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Drew Gerber Speaks on PR and your Brand

Ed Roach — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 02:52:43 +0000

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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How To Discover The Social Media Fit!

Ed Roach — Wed, 26 May 2010 20:31:44 +0000

Every week it seems there is another channel we can use to market our companies. Social Media for one appears to be leaping on to the stage at every opportunity. My inbox is constantly pushing out new sites to sign up to in the promise of delivering to us a new and exciting piece of business. I’m sure, like me, you wonder is it worth all the hype and will they get me any more notice than what I am experiencing with my current nest of sites.

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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Try This Team Building Outline!

Ed Roach — Tue, 18 May 2010 14:54:45 +0000

Opportunities come to you in a variety of ways:

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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Rapid growth of Social Media Marketing spends in India

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A good article briefing up visitors with the current social media scene in India. Although the article lacks the much needed spending numbers and amounts, its should be a good read for many.

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Alicia Cruise — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 11:18:04 +0000

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