Twongo officially launched Twongo.com in a news conference directly following today’s Meet the New Media event in Raleigh. Twongo.com is a unique Triangle, N.C. based savings website that uses the power of team buying to offer a daily “BIG DEAL” to its members, which can mean savings of up to 70% off regular prices on items from area retailers, restaurants, golf courses, spas, salons and entertainment spots.

Appreciation and many thanks to the panelists who gave generously of their time and knowledge, the Angus Barn and Twongo.com for such an educational and entertaining Meet the New Media event.

If you want to be notified of upcoming events, add your name to our mailing list (on the right).

Good things to you! Rebecca

Register today for February 18th’s Meet the New Media where you will learn from and meet local media and social marketing experts face to face

WTVD – Steve Daniels
News and Observer – David Ranii
Triangle Business Journal – Amanda Jones Hoyle
Curtis Media (WPTF, 96 Rock, WQDR) – Brian Freeman, Program Director
Inside919 – Pat Howlett
Martin Brossman, social marketing guru and author

How do you win business in today’s times?
RECOGNITION.

But no one has time to write news releases, meet with reporters or find out what stories reporters are working on. Most don’t, anyway. That’s where Meet the New Media comes in. Rebecca Antonelli has more than 20 years of experience in marketing communications and has hosted Meet the Media events in the Triangle for over a decade that have led to1000s of stories in the paper, magazines and on the news about formerly unknown people and businesses.

Learn how to get the attention you deserve by being part of the next:

MEET THE NEW MEDIA
Thursday, February 18th, 2010
10 a.m. to Noon
Angus Barn Pavilion in Raleigh

Also learn about how TrianglePR can help spread your company’s message and keep you abreast of news opportunities so you can take advantage of free publicity opportunities in the Triangle, on the web and across the nation.

Rebecca helps leaders like you win recognition and influence by attending Meet the New Media. Register today at: www.MeetTheNewMedia.com/register.

$20 in advance, $25 at the door. Non-profits may register for FREE.

For more information, contact Rebecca Antonelli at 919-740-3008.

P.S. Pass this on and let me know how many you’ve forwarded and I’ll award the top SHARER with a FREE TRIANGLEPR.com MEMBERSHIP!!!

Sponsored by:
Twongo is the Triangle’s best new way to get new business in your door. Your company can offer a daily BIG DEAL, which is featured on their site and sent to the inboxes of thousands of Twongo subscribers. For no initial cost, Twongo will feature your business – if it’s one of the best dining, shopping and entertainment venues in the Triangle. If you’re not a member, be sure to Sign Up for Daily Deal alerts so you don’t miss an opportunity.

But no one has time to write news releases, case studies or apply for awards. Most don’t, anyway. That’s where the experts at TrianglePR.com come in. The founder, Rebecca Antonelli has more than 20 years of experience in marketing communications and has hosted Meet the Media events in the Triangle for over a decade that have led to 1000s of stories in the paper, magazines and on the news about formerly unknown people and businesses.

Learn how to get the attention you deserve by being part of the next:

MEET THE NEW MEDIA
Thursday, February 18th, 2010
10 a.m. to Noon
Angus Barn Pavilion in Raleigh

Meet local media experts face to face from the News and Observer, Triangle Business Journal, Inside919 and Curtis Media and meet social media guru Martin Brossman.

Also learn about how TrianglePR can help spread your company’s message and keep you abreast of news opportunities so you can take advantage of free publicity opportunities in the Triangle, on the web and across the nation.

Rebecca helps leaders like you win recognition and influence by attending Meet the New Media. Register today at: www.MeetTheNewMedia.com/register

$20 in advance, $25 at the door. Non-profits may register for FREE.

For more information, contact Rebecca Antonelli at 919-740-3008. Pass this on and let me know how many you’ve forwarded this invite to and I’ll award the top SHARER with a FREE Marketing Plan PLUS a FREE TRIANGLEPR.com MEMBERSHIP!!!

Sponsored by:
TWONGO.COM
Every day on Twongo we’ll feature a deal at one of the best dining, shopping, or entertainment venues in your area, so be sure to Sign Up for Daily Deal alerts so you don’t miss an opportunity.

Meet the New Media
Bringing your company face to face with the media.
Join us for our next event.

Thursday, February 18, 2010
10 a.m. until Noon
Hosted by Angus Barn at the Pavilions
Raleigh, North Carolina

Registration is $20 in advance, $25 at the door and FREE to non-profits

As the media are searching for the newest companies to profile and products to feature in their 2010 issues, TV Shows & blogs, they have made a request that we host the Meet the New Media event to help them with their search!

You do not want to miss out
on this opportunity
to land live interviews
with the media including:
News & Observer,
Curtis Media (WPTF+),
Triangle Business Journal
Inside919 and Social Marketing Guru Martin Brossman

If you want to attract and secure clients using ALL the media available to you – we’ll see you there. Sign up at: www.MeetTheNewMedia.com/register

From VerticalResponse.com – another must have!

Picture every year here at VerticalResponse I make it a point to come up with a list of 10 things you need to be thinking about in the new year. They may be related to marketing, or running your business overall, and they’re usually something I relate to things I have to do in my own business.

1. Use “Cause Marketing” – This is the year that you should identify your business with a worthy cause and either donate a percentage of profits to it or contribute to it in some way. And if profits or hard cash don’t fit, consider donating employee time. Then in your email marketing campaigns, your marketing materials and sales pitches you should talk about what you’re doing and why it’s important to you. Your prospects and customers increasingly want to do business with a business that cares and has moral obligations, and they’re looking for you to let them know how you fit the bill.

2. Use Social Media with Email Marketing - Finally get your act together with social media this year. Start with Twitter and Facebook, it’s easy. Then set your goals on how many Twitter followers your business will get or how many Facebook fans you’ll attract. Make sure you tell your email marketing recipients to follow you when you send out a campaign. And don’t forget to post your links to your email campaigns in your Twitter account and Facebook pages and ask people to join your email list. All of these marketing vehicles work really well together and feed off of each other.

3. Nail Your Email Marketing – Your customers are your lifeblood in these economic times so make sure you put as much care as possible into how you communicate to them. One small yet important thing we all tend to overlook is the subject line, which is the most important part of your email. Whether you think about your subject line as the first order of business, or you write your email then come up with the subject line, take a moment and make sure it’s the right one. Here’s an idea the day before you send your campaign, take a small number of email recipients and split the list in two. Then send two different subject lines. If there is a clear winner, meaning one that has more clicks and opens, choose that one to roll out to your entire list the next day. If there isn’t a clear winner, then choose what your gut tells you to choose.

Test a different format or a different day to send your email campaign. Squeezing an extra few opens, clicks and sales can make a huge difference for your business all throughout the year.

Send regular surveys to your customers to find out how they rate your product, your company and customer service. Find out what you can be doing better, then tell your customers how you’re changing your ways in your next email newsletter because you’ve heard their message.

4. Make This the Year of Customer Service - People talk about companies that listen to them and that treat them well so you’ll want to go above and beyond with customer service this year. This is especially true since companies like Facebook and Twitter are taking off and becoming a platform for people to tell the world how they feel…about you. This might be the year you get your customer data all in one place so it’s easy to find a customer when they call. Then log all of their issues so you have it for next time. Try BigContacts, Zoho, ACT!, and Salesforce for low-priced options. Provide Support has an option for one operator for less than $10/month for a year. Also manage your incoming and outgoing customer service emails. Palo Alto Software has a great product called Email Center Pro where you can manage your incoming and outgoing emails from one central web location and it’s free for 2 users.

5. Cut Costs - Keep cutting costs because we’re still in the economic weeds. Look at your top spending categories and see if there’s money to be saved. Is your rent too high? If you’ve got a number of years left on it you might call your landlord and ask if you can renegotiate “stepped” payments. Ask for a discount this year and tell them in the future years you’re willing to pay at bit more per square foot. If you’re spending too much on shipping, start calling other providers to see if they’re competitive. Doing things like this in January will add up for the rest of the year and help you to profitability.

6. Listen to Your Customers - Listen and watch what your customers are saying about you. Sign up for Google Alerts with your company name as a keyword, but also with your competitor’s names so you can see what is being published about them as well. Sign up for a free TweetDeck account and do the same. You’ll see what people on Twitter are saying about your company, your competition and even your industry, up-to-the minute for an unlimited number of keywords. Then chime in to the conversation and address the issue or try to get a new customer. Word to the wise: make sure you’re transparent with who you are, you don’t want to “hide” as someone else, tell them you’re with your company and you want to help out or answer any questions.

7. Find New Customers, Inexpensively – Google is where people go these days to find businesses they’re looking for. So set up or build on your Google Adwords pay-per-click efforts. If you don’t know where to start with Google try Google Basics. Get started simple, choose keywords that make sense for your business and build on it from there. To find how many searches are happening on your keywords check out the Keyword Selector Tool to find out how many searches occur for your keywords. Note: although Google is the clear market leader, other search engines like Bing are gaining a bit of market share and can be less expensive. Word to the wise: take a deep breath and be patient, success doesn’t happen overnight but when you start to gain traction you’ll see that it does work and you can build on your success from there.

8. Build Your Email List - I’ve put together this blog post called 29 Ways to Collect Email Addresses for Your Business. Live it, learn it, love it.

9. Hire People Who Care – If you’re lucky enough to be hiring for your business, this should be the year where you have an ample choice of people who need to work to choose from, so it’s your pick. Make sure you select people who have the same passion as you do, and people that fit into your business culture like a glove. Make sure you ask the questions that count; you want someone who can handle situations, someone who can communicate and someone who you trust. Don’t settle for second best, your customers will notice.

10. Embrace Word of Mouth – At VerticalResponse over 50% of the people who sign up for our service select “Word of Mouth” as the source for where they heard about our company. In 2010 you’ll really need to take a good look at what you’re doing to spur word of mouth. As noted here, customer service is important, the quality of your product or service is important and the entire customer experience is important in order for word of mouth to start. But there are other remarkable things you can do for your customers that can start them talking about you.There are some great ideas on the VerticalResponse Blog as well as Andy Sernovitz’s Word of Mouth Marketing Blog to get you started.

2010 is poised to be a great year for growing your small business. Comment with your ideas for what you’ll do to get your growth on.

Great article by Christine Perkett worth sharing:

PR is one of the industries that’s taken an alleged “hit” in the last year due to the advent of social media. But I, like many, believe social media is just a new tool that’s making PR more effective – and weeding out the truly great PR executives from the not-so-great.

One of the most exciting things to happen to PR is social media. It’s opened up the opportunity for the industry’s master story tellers and people connectors to do their job more directly – reaching influencers in ways never before possible, and extending our reach well beyond media, which, until now, was the main measurement of PR in the eyes of many companies. But all that’s changing.

Here’s what I see happening in 2010 in PR:

Social media returns the P in PR to “people” – going well beyond “promotion”
There are still PR agencies and executives out there who discount social media and social networks as an important part of their job. “It’s just a tool, it’s a waste of time” they say.

They are missing the point.

Social media helps PR executives to build more new relationships, across a wider landscape and in a sustainable fashion never before possible. Everyone is busy and social media enables professionals to maintain ongoing, quality relationships with influencers, media, customers and partners regardless of where they are or how much time they have for the golf course.

It’s an exciting time to see PR going back to people and relationships. Successful PR executives know how to build and maintain quality relationships – today, social media is a core part of making that happen.

Great PR professionals become influencers in their own right
PR professionals in all industries should embrace social media tools on a daily basis to create a long term community of their own among constituents such as peers, VCs, business leaders, journalists and more. Beyond simply using social media tools in PR campaigns, PR executives have the opportunity to showcase their human side and demonstrate their thinking on a day-to-day basis.

By sharing information and thoughts in these communities, they can become more than just “flacks” with no trust or respect. They can begin to directly influence audiences in their own right. They can demonstrate how they truly understand (and care about) the products, services or industries that they (or their clients) work with each day.

If you’re hiring an agency or an executive to handle your PR, make sure they’re talking – whether it’s on Twitter, a blog, video (Seesmic, YouTube, Vimeo etc.), Facebook, BlogTalkRadio, Utterli or others – building a positive community of their own and a reputation as smart, strategic and savvy experts that others listen to and trust.

However, the myth that social media makes PR obsolete will be crushed
One of the biggest myths in the last year is that social media experts – however you define them – make PR obsolete and unnecessary. Many professionals have bought into the belief that anyone who can use a Flip camera, build a Facebook page or make a few Twitter updates a day can now do PR.

Sure, social media makes communication and promotions easier in some ways, but it doesn’t negate the need for professional public relations experts. Did the ability to dial a phone or send an email make everyone good at PR? No. And neither does social media.

PR professionals who are good at what they do still have a special knack for understanding psychologies of effective messaging and relationship building, the intricacies of good timing and the difference between effective promotion and positioning and outright spamming. If the marketing activity on Twitter is any indicator, good PR is certainly still needed.

Transparency in business communications will weed the great PR executives from the bad
One of the traditional complaints about PR is that it’s a lot of fluff, spin… or given other negative connotations otherwise implying “BS.” Another top complaint – by journalists, mostly – is that PR executives don’t understand who they’re pitching, what to pitch or why.

With the advent of transparency, open communication and the integration of social media into everything that we do, our industry can’t help but weed out the good from the bad. It will become very obvious in 2010 who the truly talented communicators and messaging mavens are. The rest will be finding new jobs.

Businesses will see more value than ever from PR and marketing
With the ability to easily measure influence, traffic and PR campaigns today, businesses will see that PR is easier to measure than ever before. As PR is no longer just about media placements – but rather, driving action from influencers directly – businesses can easily see (and rather quickly, too), if the money they pay for effective PR and marketing is working.

With all the great measurement tools available today, any good PR executive or agency should be able to show a monthly list of results – whether it’s brand mentions, media placements, site traffic, social media campaign participation, direct sales or otherwise. Any good communications professional today should be able to measure their efforts for you and ensure that your money is being spent more wisely than ever – positively impacting your bottom line.

The bottom line – good PR will be easier to identify, meaning businesses such as yours can spend marketing dollars more wisely than ever. It’s easy to see if the PR professionals you hire or work with are respected, listened to and influential, making PR more honest, real and effective for your business.

About the Author:
Christine Perkett founded PerkettPR on the heels of a diversified career in corporate and agency public relations. She has been recognized as a PR leader as one of the “Top 25 Authorities Moving PR Forward” in a recent industry ranking and “Best Communications/IR/PR Executive” of the year from the American Business Awards. Connect with Christine on Twitter @missusP or on her blog, PerkettPrsuasion.

Awesome article from Dosh Dosh! Sign up to subscribe here. Happy holidays!

People are the ones who make you money. They click on your ads, hire your services, buy your products all the while helping you to grow your business and make it profitable.

They do this in two main ways: By visiting your site or making purchases, they are helping you generate immediate revenue, which you can then reinvest for more income.

Secondly, they indirectly benefit you by providing publicity and leads: people are the ones who will talk about and recommend you to others they know.

Every promotional or advertising campaign has a limited budget and will not be sustainable if you do not have sufficient revenue coming in consistently. You cannot possibly make yourself known to every person in your demographic market through a standard marketing channel. Your reach will inevitably be limited.

Where ads cannot penetrate, people can. If you’ve owned a popular business or website you will eventually notice that others come to trust your brand or visit/use your site because others talk about you in their own clustered communities. You will start to notice traffic streaming in from forums, blogs and social networking sites.

The focus on attracting people and converting them into supporters is of utmost importance. Appealing to interested audiences and securing their patronage is an important factor to consider when you are trying to make your site profitable.

Three Essential Steps to Really Grow Your Business

The profitability of every online enterprise depends on the amount of traffic you can pull in and convert, i.e. the number of people you can attract and make into loyal customers and supporters of your brand.
This process can be broken down into three main steps:

1. Capture Attention. Create a spectacle. Leverage the brand of popular personalities. Piggyback off established websites or current hot topics. Be a contrarian. Demonstrate integrity. Develop a style. Your goal is to go broad and bring in a general audience, i.e the people who have a casual interest in your service/product or niche. Repeat this mantra: I must capture as much traffic and attention as possible.

2. Sell Yourself. Why choose your site over other competitors? Why bother reading or subscribing to your blog? What makes you stand out? And more importantly, what problem do you solve? Your website must fulfill a specific need or desire and if that fails, create a problem and sell yourself as the only solution worth exploring. You must become essential or difficult to replace. Go deep and build an audience that believes you are one of the best out there.

3. Nurture Supporters. People gradually come to trust your brand over time. They treat it as a good friend, as something they can rely on to acquire experiences or feelings they want. They become brand evangelists who share their belief in you with many others. How do you gain these fervent supporters? By always selling ideas, philosophies and concepts instead of just products. Generosity, integrity and consistency goes a long way too.

These are general concepts which I feel are essential when you are trying to extend your brand and reach through your audience. Take these three simple points and try to think about how you can apply them to your current website.

While concepts cannot be easily applied directly to a website like a template or script, they are very important because they direct and measure the effectiveness of actions, while influencing your end goals or project objectives.

Found this article useful? Consider subscribing to Dosh Dosh.

Lyndon Johnson used to say that “every handshake is worth 250 votes.” And it’s true. While your executive director or marketing folks might not being running for political office, there sure is something for which they’re trying to win support. Nothing engrains a sense of loyalty more than when one feels they have a one-on-one relationship with someone. That’s why fans attend rock concerts and sports buffs brave sub-zero stadium temperatures to watch their favorite team – there’s a sense of atmosphere and involvement that can’t be gained any other way.

It is no different in the world of business. The magnificent tools of communication available today make it seem almost egregious to take the time for a face-to-face meeting. Certainly, sending a message once and reaching dozens, hundreds, even thousands through email, facebook and linked in is convenient and does have its place. Use and leverage their power. But do not be complacent and allow those methods to replace the most powerful tool in your arsenal – YOU! A handwritten note has 100 times the impact of an email. An “I’m thinking of you this holiday” phone call (or voice message) will be remembered long after your sentiment on facebook has faded.

You will attract more prospects and close more sales when you are in a face-to-face situation. We all know that body language speaks louder than words. Can we not close a sale faster if we can “read” a prospect’s interest level, objections, expectations? What about the opportunities that magically manifest when we simply show up? Additionally, at face-to-face events, your audience moves from six degrees of separation to just one – there’s now something personal and experiential for them to remember about you, your company or issue. That can’t be downloaded.

Like the politician who travels by bus or train holding town meetings, don’t underestimate the value of flying off to far-flung facilities for a face-to-face or conducting a laborious road show – the dividends they pay are more than likely well worth it.

The most frequent question I get when discussing social media is:

DOES IT REALLY WORK???

Well, the answer to that is a resounding YES!!!

According to the Social Media Marketing Industry Report by Michael Steizner, a whopping 81% of all marketers indicated that their social media efforts have generated exposure for their businesses. That makes gaining the all-important eyeball the number-one benefit of social media marketing.

Improving traffic and growing lists was the second major benefit, followed by building new partnerships.

An unexpected benefit was a rise in search engine rankings reported by more than half of participants. As the search engine rankings improve, so will business exposure, lead generation efforts and a reduction in overall marketing expenses. About one in two marketers found social media generated qualified leads. However, only slightly more than one in three said social media marketing helped close business.

Some questions that naturally emerge from the above chart might include, “Is there a way to improve the likelihood of achieving these benefits by investing more time in social media?” and “Are those marketers who’ve been doing social media marketing for years gaining even better results?”

We’ll delve into those questions in a later report.

Keep on tweeting… Rebecca

TrianglePR can now reach local media, Internet search engines, new services, AND social media networks like Twitter, Facebook, Linked In and more for you. Go to www.TrianglePR.com to learn more.

Did you know that 81% of businesses using social marketing say it generated exposure, 56% say it brought in new business partners and 48% say it generated qualified leads?

It seems to me that the more I learn about social media, the more questions I have. I hosted last week’s Meet the New Media and have spent the last five days finding answers to questions I’ve received from the attendees during and since the event.

How much time do you need to spend on social media? Who in a company should be in charge of managing your social marketing? What social media tool is working best for businesses? Is it saving company’s money? Is it increasing website traffic?

Ann Hadley, Denise Wakeley, Darren Rouse, Mari Smith, Jason Alba, Michael Steizner and many, many more from my internet searches had a warehouse of information I tapped into. I distilled it down into bite sized nuggets and will send it out over the next few weeks. Keep up with me and you’ll learn how social media has helped people promote their businesses so well they could slash their marketing budgets, land new clients and position themselves as experts.

Time Commitment for Social Media
A significant 64% of marketers are using social media for 5 hours or more each week and 39% for 10 or more hours weekly. It is interesting to note that 9.6% spend more than 20 hours each week with social media.

The Experience Factor
There is a direct relationship between how long marketers have been using social media and their weekly time commitment. For people just beginning with social media, the median weekly time commitment was two hours per week. However, for folks who have been doing this for a few months, the median jumped to 10 hours a week. And for people who have been doing this for years, their median is 20+ hours each week.

TrianglePR can now reach local media, Internet search engines, Carolina news services, AND social media networks like Twitter, Facebook, Linked In and more for you for just $99 a month! Go to www.TrianglePR.com to learn more.