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Boosting Your Business
Simple marketing tips help boost business brand
awareness
South Florida Business Journal - by Jeff Zbar
Press Release
Release Date: 10/1/2010
Paula Black has seen countless marketing
opportunities lost.
She’s visited the offices of executives whose
cluttered spaces belie their professionalism, or
whose waiting areas are awash in dated reading
materials – none of which promote the company.
She’s received calls from executives – or worse,
from an executive’s administrative assistant –
where the tone of the caller’s voice says they’d
rather be doing something else. And she’s
received impersonal e-mails that fail to
reinforce the personal bonds that can further
build business.
“Conversation builds relationships,” said Black,
principal of Paula Black & Associates, a Coconut
Grove-based marketing firm. “E-mail is an
incredibly useful method of communication much
of the time, but it can’t replace genuine
conversation. Instead of letting an assistant or
secretary do the communicating, pick up the
phone and do it yourself.”
Sometimes, marketing doesn’t require big-ticket
ad agency fees or public relations firm
retainers. It can require little to no money –
just a dose of common sense. The little things
executives – even employees – do can make a
difference, experts advise. From how each
conversation builds an individual’s brand, to
the digital and social media tools used daily,
polish your image at every chance.
Personalizing an online persona
Among other free personal branding
opportunities, experts advise marketers to
personalize their online persona. Post Facebook
fan page updates, tweets on Twitter and
biographical information on the services that
make readers think – and make your persona come
alive.
Also, tweak the greeting on services like
LinkedIn. Invitations to connect on the social
networking site include the standard greeting,
“I’d like to add you to my professional network
on LinkedIn.” Edit the message to include the
recipient’s name, a personalized greeting or
request, and even an offer to meet offline
sometime.
Marketers also suggest revising the standard
e-mail signature or “sig.” This is the automated
message at the end of an e-mail. While it must
be enabled on most desktop e-mail applications,
it’s standard on some popular smart phones, like
BlackBerrys or iPhones. Left unedited, iPhone
users’ sigs read “Sent from my iPhone.”
Why brand Apple’s already ubiquitous brand?
Subscribers can log into AT&T’s Web-based
service portal and change the sig to include a
well-crafted message.
Boca Raton publicist Margie Zable Fisher’s
desktop e-mail signature includes her name and
phone number, and her Facebook, Twitter and
LinkedIn addresses. It also includes her e-mail
address. One can never be sure when an e-mail
may be forwarded without the original sender’s
contact information in the header.
Fisher’s sig also includes the statement “Ask me
about special fourth quarter and Holiday Gift
Guide PR programs.”
“Create an e-mail signature line with a call to
action or promotional message,” Fisher said.
“You can change these messages often.”
Tapping marketing opportunities
Along with his affinity for handing out
business cards at various social and networking
events, Boca-based PR executive Barry R. Epstein
taps numerous and simple marketing
opportunities. His car sports the vanity license
plate CME4PR, which he also uses as his Twitter
handle.
He hosts a local TV show, writes guest columns
and a blog, and participates in leadership and
community positions – all of which put him in
the company of potential clients. He also
includes a plethora of calls to action and
accolades in his e-mail signature, which by one
count ran 60 lines.
Branding can be damaged by messages that border
on the childish. For example, Boca Raton
publicist Jay Van Vechten chides executives who
send e-mail or texts with emoticons – those
smiley face characters built of letters or
punctuation – or single letters instead of
words, like “How R U?”
“If you’re going to write someone,” he said,
“then spell out what you mean.”
Branding can come through thoughtfulness, said
Lee Smith, principal with Smitty’s Holdings, a
Davie search engine marketing, optimization and
Web design firm. For his part, the sig on each
e-mail Smith sends always has the same line:
“Kindest Regards.”
“It’s a closing point that shows courtesy and
respect,” he said. “It adds a little bit of
warmth to what otherwise is a business
environment.”
Jeff Zbar covers
marketing, technology and small business
strategies. Contact him at jeffzbar@gmail.com or
(954) 346-4393.
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Watch Barry Epstein's
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Barry R. Epstein, President,
West Boca Leaders
Founder, West Boca Chamber of Commerce
Luxury Chamber of Commerce - South Florida
Contributing writer for
Jewish Journal - Florida
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