DIVADIGEST: APRIL '06, ISSUE 29

Five Steps To Gaining Publicity For Your Business

There is no doubt about it - if you want your business to be successful, you must publicize it. There are many aspects that you must take into consideration when it comes to getting publicity for your business. Cost and effectiveness are the two greatest factors. You must have several pieces of data, and a well written press release, then you must know how, where, and when to publicize the business.

 

Getting positive publicity for your business isn't hard, but it can be challenging. Great attention must be paid to the various aspects of the process if you are to be successful. Monique Danielle of Diva Design Worldworks with her clients to publicize their businesses successfully. She offers these tips to help you gain publicity for your business in just five steps.

 

Step 1: Collect Your Data - Before you even write a word of copy, you must know who you are talking to, and where you will find them. What is your target market? Who are you trying to reach? Who will your product appeal to? Once you know who you are trying to reach, figuring out where to find them is a bit easier. You will need to make a list. List the usual places first, such as newspapers, business journals and newsletters, publications the chamber of commerce publishes, radio, television, and magazines.

 

Once you have your basic list, you need to think deeper. When considering newspapers, consider what type of newspapers you want to use, and the section of those newspapers that works best for you. Pay attention to your target market here. If you are trying to reach women, you don't want to contact the sports editor. If you are trying to reach businesses, the business editor is the person you want to reach. Don't limit yourself too much, but keep your thinking in line with your target market and what media you are most likely to reach them through.

 

Make a list of contacts, such as the business editors of the newspapers, feature reporters. Find out who is running the show at each newspaper, television station, and radio station that you wish to use. Get their contact information, and be sure to verify how the contact prefers to receive press releases. Some will choose to receive the press release via email or fax, while others still prefer to receive press releases through regular postal mail.

 

Step 2: Write Your Press Release - You may want to hire a professional to do this. Professionals know how to get the attention of editors. Writing effective press releases is their bread and butter, so they do it well. If you want to write your own press release, make sure that you answer the questions: who, what, when, where, and why. Your press release should be one page in length, and it should include some background information about your company. Quotes from the company heads are always good, as long as they aren't excessive. Remember that this should be newsworthy information. It is not an ad.

 

Polish your press release. Make sure that the grammar is correct and everything is spelled right. Don't use run-on sentences. Long paragraphs should be avoided. Make sure your contact information is directly on the press release, or it won't even be considered.

 

Step 3: Send Out Your Press Release - This is the easiest part of publicity. If you have prepared your press release, and your list of contacts thoroughly, you are ready to send your release out to the contacts that you chose in step one. If your press release is of national or global interest, you should consider sending it out through an established distribution company as well. This will gain you more publicity, because journalists all over the world will receive your release. This will allow you to reach media outlets that you either didn't think of, or didn't know about.

 

Step 4: Extra Distribution For Your Press Release - Once you have distributed your press release, make sure that you post it on your website. Since you will be distributing releases on a regular basis, you will want to create a section of your site for 'latest news' or 'press releases.' Consider sending the release to related websites as well, and add these websites to your list of contacts. Your press release can also be altered and used as a flier, and you can mail a copy to your past and current customers as well. Think hard, and get as much mileage as possible out of each press release.

 

Step 5: Prepare for Future Publicity - Don't give it all away at once. Publicizing your business one time will only make you a success for a short time. You need to write and distribute press releases on a regular basis. Try to come up with ideas for 10 - 12 press releases, which will be written and distributed throughout the year. Keep your mind open to new possibilities for press releases all the time.

 

Continue to build your list of contacts. If you distributed your release through a distribution service, and it is published by sources that were not on your original contact list, be sure to add that source to your list. Keep your eyes and ears open for new sources all the time.

 

Getting organized and learning the ropes before you send out your first press release is a bit time consuming. Once you've done it a few times, it will become easier. The important thing is that you do it right the first time, or you can actually decrease your chances of getting any of your press releases published in the future. If you are unsure, or you need help, be sure to contact Monique Danielle at www.divadesignworld.com. She is an expert, and she can help you avoid making mistakes.

 

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Content Management: Riding the Next Wave of Web Design

For most of us, technology has become easier to use than ever before. The massive technological advances and huge research and development investments of the mid-1990s gave ordinary computer users unprecedented access to technology that was both cool and useful: Bigger monitors, ever-faster hard drives, and speedier, more user-friendly applications. But user-friendly web management strategies have been slower in coming.

 

Fortunately, the future is here. Thanks to sophisticated new advances in web development, the ability to manage all the content on your web site, on your own time, is at your fingertips. And the more control you have over your own content, the more indispensable your information will become.

 

You don't have to be a web genius or pay high fees to developers to update your web site on a daily basis. With the help of the design pros at Diva Design World, you can keep up with the relentless pace of business - effortlessly. Here's how.

 

Our web developers start by designing forms that allow you to access the information you provide. You don't have to be a programmer, or even know HTML, to access your data. Once the form is created, all you have to do is change the content as needed. Taking advantage of a content management system requires no web design experience whatsoever.

 

If you're thinking of making the switch to a content management strategy, consider the following:

 

 

 

 

 

Bottom line: if you want instant web gratification and the most bang for your development buck, Diva Design World's content management systems may be just the solution you're looking for.

 

 

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Elements of Effective Logo Design

A logo is used to represent a brand, or a company. It is simply a visual symbol used to identify your company and make it memorable. Your logo should be unique and different, because your company is unique and different. This uniqueness is what sets you apart from your competitors. An outstanding logo can greatly affect your profits in a positive way.

 

Monique Danielle of Diva Design World knows how much weight a logo can carry for a business. She works with her clients to design just the right logo for their businesses. She knows that there are many things to consider when designing a logo - from the actual artistic design to the psychological effects the logo has on consumers. She also works with client's existing logo's to freshen them up and modernize them without changing the logo so much that consumers won't recognize it.

 

When designing a new logo, there is a right way and a wrong way to go about it. Whether you are working with a designer or trying your hand at your own design (not recommended), you need to know the right way to go about creating an effective logo.

 

All logo design begins with the shape. Your logo should have a unique shape. It is important that you view the logo's of your competitors, and make sure that your shape does not reflect theirs in anyway. You want your logo to stand out in the crowd. You want unique, you do not want complicated. This is important. The shape of your logo should be so simple that a person with absolutely no artistic ability can draw the outline shape of your logo on a piece of paper from memory. This is true, even if your logo is simply words written in a specific font or typeset. Think about the shapes of some logo's that you easily recognize off the top of your head. How simple is the shape?

 

Next, have your logo done without color. A simple shape, done in black and white. If the colorless logo is appealing without the use of color, you are on the right track. If it is not appealing in black and white, start over. Once you have a logo that is appealing without color, add color to make it even more appealing. When using color, you must use caution. Colors have a great impact on people's emotions. Furthermore, you still need to keep it simple, and not use too many different colors in your color scheme. The color schemes should be simple enough that the non-artistic person who drew out your logo from memory can also add the colors from memory. Learn how different colors effect or evoke different emotions.

 

Don't clutter up your logo. Remember - simple is best. You want it to be clean. You don't have to fill up the whole shape of your logo. Free space is good. It makes the logo easier to view. If your logo includes words, don't make the mistake of using a font that is hard to read, or that has letters that may be hard to decipher.

 

Once your logo has been designed, it needs to be tested to make sure that it works on everything that you intend to use it on. Often, a logo that looks great on a letterhead, doesn't look good on a billboard. Think about everywhere that you intend to use the logo, and make sure that the logo that has been designed works. Don't leave anything out - television, video, websites, letterheads, stickers, tee-shirts, brochures....everything. Don't forget to make sure that the logo works in different sizes as well.

 

Finally, test your logo on people. Get together three or four designs, and ask your employees and customers to vote on the best one. Pay attention to the results, even if the majority chooses a logo different from the one you would have voted for. When you show the logo's to the "voter's" do it quickly. Don't give them time to stare at them for very long. When the logo is in "real" use, consumers won't stare at it for very long. The purpose is for consumers to literally see the logo for a few seconds, but to remember it for the rest of their lives.

 

If you want to create a winning logo that will not only be unique and memorable, but will also stand the test of time, contact Monique Danielle at www.divadesignworld.com for more information.

 

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Better Search Engine Optimization

Search Engines play a big role in marketing a website. Achieving a top ranking in the search engines brings a website owner more traffic, more leads, and potentially, more sales. Over 85% of the traffic a website receives comes from search engines. While there are thousands of search engines and directories on the Internet today, the three that a website owner should pay the most attention to are Google, Yahoo, and MSN.

 

Several years ago, all a website owner could do was to submit their sites to the search engines and directories, tweak their meta tags, and hope for the very best. Now, the rules have changed, and there is more to getting that search engine traffic. Monique Danielle of Diva Design World knows this. She offers the following tips to help you optimize your site to make it more search engine friendly.

 

The absolute first step a webmaster should take when optimizing a website is to find out what keywords are to be used. How will your customer search for you? What words and phrases will they use? Will any words be misspelled? Begin by making a list of as many targeted keywords that you can think of, starting with the most obvious and relevant keywords.

 

The webpages that you are promoting should contain these keywords. However, placement of these keywords matters a great deal. Begin by making sure that you use your keywords in the "ALT" description of your image tags. Then, look at the links that you have on each page. Use the "Title" portion of the hyperlink tags to use your keywords or key phrases as well.

 

Next, move to your meta tags. Meta tags are not outdated. Search engines do still look at meta tags, and any opportunity to use your keywords should be taken. Make sure that you use your keywords in the title, description, and keyword portions of the meta tags.

 

The headline, or heading of your webpages should contain your main keywords. These are the keywords that are most obvious, or most relevant to your site. You should also use your most targeted keywords in the "Title" tag, which is between the "Head" tags of the webpage. Make sure you use a sentence or phrase here.

 

Finally, move to the actual text of the page. Make sure that you use your keywords throughout the text. It is said that search engines give weight to words that are in bold, italics, or highlighted, so make sure that you use these features on your keywords, without overdoing it.

 

Link popularity has become a popular marketing technique. Not only does this allow you to get traffic from other, related sites, but it also increases your ranking in the search engines. Make sure that you only link to quality sites, and that they place your link on their pages as well. Check often to make sure that your link still resides on the sites you are linking to. Furthermore, if you can get your link on other sites, without being required to provide a reciprocal link, that is even better. This can be done by posting in the forums, using a signature file, and by writing and distributing articles.

 

Finally, make sure that everything on your site works. Check often for broken links or page errors. You want you site to be professional, and you want the search engines to really like it. Check your HTML code with an HTML checker, and make sure that everything is spelled right, using a spelling checker.

 

Optimizing a website for the search engines is not a one-time thing. It is an ongoing job that can become tedious and time consuming. If you need help, contact Monique Danielle at Diva Design World.

 

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