Six Tips For Aspiring Event Organizers

Editor's Note:  The following is a guest Marketing Mulligans post from Natasha Alishan, an account executive at Moonlight Media, Ltd., a U.K.-based PR firm which works with companies that develop technologies used in wholesale financial markets. This piece, which first appeared in PRNewser, discusses the basic criteria required to plan and orchestrate special events, a vastly-underrated skill not typically possessed by most marketing and communications professionals. Event marketing, along with the strategic management of the thousands of details associated with the coordination of a special event, is an art form in and of itself, and an outstanding capability to add to one's resume and skill set. This represents some invaluable advice to one and all.

__________________________________________________

One common misconception is that creativity isn’t, or shouldn’t, be structured. Having good ideas is great, but you must organize these ideas to successfully execute them. Every event is different so there is no one-size-fits-all approach, but with a bit of common sense and the following tips, you should be good to go.

1. Define Your Goals, Audience, and Theme

The event must serve a clear purpose whether it be to create awareness of the brand/company or simply to celebrate an achievement. This leads to the theme of the event, which in turn determines the target audience.

2. Create A Detailed Action Plan

Make a thorough plan of all the steps needed to achieve your goal. Usually, in event organizing, there are many elements to pull together at the last minute so it is useful to have everything written out, with a timeline and the dependencies. Set out the steps assuming everything goes to plan, but also have a plan B. What if something goes awry? Don’t forget to double-check every detail; don’t just rely on yourself, but also on everyone in your team. Event organization is about teamwork, and two heads are better than one. Keep every document and write everything down for back-checking when expected phases don’t happen on schedule.

Don't let your next event turn into a "Real Housewives"-style fiasco.

3. Choose The Right Venue

Consider your budget limitations vs. expectations and impact. The venue is essentially the first point of impact of the invitation. Not everyone can afford to have an event at a prestigious venue but choosing a location that has some links to your client is important. It must be easy to get to and appeal to your target audience.

4. Choose The Right Date

Think about which date will have the most impact. It was no coincidence that the Royal Wedding was the weekend before a holiday. Avoiding major sporting events is also extremely important and, much as I hate to admit it, no one’s going to turn up to your event if it falls on the same day as the Super Bowl or game seven of the World Series or NBA Finals.

5. Learn To Love Your Phone

Emailing is valuable but not enough. Calling your vendors, suppliers, and potential guests (simple rule – if you don’t ask, you don’t get) is more personal and in these situations tends to be more effective. However, follow up all calls with a confirmation email, to ensure all parties know what they’ve agreed to.

6. During The Event, Be Proactive and Stay Positive

There really is no problem too great. You can deal with any unexpected hitch if you remain calm and focused. If you believe in the event and its success, so will your team.

7. Enjoy!

And finally, enjoy. A good party is often influenced by the organizer’s demeanour, and you’ve worked hard to achieve success. Savor the moment, and take pride in a job well done.

© 2011 WebMediaBrands, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

4 PR Lessons From "Saved By The Bell"

Editor's Note:  The following is a guest Marketing Mulligans post written by Arik C. Hanson, the principal of ACH Communications, a digital communications consultancy, and which originally appeared on Ragan's PR Daily. We happen to love "Saved by the Bell," so we couldn't resist posting this today. You can follow Arik on Twitter @arikhanson, or read his blog, Communications Conversations, here. 

__________________________________________________

It’s so retro to love the now classic sitcom "Saved By The Bell" these days.

I was a fan back in the ’90s. I spent way too much of my college career soaking in Tiffani Amber-Thiessen and Lark Voorhies.

The show was very campy, but it did tackle tough issues from time to time.

Remember the episode when Jessie took the speed to stay up all night so she could study? What about the episode in which Zack made the fake IDs to impress a girl? OK, so maybe that’s not a hard-hitting issue, but the show did have some teeth, right?

Fine, maybe not.

The show did teach us something else:  A number of PR lessons.

That’s right: PR lessons. Bear with me.

1. Persistence Doesn’t Always Pay Off

How many times did Screech proposition Lisa? The number is probably north of 500.

How many times did Lisa say no? Probably a similar number.

Yet, Screech never gave up. He looked for new angles, tried different approaches. Unfortunately, Screech didn’t end up with Lisa.

The lessons?

Persistence doesn’t always pay off. In PR, that means badgering a reporter won’t necessarily get you the placement. In many instances, you need to work smarter— not harder.

2. When Everyone Is Zigging, Try Zagging

Remember some of Screech’s outfits on the show? They were borderline outrageous.

What Screech realized long before most of us is that when everyone is zigging, you should be zagging. That is, when your competitors are telling the same story and lauding the same benefits over and over, you should try a different tack.

Don’t be afraid to go a different direction in your blog posts — even if it’s not a wildly popular opinion. On your Facebook page, take a stand on a pivotal industry issue. You might be surprised where all this “zagging” leads you.

3. Success Is Never As Easy As It Seems

Think back to the episode in which Jesse took the speed pills so she could stay up all night studying.

Jesse was that kid in school who got straight A’s. The kid who seemed to get it all so easily. The kid that was going to an Ivy League school — on a scholarship.

As it turns out, life didn’t come so easy to Jessie Spano. She had to work just as hard (if not harder) than everyone else to keep up those grades.

That’s the key lesson. Those people who appear to be killing it and winning by leaps and bounds? Chances are it’s not easy. They’re probably putting in 80-hour weeks to start. On top of that they probably don’t see their family as much as they would like. And there’s no question that they are absolutely working their tails off.

So, the next time it appears that someone is “making it look easy,” don’t assume that’s not coming without a pretty heavy cost.

4. Regular Communication Is Key To Productive Relationships

Did it ever seem odd to you that Zack was in Principal Belding’s office virtually every day? Or that Belding came to class to talk to Zack at least once an episode?

Sure, Zack was the class clown, but was Mr. Belding just riding Zack, or was it part of his ingenious plan to build a stronger relationship with Zack in hopes of helping him realize his full potential?

OK, that might be taking it a bit far, but you see what I’m getting at. Constant and regular communication is the key to any productive relationship.

Think about the client/agency relationship. If you don’t have open lines of communication — and regular meetings — things can go haywire quickly. Think about what the lines of communication look like between you and your team, you and the agency that assists you, and you and your boss. Make sure you are honest, forthright, and punctual and that you always respond in a timely manner.

What about you? Learn anything from Zack, Slater, and Jessie?

© 2011 Ragan Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

The Evolution Of Spam: A Timeline Of The World's Most Hated Messages

I've been using e-mail now for business purposes for just over 15 years, and sending personal e-mails (anyone remember CompuServe or Prodigy???) dating back to my college days almost two decades ago, but it seems that spam has been omnipresent the entire time. That's probably no exaggeration, since I can remember receiving unsolicited messages from the next dorm over about some harebrained scheme concocted by a cadre of aerospace engineering students. In any case, with the advent and proliferation of social networks, the global spam epidemic (read: scourge) has become even more dangerous, problematic, and dare I say annoying, than ever before.

And that's what is so appealing about this infographic, courtesy of Column Five for Marketo, and showcased in this piece on AllTwitter. For the first time ever, check out the evolution of spam, including the interesting origin of the term (a tip of the hat to Monty Python) and how the world's most hated messages have changed over the past 150 years:

Please feel free to click here for a clearer and much larger view!

Why Nobody Cares About Your Content (And What to do About It)

Editor's Note: The following is a guest Marketing Mulligans post written by Glenn Allsopp, the founder and principal of viral marketing and social media firm ViperChill. This article, which addresses issues surrounding the types of content that generate attention (and those that don't!), first appeared on Copyblogger, and most recently on Ragan.com.

__________________________________________________

A few weeks ago I decided to open up my coaching services for one day only.

The results of this 24-hour period were gut-wrenching…for my clients.

In this round of consulting I noticed a lot of my clients were — like so many online — focusing their content on precisely the wrong thing.

They wanted to make money by helping people — but in the harsh light of d

ay, their websites painted a very different story.

Results from my consulting questionnaire, the domain names used and content on their sites, made it clear that my clients were consistently focusing on o

ne thing…themselves.

My feedback? Nobody cares about you.

Now let me show you where your focus should be …

The Cold Hard Truth Must Be Faced Directly

I softened the advice to my clients by telling them that nobody cares about me either.

At least not until I give my readers something to care about.

A concern many of them had, which does make some logical sense, was that if they didn’t focus their site content around themselves, they wouldn’t be able to build their personal brand effectively.

I threw out an example based on my own experiences of building multiple successful blogs, all of which didn’t include much personal branding in the content.

On ViperChill, for instance, around 400 people per month land there by searching for variations on my name, Glen Allsopp. I say variations, because a lot of people like to call me Glenn, but that’s a rant for another day.

My full name is only found in one place on that site.

It does not appear in my posts, it’s not in my comments, and it’s not in the sidebar. It doesn’t actually appear on any static page on my site. I may have mentioned it a couple of times, but it’s hidden in the post content.

As a matter of fact, the most common instances of my full name are on other websites in things like interviews, guest posts, and reviews of products I’ve created.

The only reason I get interviewed and attract people who want to promote my products, is because people like what I have to say in the first place. They trust me. They know I can help them with their problems. Then they want to know more about me.

Your readers care about themselves first and foremost, not about you.

They only start to care about you when you give them value that they keep coming back for. In time, they become curious about who is behind all that amazing value, and that’s how you start to build your personal brand.

Since you want to build your personal brand, but attract readers at the same time, there are two things I strongly recommend that you do…

Be Personal (But Not Too Personal)

There are literally more than 100 million active blogs out there, so it’s not that easy to get noticed and in turn create a lasting connection with your audience.

As a lot of blogging advice will rightly tell you, being personal in your posts and activity online is one of the best ways for your readers to learn more about you, and engage in the content you’re consistently putting out there.

It’s no coincidence that I know quite a bit about some of the biggest content creators online.

I know that Brian has been an attorney, a real estate broker, and an ezine marketer back in the day.

I know that Darren Rowse (I don’t even have to tell you his website, another case in point) lives in Australia with his wife V.

I know that Sonia has a young son and rocks an awesome pink hairdo.

I don’t know these things because they go on and on about them. I know them because I love the content that they write, and in time, through a series of articles I follow, get to know a little more about each of them.

Drip, drip, drip.

Being hooked on the value they consistently provide to me is the only reason I have come to learn more about each of them.

Put The Focus Back On Your Reader

I’ve done a lot of split-testing lately, and have an example which proves my point even further.

I set-up a squeeze page which promoted a free eBook I’ve created, and varied a number of headlines. Two of them being:

• Discover How This Very Blog Gained over 10,000 Subscribers In Just 12 Months
• Discover How You Can Grow Your Blog to Over 10,000 Subscribers in Just 12 Months

Can you guess which one resulted in the most conversions?

The second headline outperformed the first by a huge margin. The reason being that the first headline put the emphasis on me, and the second put the emphasis on the reader.

The Only Reason People Read Any Blog I Because Of The Value That They Get From It

If Brian and Sonia started putting out content here which mostly focused on their personal lives, I’m sure they would quickly find their audience engagement levels decreasing.

It’s the Copyblogger core philosophy of creating content that benefits readers…week-in and week-out … that keeps the subscriber numbers growing.

Don’t automatically assume that you need to talk about yourself all day and plaster your site with personal interests and ongoings in order to build up your brand.

From my own experience, and with examples taken from some of the biggest blogs online, being personal — but subtle about it — is usually a far better route to take.

© Copyright 2006-2011. Copyblogger Media LLC. All rights reserved.

The Quora Quotient

Quora is one of several highly-popular social media companies, including Groupon and LivingSocial, that is absolutely white-hot at the moment, and attracting a ton of user, media, and investor interest. But is all this interest translating into increases in user sign-ups, of which we count ourselves as one of them)? O.K., technically, we're not brand new to Quora, as we began using it several months ago, but we're still interested in this subject to see how Quora's subscriber growth mirrors that of other social media firms. And, by the way, you can follow us and check out are contributions on Quora by visiting here.

As it turns out, Quora is not just a social question-and-answer site where users just ask and respond to questions of all sorts. According to this study by KISSmetrics and Semil Shah, some subscribers vote on answers, while some users send private messages to other users based on similar interests and activities.

For a full rundown on how Quora users are utilizing the site, check out this cool infographic:

It will be interesting to monitor Quora's subscribe base and usage patterns over time to see how these metrics change...if at all. However, if the growth and usage arcs of other social media companies are any indicators, we can expect to see several significant changes in the next 6, 12, 18, and 24 months as the Web 3.0 world evolves.

7 Must-Haves For Successful Business Blogs

Editor's Note: The following is a guest Marketing Mulligans post written by Lee Odden, chief executive officer of TopRank Online Marketing, a digital marketing agency that helps companies increase sales, brand visibility online, and develop better customer enagagement. This article first appeared on the Top Rank Online Marketing Blog, and most recently on Ragan.com. You can follow Lee on Twitter @leeodden.

__________________________________________________

I’ve learned a lot during my seven years of blogging. Online Marketing Blog has received a lot of praise recently, but more important, my experience with reviewing others’ blogs has been a learning experience. I’ve looked at more than 1,000 blogs to create the BIGLIST and recently reviewed the top UK online marketing blogs, as well.

Here are a few key characteristics that represent a highly productive blog in terms of branding, community, SEO, PR, recruiting and taking mindshare away from the competition:

1. URL. Pick something short and easy to remember. Blog.domainname.com works well, as does domainname.com/blog or companynamblog.com. Try to avoid obscure or long URLs like www.domainname.com/files/about/blog?home or worse, companyname.blogspot.com. If you’re representing a business, act professionally and use a domain name you control for your blog URL.

2. Blog name. If your blog has a unique name like “GM Fastlane,” then it should have a prominent logo that links to the blog’s homepage. If your blog is named “Company Name Blog” that’s fine, but offer a “home” to go to. Taglines to go along with the blog name are useful for readers so they understand what your blog is about. Taglines are also useful for search engine optimization.

3. Design. Make sure your brand’s style carries over to your blog’s design. Keep in mind that the design shouldn’t confuse readers by being too similar to that of your company’s website. Here are a few key points to keep in mind:

• Stand out. There are millions of blogs, not to mention social channels like Twitter and Facebook. You’d better stand out, or you’ll be forgotten.
• Add style. Make an effort to convey the personality and style of your company.
• Easy to read. Headlines should be larger than the body copy. Blog author, date published and other elements like comment count are useful for readers to connect with post authors. The date indicates they’re reading fresh content. We remove dates after a year or so.
• Header. Most bloggers express their creativity with header graphics or images. If you can’t have a unique logo for your blog, have a unique header.

4. Navigation. It’s critical to find content easily on a blog. Useful navigation elements include categories, tags or tag clouds, search box, popular posts, recent posts, and most-commented posts. You don’t need all of these, but the majority of them are useful.

5. Content. Create an editorial plan for the blog. After seven years of blogging, I like to have certain days each week planned out with specific topics and keep other days as wildcards. For example: Social Mondays, tactical tips on Tuesdays, Thursday rants, and Friday news roundup. Pay attention to Web analytics, off-site citations, comments and social chatter to gauge whether your content resonates.

6. Social. Your blog might have Twitter, Facebook, Slideshare, YouTube, Amplify or similar accounts. Use them to extend the conversation, repurpose or mash up blog content. I’ve added the Facebook fan box to my blog’s sidebar and made posts easy to share on Twitter and Facebook with buttons/counters at the top of each post. It’s no wonder that Facebook and Twitter drive a substantial amount of blog traffic. That’s not because I offer the sharing buttons as much as the fact that we’re social on Facebook and Twitter. Flair is no substitute for interaction. If you add social features to your blog, understand that to make them effective, you must also spend time on those social channels.

7. Who. Who is behind the blog? This is far too rare a feature on many blogs. Create a page that describes the purpose of the blog and the people behind it. That makes it clear what readers can expect and gives them something to identify with when reading posts. There are many other tips for effective blogs. Essentially, make sure your blog conveys the brand and message you’re after with its design and content. Make it easy to read, navigate and share content. Within a few seconds, readers should be able to tell what the blog topic is and find something interesting. If not, they’ll move on to someone else.

© 2011 Ragan Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.