Competition- Why Falling Stars Matter

Pepsi has Coke. Or, as they see it, Coke has Pepsi. McDonald’s has Burger King. Or, as they see it, Burger King has McDonald’s.  Regardless of what you do for a living, there is a competitor. The closer you get to inching over into their profit margin, the more your competition will start to view themselves as a falling star. So, what exactly is a falling star?

Technically speaking, a falling star is defined as follows; A meteor or “shooting star” is the passage of a meteoroid or micrometeoroid into the Earth’s atmosphere, incandescent from air friction and shedding glowing material in its wake sufficiently to create a visible streak of light.

Notice the phrases “air friction” and “shedding glowing material”. When your competition stops competing and starts sabotaging (yes, it does happen) or is consumed by jealousy they become falling stars. They hit friction and they shed their glow doing so. As a business owner, you will come across several falling stars. You are warned. It will happen.

The best advice I can give you is to stay in your lane. These are not the types of falling stars that you want to notice. Ignore them. Ignore the friction. Do not look at the shedding glowing material. Don’t buy into jealousy. Instead, continue to glow as brightly as you can so you too do not fall.

We all need healthy competition in life and in business. It is what helps us grow and drives us to be better than we were yesterday. But when our competition turns into a falling star, know that their friction and temporary glow is contagious and can also drag you back down to Earth while harming your business.

Stay positive. Stay focused. Stay bright!

Velma Trayham, ThinkZILLA

Another Word on PR & Social Media

Every remove someone from your social media accounts because they are stalking every post you write? You know the type- they “like” or “retweet” everything you say. Even worse, their own posts are nothing more than selfies, rude memes and, of course, status updates from the gym! You want followers, but you want the RIGHT followers.

Here are my tips to navigating your way through your personal social media accounts like a pro;

#1. Don’t overshare. Oversharing photos of yourself, your pets and/or your kids is called annoying. Think of yourself walking down the street and someone stopping you every two seconds with a photo from their wallet to share with you. Annoying! Don’t be this person, especially if you run a company!

#2. Don’t buy “likes”, YouTube views or Twitter followers. We all can tell when “ana zhoisf sdjkdfhss” is a fake profile and you look silly with 10,000 fake followers reading your uninteresting posts. Value who you follow and appreciate those who REALLY follow you!

#3. Have actual conversations. OMG! Yes, don’t send important information via a text or a social media post. That’s classless- especially if it is a welfare check on someone’s emotional or physical health. Be personal, 

you will intrigue more people to follow you on social media when you show you truly care about others.

Until tomorrow,

Velma Trayham

Two Ways Facebook Can Work For You!

People tend to believe Facebook is all about branding and can't generate real business. NOT TRUE. If you use Facebook right, you can convert visibility to profitability. Here are my top two tips for doing this;

Here are my top four tricks for Facebook use in direct relation to business ROI and brand engagement;

1. Ask for input. This helps your demographic not only take ownership of your brand in a way, but it can help you from spending money where it doesn’t need to be spent! Whether you customers to vote on a new logo or product color, use their input to reasonably guide the direction of your next business decision.

2.  Be your own biggest fan. Facebook is where you want to promote yourself without limits. Be bold, talk yourself up, and post relevant information and graphics. Your customers will engage with you more often when you are confident about your services and products.

Until tomorrow,

Velma Trayham

Social Media Policies and PR

I spoke a little bit, in a prior blog, about social media and public relations. I wanted to dive a bit further into the subject tonight by addressing social media policies. Do you have one? If not, keep reading. If you do have one, keep reading.

So, why am I harping on the whole social media thing. Well, it is a vital part of our multi-media culture today. If used as a 24/7 promotional device , understand that you will sink your client’s brand and your business.

The first policy you need to have is appointing a social media gatekeeper. These are two people (one main, one backup) who have access to all the accounts and who oversee everything that has do to with the accounts.

You also need to speak with employees of your PR firm and the client’s employees. Let them know that their personal social media accounts reflect the brand and will be continuously reviewed. Educate employees on the importance of transparent communications, ethical conduct, accuracy and individual accountability when using social media tools.

Understand what is liable and what make break protocol with clients and stay away from these subjects. For example, if a celebrity client is pregnant and doesn’t want to tell anyone- if a rag magazine Tweets out a photo of a baby bump- show it to the client, don’t respond.  Then readdress the client’s desires and needs as to 1) if you will respond and 2) if you do respond, how so.  You don’t want to immediately deny the story because it can come back on your agency and your client in a negative way.

I hope these small tips for developing a PR policy really intrigue you to follow up and do more investigating on the subject matter, and know that you can always connect with me with further questions.

Have a great weekend,

Coco the CEO

Becoming A PR Source 101

I am often asked how guest appearances on national news shows happen. There are repeat “guest” correspondents who always seem to appear when breaking news happens, and their appearances are just in time to pitch books, movies, blogs, etc. How does this happen? Well, I’m here to share the secret.

Time and effort. Yep, many of you are upset right now because I can’t offer you a magic PR wand. The occurrences of instant connections or connected connections on the news almost don’t exist any more. You actually have to work your way up to a repeat guest invite or work long enough in PR to obtain this status for your clients.

Asides from putting in the actual effort, here are a few more ways to get your one appearance on a news program turned into multiple segments:

1.       Don’t be overly eager. This is a huge put off. Calling to ask why you haven’t been rebooked, when you are going to be rebooked, if the person got your message, etc. pisses journalists off. Yes, that is the term they used. News producers are even more angered by these tactics. So, wait for the invite.

2.       While you’re waiting, be nice. Don’t only approach the station when you have a press release or your own news, but sent holiday cards, birthday gifts, etc. No, this isn’t bribery, this is called being professional and building a relationship. These small gestures really do mean a lot!

3.       Be relevant. If you have advice to offer during a breaking news situation, call the newsroom directly and explained (quickly) that you’ve been a guest before and you have insider insight on the breaking situation. Then, without promoting yourself, offer what information is being missed and how it can help their audience better understand the situation. Present value vs. self-promotion.

I wish I had a magic wand for all of my clients and students. But, sadly, this doesn’t exist. So, follow my steps above and remember to be patient.

Until Monday,

Coco the CEO 

Branding – What It Isn’t!

I wanted to cover what branding isn’t within tonight’s blog. People think branding means placing your logo on every piece of collateral possible or adding a logo to a non-profit event. Sure, these are components, but branding isn’t about simply being visible. Branding is about the emotions people feel about the products or services you sell when they see your logo.

Last night I talked about Target.  If you see a Target logo now, chances are you think security breach over savings.  People think of a big, white bobble head now when they think of Jack in the Box. In the late 90’s, they associated the brand with a deadly meat scandal. The Jack in the Box brand effectively changed the perception with several layered marketing and publicity campaigns.  When you associate news or positive feelings with a logo or a company name,  know that business has either a great branding team or a really bad PR team (depending on the feelings).

All this said, I want you to write down five of your most favorite brands (it can be any type of product or service) and why. Next,  write down five of your least favorite brands and why. Think of the emotions that come up when you write down each of the ten names. These feelings are what brand strategists play to. Now, think of your own company. Are you playing to emotions or are you focused on artwork?

Until tomorrow,

Coco the CEO

Success Mid Adversity.

Every hear the phrase “everyone has something”?  Well, it is true. Some people, however, have a harder crack at life then most. So, what do you do mid-adversity when you are striving for success but all your environmental factors are predicting failure? Well, keep reading.

You should always start to beat adverse circumstances by gaining the support of a mentor.  It is humbling but mentors can offer you advise, resources and suggestions not found anywhere else. They are invested in your success and are a second pair of eyes when dealing with stressful situations.

Next, outwork everyone. This is hard to do but it is needed. If you put hard work in versus thinking you are owed something because you have been dealt a bad hand in life, it will pay off.  Attitude is everything. I suggest you keep your head up and grin and bear it.  Work longer then everyone.  Volunteer to work on your days off.  Spend most of your time dedicated to building your brand and working at success then complaining about your life’s circumstances.

You don’t have to be a victim of social predictions.  Work hard, find a mentor and stay focused if you want true success- which, by the way, will not happen overnight.

Until Monday,

Coco the CEO

3 Ways to Obtain BIGGER Profits

We all want to make more money and have a bigger profit margin. On this Money Monday I want to talk about bringing in a better income. We may have the same goal, but not too many people know how to reach it. Here are three tricks to grow your profit margin.

First, don’t keep firing and hiring employees. Turnover costs more money than training or retraining an employee. It is actually more beneficial to invest in educating your current employees versus hiring and firing over and over again. Unless an employee committed and employment “sin”, try to work with him or her to help your own bottom line.

Don’t wanted 15% of your work week, which is the national average, on social media. You can delegate this work to an intern or a freelancer.  15% of your work week can be focused on seeking out and proposing new business leads versus working on social media. Writing blog posts and updating social media is important but a huge time water. Invest in someone else to do this for you so you can go after bigger business.

Finally, reward your customers. Find a way to give customers a reason to stay with you. Repeat business is important and easier to obtain than finding new business. If you have to give away a free Starbucks to a customer every month or pay for their business cards to be printed, do it. Do whatever it takes to keep old business- even if it comes to discounting a service or a product. In the end, you will make more money using this system.

Money is why we work.  If you are not making as much as you can each day then what is it that you are doing?

Until tomorrow,

Coco the CEO