Get the PR you Deserve! Market the Message!

Millions of people log on to the internet daily. The internet has become a big market for products and services. In addition, as you know, marketing your product or service anywhere needs promotion because you need to make your presence felt to consumers.

Writing press releases is one of the most important ways to promote your website over the internet. Writing press releases frequently will attract web traffic to your site.

Press releases are an essential part of advertising and promoting your campaigns online, and hence writing an effective press release, which is newsworthy, and attention grabbing is very important. Simply writing the PR does not help your purpose. It needs to be well complemented with proper use, to get the most effective result.

* Your PR needs to stand out so that the media and or consumer will see that it is newsworthy and it is something they want to explore of purchase.
* The more people want to read your PR, the more advertising you will be getting online. Your Christian-PR news release is like a “virtual sales brochure” that can attract potential customers. Hence, the body of the PR should be factual and informative, giving the readers like bloggers, the consumer and media a reason to read your press release.

* After identifying your target audience, you should write your PR keeping in mind the maturity level and the attitude of your audience. Write more versions of the same press release to cater to the different fragments of your objective market.

* The titles of your press release acts like a door bell, it should attract attention.

PR is one of the most important tools of advertising over internet.

However, if the above tips are kept in mind while writing it, you can write an effective and newsworthy PR, which in turn will help you make profit.

Get started TODAY!

Hear Pam Perry's Show and get PR Tips weekly

Visit:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ministrymarketingsolutions

to hear live tips and PR Coaching from Pam Perry

Christian-PR | P.O. Box 4172 | Houston | TX | 77210

Online Marketing for Ministries and Christian Authors
Also visit: bit.ly/ministryvideos

Church Marketing Strategies For The Body of Christ by guest blogger Theresa Croft

Church marketing for your corporate body of believers involves implementing strategic marketing to help fulfill the Great Commission of reaching out to save the lost. The church marketing plan discussed here is NOT about developing fancy flashy material, or expensive advertising campaigns with a “fast talking” preacher-salesman mindset. It is about using sound marketing principles and applying them to your church as you fulfill God’s call.

In fact, church evangelism and basic marketing have some of the same purposes. It’s to get the “word out”, to make others aware of a service or product offered to potential clients (or members for the churches), and to motivate them to “buy” or take part.

A preacher or evangelists already has some great skills of selling. Instead of making a deal for a product, they are attempting to “close the prospect” in accepting Jesus as their Savior!

Hence, ministry marketing is put into place to reach out and attract the lost for salvation first, and then to teach and train them to play a vital role in your church’s vision to impact the world.

This church marketing plan involves accomplishing what Jesus said in Mathew 28:19-20:
“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the sonand of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you….”

So where do you start your own church marketing?
Clarify Your Vision
Identify what you believe is your church’s vision or destiny. What part are you going to play in making disciples? Is your focus on the homeless on your city streets or the rich and famous?

Define and Write Down The Marketing Plan
Church marketing planning will help connect you to your desired goal and destiny for your body of believers. Having a written ministry marketing plan will put you in the top 5% of ministry marketers, according to Chris Forbes, the “Ministry Marketing Coach.”Write out the goals and make a time table to accomplish them in one year to 18 months. Praying and asking for a “God-inspired” ministry marketing principle or a marketing anointing is a great place to start.

Find Your Focus Group

Focus on the “WHO” you want your specific church marketing to reach. You have to know who you will be talking to, in order to effectively communicate and speak to their needs.

For example, in my days of working at the Christian radio station, we knew based on Arbitron ratings and other studies, that are main listening audience base consisted of women in a certain age bracket. So we aimed our promotions and ministry marketing focus to reach out and help that particular group. When I was on the air, I knew I was mostly talking to this targeted group of women, so I spoke in a way where I tried to minister to their specific needs and concerns.

So take the time to write down characteristics, demographics and any information you can to identify your target group. Study and learn as many things as you can about them. As you get to know your target audience more and more, you will be able to connect and communicate to the people you want to reach.

Branding
Branding is what differentiates you from other ministries. Sometimes the religion of your church is what creates a branding. Non-denominational churches don’t have this as much as say, a Baptist or Catholic church.

So branding is not about trying to get your focus group to choose your ministry over another, but to show them you have a definite solution to their need.

For example, I used to go to a church where people who ride Harley Davidson Motorcycles were accepted without a blink of an eye. Any given Sunday, you’d see many come through the church doors with their leathers on and some with their black Tee-shirts saying, “These ARE my Church clothes”. This is a good example of how branding can attract the kind of people of which you desire to teach and minister.

When you have a good branding in your marketing approach, you know your message is clear, you have established credibility, and you have found a way to emotionally connect with your target audience. The result is a motivated group of people who are loyal and want to help you to accomplish your vision.
It’s interesting to note that the branding of your ministry often resides within the hearts and minds of your church members. It is the sum total of their experiences and perceptions, some of which you can influence.

Promotion and Using Video Ministry

Your church marketing plan obviously will have an element of promotion in it. But I am not referring to the kind of promotion that costs a great deal of money, such as advertising and expensive billboards. You can promote through learning to write news releases and sending them regularly to your local media outlets. Get the word out through Community Calenders, Public Service Announcements which many Christian Radio Stations offer, and local involvement in areas where your target audience is likely to be found.

Back to the example of a targeted group that includes Harley Riders, or Bikers. Find out when they have their regular rides, meetings and special events. You can find ways to use these events to connect with them. Have a special “Biker’s Sunday” to invite more motorcycle riders to your church.

One key element in this promotional part of Church marketing is a website. Having a professional website is a must in a church marketing plan in today’s fast pace world of technology. Almost everyone is on line. The audience you can reach there is incredible!

But let’s make one thing clear. It’s not just about having a website for the sake of saying you have one! It must be professional and exemplify excellence in all facets. Having a fancy web site with blinking animations and scrolling text is NOT what I mean.

Content is what keeps keeps people coming back and new people finding you on line. Write great content to meet the needs of your church body and your target group. Tell them not just what’s happening at the church, but what is going on in heart of your pastor, worship leader or youth pastor. Ultimately they are desiring that you speak life into their daily challenges with words of hope and instruction from the Word.

Powerful testimonies of what God is doing in Church members lives should be featured and updated often. Testimonies will do more to “sell” the benefits of your ministry than anything else. Create a section in your website where you get members to speak into a camera and testify. This is one ministry marketing strategy that hits a “home run” every time.

This leads me to one passion I have in using video ministry and multimedia tools. We live in a media saturated world. According to comScore, 75% of Internet users watched online video in May 2007, averaging 158 minutes per viewer. Nearly 8.4 billion videos were streamed online in the month of May. That’s a lot. And it’s increasing day by day.

I started a Video Production Company a few years ago to help churches and ministries use video to promote themselves and to use on the front page of their website. I have also worked with Christian schools producing powerful video marketing promotional tools. You can check one I did recently by clicking here. I can think of no better way to illustrate this type of Promotional Video tool that can help in your branding and marketing than to show it to you….ON VIDEO. This is one of my favorite ways to help with ministry marketing.

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Traffic Plan For Ministry
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Soon to be released, Ministry Marketing Productions will present the Book, “Ministry Marketing Strategies For Today’s Christian Ministries”.
Check out a preview with this video:
Ministry Marketing Video Series Teaching The Power Of Social Media (Part 1)
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We’d love to provide more information to help you in marketing and information concerning the latest online strategies.

Video is proving to be a key element in any market plan. Why not take advantage of it. You don’t have to be a “YouTube” channel, but you can provide powerful videos on your church website or on your own church’s video channel!
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Click here to return to Ministry-Marketing-Strategies HOME Page.

http://www.ministry-marketing-strategies.com/ministrymarketing.html

Pam Perry talking about branding at Christian Writer\’s Meeting

1. It’s all in the title.

The title of your press release should be short, meaningful and descriptive. The title is the determining factor of whether or not people will ever bother to read further. Consider using a subtitle to summarize the content.

2. Make sure the information is newsworthy.

You are wasting your time and money sending out information that people wont care about. Ask yourself –“would I read this?”

2. Speak to your audience.

If your sending a press release out to the Black media, you must make it obvious how your information relates to the African Americans.

4. Don’t be too fancy.

Avoid the excessive use of adjectives and fancy language. Don’t bold or underline words within your body. This is unprofessional. The content alone should sell its self.

5. Include all forms of contact info.

Include your email address and 1-2 phone numbers. If someone is trying to reach you for an urgent story, you want to be easily reached. Also, include your web site address so they can research more about what you do.

6. Use BlackPR.com for distribution.

When your press release is final, use BlackPR.com to distribute it to all the Black newspapers, magazines, TV and radio stations. They only charge $150 bucks to do this. Also, consider using PRweb.com to increase search engine visibility.

7. Send press releases regularly.

A well- written press release can easily get you radio interviews and other media coverage. This, in turn, drives traffic to your web site, and more sales to your bottom line. The key is to be consistent. Send out press releases on a monthly basis, and consider writing weekly or bi-weekly columns to distribute as well.

Dante Lee is the founder of Diversity City Media, a multicultural marketing empire. Visit his daily blog at www.DanteLee.com

www.e-junkie.com/pamperry

and see www.ardyssintl.blogspot.com

I was a guest on Yvonne Perry’s podcast, and I just love her blog. She is a great PR colleague and resource.

Here she writes about marketing promo pieces! Yaay!

————

Postcards and bookmarks are a handy tool for giving people information about your book using as few words as possible. They may be used as handouts at speaking engagements and book signings, or as giveaways with the purchase of your book. You can include one in the correspondence you have with clients, friends, or co-workers. I have even enclosed them with my bill payment. After all, someone has to open the envelope to log in your payment, which means a connection with a potential reader.

As a marketing piece for a book, the postcard or bookmark should have these items:

· Your book cover photo
· Book title
· Author’s name
· Very brief book synopsis
· URL to purchase

If you have enough space in the layout, you can add an endorsement from a celebrity (if you were fortunate enough to garner such an endorsement), or someone who is well-known as an expert in the topic of your book. If you don’t have an endorsement that carries clout, pull something from your best book review and use it as an excerpt. Be sure to give credit to the person who gave you the endorsement or wrote your book review.

Once you’ve got an idea of what you want to include on the bookmark or postcard, you’ll need to find someone to design and print them for you. If you design them yourself, you can take them to Kinko’s or your local printer. Call first to get their upload specifications. Some will accept an MS Word document, but others prefer a PDF and will charge an extra fee to open a Word document.

There are plenty of companies online that can design and print the cards at an affordable price. I’ve made a list of places to get the bookmarks or postcards printed. This came from a social networking site where several folks chimed in.

One person was very pleased with the results when they used http://www.48hourprint.com/ and stated that she found their prices to be the most reasonable; they shipped quickly and the quality was very good.

http://www.earthlycharms.com/ has author-related items. They also have stickers that read Autographed Copy, Local Author, or Award Winning Author.

I’ve personally used http://www.vistaprint.com/ for business cards, postcards, tee-shirts, and check printing. Use their designs or upload your logo to create your own design. This company offers several other promotional items free with purchase. I’ve been pleased with the quality of their products and their customer service.

PS Print http://www.psprint.com/ has several promotional items as well as postcards. Even though I haven’t used this company, others in my network report they have quality service and reasonable pricing. A bulk of 500 color 4” x 6” postcard run about $0.08. This company also provides mailing services.

http://www.gotprint.com/ for full color, high gloss products such as bookmarks, postcards, business cards, and brochures. Their work is outstanding and the shipping price is low.

Yvonne Perry, is the owner of Writers in the Sky Creative Writing Services—a team of highly qualified writers and editors with many years of experience in writing for articles, books, ad copy, media releases, PR kits, Web text, biographical sketches, and newsletters. Editing, proofreading, book review, and book evaluation services offered individually and as packages. Find us online at http://www.writersinthesky.com

Follow WITS on Twitter: http://twitter.com/writersinthesky

Get more FREE info at www.e-junkie.com/pamperry

Inspirational Video – Don\’t Quit Poem
How do you prosper when it seems so hard?

Get Paid. Learn to the Secrets to Prosper!

So . . . have you asked that question at some point? Do you feel somewhat stuck? Can’t figure out where to begin? Is the phone not ringing? Having difficulty gaining support for what you have to offer?

Whatever the case, you’re not alone. All of us go through it at some point. Don’t be discouraged. You know, sometimes you just need, what I call “AAA,” an acronym for Advice, Adjust, and Advertise.

If perhaps you can’t figure out the reason for your “slow” or “no” growth, begin with the three steps below. They’re simple, yet powerful strategies.

1. Get advice. Ask other professionals and successful people. Have you considered that, there are countless individuals who have already done what you’re currently attempting to do? You don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Why not call them up? Or, pick up a book on the subject. If you have some time to spare, you can learn anything.

2. Make Adjustments. After you gain an understanding of what you’re doing wrong, change it. This one is huge. How often do we read books, attend trainings, listen to powerful sermons, and go right back to doing the same old thing? Take the knowledge you have, and apply it.

3. Advertise. Tell someone about what you have to offer. Don’t minimize the importance of making others aware of your event, product, or service. You’d be surprised to see just how many people would support your efforts, if they only knew about them. You have so much you can bring to the table. Whether you realize it or not, someone needs what’s inside of you.

I know you can accomplish amazing things. Trust me, I am speaking from experience. I don’t want to assume that you already know, so I’ll briefly share what I do. I am VP of Marketing for Hobbs Ministries, and founder of Empowering Everyday Women Online Magazine.

Essentially, I do lots of account acquisition, networking, copywriting, ghostwriting and editing. My passion is to help entrepreneurs and leaders recognize their full potential through writing, especially in the context of advertising and marketing.

Is it a lot of responsibility? You betcha. Was I intimidated by all of the tasks when my husband and I began our business? Sure was. Did I finally overcome it and break through? Thankfully, yes. That’s why I know that, everything you need to succeed is already inside of you.

You may have heard that before, but it’s very true. Granted, you might not have all the resources or connections you want right now, but keep moving forward, and it will happen for you. Countless women have done it. You can too.

Did you know that according to the Center for Women’s Business Research, 48% of all privately-held U.S. firms have women in positions of majority ownership; 10.6 million firms are at least half owned by a woman or women. That’s encouraging, isn’t it?

I have no doubt that you can accomplish what God put you on this earth to do. That’s why EEW is here. It’s for you to draw strength and inspiration from other women just like you. Through their stories, I pray that you will have an epiphany and become more aware of your own intelligence, creativity, capability and competence.

Most importantly, I want you to lift up your head and trust in God. Know that He is on your side.

Before I go, I want to tell you again; you are amazingly gifted, anointed, and equipped to thrive in business and ministry. All you have to do is maximize the available opportunities for growth, and begin making the necessary inroads.

Don’t just read the exciting articles, celebrity interviews, and information available at eewmagazine.com; rather, take the knowledge and empowerment you receive here, and apply it.

Remember—Get Advice. Make Adjustments. Advertise.  Get a PR  coach.  Go to a boot camp.

See www.prbootcamponline.eventbrite.com and get a “hook up.”

Until next time . . . may you be empowered to prosper.

Dianna Hobbs is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Empowering Everyday Women Online Magazine, the premier online magazine for African American Christian women. This article is taken from Dianna’s highly popular blog series called, Dianna Hobbs: Empowering Everyday Women. It is circulated to thousands of Christian women in search of inspiration for their ministerial and entrepreneurial efforts. To receive these exceptional articles directly, simply log onto http://www.diannahobbs.typepad.com and subscribe to our email updates. To read EEW Magazine log onto http://www.eewmagazine.com

Writing my book was the easy part – getting the word out was a completely different “story.”  Before taking Pam Perry’s PR Boot Camp, I had no idea where my book was headed or how to get it there.  Through the PR Boot Camp I acquired tips, tools and resources that serve as my publicity GPS..  I learned how to develop an effective marketing plan, identify my platform and establish my brand.

I also learned how to use the internet to get tons of free publicity and drive traffic to my website using social networks, Twitter and by blogging.  In addition, I learned some of the best kept secrets on how to attract media attention.  Now, I am equipped to navigate my way through the labyrinth of book publicity with skill and confidence.

Venus Mason Theus, author Brown Paper Bag, a novel

see www.prbootcamponline.eventbrite.com

Hey Future Best Seller!

Those who show up, go up. That’s my mantra.

With summer almost upon up and half the year gone, are you getting your PR in gear for 2010 to win? If not, I invite you to take advantage of the June PR Boot Camp Online Coaching Classes. (Class starts again in 3 weeks)
Hear the intro on the blog: www.MinistryMarketingSolutionsblog.com
and as a bonus get the FREE PR Boot Camp Orientation mp3
at http://www.e-junkie.com/pamperry

Pam Perry, PR Coach

5 Smart Reasons Why Authors
Should Hire a PR Coach instead of a Publicist

Have you considered hiring a publicist but their fees are way out of your price range?

Do you need a publicist but you’ve heard the horror stories of “I paid my retainers and got nothing?”

Regardless of the fact that this may all be true, at some point people need to know about your business other than by word of mouth.  Publicity has served and still today is the best avenue in getting the word out.

Ministry Marketing Solutions does full service PR for the most well known Christian publishers and authors in the nation from Bishop TD Jakes, Pastor Bill Winston, Taffi Dollar, Pastor Andre Butler & Dr. Suzan Johnson Cook but also teaches authors to be their own publicist – to build their platform, brand their ministry.

I will be your coach that shows you step by step, exactly how to do your own publicity just like the pros.  You actually become the publicist for your book and build your “brand.”

Let’s check out these 5 reasons why you may want to consider
The PR Boot Camp Coaching  Program:

#1 – Cost
This is the number one reason many authors have turned to PR coaching.  The usual fees for a publicist range from $2,000-$5,000 a amonth, depending on the publicist and the number of hours required to publicize the business.

#2 – Customized Plan
When you work with a PR coach, your publicity plan is customized just for your book/ministry, not some template used for all other books.

#3 – Media Savvy
You will learn everything there is to know about the various forms of media and how to get your business noticed by them. I will give you real contacts too! (Unheard of in the industry)

#4 – Online Tips and Tricks
You will learn how to leverage twitter, flickr, facebook, myspace, youtube, blogs, linkedin and more to build your brand and sell more books. Create online relationships that turn into customers and ministry partners.  Learning these free online marketing tools will save you thousands of dollars.

#5 – Media  vs. Public vs. Ministry Industry Publicity
In today’s society, mainly because of the Internet, there is more than just media publicity.  Learn how to get to all 3!

So as you see, PR Coaching is a great alternative to hiring a publicist or a public relations firm.

For more info go to:

http://www.ministrymarketingsolutions.com/blog/pr-boot-camp/

to see what others have said about Ministry Marketing Solutions results!

Our PR Boot Camp classes start on Tuesday and runs for 4 weeks plus you get 4 weeks of support to make sure you stay on track!  – don’t worry if you can’t make the exact date/times, the classes are recorded and delivered to you via MP3 and you get the PR Boot Camp workbook, email support and worksheets!

How simple is that!?

Pam Perry
Ministry Marketing Solutions, Inc. – Creator of Chocolate Pages Show & Network
http://prbootcamponline.eventbrite.com

P.S. Bonus – those who register get a copy of the new book: Synergy Energy and a bonus CD! CAMP STARTS SOON! Get in before we fill up! Need details? Email Leah Hubbard at waabiz@aol.com