PR Guru, Drew Gerber

As part of my interview series with “Thought Leaders,” PR guru and  author, Drew Gerber from “Pitchrate.com” shares his wisdom with us. I’ve been following Drew online for some time, so I was pleased as punch that he agreed to this important interview.

Ed Roach: How much does personal branding matter in Public Relations?

Drew Gerber: Personal branding is as important in the world of business survival as food, shelter, and water are to personal survival. If you want to set yourself apart from the competition you have to make a name for your products and services. Chances are someone else is doing the same thing you are, so you really have to find what’s unique about you. The goal of branding is to make it so your target market remembers you. When you’re giving an interview you have to make sure you deliver your message in way that forces people to take notice of your brand. You have to make it like a song they can’t get out of their heads.

Ed Roach: Whenever I speak of corporate branding, I believe a company is smarter to lead than follow. Taking their PR efforts into consideration, how important is “being the leader”?

Drew Gerber: Being a leader is definitely important, but you also have to know what others are doing. I would never advocate following or “riding the coat tails”, but with the Internet and social networking, ideas and thoughts are being exchanged at a very rapid pace. It really comes down to progression these days. How far you can take an idea and how you can leverage it to really make a difference in you company.

Ed Roach: Drew, I’ve heard you say, “When it comes to small businesses, PR is in everything you do.” Since your PR is a part of your brand would you agree that the tone of your brand should be reflected in your PR initiatives?

Drew Gerber: Definitely! The tone of your brand should be reflected in all your PR initiatives. Your brand is who you are. It’s counterproductive to deliver a message in an interview that doesn’t align with your branding. You have to be memorable, not confusing.

Ed Roach: Let’s say a company is in crisis, how can PR play a role in re-establishing brand reputation?

Drew Gerber: PR can be a company’s most effective tool– as long as they are willing to take responsibility and be vulnerable. Crying on camera seldom hurts either. We all watched as Toyota launched a huge PR campaign after all the recalls. They had to reestablish trust with its current and potential customers. They went hard after their long history and track record, and even brought emotion into the campaign, which we don’t see too often from large corporations. When a company’s relationship with the public is tarnished for whatever reason, PR is the most effective way to get the shine back on.

Ed Roach: As a Public Relations expert, how do you believe the Drew Gerber brand is perceived?

Drew Gerber: Well, I always think it’s hard to be objective about yourself, even if you a branding expert. Ever try cutting your own hair? I hope I’m perceived as approachable, passionate, and, above all else, committed to making a difference.

L. Drew Gerber is CEO of Wasabi Publicity, Inc. (www.PublicityResults.com) and creator of www.PitchRate.com, a free media tool that connects journalists, publicists, and experts. Gerber’s business practices and staffing innovations have been revered by PR Week, Good Morning America and the Christian Science Monitor. His companies handle international PR campaigns and his staff develops online press kits for authors, speakers and companies with Online PressKit 24/7, a technology he developed (www.PressKit247.com). Contact L. Drew Gerber at: AskDrew@PublicityResults.com or call him at 828-749-3548.

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All I can advise is that it is extremely important that you do your research and see what “appears” to be a good fit for you. By that I mean, how much effort you have to put forth to get the results you hope to achieve. You can’t do them all and be effective. As long as you realize that social media marketing is unlike any other traditional channel, you will appreciate what it takes to build audience. That difference of course is that social marketing is not about selling but is about the conversation. Branding loves social marketing because that conversation leads to relationships.

Social media also can be powerful in the right hands. Would you enjoy knowing when a key person in a business you have been aching to do business with leaves, opening the door for a new relationship, quite possibly with you? Trolling social sites can harvest this type of information. Developing a social media guide for your employees, can establish points of reference and alert them as to how the company wants them to identify themselves when ever they comment on the company online.

How ever you use the medium, finding that great fit, reduces unrealistic expectations and allows you to connect with your audience in more meaningful ways.

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Referrals. These are by far the most desirable. These come from people who generally have a great deal of respect for you, and they feel that they can trust you with their contacts.

Advocates. Advocates are people who follow you. Once you discover who they are, it is amazing what the cross-section of talent is.

Colleagues. I consider this group part of my peer group. They are in many ways my competition, but they bring certain specialties to the table that I can draw from. You could call them “strategic competition.”

Friends. We associate generally with people who share our values and interests.

To develop more of these contacts you have to be proactive in your efforts to locate them. You can do this effectively by doing the following few examples. There are infact any number of ways to mine talent, these should get you thinking in the right direction:

Live networking

Getting out into your community and meeting people allows you the luxury of sizing up people by how they handle themselves. You’d be surprised at the amount of talent that exists with an hours drive of you. When you’re networking, don’t just mine this resource for new business, BUT talent as well. You know the market you operate in, look for people who could make your services more compelling.

Online networking

Sites like Linkedin are terrific networks to find talent with which to expand your service network. As you start to see individuals with talents that appeal to you, start the conversation. Look for ways that you can reach out to them. Give first. This is true for any situation, online or off. Showing your willingness to help them, makes you a trusted contact to them.

Blogging

Whether it is my blog and several other blogs that I frequent, you would be surprised at the number of followers you eventually become acquainted to. Over the years respect for one another grows and because you are all essentially in the same community, certain expertise is realized and the opportunity to share in it rises. In several cases I have built a pitch for new business, from the unique expertise that I have acquired from blogging associates. They in return have brought opportunities my way.

I am always on the look out for opportunities that will help grow my circle of influence. So if networking for new business doesn’t appeal to you, then maybe the fit is discovering new resources that you can add to you roster that will enable you to go after business, previously out of reach.

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“Meheer, I follow your Branding Magazine and am a regular subscriber to your feeds. Mate, I’d really be intrigued to read more about specific tips for business services organizations like ours. Running a business in the B2B markets, most brand building campaigns that we formulate tend to soar our budgets.” – Ben, (Australia), Product Manager at a Consulting firm.

Ben’s dilemma is not one of a kind. The fact of the matter lies that several companies fail to acknowledge the importance of brand building. This could co-relate to the fact that brand building campaigns are difficult to measure through ROI figures. B2B markets are known for big money deals, which pose as challenge to not only SMEs but also large organizations. It is thus essential for Marketing and Product Managers to find innovative and creative niches to build their brands effectively. It is also important not to spread out the word, if you receive success. But today I’ll give out a tip that has been working for me off recent.

The Tip
The rise and saturation of Web 2.0 makes it an interesting channel to explore. I’m sure a dominating majority of you may have tried dirtying your hands with the big social networks and some niche ones too. Without any doubt, I am most certain that of the above two, the niche social networks would, on any month, outperform the likes of FaceBook and Twitter. But a Niche Web 2.0 may not exist for every B2B market.

We faced this dilemma last year, with one of our B2B clients. So, we went back to the basics to identify other channels that would cost minimal and impact our target brands maximum. The channel that we zeroed in was an obvious choice for any B2B company and was yet unexplored in several industries across the world. It was JOB PORTALs. Yea, Job Portals are the places where companies often visit to look at prospective employees and to keep a check on what kind of people competitors are employing. We approached these portals with a little bit of tweak and it worked in favour of our clients, BIG TIME. Here’s a quick step-by-step approach to build your brands on Job Portals.

Step 1. Identify where your brand’s target consumers employ their executive managerial staff from. (Talk to them, invite them for a personal function or a public event as VIP guests.)

Step 2. Shortlist the Job Portals, they use. (Hint: Look at large portals for maximum impact, Monster.com works. Also keep a close analysis on the volume of visitors to the site. Alexa.com or Quantcast.com can help you with this.)

Step 3. Sign up with these Job Portals, for employer account. (Could be paid or unpaid. Usually paid portals bring in better results. This is the only direct expense you incur which FYI is extreme minimalistic.)

Step 4. Advertise Jobs in the domains your prospective clients operate in. No we are not going to necessarily hire anyone, just building a Job Database like many other companies do. Only, our focus is not to employ candidates but to build our brands within the sector of our importance.(Hint: Mention, ‘Salary no bar’)

Step 5. Carry out your usual Business Development to notice the impact on prospective clients. (This will on parallel also build you a database of potential employees that are experts in their domains. In one such case, we also ended up employing one candidate to fill in the lack of domain expertise we had with one of the acquired clients.)

Let me know, when you do this. I’d be glad if it all works out for my readers.

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As surprised as I could ever be, I came across this recent article (‘The Danger of You Centered Branding’) on Branding Strategy Insider (BSI). Don’t get us wrong, we don’t have anything against BSI, in fact as new age Branding Experts we look up to them for quite a lot of deep trends and insights.

The article revolves around the author (who I doubt was the actual brain behind this article) comparing his personal life (about how he became bored of his early girlfriend who was kind of always okay with him doing his own stuff, ignoring her and her interests) with brands like Yahoo, Vodafone and T-Mobile who have recently launched campaigns centering ‘YOU’ (you = customers). The “Expert” argues that moves like the ones adopted by the above mentioned big brands won’t work because when they don’t stand for any-thing, they get eaten alive by competitors who do [Note: It’s taken for granted that ‘You’ (your customer) means nothing]. And then the article keeps going blah, blah over being yourself and not whatever anyone wants you to be.

Man, did this force me to think of today being 31^st March 1930 when the Selling Concept existed!! I’m thinking… ‘What the hell am I doing thinking about my consumers welfare, when a branding expert wants me to just SELL, SELL and FORGET’. Pinch!!! Snap back to reality!

For the record Mr. Branding Expert, Yahoo and Vodafone still command their respective markets at least in India. T-Mobile does not operate here. Dell’s customized orders helped it sore its sales orders by over 15%, according to a recent report I read somewhere on the Internet. (InterBrand report for Top Global Brands of 2009 also indicates Yahoo climbing one stop despite Microsoft retaining its position). ‘You’ empowerment campaigns are not mere mass marketing initiatives, but carefully researched ideas based on assurances that it is indeed what consumers want. Unlike careless boyfriends who impose their personalities on their sweet girlfriends… lol.

Those who choose not to believe with the BSI Article… know your consumer. Segment accordingly. Target sparingly. Position specifically. And center your ‘YOU’ campaign only to your target group. Then just wait until other brands follow your footsteps.

Waiting for BSI, to respond!!

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Book Shelf Brand

1: You have no idea what your brand values are, let alone understand whether management’s values compliment them or not.

2: You’ve actually gone through a branding process and the report is gathering dust on that bookshelf. You’re a planner not a doer.

3: You’re not actively marketing yourself whether that is online or off line. You allow your competition to define who you are.

4: You’re not controlling your brand image. No consistency in your image is costly and confusing.

5: You have no compelling story to tell. Your brand stands for nothing and just follows the lead of the competition. Lost in a sea of sameness.

The answer – Take those books off the shelf and get your brand happening. Tell a compelling story that will resonate with customers and get them to consider you beyond price. Stop thinking about branding and start doing something about it.

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Does your brand speak to your customers? Is the relationship you share with them go much further than service delivery? We should all be striving to build cache with our audiences.

To many in our society, it is extremely important that their individuality be identified with their favored brands. The clothes they wear, the cars they drive and the smart devices they carry. These are the world brands they identify with. What about the brands closer to home? What financial institutions they engage, or which consultants they embrace? In every purchase decision there is brand decisions. Consumers identify with success. Nobody wants to hitch their wagon to a brand that doesn’t resonate with their self-image. This is the case at every level.

Look in the mirror and see if your favored world brands don’t match your local brand choices. Society views you by which brands you wear in every facet of your life. It is one way that their perception of you is built. Perception is their reality of your brand.

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But as an attendee, I can tell you that it is not the quantity that appeals to me but the quality. Every time I discuss Branding and sales online, I am repeatedly asked for tips as to how a business can achieve fame online. How can they benefit from a sort of Oprah effect. My response is always quality over quantity.

Realistically, what are the chances of being the next Google? Even Google didn’t know they’d be the next Google. I stress looking for your niche. Even if you were to capture just .000001% of the web audience you’d still be fabulously wealthy. Quality over quantity.

In a crowded networking event, competition for attention is exasperated by the shear numbers. In all those bodies, how to narrow the focus is the new challenge. Sometimes a poorly attended networking event works out much better for me. You see, I have to have a conversation with someone before they see my value to them. More times than not, low attendance puts me in front of people who are less distracted and more apt to find out who this guy, ‘Ed Roach’ is. I’ve landed several opportunities from modest audiences that large. Quality over quantity.

Successful sales people can tell you that they would prefer a few good qualified leads than hordes of prospects. Narrow your focus and go for the gold. Doing the other is akin to beating your head against a wall. Quality over quantity.

You could go to a list broker and purchase an immense number of emails to market to. But chances are good that none of these are opt-in and possibly outside of your targeted audience. Isn’t it preferable to speak to an audience of several thousand interested in what you have to say businesses? Building your own niche audience is a desirable goal here.

Quality over quantity.

When you purchase services do look for the best solution, or are you impressed by the size of the competing business? If size impresses you, be aware that chances are only a small contingent of that firm will actually work on your account. You join other fish in that big pond. The smaller firm, appreciates your business more and chances are you will deal directly with the leadership of the company. If you do your due diligence and check who is vying for your business, the little fish reality will ring a bell with you. Quality over quantity.

What ever your goals, don’t underestimate quality over quantity. I’d much rather work for a small number of lucrative accounts that several low paying ones. I don’t work nearly as hard for the same income. It also gives me latitude to growing my business in a positive environment. Paying attention to your audience will pay dividends and allow you to benefit from the quality your brand will attract.

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Ed Roach: Considering the fact that a brand is essentially your reputation and adherence to brand values is critical in maintaining a brand that resonates with customers, what have you found in your consultation with businesses are the biggest barriers to living up to these established brand values?

Jaimy Weiler: Because new business comes to me predominantly through referral, I do strive to keep my brand values consistent as I deliver my services by focusing on “bringing simplicity, integrity and clarity of purpose to business, finance and life”. This is the tag line of One Heart Waking, and living to these values is the very essence of what I deliver.

Ed Roach: I have always believed that a very positive attitude coupled with a desire to lead instead of following is a strategy that will lead to realizing your goals. How much of a role does “attitude” play in reaching goals?

Jaimy Weiler: I believe that attitude is both fundamental and essential. It is the foundation from which our actions spring. My experience, with both myself and my clients, shows me that results follow attitude and action. A positive attitude creates more positive action, which then leads to more positive results. By the same mechanism, negative attitudes most often result in negative results, or, results that come with un-desired side-effects!

Ed Roach: You have a very unique approach in guiding businesses. What would you say is the one thing that makes your clients love you?

Jaimy Weiler: I would say that my clients sense at a deep level that I am truly ‘for’ them and the highest vision of themselves and their business. And, my confidence in what I do engenders mutual trust and respect. In coming to me for traditional business consulting, which they receive, we also find the underlying and often hidden issues which may have for so long held them and/or the business back from its fullest success.

Ed Roach: When you evaluate a prospective client, what things do you watch for that would point to a good fit with your company – “One Heart Waking?”

Jaimy Weiler: The predominant characteristic that I watch for in determining whether I am a good fit for a prospective client, is their sincere and authentic desire for change. Along with this desire must be the openness and energy to implement changes which may go against the grain of past habits.

Ed Roach: What’s the nicest thing a client has ever said about you?

Jaimy Weiler: The nicest thing that a client ever said to me was that I helped them to clear away the obstacles and structural problems that had kept their highest business vision in a dream state in the future. And in experiencing the newness of their increased success, were inspired to take themselves and their business colleagues to an even more fulfilling level of service and achievement.

Ed Roach: Finally Jaimy, how would you define success? (For you personally)

Jaimy Weiler: I define success as bringing the best of me forward into my life, more and more every day. Success to me is showing up, present and ready to go, adjusting and growing as life unfolds before me.

Thank you Jaimy.

For more information on Jaimy Weiler visit her website OneHeartWaking.com, and pick up her book, “Light Through The Heart.” or email her at Jaimy@OneHeartWaking.com

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How do you judge the appropriateness of your organizations Brainstorming sessions? Answer the following questions,

- Are you a Start-up or Are you a Medium-scaled organization?

- If start-up, then who was involved in the decision-making session?

1. Family and Friends (Including family members that double-up as colleagues)

2. Colleagues, Investors, Customers and other company stakeholders.

With Family and Friends involved in business decision making, a lot of irrelevant discussions take place. Certain research also indicates a heavey sense of pessimism with regards to Investments and Opportunity conversions.

With professionaly engaged stakeholders participating in the discussion, the focus of communication is fixed and up-to-point. This also helps quickenning the processes.

- If Medium-scaled Organization, who was involved in the decision-making process?

1. Members with varied diverse backgrounds

2. Members that belong to the domain of discussions

The formation of the Brainstorming group is more important than we may percieve. A brainstorming session must have a set of members belonging to varied domains. At the same time the need for domain experts or departmental heads cannot be ruled as low. The key here is to balance the presence of the participants in a way that more domain based discussions can be implemented. Critical examination from other varied backgrounds adds a holistic approach to the discussion.

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