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Creative Content – Video Series Spotlighting Employees

We absolutely love the creative process and we enjoy being challenged by our clients to create compelling content.  This video series spotlights the men and women who make Marina Del Rey Hospital so special, and its host, Saul, is someone beloved by all who know him.

When we first met with the marketing team at Marina Hospital, they referred to their staff as a “cast of characters,” which we immediately embraced.  The idea for “60 Seconds with Saul” came up early in our collaboration process and was pitched to Saul, who loved it. The time commitment for Saul is minimal and the client is thrilled with the results.

If you are looking for interesting content to “humanize” your organization, we recommend you look within to identify the people who make a positive impact and explore ways to shine the spotlight on them.

Need help creating content? That’s our jam! Contact us today.

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How Waiting Tables Set Me Up for Success

I have always said that working as a server (it was called waitressing back then) was one of the best learning experiences of my life because it taught me important skills that I use in my job every day.

Serving was a desirable job in my youth because you had the opportunity to make money instantly by earning tips.  But little did I know that slinging hash would set me up for success all these years later. Below are some of the ways waiting tables made me a great consultant.

Getting slammed. This is restaurant lingo for having multiple tables sat in your section at once.  It’s never ideal, but when it happens, you must jump into action and take care of every party with a smile.  This taught me tremendous project management skills, including stress management and prioritization. The funny thing is, I still have nightmares about being slammed to this day.

Recovering from mistakes.

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Best Marketing Advice Ever: Build a List and Nurture it

I recently attended a webinar by one of my favorite marketers and authors, Chris Brogan, and this advice was hands down the best takeaway. I am grateful to Chris for reminding me how important email marketing is for building business.  We easily get caught up in finding new customers, learning new apps, using the right keywords, and over analyzing blog titles, that we sometimes forget about tried and true practices like email marketing.

Since that webinar, I have been reminding all my clients to go back to their lists and nurture them. We are getting reacquainted with a practice most of us have done since the beginning – snail mail, then email. It’s actually been fun coming up with fresh ideas for content, catchy subject lines, and good old-fashioned personalization.  

Think about how many marketing emails you receive. Chances are good you open several a week, and it’s likely that some of them prompt you to take some kind of action.

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Why your Bad Yelp Review Could be Good for Business

To Yelp or not to Yelp.

That is a question we get all the time from frustrated clients.  I think we all can agree there is value to user reviews but we know all to well that Yelp is easily manipulated by users (and sometimes Yelp themselves, but that is a blog for another day.)

I use Yelp often to find service providers, restaurants, etc.  But I also know enough about the platform to question reviews that seem suspicious. Interestingly enough, the businesses that speak to me are the ones who get bad reviews and actually respond in their defense.  This is something I help clients with on a regular basis. It’s to your advantage to respond publicly to bad reviews (as well as good ones) because your future customers will see that you pay attention and that you are willing to solve problems for unhappy customers.

Today, however, while I was searching for a service provider in my neighborhood, I came across one of the best replies I’ve ever read.

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John D. Russell – Photographer, Entrepreneur & Leaper

I have had the pleasure of working with photographer, John D. Russell during several Habitat for Humanity events over the years. There is something special about the people you meet at Habitat builds – from the volunteers who arrive with an open heart and zero build skills to the crew leaders (made up mostly of volunteers) to professionals like John Russell, who provide their time and expertise to support the mission in other ways.

Like all of the people I have met along my Habitat journey, John has become a friend and I am so happy he agreed to share his entrepreneurial story with me. There are many layers to John, which may explain his ability to capture people and places so beautifully. As always, I hope John’s story will inspire others out there to follow their passion and take the big Leap!

Describe what you do for a living.

Photo credit: Paulius Staniunas

 

I am a Professional Photographer.

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Interview with Entrepreneur Lindsey Morando – Marketing Coach & Leaper

Lindsey Morando is the co-founder of The Marketing Co-op, a company that helps female entrepreneurs simplify the marketing process. I am incredibly proud and excited to share this next Leaper’s story because many years ago Lindsey accepted an internship with my team at House of Blues Entertainment. I have had the good fortune to watch her career blossom ever since and trust me when I say, I take no credit.  Lindsey is an enthusiastic force of marketing magic. After you read her story, you’ll understand why her big leap was no surprise to those of us who know her. Way to go, Lindsey!

What is The Marketing Co-Op?

“It finally feels like I am making an impact and my gifts and talents are fully being utilized.

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Interview with Entrepreneur Laura Conley – Yogi, Happiness Coach & Leaper

Recently, I saw a post on Facebook by Laura Conley, who was celebrating three years as an entrepreneur. As I read about her journey, her energy leapt off my screen and I instantly knew I had to share her story.

“It’s the best life ever!”

Laura and I met when she joined the Development department for my client, Habitat forHumanity of Greater Los Angeles, several years ago. As it turned out, her previous job was in sales at Konica Minolta, reporting to one of my dear friends. We hit it off instantly and stayed in touch even after she left Habitat LA to pursue another sales job. I have watched her journey unfold, thanks to Facebook, and I am so thrilled she agreed to share her entrepreneurial journey here. I hope Laura’s story, and those that will follow in this series, will inspire and motivate others to take that magical leap too.

Please tell us what you do for a living?

I am a Yoga Teacher and a Happiness Coach.

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3 Great Marketing Resources – From Free to Almost Free!

In our opinion, Marketing and PR is more fun today than ever before, yet it’s moving quickly and requires tracking and analysis.  In an effort to provide helpful tips and resources, we want to tell you about three resources we cannot live without out. We encourage you to give them a try.  If you do not at least use the first one NOW, you’re truly missing out on valuable information.

Google Alerts.  This free tool is essential to staying on top of your brand and industry. Set up Alerts easily to track what people are saying about you, your company and your competitors.  You can choose to receive updates in real time, once a day or once per week (we recommend once a day).  Be sure to set up Alerts for upcoming events you may be attending or hosting.  This tool is free so don’t hesitate.

This image was created in Canva for FREE in about 10 minutes.

Canva.  I cannot praise this site enough. Canva makes graphic design simple.

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Talking Social Media at LAX Coastal Lifestyle Group Event

Starfish PR was invited to be one of three presenters at the LAX Coastal Lifestyle Group’s Social Media event on Thursday, October 8th. Hosted by the LAX Coastal Chamber of Commerce, the Lifestyle events always bring together a vibrant group of creative, entrepreneurial women, and this meeting was no exception!

L-R: Marci Klein, Angela Moore, Jamie Gregor and Liz Peters

Omni Online Solutions‘ Liz Peters spoke first on the topic of Search Engine Optimization (SEO), and touched several times on one of our favorite content creators — the blog. Emmy-winning Klein Creative Media shared videos for a variety of clients, illustrating the importance of strong visuals and emotional connection when promoting your business.

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Optimizing Your Profile

We recently lead a “Lunch and Learn” for one of our clients on the topic of LinkedIn.  We were asked to help their employees optimize their profiles so that everyone in the organization could benefit from the company’s digital marketing campaigns.

Over the course of the one-hour session, we pointed out the many opportunities LinkedIn offers to showcase not only your training and skills, but the areas in which you want to grow your business.  Your headline, summary, and experience sections are all opportunities to highlight what you enjoy most about your career, the types of clients you want to work with, and the industries that interest you.  Just as you would tailor your resume for a specific job opening, your LinkedIn Profile should be crafted for the career that you want to develop.

For our training sessions, we provide a worksheet to help guide users through the revisions.

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