• Reaching the Audience That Filters Messages
• Writing Compelling Sales Letters in Tough Times
• Do You Know How Much to Spend on Web Maintenance?
• Terms: What Is a Ghostwriter?
• Tips for Goad Poofreading and Edit It Write!
• Meet Holly Winzler: PR Associate With Marketing Talent
• Business Words to Nuke
• Events: Going to Capitol Hill in May to Support Equipment Leasing

How Do You Reach Your Audience
When They Filter Your Messages?

By Susan Carol

A recently published book, The Influentials, reports that a new demographic target should be people with four distinct characteristics:  1) active in their community, 2) naturally adept at networking, 3) highly educated, and 4) Web savvy.  The book reports that one American in ten tells the other nine how to vote, where to eat, and what to buy. You may be an “influential” yourself if you belong to seven different interest groups, have a restless intellect, a pioneering spirit, a broad network of connections, enthusiasm for technology, and appreciation for the entrepreneurial spirit.

Compelling Sales Letters:
A Powerful Tool in Tough Economic Times

By Sue Carrington 

With today’s tight business market, compelling sales letters are more important than ever in generating leads and growing your business, especially if your target audience has expressed interest in hearing from you.  But when you send email messages and traditional, “snail mail” letters, do they make the right impression?  Do your customers actually open them--and act on them?  How can you grab your reader’s attention, separate yourself from the pack, and write messages that sell?  Here are four simple tips from SCAPR:

1. Get to the point.  Like you, your readers are busy.  They don’t have time to figure out what you’re offering, and you have just a moment to make an impression.  Start with a clear statement of your product or service.  Be direct and concise. Keep your sentences short, your paragraphs brief, and your message on target.
2. Be personable. “You” is the most effective word in the English language.  Use it often. Write as though you’re speaking to a friend in a sincere, helpful, and enthusiastic tone.
3. Show the benefits.  “What’s in it for me?” is still the first question we ask when we consider a product or service.  Make sure you show how your company answers a need or solves a problem.
4. Include a call to action.  Tell your readers exactly what you want them to do for example, ask them to call you, visit your Web site, sign up for your free workshop, or stop by your exhibit at an upcoming trade show.

What Should You Budget for Web Maintenance?

By Charlene Polanosky

Given that the Web is just one component of a company’s overall marketing campaign, how can you determine what portion of the marketing budget to spend on it? The answers differ, depending on the following considerations:

1. What type of product/service does your company sell?
2. What is the average price for this product/service?
3. How much does your company expect a) the total cost per lead to be and b) the total cost per new customer to be?
4. Historically, what forms of marketing have been most successful?
5. What is the primary purpose of your company’s Web site?

This is not meant to minimize the importance of Web site marketing and optimization, rather to put it all into perspective. Spend a larger portion of your marketing budget on Web marketing and optimization if you are selling a consumer good with a moderate price point, where you rarely meet your customers face-to-face and there is no ongoing relationship. However, if your company is selling a high-end service, your marketing efforts will be focused more on developing your company’s reputation and brand recognition.  Networking, speaking events, and referrals probably bring your company most of its business and the Web is used for obtaining additional information or resources.  Web optimization will still be important, but on a different level.

Terms: What Is a Ghostwriter?

By Veronica Deschambault

How many times have you picked up a magazine or publication, seen an article on your area of expertise written by another executive, and thought, "I should have written that!"

How do your competitors end up on the pages of the magazines you want to be in? Many executives use ghostwriters to save time, ensure a top-quality article, and improve the likelihood for prominent placement in a publication. While executives may be experts in their fields, magazine editors are more receptive to accepting their articles when they know they are working with professional ghostwriters who can produce a piece tailored to a particular publication, its audience, style, and standards.

How does the process work? Your public relations representative works with you to identify the topics you could write on, the best angles to take in an article, and the publications most likely to be receptive to the content. She or he then pitches a story idea and brief outline to an editor, letting them know a professional writer will team with the executive to write the article and ensure its quality. Once the idea is accepted, the writer normally sets up a phone meeting with the executive to discuss details.

Typically, the writer interviews the executive on the article's topic, reviews background the executive provides, and possibly interviews other sources the executive recommends. The writer then pulls the information together into a story that the executive reviews before it is sent to the editor. The finished article is submitted for publication with the executive's byline, along with a brief biography and contact information. Many editors welcome photos as well.

The executive's role in the process normally requires an hour or less. Depending on the article's length, the number of sources, and level of complexity, the writer will usually spend 15-25 hours crafting a piece.

The result? A professional-quality article featured in a magazine read by your peers or prospects that highlights your expertise in your field. The cost may be less than that of an ad in the same publication, and often the article can be posted to your company's Web site or reprinted with permission and distributed to customers or prospects--an added value.

Susan Carol Associates can provide an experienced ghostwriter who can step into print as your "verbal double." Give us a call to explore the value of this PR opportunity for your company.

Tips for Goad Proofreading,
Editing and Quality Control

One way to differentiate your company from competitors is to produce materials and Web sites that are free of errors, easy to read, and consistently edited. Our suggestions:

1. Adopt a style guide such as the Associated Press book or create an in-house reference. Then, circulate it to all staff and invite comments/changes/ customized uses.
2. Appoint one person to review all public materials for consistency and clarity.
3. Don't just count on "spell-check" software...also have someone else read each final draft to be sure the right words are used.
4. Avoid difficult constructions and word choices many people question-- who/whom, lie/lay, hanged/hung, complement/compliment.

New Associate Holly Winzler Is Marketing Communications Expert in Equipment Leasing, Publishing Niches

Susan Carol Associates has gained a new business-to-business marketing communications consultant, Holly Winzler. Holly provides strategic and creative marketing and public relations counsel and has expertise in corporate marketing communications, media and analyst relations, publication and conference marketing, and competitive intelligence.  As a ghostwriter on behalf of clients, she has been published in more than 100 trade publications ranging from Association Management to Wireless Week.

Holly has extensive experience in the leasing industry. As a consultant to Advanta Corp.’s leasing division from 1994 to 2001, she provided a broad range of strategic marketing services including public relations, educational programs, collateral and Web site development, loyalty programs, and customer/channel/vertical industry research.  She has also worked with independent lessors serving niche vertical markets. Before launching Helios in 1993, Holly was Marketing Communications Manager for Tokai Financial Services’ Commercial Equipment Group.  There, she developed cooperative leasing marketing programs for Tokai’s middle-market accounts including DuPont, Komori, Varian Laboratories, Intergraph, and Haworth.  Before Tokai, she served as Advertising Promotion Director at North American Publishing Company.

Holly received her B.A. in the history of art from the University of Pennsylvania.

In Business and War There Are Language Trade-Offs

In Fortune magazine, March 3, Stanford linguist Geoffrey Nunberg notes that businesses are using military lingo, and military communication is sounding more businesslike. For example, he says businesses “battle” for market share and conduct “guerrilla marketing,” while military leaders call their tanks “assets.” Words most likely to land in the rubbish heap, according to the author, are “world class” and “interface.” Our agency would like to also suggest combat-ready reinforcements for the overused phrase, “solution provider.”

Upcoming Events:

Susan Carol will represent her public relations and marketing agency at the Equipment Leasing Association’s Capitol Hill Day, May 14-15, in Washington, D.C. Susan is a member of the ELA and active on the service providers’ business council. Her firm specializes in representing organizations involved in equipment leasing, health care, and technology.

PR BUZZ is an e-zine published quarterly by Susan Carol Associates Public Relations, a Stafford, Virginia-based private corporation. (www.scapr.com).  If you do not wish to receive future issues, please send an email to sca@scapr.comand put UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject line of the message.  Please pass this e-zine to colleagues. They may subscribe by responding to this email with the subject headline: SUBSCRIBE.