Tag Archives: The NALA

SMBs & Charity Partnerships

Posted on April 24, 2012 | Leave a comment

Local business and charity partnerships provide powerful marketing and public relations opportunities for both the business and the charity.  We at the NALA feel so strongly about giving back that our program maintains an optional charity component and charity directory.  The goal is to facilitate opportunity for charity partnerships with our members at both the local and national level.

Last year I posted an article offering reasons why SMBs should support charities.  Recently I came across an article from Growth University called Small Business Marketing & Charitable Partnerships that offered a few simple tips to create effective charity partnerships of your own.

The goal of involving your business with a charity is threefold.   Hitting all three below is a recipe for success.

  1. Improve the life of the charity
  2. Create a sense of goodwill with your customers and your community
  3. Create a positive buzz in your community.

Three tips for creating effective partnerships are:

  1. Create seasonal campaigns avoiding December.  Many charities do well in December and struggle the rest of the year.  Pick a charity you believe in and ask if they have anything coming up that you can participate in.  Maybe you can sponsor a booth at a fundraiser or offer items for a silent auction, or even allow your business to be a donation drop-off point.
  2. Brand your campaign.  If you name the charitable campaign in a way that makes it easier to spread the world, it can increase the level of attention you receive.
  3. Press the issue.  Press releases are powerful methods of otherwise free advertising.  The NALA offers a press release product that will not only write the release based information you provide, but also distribute it to the appropriate news agencies on and offline.

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Posted in charity, Press Release, Small Business

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How to get great reviews like TripAdvisor

Posted on April 17, 2012 | Leave a comment

As NALA Members, your eListing product allows you to be a step ahead of other businesses in terms of placement with search engines and directories. Reviews on Google and Yelp are another important element to search engine placement. Additionally, reviews provide an invaluable customer service and word-of-mouth opportunity. TripAdvisor is one site that has mastered the review and built an entire business around them.  The post I am highlighting is called The “7 Reasons TripAdvisor Gets Great Reviews” Issue from Damn I Wish I’d Thought of That Newsletter.

Reviews provide customers the ability to voice their praise and their problems in a forum you can address directly.  Taking the time to address negative reviews not only allows you to repair a customer experience but show others your commitment to quality customer service.  The 7 reasons you can adopt for your business are:

  1. Ask for them.  Trip Advisor asks for reviews politely and reminds you that your review will be of assistance to someone else.
  2. Make it easy.  Reviews on TripAdvisor take just a few clicks.  There is plenty of room for detail but most reviewers take about a minute.
  3. Offer status, not incentives.  Do not pay for reviews as that will have a negative impact on the credibility of reviewers.  TripAdvisor provides badges.  They have no offline value but they are nice to receive nonetheless.  I am proud to say I have Contributor status but I am working on becoming a Senior Contributor.
  4. Insist on honest reviews.  TripAdvisor provides an honesty check box that must be checked prior to submitting a review.  Granted, checking a box does not guarantee honesty but the extra step shows your commitment to this policy.
  5. Help them share it.  After you write a review you can share it on social media such as Facebook or Twitter.  This is feedback they left because they want others to see and sharing it provides a great word of mouth opportunity.
  6. Say thanks.  I have left may reviews on TripAdvisor and I always appreciate the thank you note they send out.
  7. Give Feedback.  A week after posting a review TripAdvisor lets you know how many people have read your review.  I love knowing how many people read my review and how many found it helpful.  It is the reward for taking the time to write it.

All the steps above may not be applicable to your business but try out the ones that are.  Let me know what sort of results you get.

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Posted in Optimization, Small Business, Social Media

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The Seven Elements of a Press Release

Posted on March 8, 2012 | Leave a comment

The press release is a valuable tool in an affordable marketing strategy for SMBs.  To get the full value out of sending a release, it is essential to grab the reader/journalist quickly and inspire them to distribute your story to their readers.

As a NALA member, our Press Release product will write and distribute the release for you, but understanding the elements integral in writing a successful release may help you get the most out of working with our Press Release department.

I found an article called The Seven Elements of a Press Release: Everything You Need to Know that offered valuable information I wanted to share.  I will summarize it here but the full article is linked above.

Release structure

  1. Grab a journalist’s attention with an eye-catching headline.  The headline should also give a brief overview of what makes the story newsworthy.
  2.  Media contact information at the top so it’s easy to find.
  3. The first line of the first paragraph should include the release date, city and state.  This helps the journalists know this information is relevant to their readers.
  4. The introduction paragraph is particularly important because it is often the only paragraph the journalist will read.  It must tell the reader who, what, where, why, and when providing all the key information at the beginning with subsequent information of diminishing importance.
  5. The body should consist of at least two paragraphs and each subsequent paragraph offers information of diminishing importance.
  6. After the body, include a boilerplate or short paragraph about the company you have been referring to.  In this section provide background information such as company history.
  7. Close the release with “###”.

Release writing style tips:

  1. Make sure the release is newsworthy and not a sales piece.
  2. Grab the reader’s attention with the headline and first paragraph.
  3. Stick to the facts, avoiding flowery writing or overuse of adjectives.
  4. Use strong verbs and avoid passive voice.
  5. Avoid hype and do not use exclamation points!!!!
  6. Be clear, concise, and complete.
  7. Proofread.  Typos are the fastest way to ensure your release is never seen.

 

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Yelp Reviews: A great tool for Word-of-Mouth Advertising

Posted on February 1, 2012 | 2 Comments

On January 31, the Gaspedal blog offered great word of mouth advice on getting Yelp reviews.  In case you are not familiar, Yelp is a website with over 61 million monthly visitors reading over 22 million reviews on local businesses.  I use Yelp all the time.  I have the app on my phone as well.  That way if I am in an area I am unfamiliar and hungry I can look up restaurants and what other customers have to say about them.  It isn’t only restaurants though.  I can look up everything from dry cleaners to chiropractors to auto mechanics.  Reviews are the Holy Grail on these sites, so it’s important to get those reviews.

Gaspedal recommended three tips for getting reviews on Yelp.

  1. Remind your customers.  Put signs on tables, receipts, business cards, and remind them on the way out the door.  People are often self-motivated to post negative reviews so it’s important to encourage the positive reviewers to post about you as well.
  2. Link to your Yelp profile.  Create these links on your website, your email signature, and your newsletters.    Don’t forget that strangers may already be heading to the Yelp page so make sure your loyal customers are making their voices heard.
  3. Reply and respond.  Like any social media community, the more you get involved the better.  If you do receive a review respond with goodwill.  Thank the positive reviews but leave it at that.  No gifts or incentives.  A simple thank you will suffice.  If it is a negative review, thank them for their patronage and feedback.  If you can be specific about the customer’s experience and changes you made as a result then mention that as well.

 As a member of the NALA our eListing product automatically creates a Yelp profile for you but can do nothing to help you get reviews.  That requires your own Word of Mouth.  Hopefully the above tips help. 

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Grow your business by supporting your community

Posted on January 18, 2012 | 1 Comment

I found a great article on chron.com called How to Grow a Business by Helping Non Profit Organizations.  The article spoke about the benefits of partnering with local nonprofit organizations.   Building your business through nonprofit support is broken down into four simple steps.

  1. Survey your employees to determine what charities or causes they care most about.  Writing a check is nice but growing your business requires a more hands-on approach that may incorporate asking employees to participate in some way.  If they are invested in the charity you choose they will be invested in the participation.
  2. Select an organization that relates to your business’ mission and vision.  For example, if your company sells urban apparel, you might partner with a local mission or church to solicit clothing donations at your store.  You can offer a small discount on a purchase to each customer who donates.
  3. Organize the effort with the nonprofit organization.  If you are working with a local food bank, allow the organization to direct your company’s food collection efforts.  Many volunteer projects are large annual events that garner media coverage and community recognition, and your non profit partner will have more experience producing and promoting the event.  Take a cooperative, supportive role in the project.  Resisting the urge to take over a project often guarantees that your company will be asked to partner on future events.
  4. Publicize the effort using public relations.  The nonprofit will definitely publicize the project, and want to mention your company’s role in the effort in exchange for you help.  However, don’t overlook your own opportunity to publicize your involvement.  The NALA members can use the Press Release benefit to publicize their event.  With a simple order form, the NALA helps members to design and distribute a Press Release to the appropriate print and broadcast outlets.  Members choose from specific state and distribution in over 5,500 websites including Google, Yahoo, Yahoo News, Forbes, and numerous business journals and television station websites.  To learn more check out theNALA.com or email us at info@theNALA.com.
  5. Encourage employees to enthusiastically support and promote the company’s efforts.  Participation will boost the success of the overall effort and encourage the nonprofit to approach you again with partnering opportunities to grow your business.
  6. The NALA members can offer charity partners a free listing in the NALA Charity Directory.  This free directory is part of the NALA’s continuing goal to support local businesses supporting their local communities. 

The NALA partners with worthy causes that benefit our communities, our nation and the world.  To learn more check out http://thenala.com/charities

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