I had another one of those “social media” conversations today with a friend, you know the one…why don’t  people get that they should be using social media to grow their business?  As a practitioner, I am constantly trying to help a potential client to understand the power of the people, I actually try to shy away from calling it social media, to me its all marketing.  Some will just never get it.  Some want to but struggle.  Some will only do it if you show them how it makes the register ring.  Some clients get it extremely well and are enjoying tremendous success because of it! We love them (see Amy’s blog.)

It got me thinking about this.  The client who wants a big article in a glossy mag or to be on Oprah (for the latter, you’d better rescue a small nation) wants to be on those platforms because they believe that’s where the majority of their customers will be and they want the biggest bang they can get.  Interestingly enough, there’s a little thing called the Internet and your customers just happen to be there, a lot, every day, even the days Oprah is not broadcast.

So, why not concentrate on the things you can control, which is not the glossy or Oprah, and create reasons for your customers to find you?  You call it corn, we call it content!

I love content!  I am one of those dorky creative types who loves to create…well, anything!  When someone needs to name their business, car, child or whatever, I love to help them figure one out!  So with my over active brain and my Flip video, I now get to make content for my clients.  Fun for me, great for the clients.  We are no longer begging for attention, we are creating it ourselves, authentically, with the right messaging.  They are not all winners, but they are all search results!

My advice to anyone seeking publicity is to never poo poo a small publication that is not in your geographic area, because they are most likely online and that is your geographic area.  Feedback that praises your company, no matter where they live, is helpful to someone who may be seeking out a service or product like yours.  Using feedback from your current, happy customers, you can create videos, articles, how-tos, haikus – anything that will appeal to new customers.  Go for it all, something will appeal to someone and if you do it right, they’ll share it with everyone!

Yesterday, I had the privilege of attending the California Womens Conference in Long Beach, thanks to a last minute invitation from my friends at Habitat for Humanity of Greater LA. It was awesome and I’ve been thinking about the experience all day. It got me thinking about how much more I want to do and how I need to put it out into the universe so it can happen.

I want to be able to travel the world and speak for a living. I want to inspire others and be inspired by those I meet. It would be a dream come true to make a living by speaking, sharing ideas and writing. And mentoring others would be icing on the cake.

This may sound weird but every time I get a new legal pad to write on, it makes me feel so full of promise and possibilities, like it’s just waiting for me to fill it’s clean, white pages with all my fantastic thoughts and big ideas! That is how the Womens Conference made me feel and so now I must get to work on my new dreams!

A good friend just sent me a great motivational email and this quote really spoke to me. Enjoy!

“Success is the ability to move from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.”
– Winston Churchill

Just discovered this blog, thanks to my fab client, Amy Child Marella of The Hidden Garden. If you are super Right Brain like me, then you will enjoy this blog. Sean Low is an expert who helps creative types run their businesses bettre (that is sooo me!)

Check out The Business of Being Creative, subscribe and let me know what you think.

My father was a car salesman when I was a little girl and I grew up wanting each and every model he drove home, saying “when I am 16 I totally want this car!” When I became 16, my dad was a used car wholesaler, who employed all my newly licensed friends during summers to literally drive cars around LA and Orange Counties. It was a bit sleazy but we didn’t care, we were driving for cash money!

I want to share a great story about a stand-up guy at my Volkswagen dealership. I am currently leasing my 2nd Beetle convertible and have about 8 months left on my lease, but of course I would love a new upgrade! So after I received an e-newsletter from my dealership about their loyalty programs for current owners/lessees, I email my guy, he said I could use the big incentives toward my down and he suggested I come in…so hello of course I went that night. I explained I wanted the same payment, with no money down and he went to work w/ the finance guy. After about 15 minutes, he returned and said, sorry but if we do this now you’ll be upside down, come back in about 4 months and I am sure we can make it happen. What? No hard sell to give you a huge down payment? I was a little bummed about not driving my new white Beetle home, but thrilled to know that in no time I would be (on my terms.) Not sure if my guy is an exception, or if having 3 leases from one dealership is a huge bonus, but either way, I know where I am getting my next car. That is great service, going on 5 years, and I am not only a loyal customer, I am now an advocate. If you want to contact my sales guy, email me.

Got a voice mail a few weeks ago from a company looking for P.R. I checked out their site and products and noticed they were trying to do blogging, they hadn’t totally nailed it, but I was happy they were trying. Saw they already posted a press release for the product he was launching and was seeking P.R. for, but okay I can work with that too.

When we talked he told me how they wanted to be in this print pub and that trade mag, argh I’m thinking, so I bring up online media and social media and how it’s really all the same now. He explains to me that they have the online stuff nailed (what?) and they really just want print. Plus, research proves that only 40% of their target customers are online. This blew me away. Why would you NOT want to reach 40% of your target? I very politely explained we were not the best P.R. company for what they were looking for, he was very polite too. Before we hung up, I asked him how he’d found us…to which he replied, “your website.” Touche.

Seriously, I have been loving working for myself and cannot believe it’s been almost 7 years since I took the big leap & opened Starfish P.R! Can you imagine anyone giving up a steady paycheck at one of the most beloved live music brands? The best part of my job is the fast changing opportunities to make a difference for my clients. The worst part, convincing said clients to abandon old thinking and embrace new media. But hey, I do love a challenge!

I have lived in South Redondo Beach for over 10 years and lately I’ve been picking up some local clients, which has been very gratifying. It’s all been word-of-mouth, who knows, I could become the Redondo PR Queen! Everyone who lives down here supports our local business owners, they make our town what it is. Last October I began a digital strategy for a new sushi restaurant called Sushi Gone Wild. Since then business has grown tremendously and because if it, customers (other local biz owners) have begun asking for my card. I can’t take all the credit, after all Mr. Kim is a character who is loved by locals and the sushi rocks, I am just helping people find that out.

This week I began working with a local gym called Riviera Fitness. This is a great company that’s just not connected with the locals yet…which I will make my mission to do of course. It doesn’t hurt that I love to eat Sushi and now have a really beautiful gym to work out in! Who would’ve thought the kid with the million dollar motabolism who lived on McDonalds in her 20s now eats well and works out…crazy.

I truly hope this local love I am getting continues and that I can make a difference for these small biz owners as well as turn my neighbors onto some great new places! No real point to this blog post today, I am just feeling great about my job and thought I’d share. The beach has always been my higher power, and now it’s my revenue generator too…awesome! Hope you all have a day of greatness! (Every day.)

Things that baffle me, in no particular order:

KFC Bowl of Hate – no wonder we are obese and diabetic
Kate Gosselin’s Celebrity?
Everything about The Hills
OctoMom – How did we let this happen?
Pizza Hut pasta in a bowl – refer to item #1
Religious Haters
Californians who voted for a high-speed train but not basic human rights
Californians who won’t admit they voted against basic human rights
MySpace
Paying ANYTHING to watch Britney Spears lipsync
Not working for yourself
June gloom
Air flight
Gothness
Al Davis!

This is definitely a working list…feel free to add to it.

I just said to my husband over lunch today that I have the best clients. I am so happy with all the wonderfully creative and selfless people I am fortunate enough to represent.  I was reading a blog posted by Leah Puccio from FantaSea Yachts today and thinking about how this company truly has service beyond compare.  The event planners there are not sales people, they are event producers and they bend over backwards for their guests – truly they do, this is not P.R. hype.  

So while I was thinking about this and reading their blog, my marketing brain was working on ways to make sure everyone who finds them online realizes what an amazing experience they could have if they planned an event with them…I kept coming back to the W Hotel’s tagline of Whatever, Whenever (I just spent five days at the W in New Orleans so it was in my head.)  As a Starwood Preferred Guest, I have stayed in many W’s around the country and I have to say honestly, when I think of their brand, service is not top of mind.  Yes, they provide great service, I equate their brand more with modern, plush, and hip not necessarily service.  This is by no means a rip on the W brand – I love the brand.  It’s just an observation about messaging from a consumer’s point of view.