Posted by April Neill, CEO/Founder April Neill Public Relations
With the rise of content marketing, being able to write effectively is hugely important. Avoid some common grammar errors with this really cool info-graphic. Enjoy!
We’re big advocates of conversational writing that’s engaging, persuasive, and fun. So that means it’s perfectly fine to fracture the occasional stuffy grammatical rule (and many times it’s preferable).
Grammar Goofs from copyblogger
On the other hand, making some grammatical errors just makes you look bad, and hurts your effectiveness. Sometimes we even misuse words simply because we hear others use them incorrectly.
So, we’ve assembled the 15 most egregious grammar goofs into one helpful infographic. With this handy reference, you’ll never look silly again.
April Neill is a brand strategist, lifelong entrepreneur and founder/CEO at April Neill Public Relations, a boutique public relations firm serving small businesses and non-profits in Chicagoland. You can find April on Twitter and also connect with April Neill PR on Facebook.
April Neill Public Relations is passionate about helping small businesses position themselves as experts in their industry. We offer a complimentary 30-minute in-person or phone consultation. Email AprilNeill@gmail.com to make your appointment today or call 312.772.3832 for more information.
By April Neill, CEO/Founder April Neill Public Relations
In our last post, we talked about the value of Education-Based Marketing. You know it’s important, but how do you craft messages that reach and resonate with your best potential customers?
Have you ever wondered what the best content marketers do differently? How they create content that not only captures interest and engagement, but drives leads as well?
If you’d like to create content that’s powerful, relevant, informative and engaging to your target audience, you need to first match your marketing strategy and education-based messaging with buyer behavior.
There’s no content marketing success without strategy.
Imagine stepping into the minds of your future prospects and listening to their thoughts before they decide to begin shopping for a wedding photographer. What questions are they asking themselves? The secret to attracting qualified prospects early on in the sales cycle is to find out the answers to those questions and use them as the basis for your education-based marketing strategy.
For instance, if you were to offer your prospects the choice between two free special reports, one titled “Why Brand Z is the Best Wedding Photographer” and the other titled, “Seven Little-Known Secrets to Hiring the Best Wedding Photographer,” which do you think would get the most downloads?
Based on the latest statistics, the second report will out perform the first report by 10:1. Educational information that helps your prospects solve problems and make better buying decisions is the type of information that attracts prospects and drives leads and engagement.
How To Package Educational Marketing Messages to Generate Qualified Leads
Once you’ve developed your educational strategy and message, you need to package it and offer it for free in exchange for your prospect’s contact information. This is crucial. Effective education-based marketing isn’t just about getting your messages out and reaching your audience, but more importantly, it’s about getting a response back and building a list of interested prospects. You need to make this your goal.
Generate Qualified Leads & Build Your Email List By Giving Away Goodies
You can package your educational messages in formats your prospects will respond to such as FREE white papers, audiocassettes, videos, email courses, or even webinars. It’s a great way to attract customers to you!
Give Your Message an Exciting Title
An important aspect to making your educational message engaging is to give it an irresistible title. People love how-to articles, numbered lists, and getting information (secrets) that others don’t have.
Resist the urge to give a sales pitch.
The beauty behind Education-Based Marketing is that you give prospects what they want, information and advice, without the sales pitch — and you get what you want, their contact information which will help you kick your business revenue into high gear. By offering helpful advice, you establish yourself as an industry expert because prospects see you as a reliable source of information, making them more willing to receive your updates and offerings.
April Neill is a brand strategist, lifelong entrepreneur and founder/CEO at April Neill Public Relations, a boutique public relations firm serving small businesses and non-profits in Chicagoland. You can find April on Twitter and also connect with April Neill PR on Facebook.
April Neill Public Relations is passionate about helping small businesses position themselves as experts in their industry. We offer a complimentary 30-minute in-person or phone consultation. Email AprilNeill@gmail.com to make your appointment today or call 312.772.3832 for more information.
There is a common misconception amongst small businesses that your marketing’s most important function is to promote your products and services to prospects ready to buy. In fact, the most important function of your marketing strategy should be to establish that you’re an expert in your industry, that you have knowledge to share, and that you can be trusted.
It’s a given that consumers like to do business with people and brands they trust. That said, even if you have the lowest prices, if you’re not perceived to be trustworthy, it might be difficult to attract customers. This is the basis for Education-Based Marketing.
A powerful marketing strategy that establishes trust and credibility using strategic educational messaging, Education-Based Marketing is the direct opposite of traditional marketing, which leverages selling-based messaging.
People are tired of being bombarded with sales pitches. Alarm bells go off the moment you launch into your spiel. In comparison, consumers are more likely to listen when you offer value by sharing expert information and helpful tips and facts that not only help them live better but also help them make better buying decisions. And even if they are not ready to buy, you’re planting seeds and gaining consumer trust that will likely pay off when they are ready to purchase your product or service.
Stay tuned for our next post that will delve deeper into how to craft your educational message.
April Neill is a brand strategist, lifelong entrepreneur and founder/CEO at April Neill Public Relations, a boutique public relations firm serving small businesses and non-profits in Chicagoland. You can find April on Twitter and also connect with April Neill PR on Facebook.
April Neill Public Relations is passionate about helping small businesses position themselves as experts in their industry. We offer a complimentary 30-minute in-person or phone consultation. Email AprilNeill@gmail.com to make your appointment today or call 312.772.3832 for more information.
By April Neill, CEO/Founder April Neill Public Relations
For brands and small businesses who have put in the sweat equity over the last few years to build their Facebook following and gain consumer confidence and loyalty through intelligent, thoughtful brand publishing, Facebook’s latest newsfeed algorithm is going to be a game-changer.
In a recent article titled, The Great Facebook Swindle And What To Do About Itpublished on Social Media Explorer, Jason Falls explains how the rules have changed and it doesn’t bode well for brands. First of all, with the changes, even though your audience “Likes” your page, there is a strong likelihood that Facebook won’t let most of them see your posts organically in their news stream. They can still visit your page to see it, however, unless you pay to promote it, many of your followers won’t see it. As a matter of fact, with the changes, Facebook is ratcheting down organic exposure of brand page content to 1-2% at best. This is not good!
Here are the highlights on how brands can still win.
Direct people to your Facebook URL It’s no longer enough for to tell our audience to “Like” us on Facebook. Now we have to ensure they know that we offer great content there but Facebook won’t let them see it unless they go to the Facebook page just like they would come to our website and they are going to have to type in our brand name or URL to see our content. For traditional communications, stop using the “Like us on Facebook” call to action and start using the “Visit us on Facebook at facebook.com/yournamehere” one.
“Share” is now the new “Like” When a user does find your content, intentionally or not, and uses the Facebook “Share” button, it places that content on their timeline as if posted by them. They are recommending that content to their friends and followers. This circumvents Facebook’s brand classification as it sees the post as being from the individual. It is content they are organically recommending. So every single call-to-action must be “Share with your friends.” By building a loyal group of advocates, readers, fans or customers who will go the extra mile to type in your URL or bookmark your Facebook page, plus who will Share rather than like, perhaps even writing a little lead in to tell their friends why they should go see this content, you can still organically reach a lot of people. The challenge is that your content has got to be dynamite and your audience has got to love you beyond their love of most other brands.
Pay to play I know … this isn’t organic. But now you know that in order to achieve organic success you need a highly engaged audience willing to share. When you have content that will attract that kind of user or you can target to find that kind of user, take advantage of the fact you can offer up a little bit of money to get it in front of more of the kinds of people you want to collect. It’s a numbers game, in a way. For every 20 users, you’ll probably have one that really digs you enough to type in the ULR and/or “Share” your content. (Your traction here may vary from 1:20, but that’s a good starting point.) The more users you have the more advocates you’ll have to choose from.
So there you have it. It might also be a great time to spend more time promoting your brand on other social media platforms. Twitter is starting to look better and better! What do you think? Will you put in the extra effort and energy to reach your followers on Facebook or will you leverage other vehicles to get your message out?
April Neill, CEO of April Neill Public Relations
April Neill is a brand strategist, lifelong entrepreneur and founder/CEO at April Neill Public Relations, a boutique public relations firm serving small businesses and non-profits in Chicagoland. You can find April on Twitter and also connect with April Neill PR on Facebook.
April Neill Public Relations is passionate about helping small businesses position themselves as experts in their industry. We offer a complimentary 30-minute in-person or phone consultation. Email AprilNeill@gmail.com to make your appointment today or call 312.772.3832 for more information.
Watching the Academy Awards last night, I was struck with the awesomeness of the acceptance speeches and the genuine gratitude the winners expressed. Winning an Oscar can be a huge boost to an Actors’ personal brand and earning potential, for sure, and on this night they are at the height of their fame. Hearing them express gratitude and thanks to those who have touched their lives and to those who have helped them along the way was truly inspiring.
Businesses can benefit greatly from adopting this “attitude of gratitude” and if I had to pick one thing that can have the biggest impact on business, I’d say gratitude tops the list. This quote sums it up perfectly:
“At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.” –Albert Schweitzer
As a brand, we want to be perceived positively by consumers. It’s necessary before being memorable, engaged or advocated for.
The more deep gratitude and appreciation you show as a brand, whether it’s your personal brand or business, for every contribution no matter how small, the more love, support and success will come your way.
That said, it’s super important to demonstrate gratitude and to acknowledge the people that have helped you get where you are. This was demonstrated during the awards ceremony last night perfectly by Best Supporting Actor winner Jared Leto, snagging the coveted golden statue for his riveting role in Dallas Buyers Club, who not only thanked his single mom for teaching him to dream, but also the 36 million people what have lost the battle to aids.
“And this is for the 36 million people who have lost the battle to Aids and to those of you out there who have ever felt injustice because of who you are or who you love, tonight I stand here in front of the world with you and for you. Thank you so much and goodnight,” –Jared Leto.
It just doesn’t get much better than that.
Gratitude Helps Build Consumer Confidence and Trust.
How do you stand out in someone’s mind? How do you engage and inspire them to speak positively on your behalf? To inspire your audiences to risk their reputation and advocate for you, you must demonstrate that you are worthy. There’s no better way to build trust and consumer confidence than to incorporate gratitude into your brand communication plan. Appreciation and acknowledgement can go a long way in building brand advocates who will not only love you, like we all loved Jared last night, but who will sing your praises as well.
Say a Sincere, Authentic Thank You!
There’s nothing like the unexpected, genuine, sincere thank you. So, the next time you have the chance to express gratitude, go for it! It’s good for your business.
April Neill is a brand strategist, lifelong entrepreneur and founder/CEO of April Neill Public Relations, a boutique public relations firm serving small businesses and non-profits in Chicagoland. You can find April online at www.AprilNeillPR.comor at www.Facebook.com/AprilNeillPR.
April Neill Public Relations is passionate about helping small businesses position themselves as experts in their industry. We offer a complimentary 30-minute in-person or phone consultation. Email AprilNeill@gmail.com to make your appointment today or call (312) 772-3832 for more information.
With today’s constantly evolving digital landscape, you need to be ever ready to adapt your marketing strategy in order to stay competitive within your industry. PR experts have always known this and one of the most widely used examples relates to content marketing.
What is content marketing?
Content marketing involves creating and sharing relevant and valuable content in order to attract and engage specific consumers. The idea is not to sell, per se, to your target audience but instead, provide valuable information that makes your prospective customers more informed and engaged with your brand. The strategy is that if you deliver consistent, ongoing valuable and/or entertaining information to consumers, they will ultimately choose to do business with you.
Here are the basics to implementing a successful content marketing strategy:
▪ Create Your Authentic Brand Voice – you want your audience to get a sense and a feel for who you are as a brand and what you do from the content you create and push.
▪ Identify Your Target Audiences – it’s next to impossible to speak effectively to an audience if you don’t know who they are and/or you can’t identify with them. Start researching and get to know the prospects you are interested in. Then begin pushing out relevant content that provides value and appeal to these clients.
▪ Identify What Makes You Uniquely and Wonderfully You – Ask Yourself What Differentiates You From Your Competitors? – There may very well be a lot of companies that offer the same services that you do; that said, this is your chance to tell everyone what makes your services or offerings special and how you are better than your competitors.
▪ Craft and Push Content across the Web that Speaks to Your Target Audience. – Posting valuable content on your website, on a blog, on hyperlocal sites and on social media channels can be a great way to connect with your target audience and ultimately, a great way to attract customers to your brand.
For best results, Synergize Your Efforts!
Remember that content marketing works best when it’s synergized with your other marketing initiatives, so don’t stop doing what you’re currently doing. Leverage content marketing as one of the many strategies it takes to convert a “friend” to a client or customer.
April Neill is a brand strategist, lifelong entrepreneur and founder/CEO at April Neill Public Relations, a boutique public relations firm serving small businesses and non-profits in Chicagoland. You can find April on Twitter and also connect with April Neill PR on Facebook.
April Neill Public Relations is passionate about helping small businesses position themselves as experts in their industry. We offer a complimentary 30-minute in-person or phone consultation. Email AprilNeill@gmail.com to make your appointment today or call 312.772.3832 for more information.
With the holiday season upon us, many of us are looking for that perfect gift to give to the special children in our lives. We’ve trimmed the tree, we’ve got our houses decorated with tinsel and garland and holiday lights; we’ve hopefully dug ourselves out of the recent snow storm that left us Chicagoans with a blustery winter wonderland!; and now it’s time to fight the crowds to go shopping for those last minute gifts. Hmmmm, what to get for that special child in our life?
For one Northbrook chiropractor and humanitarian, his goal was bigger: to give a special holiday gift of sport to thousands of underprivileged kids in Kenya.
Armed with a mission to bring hope and joy of sport to thousands of impoverished children during the holidays, Dr. Warren Bruhl recently traveled to Kenya, Africa to deliver soccer and baseball gear to schools and villages in need. Bruhl serves as the Executive Director of youth charity Gear for Goals and partner program Dreamweaver International that provides sports and hope to underprivileged kids both locally and internationally.
G4G (Gear for Goals) provided over 1000 children with instruction and resources to bring about transformation in the incredibly under resourced Kimana Rift Valley – 4 hours outside of Nairobi in the shadow of Mt. Kilimanjaro.
To date, G4G has impacted over 25,000 kids in 15 countries and efforts continue. To find out how you can join the effort, visit G4GSports.org.
Good news on a Chicago area youth charity bringing the gift of sports to impoverished children during the holidays: Are you looking for a cool holiday gift? Check out how you can purchase a Gear for Goals’ logo’d sports ball and help a child in need below!
Aiming to bring sport, hope and opportunity to children living in poverty both locally and internationally during the holiday season, Northbrook-based youth charity Gear for Goals (G4G) recently launched their ‘One Gives One’ campaign.
During One Gives One, G4G will donate a new soccer ball or baseball to a child living in poverty for every soccer ball or dozen baseballs purchased at G4G’s website.
Community members can purchase a logo’d G4G sports ball and help a child in need at g4gsports.org. Multiply your gift giving during the holidays! Together, we can make a difference.
Working for the past year to develop a significant footprint of impact around the world, Gear for Goals has currently delivered sport and hope to over 25,000 children in 15 countries. The request outstrips the resource nearly 10 to 1, according to Gear for Goals’ Executive Director Dr. Warren Bruhl and more donated equipment is needed to fulfill all the requests. This is especially true for soccer equipment and soccer balls. Soccer is the international sport of the world and Gear for Goals aims to help the over one billion children around the world who have no sport to have a chance.
Soccer balls purchased through G4G’s One Gives One campaign are high quality number 5 Baden Soccer Balls and the baseballs are high quality Baden balls. Help Gear for Goals help them! Excellent gifts for the holidays, One Gives One can also be utilized as a fundraiser for sports groups or teams. For more information on how your group can get involved, contact. Dr. Warren Bruhl at 847.869.2031
Gear for Goals is a sports project of non-profit Dreamweaver International based in Northbrook, Illinois and Kenya, East Africa.
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Gear for Goals’ relief efforts continue through the end of the year with a mission trip to Kenya, East Africa and welcomes all donations of new and used sports gear and musical instruments. To donate gear or to make a cash donation, contact Dr. Warren Bruhl at dr.bruhl@dreamweaver911.org or by phone at 847.869.2031.
G4G currently provides sport equipment to children in the Dominican Republic, Kenya, Bolivia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Russia, Philippines, Jamaica, India, and Cuba. For more information about ways you can help, visit dreamweaver911.org.
Garnering publicity for a startup can be a great way of generating buzz about your new business, but it can also be a tricky endeavor. That said, having a well thought-out communications plan can keep your emerging brand on track and can help you navigate the murky waters when you do find yourself in an “iffy” media situation.
We all remember when Chicago-based startup Groupon slipped up last year by saying “s**t happens, we’re a young company” in an interview with The Financial Times, a newspaper read by investors and business executives, in response to irregularities found in their financial statements. (Their shareholders were no doubt less than thrilled with their nonchalance.)
Like startups, celebrities are also concerned with protecting their “brand” and no one more so lately than Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones have felt the strain of being under the media spotlight and dealing with the consequences of a PR blunder; for them a very public recent split. There are some important PR takeaways and lessons we can learn from these high-profile media fiascos.
PR Lessons
Loose Lips Sink Ships. It’s doubtful that Douglas, currently promoting his role as flamboyant pianist Liberace in the HBO film ‘Behind the Candelabra’, gave any thought to how his gaffe (blurting out in an interview that his stage 4 throat cancer was the result of an HPV infection he got from oral sex) would affect his wife and ultimately, his marriage. (I can only imagine their strained conversation after he made this confession.) You’ve heard the old adage “loose lips sink ships” and in this case, the ship was their marriage.
Think Team. Even if you are a celebrity or CEO, it’s important to remember that you have partners, employees, spouses and/or stakeholders who are invested in what you say to the media. (In Douglas’ case, his wife had a huge stake in his admission.) It’s important to “think team” when you are putting your communications strategy together and to consider how your words will affect your stakeholders.
Don’t Miss a Chance to Redirect Your Story. In Douglas’ case, the greatest crime isn’t the potential cause of his cancer – he later retracted his statement – it’s that he missed out on the perfect PR opportunity to redirect his story to champion a celebrity cause. Up until his retraction, he was praised by health experts for raising awareness for HPV, largely considered an epidemic, yet often taboo topic, because it’s sexually transmitted. Having a celebrity share his personal experience could have prompted a much-needed national conversation about HPV prevention strategies; however, Douglas wasn’t willing to rise to the occasion and go there (or return there, such as it is).
PR Takeaways.We all need to embrace that we are human and that PR blunders happen. When they do, it’s important that we are honest and transparent with our reactions and communications.
Take Groupon former CEO Andrew Mason’s final goodbye memo when he was ousted as CEO – it was authentic and transparent and demonstrated a level of honesty that we should all strive for in our communications. Douglas’ awkward retraction, on the other hand, didn’t feel authentic and I doubt that it changed the public’s perception on what caused his cancer (and we’re not judging in the least!); he also missed out on the perfect PR opportunity to turn his PR blunder into a platform and to contribute to the public good.
April Neill is a brand strategist, lifelong entrepreneur and founder/CEO of April Neill Public Relations, a boutique public relations firm serving small businesses and non-profits in Chicagoland. You can find April online at www.AprilNeillPR.comor at www.Facebook.com/AprilNeillPR.
April Neill Public Relations is passionate about helping small businesses position themselves as experts in their industry. We offer a complimentary 30-minute in-person or phone consultation. Email AprilNeill@gmail.com to make your appointment today or call (312) 772-3832 for more information.
What was it like to be a first-century follower of Jesus Christ and to hear his words first-hand? This question has been asked for centuries and Provision Theater is on a mission to bring Jesus’ words to life with its production of ‘Red Letter Jesus’ starting in September.
Provision Theater Company is looking to raise funds through a campaign with Indiegogo –which means gaining support from the public –by September 15thto bring the parables, the teachings, and the journey of Jesus Christ to the 21st century.
Provision Theater is devoted to producing works of hope, reconciliation and redemption and is preparing to open their 10thAnniversary Season with Red Letter Jesus, a deeply moving new show of Jesus’ words from the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) performed with an original multimedia presentation, including stunning videography captured throughout Israel and Jordan.
Facing rising production costs, Provision is asking the public to pitch in to help defray the costs of Red Letter Jesus with an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign seeking to raise $5000.
Red Letter Jesus stars Atlanta-based actor Brad Sherrill who devotes eight months of the year to the ongoing U.S. tour of his faith-based theater work. Red Letter Jesus, which includes an original visual presentation from Israel and Jordan created by his collaborator and multimedia designer Mark Hickman, is Sherrill’s third live theatrical offering based on biblical texts. Sherrill has performed The Gospel of John over 600 times, including a run off-Broadway. He also recently premiered his original adaptation of Prophets, based on the texts of Isaiah and Jeremiah, at Georgia Shakespeare (Atlanta, 2010).
“Our fundraising goal is only a fraction of the production costs for Red Letter Jesus,’ says Provision’s Artistic Director, Timothy Gregory. “Donations will help support multiple aspects of the show, including creating the set, facilitating the multimedia presentation of videography captured throughout Israel and Jordan and compensation for all of those involved in the production from the talent to the stage crew and box office staff.”
Campaign perks include mentions on Provision’s Facebook page, Red Letter Jesus cause bands/bracelets, Red Letter Jesus bookmarks, as well as tickets to Red Letter Jesus and a signed poster from critically acclaimed actor Brad Sherrill for larger donations.
“This is something we need to do to continue producing works of hope,” says Gregory. “With the publics’ support, Provision can continue to produce works that positively impact the community.”
The production will run September 6 through October 13 with performances on Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. and Sundays at 3:00 p.m. at Provision Theater, 1001 W. Roosevelt Rd., Chicago, IL, 60608. For tickets, call the box office at 312-455-0066 or visit provisiontheater.org.
Check out a video trailer from Red Letter Jesus below.
About Provision Theater Company
Provision Theater Company is a 501c3 non-profit devoted to producing works of hope, reconciliation and redemption; works that challenge us to explore a life of meaning and purpose. Provision Theater Company has celebrated numerous Joseph Jefferson Award nominations for their critically-acclaimed productions of SHADOWLANDS, THE HIDING PLACE, COTTON PATCH GOSPEL, A CHRISTMAS CAROL, C.S. LEWIS ON STAGE, THE FOREIGNER, A CHRISTMAS MEMORY & THE THANKSGIVING VISITOR, THE SPITFIRE GRILL and BEAST ON THE MOON. Other highly praised productions include: SHAW VS CHESTERTON: THE DEBATE, FISH EYES, SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY, THE CHRISTMAS MIRACLE OF JONATHAN TOOMEY, BONHOEFFER’S COST, THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE, SANDERS FAMILY CHRISTMAS, GODSPELL, SMOKE ON THE MOUNTAIN, THE BOYS NEXT DOOR, and THE GOSPEL OF JOHN.
