What's in your marketing mix?

When I started my company in 1991 the name was Global Marketing Group - thus the GMG in GMG Public Relations. Marketing seemed like an all encompassing title then and I wanted to be all things to all people (big mistake when marketing!). In any case, when I incorporated in 1996 I shortened the name to GMG Public Relations because public relations better described my company's focus. However, now it seems like I could go back to the old company name. So much of what I do now is overall marketing. Yes PR is a big part of what I do, getting articles for people, writing press releases, arranging interviews, but I also do a lot more consulting and advising when it comes to an overall marketing program. An effective marketing program often includes PR, direct mail, advertising, social media, etc. and I enjoy putting all of those pieces together to create a more comprehensive program that will ultimately drive more sales. So, what's in your marketing mix?

Two Big Hits in One Weekend!

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!

Get Out!

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

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