Thought Center

starfish pr

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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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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Cause Marketing: It’s Not About Your Company

The Starfish PR team at Power Women, Power Tools hosted by Habitat LA

We have been working with nonprofits in Los Angeles for over a decade — so we’ve definitely learned how best to tie your business in to a charitable organization. For one thing, it’s not about YOU: it’s about those who benefit from your gifts.

Having been on both sides of cause marketing, we understand what the real story is. We’ve been pitching media, creating content and telling these stories through blogs and other mediums with great success for many years.

Here are some tips if you’re planning to partner with a charitable organization:

Ask your staff which causes are important to them. By polling your staff, you will gain great insight into what matters to them, possibly discovering some real philanthropists in your organization. You will want employee buy-in, so their input is vital.

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Take 30 Minutes Today for a Website Check

In this digital, hyper-connected world, you must give your professional website the attention it deserves.  Even if you just updated your website last year, you’re probably already in need of an update.

Don’t let this happen to you.

Here are three ways to monitor your website in 30 minutes or less:

Monitor your website daily. Visit the site every day from various browsers (Chrome, Safari, Explorer and Firefox) to make sure all the pages load correctly and the site is live for that matter.

Visit your site from your phone or tablet.  If you visit your website on your phone and you can barely read the text, you are not optimized for mobile and are likely losing visitors instantly.  No visitors means no new customers.

Search for your business.

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The Social Media Platforms you Should be Using for your Business

Photo credit: Learnthat.com

There are so many social networks out there that can help promote your small business, but how do you decide which are right for you and then how do you manage them all?  Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Vine, LinkedIn, Foursquare, Google Plus and the countless others that will pop up tomorrow, all have value for certain audiences (i.e. customers) but who has the time to manage all of those?  Managing too many social media accounts is daunting and likely counterproductive.  This is why I suggest to my clients that they choose wisely and use wisely.

The last thing you want to do is sign up for more than you can manage and fail miserably at all of them.  Instead, consider committing to managing one to three of these well.  Sign up for only the social networks you know you can handle well.  Identify which networks your customers use most and choose those.

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Digital Content is the Future of P.R.

Time for ACTION!

For years I have been advising businesses to stop begging media to write about them and instead focus on a digital content strategy.  Please understand the media is an important piece of the P.R. puzzle, it’s just not the only one.   Today there are fewer opportunities for traditional media coverage and an infinite number of opportunities for you to talk directly to your customers.

In a digital world, that is increasingly more interactive and user driven every day, digital content is the best way to reach your customers.  Your website is critical and should be updated constantly, daily if possible.  Include a photo gallery, a blog and news section that is in your control (unless you can afford to employ an agency to do this for you.)  A combination of videos and photos that tell your story is a powerful way to attract new visitors to your website.  Create content that is useful for your customers and can be shared easily.

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Starfish PR is Now Hiring – Public Relations Coordinator and Internships

Are you a great writer looking for a work/life balance?  Starfish PR may be a great fit for you!

We are currently searching for a PR Coordinator to work as an independent contractor.  Your duties will include writing for editorial, blogging, media pitching, and more.  Also, you’ll get to work with all our wonderful clients from brainstorming to media events.

Please review job descriptions below and apply as directed.

Public Relations Coordinator

Support all clients with Publicity, Media Relations, Marketing and Community Engagement
Extensive Writing
On-Site support at various events
Content creation including blogging, photos and videos
Manage social marketing initiatives and analysis

We also have Internships available:

Gain valuable PR experience on the job supporting all clients
Extensive Writing
Must be digitally savvy
Hours flexible

To Apply:

Email angela@starfish-pr.

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3 Not-So-Easy Goals for 2013

Every year at this time I reflect on the goals I set the year before and begin to think about my goals for the coming year.  I know I am not alone; just about every blog you read this time of year is filled with 2013 projections and goal-setting advice, including making your goals attainable (or easy to achieve.)  How’s that working for you so far? For me, not so much.

Perhaps doing the opposite will actually prove successful this year.  I propose we set some goals that may not be so easy to achieve and some that won’t directly benefit us at all.   Here are 3 not-so-easy goals to consider for the coming year.

Tackle something you’ve been avoiding.  Is there something you’ve been avoiding or struggling with that you’d finally like to cross off your list?  Whether it’s opening a business, starting a blog, firing a client or losing 10 pounds, it’s time to make a plan and get it done.

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