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Online marketers are always on the lookout for promotional channels that are novel and are yet to be saturated with the unfortunate stigma of marketing abuse. Different people are constantly trying to find new ways by which they could promote their online enterprises.

One of the newer, and most effective, marketing strategies are press releases. Press releases are informative and objective pieces which are supposed to be newsworthy, and are circulated in PR wires for pickup by various news groups and editors. Once a press release is picked up, it can be published in various channels all over the Internet, or even through print publications.

Immediately, the sharp marketing mind would be able to see the grand potentials of press releases as amazing tools that would help them spread the word about their business. Imagine the promising things that await if ever a press release is picked up or print or online publication. Such would be tantamount to instantaneous exposure for your business to entirely new audiences!

However, you cannot simply write a press release the same way you would an article, or a content piece, or a sales letter. To employ the same style with press releases would be to court disaster. Your press release won’t be accepted by newswires, hence, it won’t have the chance to get picked up.

So how exactly should you write a press release? Let’s take a look at the guidelines below.

* Pay attention to the 5 Ws. These are Who, What, When, Where and Why. These are the questions which your press release should focus on. If you’re going to write a press release for your dog grooming business, for example, you should be able to state who you are, what your business is about, when it will, or was, launched, where it can be found and why it was established. If you are going to launch, or just launched, a new product, you would have to state who the creator is, what the product is all about, when it was or will be launched, where it can be bought, and why it was introduced to the market.

* Be objective. Remember, a press release should be a newsworthy item. News is never subjective. Stay away from flowery words that merely tend to hype up what you want to discuss. Stick with the facts, and ONLY the facts. You are writing news, not a promotional piece.
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In “On Networking Groups – Part One”, I spoke briefly about the four types of networking groups. Now, let’s take a look at a category of networking groups.

One category that most people are familiar with is the Chamber Of Commerce. Chambers serve a long standing role in the business community. It is a role of development and support. A Chamber Of Commerce can offer business both small and large with networking opportunities, training programs, legislative assistance and a host of other benefits. A Chamber Of Commerce can be a local, statewide, national, or international organization with separate memberships for each. If you belong to an area Chamber of Commerce, you do not belong to a state or national Chamber. Each plays their own role in the business community.

Some Chambers of Commerce take more of a role in the community to influence policy while others might focus more on business development. Most of them however have a wealth of information for the member that goes unused by most.

For example, let’s say you have a business and you have a question about a city ordinance that relates to your business. Most often a Chamber of Commerce can provide you with the answer to your question. Each of them has a database of members that can often be accessed through some point. Usually computers are made available to members with databases that can be searched for information on other members.

When looking for networking opportunities within a Chamber Of Commerce, most people think only of leads groups or the common after hours. The reality is that any function hosted by a chamber of commerce holds opportunities for networking with other business owners and business leaders.
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I have been trying to think about how I can talk about this subject and address it in a way that would be fair and balanced without injecting too much personal opinion and have decided to first talk about the types of groups and then later on be more specific. It is important to remember that you will have preferences that may not align with mine, but that each of us share a common goal in our networking. More business and possibly more friends.

So lets begin by analyzing the various types of groups. There are many different types of groups, but it is easier to categorize them by the meeting format rather than using individual categories like chambers of commerce or women’s groups.

Most groups fall under one of 4 main categories. These are Social Networking, Business Networking, Leads Groups and Networking with a Program.

Social Networking

Social networking is a part of our daily lives whether we realize it or not. Each time we attend any function that involves a group of people we are networking on a social level. Whether we are attending a charity event, going to a party at a friends house, going to a religious service, or attending an organized social networking event, we are in a networking environment.

In most cases a large part of participation in these groups is not related to business. However, there are always opportunities to meet people who could be or know prospective clients. When you attend these types of functions, it is advised to have some business cards in your pocket in case you meet someone else who is networking for their business, but remember that business networking is not the primary purpose of the function, so be very casual in the way you approach others about your business.

Social Networking Tip:

Never assume that any individual at these functions is not a good prospect for your business. You will find many opportunities there. It is just good to remember that people are there for many reasons and may not want to talk about business.

Business Networking

Believe it or not there are very few groups or organizations that are simply “business networking groups”. This category, for the purpose of our discussion is reserved for groups that do not have speakers or programs. An example of business networking would be similar to a chamber of commerce after hours. In business networking, you simply gather together with other business associates to talk about your businesses.

I find it much better to have a lot of time to talk to people about my business rather than have a brief period to talk and then have to sit down and listen to a program. This format enables you to really get to know people in the allotted amount of time. In some cases you can even do business with someone who you have met for the first time.
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A very efficient method to advertise your professional services, the products you are selling or simply to show how educated you are in a particular niche is by using the highly beneficial method of article marketing.

These articles that enclose at the end a short presentation of you or your business can be about various solution to actual problems, about everyday life or any other topic that will interest and inform a reader about the subject. There are many sites to which you can submit these articles to, or if you have a database of your customers’ emails, just drop them an email containing the article and a link to your personal site or professional site. Over time, it is hoped that your article will be syndicated on websites throughout the internet.

The articles can generally be copied from one article submission site to the other as long as the content belongs to you and you are not stealing someone else’s work. There is a huge demand for content on the internet, it’s what keeps the search engines hungry, and with so many website owners and ezine publishers regularly looking for fresh content, chances are that your article will not only be used on article directories but also on several other sites.

The more interesting and informative an article is, the more people will read and remember it. Even if you don’t have experience with writing, there are some benefits that may persuade you to give it a try:

- It may improve the way you convey your thoughts on a subject.
- It will bring your website visibility.
- If it’s written well it will may help someone.
- You can prove your knowledge in your professional areas.

Publishing articles means they have to contain mostly useful information and just a little bit of advertising. If they don’t follow this rule, you might end up with an un-publishable article. The promotion area of the article is usually meant for the end of that article, known as the “resource box”. As an article directory owner myself, I know that there are many authors who insist on placing links to their website throughout the article, but I would suggest that having an informative article with the links to “futher information” in the resource box is a much clearer and better structured approach.

Articles are meant to inform the reader of a particular subject, and not merely persuade the reader to visit your site with every paragraph written. In fact, should you have a good enough article, the reader will more than likely choose to visit the site in your resource box in any case. I recently received an article that contained 11 links in a 200-word article! This DID NOT include the resource box where a further 4 links were provided. Needless to say the article was rejected, so make sure your articles are interesting and informative with promotion left to the appropriate section.
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