Written by Barbara Tipton, owner of Grapevine Marketing Solutions which specializes in business writing, public relations and media communications

Public Relations are target-market awareness strategies used to meet the goals and objectives identified in your comprehensive marketing plan. Today, it’s wise to out-source separate marketing and Public Relations services if qualified individuals are not on staff, as each discipline has its strengths for securing valuable market share.

By studying research gathered in your marketing plan, promotional activities focused on the 7-P’s of the extended marketing mix—Product, Price, Promotion, Place (distribution), People, Processes, and Physical Evidence (of services offered)—can be evaluated honestly. In the first step, Public Relations (PR) campaigns manage the public’s perception of your business, reputation, a program or a product. And within both the marketing plan and the PR campaign, there’s energy to create remarkable things worth talking about.

The methodology of Public Relations is to invest resources on building positive, long-lasting relationships with profitable audiences. PR professionals next identify the desired target market, then craft and tailor every positive message, piece of collateral, media communication, and special event to influence that audience, constantly measuring ROI against the influence. With fast-forward technology at your fingertips, the promotional tools you choose to use today will be obsolete tomorrow, so you must work at the top of your game.

Standard Tools
The audience will define the promotional activities and media tools used today. The days of printed advertising, sales promotions, direct marketing pieces are dwindling. Printing costs, expensive postage, dwindling newspaper readership, and junk mail are not as effective as they used to be. Dynamic websites, along with these electronic PR tools are welcomed most frequently by today’s environmental-friendly and ‘too-busy’ audiences:
• Electronic press releases
• Links to online Press Kits
• Wire service distribution feeds
• Electronic news releases to strategic media partners
• Online personal sales blasts, e-zines, e-coupons

Social Media
Narrowing the scope of the target market defines success today. ‘Age’ now dictates whether to use print or electronic means of PR communication. An audience above 40-years old may still respond to printed materials and values something they can hold in their hands, read and keep. A younger audience, between 25 to 40-years of age, is more comfortable online, preferring interactive, digital communications and e-files. Whatever is new, personal—yet practical, will capture the attention of the Gen Y’s and future cyber generations. And lately, smart businesses are using social technology at record-speed to share their message with a narrow, but precisely chosen audience: 
• RSS satellite feeds
• Pod casts
• Web casts
• Blogs
• Face-Book
• My Space
• You Tube

Partnership Events
Lastly, one of the most accepted and strongest promotional activities today are partnership events. Even though these people-friendly venues raise business PR to a new level, they are very resource heavy and must be professionally planned for success. Individual or product placement within community events or at celebrity functions can develop high-visibility if you carefully select strategic alliances. Products/people can be launched at press conferences, media seminars, public speaking opps, grand openings as well as entertainment and sporting events. The secret is to garner events that establish honorable partnerships, which in turn benefit the bottom line.
                                                                          - - -
Public Relations professionals keep abreast of the fast, ever-changing landscape of business through the local and national association of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA).

Barbara Tipton can be reached at 817-329-0318 or brtipton@tx.rr.com.  Her website address is www.shazammpromotions.com

(Written by Mili Suleman, owner of a graphic design solutions company.)

Welcome Readers!

This is the first in a series of articles I’ll be writing focusing on graphic design for the small business.  (Thanks Kate!)

The average consumer is becoming savvier about graphic design software programs and that’s awesome.  But if you think knowing how to put together a newsletter in Publisher is all you need to know in terms of graphic design, (we’ll lovingly call it GD from now), read this article and you’ll probably change your mind.  The harsh truth is the image of your business presented to the world each day can be a lot more important in the start than the actual product or service you are delivering.  So, get comfortable and read on…    

First off, let’s define ‘graphic design’ that is sometimes confused with ‘desktop publishing’ and discuss how the two are different.   

Graphic Design is the art and science of laying out images (photographs, scanned images, computer-created artwork) and text into a space that communicates a message to the audience.  This could take the form of logos, brochures, annual reports, branding/identity, restaurant graphics, direct mail, posters etc.  GD is an intensive and sometimes lengthy process that involves research, conceptualization, sketches, designing and revisions.  GD can involve creating pieces of work completely by hand and then transferring them to a computer or creating them from scratch on the computer.  Hence, graphic designers usually have a background in studio arts, photography, etc.  Programs used by a graphic designer include Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Bridge, Freehand, Flash, Quark XPress, etc.  

Desktop Publishing (we’ll call it DP for short) is the usage of the computer and specific software to lay out newsletters, brochures, and other functional pieces.  Compared to GD, DP is usually a process that is not as in-depth, which doesn’t mean it isn’t as time-consuming unfortunately, and focuses more on the function than the “art.”  DP is aimed at the average consumer who doesn’t have a design background.  DP is entirely completed on the computer using programs such as PageMaker, InDesign, Quark XPress, Word, Publisher, (Photoshop, Illustrator on occasion). 

Let me illustrate how GD helped a client of mine with branding her company in creating an identity that presented her business with a sophisticated and professional image…  

Case Study:  Yvonne Fontana Jewelry 

Yvonne and I met at a women’s networking meeting after she had started a small home-based business of making delicate, beautiful jewelry for women.  Like any small business owner, she dreamed big.  She came to me for a logo that represented her work.   

I met with her a few times and got to know her better.  Then I started working on some concepts, which resulted in several pages of sketches.  The images you will see in the near future are only a sample.  I worked on typefaces, shapes, colors etc.  Image “d” is the final product.   

We knew we wanted something that represented Yvonne’s strong faith and her product.  The shape in the center can be interpreted as a star, diamond, sparkle, a cross.  The colors I chose have a feminine quality.  The typeface (or font) is delicate, stem-like.  I also created a black logo on a white background and a white logo on a black background.  This gave Yvonne the versatility to print it as she pleased.  She has patented the logo, made necklace tags and earring cards, and is on her way to selling the heck out of her jewelry.  

I’d like to end this article by asking you to make a list (I love lists!) of your qualities, passions, personality traits that you might like represented in your company’s logo.  

Mili Suleman can be reached at 817-456-6622 or mili@schnauzdesign.com.  Her website is www.schnauzdesign.com and of course features some of her design work.

The North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) recently released its official Jan. 1, 2008 population estimates for the greater DFW area.  NCTCOG estimates are based on building permits, occupancy factors and household size; this process differs from U.S. Census methodology.

For the five cities in the greater Southlake marketplace with over one thousand residents, Grapevine experienced the greater increase of 3.6 percent, or 1,650 new residents.  Keller had the second highest growth rate at 1.9 percent, for an increase of 700 residents.  Overall, the five cities grew by 3,150 residents, or 2.3 percent from 138,500 in January 2007 to 141,650 on January 1, 2008.

Here are population estimates for the five local  communities with over one thousand residents as of January 1, 2007 and 2008.

Colleyville
2008  22,500
2007  22,150

Grapevine
2008  47,150
2007  45,500
 
Keller
2008  38,400
2007  37,700

Southlake
2008  26,100
2007  25,700

Trophy Club
2008  7,500
2007  7,450

Here are three tips to remember when marketing in a struggling economy.

First, focus on strengthening relationships with your best customers.  Who are the twenty percent generating eighty percent of your revenue?  Use your tracking system to identify them if you don’t already know.  If you don’t have an effective tracking system and customer database, now’s a great time to start developing them!

When was the last time you had a personal conversation with these key customers?  What are their concerns?  Do you need to modify payment terms?  Do you need to reward them with special services that may only cost a small amount but generate additional loyalty?  Do they provide referrals?

Second, examine your current marketing activities.  Focus on those producing the greatest return on your investment of time and money.  If you can’t quantify your return, now’s the time to develop a practical method.

Third, now is not the time to cut corners on customer service.  If you lose profitable customers due to a decline in service, you may not regain them after the economy improves.