08 Feb 10 How to Create Better News Releases
Many organizations and businesses want media coverage of their meetings, conventions and other events, and at the same time many newsrooms are looking for local (or even national and international) topics to cover. If you're belong to an organization that wants coverage, you can increase the odds of getting it by following a few simple news release (or press release) conventions.
First, you must have something new or different to say. As the name News implies, the media want information that's new or at least updated. At the same time, reporters and editors want information that's relevant to their readers; choose your media targets carefully, and tailor the content of the release to their audience).
Second, your headline should be as interesting as a newspaper headline. It should promise something new, dramatic, or timely. Make the editor or reporter want to know more. Remember, though, the claim should be credible and relevant.
Third, in the first paragraph of the body, get in what journalists call the Five Ws: Who, What, Where, When, and Why. In fact, try to get them into the first sentence, and if you can't, at least start with a clear concise statement that summarizes the story.
Traditionally, reporters have tried to get the essence of every story into the first paragraph because they didn't know where, or whether, their stories would be cut. So, they start with the most important information and end with the least important. That way, no matter where the story was cut, the best material stayed.
Fourth, write and rewrite your news release many times before 'releasing' it. Use active verbs and transitions (from sentence to sentence, and paragraph to paragraph). Boil down the content as much as you can; two pages is acceptable, but one is better.
Fifth, follow this standard format:
At the top of the page, write this, in all caps:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Usually this will be left-justified)
Or, if you want the release to be held until specific date/time, write something like this:
FOR RELEASE AT 10 A.M., AUGUST 23
(But don't necessarily expect the embargo to be honored)
Skip a line and then put in contact information, as in:
Contact: Robert Abbott
Telephone: 403 555-1234
Email: robertabbott@anycompany.com
Skip another line and add your headline (centered, and use title case or all-caps):
Perpetual Motion Machine Unveiled
Now, the body of your news release, which should not exceed two pages.
At the end of the body, add three number marks with single spaces between them, as in:
# # #
Repeat your contact information at the end , as in:
Robert Abbott welcomes your inquiries at 403 555-1234 or by email at: robertabbott@anycompany.com
Sixth, prepare yourself for reporters' questions
It goes without saying, of course, that you would prepare yourself for questions from reporters if you send out a release. I would recommend you write out a list of questions that seem likely and prepare bullet-point answers for each of them. That way you'll be ready for most of the questions. However, don't read the answers back to reporters; just use them as a guide. At the same time, assume you'll get questions you simply can't predict. Answer them as well as you can; and if you can't answer, your best bet is to tell the interviewer you'll need to get more information, and will call back after you do.
Tags: Active Verbs, Boil, Caps, Concise Statement, Conventions, Editors, Immediate Release, Important Information, Journalists, Media Coverage, Name News, News Release, Newspaper Headline, Newsrooms, Odds, Paragraph, Press Release, Targets, Time Reporters, Transitions
04 Feb 10 Engage Your Customer – Offer Them Benefits
Think quick. In 10 seconds, can you list the 5 key benefits you offer your customers?
I bet you said “Yes”. But are you sure you listed benefits? If you’ll bear with me for another 10 seconds, I’d like to test out a theory on you.
Recap your answers – maybe even write them down. Now list the 5 main things your meeting planning business does. In other words, what are your 5 core services? What are the 5 core features of your service?
If your first list looks anything like your second, chances are you’re mistaking features for benefits. As a result, it’s likely that your marketing materials aren’t engaging your customer. Customers don’t want to know what you can do. They want to know what you can do FOR THEM.
Don’t talk features – talk benefits. (more…)
Tags: Benefit, Bet, Business Owners, Circles, Core Features, Core Services, Dramatic Effect, Favour, Hitting The Mark, Light Years, Marketing Managers, Marketing Materials, Meeting Planning, Rsquo, Second Chances, Server Clusters, Uptime, Web Copy, Web Host
03 Feb 10 How to Hire the Perfect Keynote Speaker
The success of your meeting or event could hinge on how good your keynote speaker is. Meeting and event planners need to have a good plan for finding great keynote speakers. Here are some tips:
- Establish the date, location and budget of your event. These factors will play an important role in determining the pool of keynote speakers available to you. Your date, for example, will affect which keynote speakers are available, whereas your budget will limit whom you can and can’t afford to hire. In order to save on the cost of the keynote speaker’s travel, you may want to consider the distance between where he or she resides and where your event will take place.
- Determine the type of presentation you want and the time of day when it will take place. Some speakers are skilled at delivering workshops, while others excel at providing keynotes. After-dinner speakers should incorporate humor into their talks, where morning speakers should be energizing. (more…)
Tags: Audience, Budget, Change Effort, Decision Makers, Demographic Group, Demographics, Desire, Dinner Speakers, Event Planners, Humor, Keynote Speaker, Keynote Speakers, Keynotes, Morning Speakers, Pool, Rsquo, Success, Tap, Time Of Day, Travel
01 Feb 10 Branded Gifts Serve Many Purposes
Branded merchandise is a great addition to incentive travel packages and meeting planning. For those of you who provide meeting planning services to corporate clients, promotional products are a way to increase awareness of your brand, or you can offer products imprinted with your client’s information as an additional service. If you plan meetings and incentive travel for your employer, you can incorporate promo gifts into your planning as pillow gifts, or as functional items to be used during your event.
Here are several examples of branded gifts that can add value to your incentive travel packages or meeting planning services:
• Luggage tags
• Travel wallets or document holders
• Sunglasses
• Beach towels
• Toiletry bags
• Conference folders
• Conference bags
• Stadium blankets
• Laptop bags
• Key chains
• Luxury personal care kits and bath products
• Carry-on luggage
• Golf towels
• Divet tools
• Ball caps
• Sweatshirts, polo shirts or jackets
• Umbrellas
• Travel sewing kits
• Manicure kits
• Shoe shine kits
By gifting one or more of these branded items to your attendees or incentive travel winners, you will enhance their experience, while providing meaningful, useful business gifts that also promote company pride and increase brand awareness. The multiple benefits to you, your clients or employer and your attendees or winners are certainly reason enough to consider including branded gifts in your planning process.
Tags: Ball Caps, Beach Towels, Company Pride, Conference Folders, Divet, Golf Towels, Incentive Travel Packages, Key Chains, Laptop Bags, Luggage Tags, Manicure Kits, Meeting Planning Services, Meetings And Incentive Travel, Pillow Gifts, Polo Shirts, Shoe Shine Kits, Stadium Blankets, Toiletry Bags, Travel Sewing Kits, Travel Wallets
01 Feb 10 How To Communicate Better With Body Language Secrets
"I don't let my mouth say nothin' my head can't stand." Louis Armstrong
If you want to build your meeting planning business, the key could be better communication with clients and vendors. Learning how to communicate better has a lot to do with understanding body language.
Julius Fast wrote a book entitled, Body Language in 1970. He talked about a new science called Kinesics. It opened the way to more studies and books on the subjects. Today, the term Body Language is very common and understood as an important element of communication.
In fact, experts in the field of communication suggest that there is a rule that says that 7% of the meaning of what a person is saying comes from their words.
Interestingly, 38% is based on the tone of their voice. 55% of the meaning comes from the body language of the person that is speaking. This rule comes from research that was published in the late 1960’s.
Some now think that the percentages from this research might be slightly different. Nevertheless, the bottom line is still the same. If you don’t know the basics of body language, you are missing a valuable tool for learning how to communicate better. We speak body language on a subliminal level, without actually realizing that we are communicating through body talk. (more…)
Tags: Body Language Secrets, Doubts, Element Of Communication, Eye Contact, Fact Experts, Gaze, Hand Gestures, Intense Dislike, Kinesics, Little Eye, Louis Armstrong, Meeting Planning, New Science, Percentages, Rsquo, Subliminal Level, Talk 1, Understanding Body Language, Valuable Tool, Windows To The Soul
29 Jan 10 Selling Yourself as an Expert in Your Field
At least a little bit of self-promotional and selling yourself as an expert in your field is necessary, regardless of whether you are employed by a corporation, work under a self-employed meeting planner or provide meeting planning services on your own. In any of these situations, it is important that others in the industry begin to know who you are, that your current and potential clients perceive you as topnotch and that you view yourself as a well-versed, professional expert in your field. All of this is part of building your brand, which is important even if you do not own your own company – or at least not yet.
There are plenty of reasons to sell yourself as an expert and build you brand, with the most obvious being that someday you will be going out on your own, seeking a promotion or exploring your options for furthering your career at another firm. If you are already well known in the industry and have already participated in expert-like activities, such as making yourself available for speaking engagements or writing articles for trade publications, each of these transitions will be much smoother, and you will likely find that potential employers or clients will be seeking you out, rather than the other way around.
Tags: Career, Current, Little Bit, Meeting Planner, Meeting Planning Services, Options, Professional Expert, Speaking Engagements, Trade Publications, Transitions
29 Jan 10 Four Tips for Saving Money on Lodging
Whether or not you are planning an event on a limited budget, getting a great deal is always a bonus. When you can save your employer or corporate clients money on expenditures like lodging, they are sure to take notice and will be delighted to know they can trust you to work the best deals possible when planning their events, meetings or incentive travel packages.
Here are four tips to help you same money on accommodations when planning your next shindig:
1. Be flexible. If you can be flexible on dates and days of the week, you can usually negotiate a better room rate for your attendees’ lodgings.
2. Limit Attrition. Do your best to get a solid grasp on how many attendees you expect. This will help you reserve the correct amount of rooms, avoid promising room blocks that you might not be able to meet, and establish a good relationship with hotels you may be using again in the future.
3. Opt for second-tiers and suburbs. By avoiding the top destinations, you will find that rates are much more affordable just a few miles away, or in suitable cities that just happen to not be on the A list.
4. Negotiate reservations for multiple events at the same time. If you have several clients interested in using a particular hotel for their meetings, or if your employer plans to return for an annual meeting year after year, this gives you more negotiating power when it comes to room rates.
5. Consider an all inclusive cruise event which will provide luxury accommodations, and include other amenities including gourmet meals, entertainment and top-notch meeting facilities.
Tags: 3 Tiers, Attendees, Attrition, Best Deals, Corporate Clients, Days Of The Week, Expenditures, Future 3, Good Relationship, Gourmet Meals, Grasp, Incentive Travel Packages, Lodgings, Luxury Accommodations, Meeting Facilities, Negotiating Power, Room Blocks, Shindig, Tips For Saving Money, Top Notch
27 Jan 10 Basic Feng Shui for Meeting Planners
Over the past several years, feng shui has become all the rage with homeowners, business owners, restaurant managers and event planners all using this ancient Asian art to create harmonious, balanced spaces. Due to the high level of interest in feng shui, this is an excellent service to add to your meeting planning business and to offer to your clients.
To learn the basics of feng shui, you can pick up a book at your local bookstore, attend a seminar or do a simple online search for “feng shui basics” or “feng shui meeting tips.” Alternatively, you could partner with a feng shui consultant to provide these services to your clients, or if you really want to corner this market, you can become a certified feng shui consultant and add it to the menu of billable services you provide.
Much of feng shui for meetings is essentially common sense and focuses on creating a meeting space with good energy flow, harmony and balance. For example, in a square room, a feng shui consultant might recommend placing plants in the corners of the room to compensate for the hard corners, or in a space with harsh lighting, a consultant might recommend softer up-lighting to create a more welcoming environment.
Everything from the way the furniture is arranged to the colors used in the room can affect the room’s energy and the productivity of attendees; therefore, once your clients experience the benefits of feng shui, they are sure to recommend you to their friends and colleagues.
Tags: All The Rage, Ancient Asian Art, Attendees, Billable Services, Bookstore, Business Owners, Colleagues, Common Sense, Energy Flow, Event Planners, Excellent Service, Feng Shui Basics, Feng Shui Consultant, Harmony, Harsh Lighting, Meeting Planners, Meeting Planning, Plants, Productivity, Restaurant Managers
26 Jan 10 Group Organizers See 7 Reasons to Bookmark Seasite.com
Newly launched Seasite.com provides 24/7 access to all cruise brands, and the most content-rich and searchable database for the cruise industry.
Miami, FL (Vocus/PRWEB ) January 21, 2010 — Planning a group cruise requires searching for detailed ship information and not always finding what you need – even on the cruise lines’ own web sites. Now, with Seasite.com, the first cruise portal for meetings and events, group organizers can find all the ship data they need in one place – at no cost.
"I’ve bookmarked Seasite.com – it’s invaluable in selecting the right ship for a group and to verify it’s a good fit before I present it to my client,” said Millie Evans, President/CEO Alliance Incentives and Meetings. "And for operational planning, it has all the info I need – which isn’t on cruise line web sites.”
Seasite.com provides 24/7 access to all cruise brands, and the most content-rich and searchable database for the cruise industry, so that planners can:
1. Find ship data never before offered online or in print, such as:
- Meeting/function room capacities
- Dining room seating, and details for private group dining
- Outdoor group function areas
- A/V equipment lists
2- Search, compare, and save favorite cruises; then create one RFP and submit it to multiple cruise lines. (Group pricing is the same as booking direct.)
3- See the cruise lines most committed to groups, and search their mini-sites (all laid out the same — when you’re familiar with one, you’re familiar with all!)
4- Search by ship name for a chronological list of future Itineraries and Basic Ship Information, and find it faster than a brochure.
5- Search for a cruise anywhere in the world by any date range (as short as several days or as long as several months). Sort your results by meetings-specific criteria.
6- Refer to the Knowledge Center to answer all your questions, including these:
|
7- Discover a list of "Cruise Gems” – those rare, hard to find, short cruises.
"Everyone who plans group travel should take a good look, and bookmark Seasite.com if they want to simplify cruise sourcing and planning” said Jo Kling, CEO Seasite.com.
For more information on Seasite.com, A Landry & Kling Company, visit www.seasite.com or call 888-713-1371.
About Seasite.com/Landry & Kling
Seasite.com is designed for meeting and event planners who want more control in the cruise sourcing and planning process. It’s the fastest and easiest way for group organizers to master the world of cruising, building on all that’s been learned by Landry & Kling, who are credited with being the first distribution channel between the cruise industry and corporate America. Now, 28 years since their startup, they have responded to changing times by creating Seasite.com, with innovative cruise sourcing tools that enable meeting planners and other travel intermediaries to be more pro-active and confident in booking cruises. Seasite group pricing is the same as booking direct, with the advantage of impartial Cruise Advisors to assist as needed.
Tags: Cruise Industry, Cruise Line, Cruise Lines, Cruise Portal, Group Cruise, Group Function, Group Organizers, Line Web, Meetings And Events, Millie, Operational Planning, Outdoor Group, President Ceo, Private Group, Prweb, Rfp, Room Capacities, Searchable Database, Ship Data, Vocus
25 Jan 10 Adding Unique Additions to Your Meeting Planning Services
Every meeting planner needs a niche. While you are sure to continue getting clients when offering generic meeting planning services, finding a niche or offering something a little different to your clients is the best way to really make a name for yourself and stand out from the masses of meeting planners in the industry.
You may choose to cater to a specific type of corporate clients, to become well-known as a green meeting planner, become famous for your ability to plan exceptional international meetings or become the go-to planner for companies looking for exceptional quality on a budget. Whichever type of niche you choose, specializing is a great way to make your job easier, focus on work that you truly enjoy and increase awareness of your meeting planning services.
When it comes to adding special services to your meeting planning, it could be as simple as offering something inexpensive and easy to organize, such as an opening meditation with a meditation instructor. Meditation instructors are easy to find in just about any meeting destination and can help meeting attendees center themselves before getting down to business.
This is a great way to assist attendees in setting aside outside stresses and refraining from thinking about everything else going on in their lives so that they can focus on the task at hand. This will also improve productivity during the meeting, which will please your client, make the event memorable and make you look even more effective as a planner.
Tags: Additions, Attendees, Budget, Corporate Clients, Focus, Getting Down To Business, International Meetings, Job, Meditation Instructor, Meeting Planner, Meeting Planners, Meeting Planning Services, Niche, Opening Meditation, Organize, Productivity, Stresses
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