1. From PR to PRofits Increasing Your BNI Bottom Line
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7. *Taken from the 2005 Intelliseek Consumer Generated Media (CGM) and Engagement Study *100 represents the average score 80 4.6 An advertisement in a newspaper or magazine 82 4.7 A TV or radio commercial 99 5.7 A negative news story on TV or radio or in a newspaper or magazine 121 7 Negative word of mouth from someone you knew personally 134 7.7 Positive word of mouth from someone you knew personally Index* Mean Response To what degree would your decision to purchase a product or service be influenced by:
33. From PR to PRofits Increasing Your BNI Bottom Line
Hinweis der Redaktion
Open with "Cool" from West Side (instrumental - it's just fun) For the circle graph- what can PR do for your region? "You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet" For Pros & Cons - when they hire the right PR Chick "So Happy Together" For the close - PR means PRofits - "I'm a Believer" Track 1 (Ain't seen nothing yet) 00:45 - 1:02 Track 4 (West Side - "Cool" intro) 00:16 -00:44 Track 7 (Happy Together) 00:55 - 1:08 Track 6 (I'm a Believer) 2:22 - 2:49
Word of Mouth Marketing is a derivative of the oldest type of marketing--people talking to people. It can strengthen ties and increase loyalty OR it can cause consumers to stay away from your offerings and take their money elsewhere. BNI depends on positive WOM to recruit new members and chapters.
Well-done Public Relations campaigns take the WOM "buzz" and concentrate it in places where more people can hear the message>the news media. PR is all activities intended to influence and direct the opinion of any persons of particular interest to the client. In other words, PR practitioners work as advocates for their clients, helping the media find stories that they might otherwise overlook. PR is one component of marketing. It is NOT advertising! Advertising is a paid-placement of information that you control.
For the purpose of this training, since we are the ones giving the presentation and we are known far and wide in the BNI world as the "PR Chicks" we will hence refer to all PR professionals as "PR Chicks." Please be aware that all PR Chicks are by definition, well-trained, well-connected, and extremely smart PR professionals, not all are female.
Some ways to leverage WOM is to use PR to help you take advantage of speaking engagements, winning awards, sending out press releases, writing articles or columns for the Biz page or even, if you want to be extreme like Ivan, writing a book. We’ve all heard the old adage that every person who complains tells ten people, but each person who compliments only tells 3 people—a study by Intelliseek that was presented at the 2005 WOMMA conference, tells us it ain’t so!
We’ve all heard the old adage that every person who complains tells ten people, but each person who compliments only tells 3 people—a study by Intelliseek that was presented at the 2005 WOMMA conference, tells us it ain’t so!
This survey shows that positive word of mouth actually goes FURTHER than negative word of mouth! SO anything you can do to amplify positive word of mouth, will pay great dividends!
BNI, WOM and PR have many concepts in common, for example: Using Social Capital--which is the accumulation of resources (such as ideas, knowledge, information, opportunities, contacts and referrals) developed through personal and professional networks--good PR practioners build "bank accounts" with the media to ensure that they'll have access to the right reporters at the right time. Another benefit of a “FULL” media bank account is being able to tell your side of the story when a negative situation is happening (for example, you are being sued). If the report already knows and likes you, they’ll be more likely to call you for your side of the story or maybe even chose not to write about the situation. You can’t wait until something bad is happening to build your media bank account.
Builds organization brand (BNI)--so that even people who aren't involved know what it is and how it can help a business grow, builds credibility, increase number of visitors, increase membership, increase average chapter size and/or number of chapters, help BNI "homestead" in under-developed areas of region, allows ED and/or ADs to be seem as WOM expert(s) in area, promote/reward outstanding chapters or members,
Now for the tricky part…do you Hire a professional or Do it Yourself??? How many of you have ever remodeled a home? What were some things that you found out during the process? Possible answers: Expensive Time-consuming Contractors didn’t do a good job Got into fights with spouse Etc. Well, PR and home remodeling have a lot in common, so as we go through this list of reasons for and against hiring a PR professional or Doing it yourself, keep in mind some of the things you have just heard.
Pros of Hirin g--- If you hire a PR practitioner, you'll get a professional who does this every day and already has existing relationships with the media, You want to be the expert in WOM, so use a PR expert to provide the verbal and written "testimonials" about you to the media--these can take the form of press releases, story "pitching" or article placement. It saves you time--you can focus on building your region, while your PR Chick focuses on building your "buzz." A professional who focuses solely on PR can produce a better quality image/product because that's what they do every day. They will work with you to set goals for your region, they can help keep you on task and provide consistency. A PR professional can help prepare you for interviews and help eliminate misquoting Most importantly, you have bragging rights. You can say to your friends, "I have a PR Chick, don't you?" Cons of Hiring --- This is going to be a shocker--it costs money! You still have to provide information and resources to the PR professional so they can do their job. Remember, you are the expert in BNI, they are the experts at promoting people, they must have critical information from you in a timely manner to be able to take advantage of the "teachable moment" with the media. You may not find the right PR professional on the first try. You may not agree on the PR goals. In order to set good PR goals, you must have clear goals for your region. If you can't communicate those goals, don't bother trying to hire a PR Chick. Your region may be too small or spread out for PR to reach critical mass. Every region is different and needs to be evaluated accordingly.
Pros of doing it yourself -- You know more than anyone else about your region and product. You have ultimate control over what goes out. This speaks to the inner control freak! You can develop personal relationships with media. You would not be paying outside person. You may be able to pay more attention to specific outcomes, through use of BNInet. You can better leverage existing member relationships with the media. You can have chapters do their own PR. Cons of doing it yourself -- It can be very time consuming. It is easy to "back burner" PR. You have many other priorities within your region, so PR may not get the attention it needs from you. You don't do PR everyday, so it may take some time to build those muscles and your media "bank account." Your members may feel like they have carte blanche to do say what they want to the media. You can have chapters do their own PR--badly! This does not work well for control freaks!
MUSIC
regional events high dollar referrals directors/members who win awards director speaking engagements member extravaganza winners regional milestone (1000 members, 50 chapters, etc.) business school petition guest lecturer new ADs Fill-in-the-blank Press release (Boilerplate) new leadership teams new chapters visitors day joint meetings
Chamber of Commerce American Business woman's Assn.. Local professional & business groups colleges and universities Rotary Kiwanis Sertoma
Awards/certifications--Awards can be used in many ways to promote your members and region. Several publications have special sections just for awards. ED/AD/member--Are you winning an award at International conference? Tell the world when you get home. Make sure to tout members who win awards--perhaps feature them in the next issue of your regional newsletter. Chapter--Chapters can win awards on a national or regional level--make sure to recognize them and spread the word in the local media, regional newsletters Region--be on the look-out for entrepreneurial awards you can apply for. Many awards are amazing opportunities to take advantage of the "built-in" PR that is paid for by the sponsoring companies. Look for a PR professional that has written several winning awards in order to give your region an "unfair" advantage.
Testimonials— Members Corporate Region-wide How many of you have a member who has had amazing success because of BNI? Yet, many of you don't have a testimonial from that member, why not? Or, if you have one, it doesn't really give the details that are important for you to sell BNI to others. Your member means well, but they are so busy doing what it is they do, that they don't have time or they are secretly afraid that they will use poor grammar or make a fool of themselves, so they put it off. Having a PR Chick call to interview your member and write the testimonial can take the stress off of them and give you a much better, more detailed and specific piece that can be used to recruit new members, pitch stories to the media or generate other opportunities.
Articles on Biz page--we both work with several clients who are always ready with an article for the media at a moments notice. They write articles in advance and stockpile them. This is especially useful to the media as budgets and newsroom staff are reduced--it allows them to have a guest columnist on short notice. Some ideas include: How word of mouth marketing sustains business during economic downturns Chapter/Region generates $XXX million for local economy (economic impact) Maximizing Your Marketing Dollars Columns--If you accept an invitation to be a columnist for a newspaper or magazine, remember that it is a long term commitment. We recommend that most of our clients get several columns done in advance to provide a buffer should they have a situation come up where they are unable to write their column. Some column ideas include: How to work a mixer Top tens ways to make this your best year ever Referrals mean better business Shortening your sales cycle Tools for networking
Newsletters Your own regional newsletter--print or electronic Chambers of Commerce--many have monthly publications Member companies--ask your members if their company has a sales newsletter or a client newsletter that reaches one of your target audiences.
Books--writing a book can be a very long, involved process. However, it is easier to pitch any expert, if they have a book under their belt. Ivan has graciously provided several venues for BNI directors over the past few years, including: Masters of Networking Masters of Success Masters of Sales It's in the Cards! Your next book ________________________________
Building media bank account--as we have mentioned several times today, building a media "bank account" is of paramount importance. Some ways that you and your PR Chick can do that include: offering yourself or members as experts for reporters to interview following through on promises inviting media to special events sending thank yous
Open with "Cool" from West Side (instrumental - it's just fun) For the circle graph- what can PR do for your region? "You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet" For Pros & Cons - when they hire the right PR Chick "So Happy Together" For the close - PR means PRofits - "I'm a Believer" Track 1 (Ain't seen nothing yet) 00:45 - 1:02 Track 4 (West Side - "Cool" intro) 00:16 -00:44 Track 7 (Happy Together) 00:55 - 1:08 Track 6 (I'm a Believer) 2:22 - 2:49