to post a blinkie to a message board sig.

THEN they go even another step further, and declare that they “will be hunting down Tinkering Ink blinkies online and giving away prize packs filled with Tinkering Ink goodies to random customers we find displaying our blinkie on their signature”. By choosing random winners (instead of submissions, or a talent contest), people are more likely to use the blinkie, in hopes that they could be noticed and chosen. And every time someone uses the TI blinkie, the marketing message is passed further down the pipeline.

A Scrappy Marketer’s Hat Tip to Tinkering Ink!

Stumped When Writing Effective Article Headlines?

Great 4-part series of articles on writing article headlines over at dsd-professionals.com: How to Write Headlines that Keep Customers Coming Back for More.

It’s always helpful to find business/marketing resources that are addressed to scrapbooking industry professionals - you don’t have to do any fancy mind tricks to figure out how generalized small business advice applies to YOUR business.

Here’s the intro to the article series:

This is the first article in a series that will give you a steady stream of headline-writing ideas and proven techniques that are sure to increase your readership.  Whether you are writing blog articles, advertising for your digi-scrap business, or announcements in your community forums - these formulas will become some of your best friends.  Because they will give extra power to your writing skills and produce the results you are looking for. Through this series I will share with you tips and techniques on how to write better headlines for your blogs, on your websites, and in your advertising campaigns.

A Scrappy Marketer's Hat Tip to Cindy (aka PaintChip) for providing these resources.