Fresh Ideas Marketing Blog

GMG Public Relations Receives WBE Certification

2012-01-26T18:40:43Z

GMG PUBLIC RELATIONS RECEIVES WBE CERTIFICATION TO KICK OFF THEIR 21ST YEAR IN BUSINESS

JANUARY 25, 2012: GMG PUBLIC RELATIONS, INC. has been granted Women Owned Business Enterprise status from the New York State Department of Economic Development, Division of Minority and Women's Business Development (DMWBD). GMG Public Relations will be listed in the State's Directory of Certified Businesses with the following list of principal products and services:

Public Relations
Marketing Consultant
Graphic Design & Services
Image Media Consultants
Advertising & Marketing
Web Design Marketing
Digital Graphics
Digital Media Development

"We are so proud to receive this designation after 20 years in business," states Risa Hoag, President of GMG Public Relations, Inc.

Referrals!

2012-01-22T00:03:55Z

What is going to be your biggest marketing challenge in 2012? Here's one thought to move you forward. Identify three top referral sources, they may be existing sources or you may need to identify new ones by title first or by names of people you already know, then you need to really work those sources throughout the year. How can you remind them of your services? How can you thank them appropriately for their referrals? How can you share referrals back to them? Think about it and make a plan. It will pay off in spades.

Be Visual in 2012

2011-12-31T00:30:17Z

One of my most dreaded tasks is creating a long-winded proposal for a new client. Don't get me wrong, I love pitching new business and I enjoy the process of learning more about a potential customer and then relaying what I've learned in a document that I can then print in living color, bind with matching spine, and deliver with a beautiful clear cover highlighting their logo alongside mine. However, I really don't enjoy preparing a 12 - 15 page document. Let's face it, it can eat up a lot of time. And more and more I find that people really don't want that kind of document. So, I've returned to an old friend.... MindMapping. If you've never heard of it, I strongly recommend learning about it. There are books on it, software and apps. My favorite right now is an iPad app called SimpleMind. You can easily manipulate everthing with your finger and create a beautiful chart/image of what you want to propose. I have given this to a few new clients recently and they LOVE it. Try it for yourself and search out others. You should find it easy and fun to use!

Two Big Hits in One Weekend!

2011-12-23T14:23:17Z

We hope you are enjoying the Season!

We just wanted to take a moment during this Chanukah and Christmas season to wish you, your staff and your family a wonderful holiday. We hope it brings you all good things! We also hope 2012 will be a year filled with happiness, peace and prosperity.

And just a bit of news to share...

We wanted to share an exciting bit of news! Our client Bounce! Trampoline Sports is featured on the cover of today's (12/23) Journal News/LoHud Weekend section for what to do with the kids over the holiday break. This is an outstanding feature and it is actually the third time they have been included in the Journal News since opening on November 5th. We also managed to secure a segment for them which will be featured on the Today Show this Monday, December 26th, at 10:20 am. Sara Haines and her producer and crew visited Bounce! and spent nearly 4 hours with us. It was so much fun. This is the culmination of 5 months of working with the Bounce! folks which resulted in over 12,000 people walking through their doors in the first month! We are very proud of our work with them. You can check out their website (which we designed and manage) at www.bouncetrampolinesports.com

Thank you.

We also want to say thank you to all our clients, friends and business colleagues who helped to make 2011 such a great year. We are looking forward to an exciting 2012!

Partnering and the Holidays

2011-12-16T14:13:39Z

{EAV:eb5144a903dfa6f4}

I'm always looking for ways to partner with other organizations, link people together, power network, etc. So my recent connection seems to be a win/win for all involved. As you already know my firm is celebrating 20 years in business. A milestone by anyone's standards. I have committed to doing at least 20 random acts of kindness for 20 years. You can read more about what we've done so far here.

When I heard about an organization called the Pajama Program this holiday season I thought it was the ideal opportunity to combine a new offering by a client with raising funds for this important charity. The IMAX Theatre at Palisades Center runs pajama parties throughout the year for family oriented movies. They have been a client for over a decade. They are introducing a new VIP/Loyalty card called The IMAX Palisades Director's Club Card. The card comes with super benefits at the theatre as well as with local retailers (and we are looking to partner with more retailers as we move into 2012). My idea was to combine IMAX Palisades with the Pajama Program and give back. So, I'm donating $2.00 from every IMAX Director's Club Card sold through the end of the year to the Pajama Program. I am also encouraging others to match my donation total. You can see how this is a win/win all the way around.

What can you do in 2012 to partner with others for a win/win!?

More information on IMAX Palisades (they are the only movie theatre in the Suburban NY/NJ area that will be showing the Dark Knight Rises prologue! - awesome!)

More information on the Pajama Program.

Adding value....

2011-12-02T00:23:54Z

First of all, I'm finding it hard to believe that it is December 1st and my last post was in September! How did that happen?! Well, the good news is that it's because business has been off the charts busy. Brand new clients, older clients coming back, existing clients asking for more work, all good! And perhaps that's part of the reason that my blog title is "adding value." Tomorrow (12/2) I'll be the guest host for the Public Relations Society of America Westchester-Fairfield Chapter Peer to Peer luncheon. I was very flattered to be asked. I was a member of the PRSA for years and then didn't renew a few years back and just recently joined up again. I wanted to get back involved with my peers, find out what they were doing differently, how social media had impacted their businesses, etc. So I really was honored to be asked to speak at this function so quicky after rejoining. The topic suggested was a good one, adding value. This is actually a philosophy I have lived by for the past 20 years of running GMG Public Relations. My goal has always been to provide the very best service I could and somehow add a little extra. My thinking was, in the early days, that if I provided a little unexpected extra it would justify my fee a little more and in the beginning I wanted to make clients happy at any expense. What I learned over time was that this "giving" of my services beyond what was expected went a very long way toward making me a trusted and valuable part of the team.

Many of my clients have been with me for many, many years, one client has been with me for all 20 years, another for 12, one for 10, another for 7, another for 3. I value those relationships and my goal is for them to feel the same way.

How do you add value?

Get Out!

2011-09-21T23:00:05Z

If you're like me, you've been around these parts for quite some time! That means you have seen plenty of business swings, highs and lows, ups and downs. Hard to tell which one we're in now! Perhaps that's because I'm extremely busy but it does seem like things have shifted and the "busy" is different than it used to be. Do you feel the same way?

Something else we may have in common is that we used to network alot or should I say A LOT!!! I was the president of the Westchester Association of Women Business Owners (WAWBO) for several years and sat on the board for 15 years! I was also a member of a bunch of other little organizations over the years. The networking and sharing of ideas that I learned then has served me extremely well over the years. In fact I recently got a lead from someone I met over 20 years ago through WAWBO, so that investment in networking is still paying off.

However, I stopped hardcore networking a few years ago. Growing kids and feeling comfortable with my business made me feel less inclined to go out in search of new business. I was happy with the way things were going and enjoyed not having to do the rubber chicken circuit all the time.

But I'm ready for a change. How about you? I've been going to more and more meetings, networking, events, having breakfast with old clients and business connections, not so much in search of new clients, but in search of new ideas, fresh faces, innovative discussions and a reality check on the economy. It has been incredibly helpful and insightful. I have gotten new ideas at every meeting and I even found a few new clients! Wow, I wasn't even searching for them.

So the morale of the story is, get out. Go to a new meeting. Find a group to visit or join and share who you are and listen to others. If you don't find a new client, you might just find a new idea and you might get a reality check that maybe the economy isn't that bad and in fact, is turning around for many!

This Old House, Paula Deen and the Journal News

2011-08-20T02:34:09Z

PR is a hard business these days. There are so many outlets, so many tools, and so many people vying for the same space! So, good solid hits can be harder to come by and take longer to get. We got a call last week from This Old House Magazine who was interested in featuring our client's product in their October issue. What is exciting, and perhaps a little depressing, is that the information they were referring to in order to find us was sent nearly one year ago! That's right, a press release we sent nearly a year ago was just revisited by a magazine to be used in an upcoming issue that features similar products. I try to tell clients that PR can be a very slow process, particularly when people are looking for good "old fashioned" hits, but they are often very worth the wait. We are hoping the same is true for our client "LadderWrap." If you want to learn more about them, go to www.ladderwrap.com and find out for yourself why they are being featured in the ladder safety issue.

Another client will be featured in an upcoming issue of Paula Dean's magazine. We sent them the product sample in November of last year! So again, the process can be long, but it is often worth the wait, a recent hit for that same client (www.cardcubby.com) generated hundreds of sales in a matter of a few days.

When you a hire a PR agency don't expect miracles overnight. That's not to say that a good placement isn't only a week or two away (check out the photo of our client Bounce! in a recent article in the Journal News), it can be! But, as with fishing, it is often the biggest and best that take time to catch.

Or as my mom always said, "Patience is a virtue."

Risa

20 Years = 20 acts of Kindness - this week Free Harry Potter Tickets!

2011-07-07T17:57:12Z

Well, we have been so busy with client work I haven't had a chance to do a blog entry. But let's see how many of you are reading this.

We're giving away 4 free tickets to see the final Harry Potter movie on opening day at IMAX Theatre at Palisades Center. Send me an email at risa@gmgpr.com and tell me why you just have to see the last Harry Potter movie at IMAX Theatre at Palisades Center (here's a hint: all movies are better on the IMAX Palisades screen because of its enormous size, incredible traditional IMAX projector which uses 1570 film (the way movies should be seen) and the incredible sound).

If you want to be one of the first to see the final film, you could win just by sending an email! Hurry!

RULES:

Entries must be received by July 13th at midnight.

Emails must be sent to risa@gmgpr.com and should include why you must see Harry Potter on the IMAX Palisades screen along with your full name, email and phone number. Subject line should read: Harry Potter IMAX Palisades Entry.

There will be two completely random winners who will each receive two tickets for the Friday, July 15th 6:15 PM movie.

Winners will be notified by email and must pick up their tickets from Risa Hoag at the Box Office in front of the IMAX Theatre at 4:30 PM on July 15th. Should the ticket holder fail to arrive on time, tickets may be given away to someone else.

Marketing in a Digital World - Creating Loyalty

2011-06-07T22:08:22Z