And whilst I'm on PR...

...have come across another Australian zero budget marketing gem.

Handle your own PR allow you to purchase your own targeted media list, so that you can contact journo's in your space with exciting/relevant information about your product and service. You can build these lists yourself, but it's incredibly time consuming (I've tried) and it's cheaper than subscribing to a service like Margaret Gees Media Guide (worthwhile if you're an agency, too expensive if you've got one product or service to promote.

Handle Your Own PR don't have lists for every sector yet, but if you're in the lifestyle, business or kids/parenting area, this could be an ideal and effective zero budget marketing tool!

Little bit of Aussie ingenuity helping match marketers & media

Getting media exposure for your business is immensely valuable. You get a trusted authority, such as a newspaper or television program, talking about your brand. Yes, you can buy advertising space, but (a) it's not very zero budget and (b) it's YOU saying how good you are, not someone else.

But it's a hit and miss operation, with PRs flogging their client's products to the media on their own schedule rather than on the media's. And if you want to do your own PR, you're likely to have a lot less of the relationships these PRs have, so it can be even harder.

That's why a SourceBottle (free) email subscription should be on every business owner or marketer's should be in your inbox. It's a great little online service that connects journalists, writers and bloggers with 'sources'. They do this by emailing 'call outs' for sources from journalists, writers and bloggers to subscribers to the service. They help journalists, writers and bloggers connect with an extensive network of quality sources; and they help subscribers to the service get publicity (or famous, whichever comes first).

So you get to respond to requests when journo's WANT to hear from you. I can't imagine I'm the only person who's excited by this prospect. So far I've come across several great leads for clients AND friends, for everything from promoting a shopping site on another online service to getting a product reviewed for a magazine article.

SourceBottle's revenue model seems to be in some advertising and premium subscriptions, which still seem extremely cheap. So I hope they'll stay around for a long time, it's zero budget marketing gold.

Budget expo idea

So you've managed to negotiate yourself some cheap expo space at about a 10th of the price of other exhibitors...now what do you do with your stand??

This was the question a friend was facing, who is also a marketing consultant. The other exhibitors were big companies with big budgets. So their stands would look rather flash.

So I suggested going back to marketing basics ...make the stand about your visitors, not about you. I suggested we brainstorm 100 or so quick "marketing ideas" that we could "paper" the walls of her stand with. That way, people would hopefully stop and read - then engage with her - rather than just wander past.

So, how did it look and how did it work? I've included a picture in this post. It actually looked pretty good, and cost around $10 in production. And how did it work? She got 23 leads in 2 days - and she only needs 3-4 to turn into business to make it a worthwhile exercise.

Yet again proving - a little bit of tenacity and creative thinking beats a big budget every time.

So next time you're doing an expo, rather than fill your stand with posters and logos about you - why not make the space about EDUCATING your market. Cheaper AND more effective.

Ever wondered what to put in a staff profile so you don't send people to sleep?

Getting lost on the web, looking for tomato relish of all things, I stumbled upon this little bit of copywriting gold on this gourmet food distributor's site.

I have absolutely no need to read this, but I read every one of these profiles.

Says something, doesn't it?

Now I feel like I know them. If only I had a store to stock their product in, I'd be calling them tomorrow. It would be a little like making the effort to make friends with some this great new person you've come across. Now are you seeing yet why there's marketing gold in this?

Get rid of anonymous, no personality copy on your website! This one page should prove to you the difference - and it won't cost you anything more to write like you're not a robot!