Looking for Local Publicity? Check out Patch.com

By now many of you may be getting your local news at Patch.com. Owned by AOL, Patch covers news in almost half the states in the US including Connecticut.

Find out if there's a Patch in your town or in the towns where you do business. They are looking for community news, local events, calendar items and many are soliciting columns written by local residents. They also welcome photos and videos.
Read the news at your Patch site regularly and email your Patch editor when you have information about something going on in your community. Got some exciting business news like the opening of a new store, an upcoming seminar or the launch of a new product? Let your Patch know! Their popularity is growing so much, they're giving the community weeklies and some daily papers a run for their money!

Localize Your Event Promotions

Are you using local online sources to drive attendance to your seminars, lectures, trade shows or other events? Try these:

-CraigsList.com
-AmericanTowns.com
-Meetup.com
-Upcoming.org
-Your local chamber's stie
-Your local business journal's site

What other sites do you use?

Landing Pages Can Solidify your Online Marketing

Are you using a landing page on your Web site to capture email addresses or convert prospects to customers?

While your home page should be a key area of focus for your web site, landing pages can be effective in getting measurable results from your online marketing campaigns.

Landing pages are specifically created for visitors who are referred via online marketing. You'll often see one when you click on an online ad. A landing page is intended to drive a particular marketing outcome – to generate a lead or a sale. For instance, companies like Dell Tweet about their promotions that are exclusive to Twitter followers only. Followers are then directed to a landing page where they can take advantage of a special offer.

Typically, landing pages encourage data or email capture where a site visitor fills in an online form in order to receive a coupon, a free product or valuable information (free report, etc.). Other landing pages allow visitors to take advantage of a special offer by making a purchase.

Good landing pages are persuasive and are easy to read/use/fill out. Here are a few examples of landing pages:



Test your landing page to see what headlines, content, offers are working best. As web author Jim Sterne says: Try It! Measure It! Tweak It!

Launch Email Marketing for your Business

Are you ready to begin using email as part of your marketing initiatives? Here's the first of give steps to get started.

Step 1: What's the Goal?

You need objectives and a plan in order to implement a successful email marketing campaign. The first step of your plan is to determine what you want your emails to accomplish! Here are some ideas:

· Market

Prompt purchases

Drive traffic to your Web site or store

Register or buy tickets to an event

· Notify

Announce new products/services

Share your knowledge and know-how

Set apart your business fro

Offer customer testimonials

· Interact

Connect with prospects and clients

Offer rewards and incentives

Encourage referrals



Ready to read and implement Steps 2 through 5? Email me at jocelynm@marketing-er.com

Marketing & Event Resources Named Constant Contact All Star

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE




Marketing & Event Resources Named One of Constant Contact’s
2010 All Stars

Marketing & Event Reosurces' use of Constant Contact products and services helped increase its overall marketing performance and deepen its engagement with customers

(Stratford, CT)— March 25, 2010 –Marketing & Event Resources LLC, a provider of marketing, public relations, social media and event promotion services has received the 2010 All Star Award from Constant Contact®, Inc., the trusted marketing advisor to more than 400,000 small organizations worldwide. Marketing & Event Resources is one of Constant Contact’s 2010 top performers and most prolific user of its tools, whether within Constant Contact’s email marketing, event marketing, social media marketing, or survey products – or a combination of all four.

"We’re happy to be recognized by Constant Contact for our use of their email marketing tools. Constant Contact has allowed us to help clients build their email lists and easily implement email marketing campaigns to promote their businesses," says Jocelyn Murray, owner.

Constant Contact looked at criteria including the following when selecting this year’s All Stars:

• Frequency of campaigns, events and surveys
• Open, bounce and click through rates
• Usage of social features
• Mailing list sign up tools
• Use of reporting tools

“We work hard to listen to our customers, and we use that feedback to create products and services designed to help them better engage with their customers and prospects,” said Gail Goodman, chairman, president and CEO of Constant Contact. “The Constant Contact All Star Awards are our way of recognizing our customers that have successfully used Constant Contact to market their companies. We have some of the most committed, passionate customers out there and we’re proud we can be a part of their continued success.”


About Constant Contact, Inc.
Constant Contact is revolutionizing the success formula for small organizations through affordable, easy-to-use Engagement Marketing™ tools that help create and grow customer relationships. More than 400,000 small businesses, nonprofit organizations, and member associations worldwide rely on Constant Contact as their engagement hub for starting and driving ongoing customer dialogs through email marketing, social media marketing, event marketing, and online surveys. All Constant Contact products come with unrivaled know how, education and free coaching with a personal touch, including award-winning customer support.

Constant Contact and the Constant Contact Logo are registered trademarks of Constant Contact, Inc. All Constant Contact product names and other brand names mentioned herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of Constant Contact, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks or service marks of their respective owners.

Media Contact:
Jocelyn Murray
Marketing & Event Resources LLC
203.377.9980
jocelynm@marketing-er.com


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Social Media Do's and Don'ts!

Social Media Do's
1. Focus on the content - share knowledge
• It’s not about you
• It’s about what you know
2. Trade useful information for attention
• Will your followers look forward to your next communication?
• Will they be inspired to share/tweet/comment on this information?
3. Be the expert

Social Media Don'ts
What NOT to include in your Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. updates:
• Don’t pitch
• Don’t overtly self-promote
• Don’t offer incentives to get reviews or sharing
• Don’t stray from your areas of business
• Don’t post personal information, politics, sports, religion etc.


Source: Constant Contact

Ways to Increase Seminar Attendance

1.Communicate the value- Be clear about what attendees will learn, how the information will help them and what the take away will be.

2.What's the hook? Make them an offer they can't resist. Whether it's a free consultation, a white paper or breakfast, let prospects know what's in it for them if they attend.

3.Registration fee- Consider charging a fee for your seminar or workshop. You'll have less no-shows if people know they'll lose money by not attending.

4.Use Social Media- In addition to direct mail and email, use all of your social media tools to promote your seminar/workshop to drive attendance.

5.Email and phone reminders- Call and email your registrants the weeks and days leading up to the event. Continue to restate the benefits of attending.

What other things to you do to fill seats? Let us know!