Posts Tagged ‘Fuzion PR’

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

The Shoe Polishing Award!

September 17, 2010
The Shoe Polishing Award

The Shoe Polishing Award

The whole idea of industry awards is really quite interesting and something that can often make you wonder when you see pictures in the newspapers or trade magazines of people holding their prizes for excellence in things you never heard of!

Recently we were caught in the “eye of the storm” and were first hand witnesses to the whole process, the effort, the submission, the anticipation, the nomination, the curiosity, the event, the nervousness, the elation, the photos, the congratulations and then the press coverage.

We were nominated and proudly won a national award for Excellence in PR, for work we did on the Cystic Fibrosis, St.Vincents campaign last year.

It was a total whirlwind for us, our whole team and even our families, clients and friends who were all waiting in the wings to celebrate our success or not as the case might have been.

While it wasn’t Hollywood, for us it was our Oscars and having won the award we celebrated and basked in a huge ray of satisfaction and achievement, just like Jeff Bridges may have done earlier this year.

Awards are relevant for every industry, wherever people and businesses take pride in what they do day in, day out, no matter what it is.

When you really think about it why should an industry hold awards?

1.       To raise the profile of an industry and those operating within it

2.       To help people’s understanding of the industry

3.       Raise the standards within the industry

4.       Acknowledge the important aspects of the industry and recognise some of the silent heroes

5.       Generate a sense of pride for the industry and the entrants

6.       Achieve PR for the entrants and the industry

7.       It gets people talking about the industry – the entrants will happily spread the award

8.       A great occasion for the players in an industry to come together and celebrate their profession

9.       Generates excitement for the entrants and a huge sense of purpose and satisfaction

10.   Tangible evidence of high standards through trophies and certificates that appear in meeting rooms around the country

11.   Terrific Fundraising opportunity –once nominated people will attend!

Having been through the process we are already thinking about next year and wondering which project will we be able to submit for an award. We’re hooked!

Whatever industry you’re in, even if that is Shoe Polishing, Go On, enter the awards, enjoy the journey and win yourself that Oscar!

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion Communications

Tags:, , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Marketing, PR, Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

A Modern Fairytale – The Beautiful Village and the Hole

September 12, 2010
A Modern Fairytale

A Modern Fairytale

There was a beautiful scenic village in the middle of the country that was the pride of everyone that lived there. In fact the village was so beautiful that everyone wanted to live there.

One of the lords who owned land outside the town decided that it was a good idea to make the village even bigger so he asked his friends to buy some of his land and build new cottages outside the town. He asked other friends to give the first friends money so they could buy his land and start building. The builder friend became friendly with the banker friend and asked him if he could lend money to the villagers so they buy these houses and pay for them over 30 years. Even villagers who already had a cottage could buy another cottage if they wanted to and they could pay for them over 30 years.

The lord, the builder and the banker told the villagers that it was a fabulous idea for them to buy these cottages and pay for them over 30 years. They were not to worry as they would always have good jobs that paid good money so they could pay for these cottages and look after their families as well.

The banker friend told the builder friend that he could charge the villagers a lot for the cottages as they had 30 years to pay for them and he was happy to lend them that sort of money. After all the more money he could lend them the more money he would make and that would make both of them very happy and even better friends. The lord and the builder and the banker ordered the finest food and the finest wine and celebrated their new friendship every night in their new castles and planned on building even more cottages in more villages.

All the friends were happy and they started building lots and lots of new cottages outside the village. The heavy machines drove through the town every day as they brought materials to build the new cottages. Every time they drove through the beautiful village a hole opened up in the middle of the village that just got bigger and bigger.

Everyone was confused because everyone was supposed to be happy – the lord, the builder friend, the banker friend and the people who could buy their houses over 30 years. So, why was a big dangerous hole opening up in the middle of the village, that no one was doing anything about?

The other problem was that the beautiful village wasn’t so beautiful any more because of the big hole, which was very ugly. Some of the villagers who wanted to buy the new cottages changed their minds and many of those who had bought them were sorry that they had.

The villagers were worried about the hole so they asked a few labourers to have a look at it to see what they could do with it.

Not able to see clearly to the bottom they decided they better call some experts to see exactly how big the hole was so they know knew exactly what quantity of materials they had better order to fill in the hole.

The materials were quite expensive so the villagers asked the lord, the builder and the banker for money so they could buy them to fix the hole. After all the villagers felt it was ok to ask them as they felt the hole was because of all the building.

Unfortunately and for some reason neither the lord or the builder or the banker had any money. At least that is what they told the villagers.

The villagers were very confused, angry and upset but because the hole was so dangerous, they went to the King of all the land and explained to them how worried they were as the hole was very dangerous and that it needed to be filled in.

The King told them that even though the hole was not their fault he was going to bring in a new “Hole Tax” so that he could collect money from them to fix the hole.

The Lord, the Builders and the Bank friends told the King that they couldn’t pay the new “Hole Tax” because they had no money. He said fine very quickly. They then had some food and wine in his castle.

The villagers who had bought the new houses and were paying for them over 30 years were worried as they had very little money and they felt they couldn’t afford to pay the “Hole Tax”.

One of the villagers went home and was very upset because he was so worried that he would not have any money for paying the “Hole Tax” and feed his family as well.

His little girl saw him crying and asked why he was upset?

He told her the story about the hole and he did his best to explain to her what happened.

“Where is all the money gone?” she said after listening to his story “Someone must have it, after all”

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion Communications

Tags:, , , , , ,
Posted in Irish Economy, Irish Politics, Recession | Leave a Comment »

16 PR Tips that No One can do for You

September 12, 2010
Answer the phone promptly

Answer the phone promptly

PR or Public Relations is all about Managing your Reputation– protecting, maintaining, building and managing your reputation.

There is nothing more valuable as a good reputation and this is about a lot more than employing a PR company.

Your reputation is every single aspect of how your business relates to the outside world, your customers, your prospects, the general public and the media. This applies equally to a small store as it does to a large store or brand.

Ok, how about 16 Tips for improving and managing your Positive Reputation (PR)

1.    Behave in an upbeat way with staff and customers
2.    Ensure your staff does the same
3.    Answer the phones promptly, politely, positively and helpfully
4.    Return missed calls promptly
5.    Return email enquiries quickly
6.    Deliver a good, friendly service to customers
7.    Handle complaints fairly and efficiently
8.    Deliver products and services on time
9.    Be polite, fair and efficient with your suppliers and staff
10.    Keep customers and prospects up to date with new products, features and services
11.    Treat your customers with respect (even if they are experiencing difficulty and are under financial pressure)
12.    Ensure that your website and all your printed materials are well laid out, with correct English,  easily understood, professional and properly reflect your business
13.    Ensure your store, premises and vehicles are kept neat and tidy
14.    Ensure the attire of your staff is in keeping with the standards of your business
15.    Ensure your staff always talk up your company and do not air grievances outside of the four walls with external people – make a pact to sort things out internally
16.    Talk up the achievements of your company and the staff working there – their talents, skills and achievements

This is not an exhaustive list – have a think about it and add another 5/10/20 points to improve your reputation even more. Even better get your team to help you with this task.

Ok, all of this is good for your business reputation, it didn’t require the intervention of third party consultants and oh yeah, it didn’t really cost a shilling – you still have your €1 left!

So far we have looked at some housekeeping reputation issues, what about behaving even more positively?

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion Communications

Tags:, , , , , , , ,
Posted in Customer Care, Marketing, PR | 2 Comments »

The Problem with the hole

September 1, 2010
Brian Cowen

Brian Cowen - Can someone fill that hole please?

I am so angry this morning.

Yesterday I drove through Bandon in West Cork on the way to a client meeting and watched a long queue of men (one woman) outside a Post Office waiting to collect their dole money. Depressing sight.

I watched Alan Dukes of Anglo Irish Bank this morning on Ireland AM in mono tone explaining how the hole gets bigger because the “property” assets keep reducing in value: “we have to protect the depositors!” – who are they, please tell me?

I heard 47yr old Declan Murphy, 4th generation menswear store from Newcastlewest in Co.Limerick passionately talk on Newstalk this morning about how he is taking his wife and 3 kids to Australia because he can’t provide for them here. He is a proud Limerick man but can’t see himself coming back to Ireland.

He made a very simple point, which I believe in strongly ..

Unless we do positive things to generate employment and get things going in this country instead of pumping money into a bottomless pit we will never recover. A “win-win” he called it.

The hole will get bigger unless we treat the symptoms.

We need positive activity (People are more positive but outside of that I see absolutely none, not with banks or government) – that does not mean decisions to pump more money into NAMA and Anglo. It means generating employment, more income for people which will in time generate demand for some of those ghost properties – maybe the hole will get smaller?

Maybe it’s being very simplistic but it does seem very obvious – I wonder what our old friend Willie Sutton would say about it?

Best of luck in Australia Declan, come back and visit your folks sometime.

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion Communications

Tags:, , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Irish Economy, Irish Politics, Recession | 4 Comments »

Chow Mein Special! – Going further to find New Business

August 29, 2010
Chinese Takeaway

Chinese Takeaway

Eventually we arrived at my sister’s holiday home in Duncannon in Wexford having spent a few hours in the car and a short ferry ride from Passage East.

A little later when we were all a little peckish and no one at all fancied cooking, someone suggested a Chinese takeaway. The menus were produced and we all picked out a dish of our choice and rang in our order. I jumped in the car with Coley, my brother in law as we were dispatched to collect the grub to satisfy the hungry bunch.

After a few minutes I was quite confused as the car was headed in the direction of the ferry. Maybe I was wrong, but I couldn’t remember passing anything that resembled a Chinese takeaway along the route we had taken earlier. Eventually we arrived at the spot where the ferry operates from and Coley suggested that we get a quick pint at the conveniently located pub.

Totally bewildered at this stage I just said nothing and proceeded to order a pint but I must admit that my stomach was starting to moan and groan as I had started to look forward to my Chow Mein Special!

In the middle of our chat about whoever Liverpool might be signing this year, Coley pipes up with “Here comes our dinner”. The penny took a while to drop but eventually I understood as the ferry approached the pier and we were greeted with the unusual sight of our Chinese friend running up the pier on foot with half a dozen bags! In he ran to the pub without saying a word, handed over the bags of food to the barman and just as quickly as he arrived he had disappeared again, just in time for the return journey!

Without blinking an eye the barman asked was the food for us and if we wanted the food kept warm for a while?  We weren’t the only customers waiting for a Chinese as there were a few other hungry souls nursing a pint until our man ran up the pier. Each bag was carefully marked with the contents and the cost – we finished our pints, claimed our bags and settled our tab with the barman and returned to the hungry mob!

At a time when we all have to dig a little deeper and get up a little earlier just to keep the show on the road it was a terrific and simple lesson in finding new customers by being a little bit creative, working with partners who might also benefit from your offering and literally looking beyond your nearest port for customers.

The Chow Mein special was really special!
Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion Communications, Marketing & PR

Tags:, , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Customer Care, Irish Economy, Marketing, Recession, Uncategorized | 4 Comments »

The Irish Bank Robber and Facebook

August 22, 2010

When the renowned Irish American bank robber, Willie Sutton was arrested having been caught after one of his many bank heists he famously gave the following response to journalists who asked him why he kept robbing banks, “Because, that’s where the money was!”

Willie Sutton, The Famous Bank Robber

Willie Sutton, also known as “Slick Willie” and “Willie the Actor” (he was a master of disguises) was born in Brooklyn in 1901 and lived till 1980. He managed to rob 100 banks in his 79 year career, spending much of this in prison after many captures. Toward the end of his life he ended up fronting an advertising campaign for a bank who were introducing card ID’s with the person’s picture on it.

Besides being a notorious bank robber his quote earned him everlasting fame as his surname is now often quoted to refer to any situation where something is clearly “obvious”. In medical circles in particular his name comes up as “Suttons Law” to describe a situation where a diagnosis is exactly that and accountants even use it when talking about Activity Based Costing, “The Willie Sutton Rule”!

In the business of Marketing & PR we often get resistance when we recommend to clients that they should be engaging pro-actively with users on Facebook. We get the arguments about not liking computers, not having enough time, that all users are youngsters and generally not knowing how to use Facebook and not seeing the relevance to them.

Worldwide users have reached 550 Million with the figure in Ireland just over 1.4 million. Of these over 700,000 are over the age of 30. Many of these are your customers!

On average people are using Facebook about 25 minutes per day. Facebook has individual users as well as many businesses who have their own “business pages” and are interacting and influencing Facebook users on a daily basis. Starbucks, the famous American chain of coffee stores have over 12 million people signed up as fans.

The next time we talk about the relevance of Facebook with a client we might just quote the famous bank robber, Willie .. after all it’s very obvious!

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion Communications

Tags:, , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Business Start Ups, Marketing, PR, SEO, Social Media, Uncategorized, Web Marketing | 21 Comments »

Do you always do what you are told?

July 27, 2010
Disobedient Child!

Not always doing what you are told!

Start a new business in 2010 in the middle of a recession? Are you totally out of your head, nuts, crazy?
The minute you open your mouth you will probably crumble under the weight of naysayers, who without a doubt are being genuine in their advice to you.

The fact that you are opening your mouth at all means that you have an itch that needs scratching, there is some enterprising spirit inside you that is just waiting to break out, some independent streak that makes you want to be master of your own destiny. It could be as simple as you are out of work and you just want to make things happen for yourself.

Well done, so what do you do?

As an Accountant who came away from the “darkside” and joined the world of Marketing & PR after a long period in General Management I can offer  you my tuppence worth of advice and a few do’s and don’ts .. (should I put in a disclaimer here??)

It’s a great time to start a new business because..

1.    Who else can you depend on today to put bread on your table?
2.    The smaller you are the less overheads you have – customers can get a great personal service
3.    The cost of entry is smaller than it has ever been
4.    The local agencies such as the Enterprise Boards offer Mentoring, Training and other Supports, which really help people  get on their feet
5.    With the whole new world of the Web and Social Media including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and so on, the small guy can actually compete with the big guy
6.    The Press love positive stories and will more than likely be happy to give you some coverage, free!
7.    You would be surprised how many people out there will give a new business a chance, everyone loves a Trier!
8.    You will love the sense of achievement from the feeling of doing it for yourself, it’s liberating
9.    Being your own boss is great
10.    It’s a whole new world, once you cross over to the other side – network with others like you!
11.    It can be great fun

On the cautionary side, which is very real ..

1.    Only do it once you are truly ready – while the cost of entry is lower than before make sure you are in a position to make a great first impression, looking the part from the very start
2.    Run your business idea by someone knowledgeable with a positive nature that you know will give you honest advice – not all ideas are great ones!
3.    Make sure your business passes the recession test – the luxury type products and services are suffering at the moment. It might be a case of wait a while for these types of businesses.
4.    Be practical – do your pessimistic financial plans and make sure you have enough cash to pull by, in particular in the early stages. That financial pressure is horrible, I’ve been there more than once ..
5.    Once you make that move you will never be able to work for someone else again!

So, did you always do what you are told?

Didn’t think so.. enjoy the ride, our economy needs you and more like you

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion Communications , Marketing & PR.
http://www.fuzion.ie

Tags:, , , , , , ,
Posted in Business Start Ups, Irish Economy, Marketing, PR, Recession, Social Media | 10 Comments »

Bill Gates and his last dollar

July 4, 2010

 

Bill Gates

“If I was down to my last dollar I would spend it on PR” was the famous quote that Bill Gates made and one that many of us in the PR industry use when we are trying to draw attention to the importance of our services.

Ironically many of us are nearly down to our last dollars, or Euros and you might question does this piece of advice really hold water, how applicable is it and is this really what Bill Gates meant when he made the comment?  Was he ever down to his last dollar? – I wonder..

Does he really suggest that when a business is really tight that it spends its income in such a way?

When the recession kicked in how did you react in your business? What overheads got the chop? I’m suspecting that Marketing & PR budgets were given the scissors treatment – was this the right thing to do? How did this affect your business and the attitude of those working there?

Positive Attitude, Positive Activity and Positive Spend

Not knowing Bill I can only guess but this is my interpretation of what he meant ..

PR is as much an attitude, a process, a set of beliefs, a way of behaving positively as much as it is about Press Releases and actually employing a PR resource.

PR or Public Relations is all about Managing your Reputation– protecting, maintaining, building and managing your reputation. Even if you are down to your last dollar you need to keep investing or doing this.

There is nothing more valuable as a good reputation and this is about a lot more than employing PR companies or about issuing press releases. Your reputation is every single aspect of how your business relates to the outside world, your customers, your prospects, the general public and the media. This applies equally to a self employed candlestick maker as it does to a large multinational.

Ok, how about 16 Tips for improving and managing your Reputation (PR) for €1

1.    Answer the phones politely and helpfully
2.    Return missed calls promptly
3.    Return email enquiries quickly
4.    Deliver a good service to customers
5.    Handle complaints fairly and efficiently
6.    Deliver products and services on time
7.    Ensure your billing is correct
8.    Be polite, fair and efficient with your suppliers and staff
9.    Keep customers and prospects up to date with new products, features and services
10.    Treat your suppliers fairly
11.    Treat your customers with respect (even if they are experiencing difficulty and are under financial pressure)
12.    Ensure that all correspondence is well laid out, with correct English, is easily understood, professional and properly reflects your business
13.    Ensure your premises and vehicles are kept neat and tidy
14.    Ensure the attire of your staff is in keeping with the standards of your business
15.    Ensure your staff always talk up your company and do not air grievances outside of the four walls with external people – make a pact to sort things out internally
16.    Talk up the achievements of your company and the staff working there – their talents, skills and achievements

This is not an exhaustive list – have a think about it and add another 5/10/20 points to improve your reputation even more. Even better get your team to help you with this task.

Ok, all of this is good for your business reputation, it didn’t require the intervention of third party consultants and oh yeah, it didn’t really cost a shilling – you still have your €1 left!

So far we have looked at some housekeeping reputation issues.

Positive Attitude

As we mentioned PR is in essence a positive attitude – first and foremost you need to declare war on this recession and ensure that you and everyone in your business understands the importance of your reputation and a Positive Attitude towards your business. You will thrive in this environment and if you are alert you will not only survive but you will be in a position to seize on unique opportunities that may arise.

Back to the job of spending our last €1..

Communicate that you are going to invest in positive activity for your business – You have been in Retreat mode and now you want to invest funds in forward mode – you want to “Storm” this recession. Your staff must understand that every €1 is vital, that you want maximum return from it and challenge them to achieve this. Show and positively display the faith that you have in the business and communicate that you and your team are adopting “attack” mode!

This positive mind shift is essential for the business.

Where do we spend our €1?

–    Refresh your Website – review and refresh the text, besides being new and positive it helps your Search Engine ranking
–    Optimise your Website (do a Google search on this and you will learn find how to do it for free)
–    Update the News items on the website – announce new customers, products or services
–    Set up a Facebook business page, it’s free – take the time and build a following for your business online. Ask customers to sign up, email them, ring them, tell them..
–    Start using the other social media sites such as Twitter or LinkedIn to build your contacts and spread awareness for your business, products and service. If you’re not sure how to do this – Google it .. there are plenty of articles and tips available online
–    Prepare Press Releases about your company or services . Do you have anything interesting or new happening in the business? – let the press know.
–    Advertising: maybe you have an advertising campaign running with the local papers or a trade publication – negotiate that you get some free editorial to support these adverts (keep it interesting, they won’t print boring stuff!)

All of this is positive – have you ever noticed that you like being around positive people? In business we are no different and we like dealing with positive, successful businesses. Behave like one of them.

Build your reputation, shout it from the rooftops and make this a clearly understood activity in your business.

Big problem… we still haven’t spent that €1

Print a few posters and put them around your business “We are Storming the Recession”

If you have more than €1 to spend feel free to give Fuzion a call and we will help you achieve the maximum from your Marketing & PR budget.

Bill, thanks for the PR thumbs up ..

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion Communications

Tags:, , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Marketing, PR, Recession, SEO, Social Media, Web Marketing | 16 Comments »

Me and my Flymo!

June 14, 2010
Me and My Flymo!

Me and My Flymo!

Before you get any sudden ideas that I am a grass cutting, green fingers, gardening enthusiast let me promise you that there is nothing I hate more!

The very sight of the lawnmower makes my stomach churn, when the grass growing weather kicks in I always see the clear downside – grass that starts growing ..

For some reason last Saturday one of those strange once off events occurred – having returned from a meeting with a prospect (Saturday was the only day that suited, that’s us for ya!) a weird feeling came over me and I “wanted” to cut the grass and I was actually in good form about it.

I just don’t understand where the feeling came from. I was nearly whistling as I took the trusted Flymo from the shed (if it had feelings and could talk it would have been in fear watching me approach and would definitely have had a thing or two to say).

I grabbed the extension cable, grabbed my iPod and headphones, set the music on shuffle, hit that start button and off I went & what an eventful hour and a half I had.

The kids from the estate, recognising that this was an unusual occurrence were all excited and arrived over and started chatting (despite the headphones) with me and then started teasing by unplugging  the machine – did it bother me, nope .. I was in great form.

The music was kicking – I went through Human League, Faithless, Eels, Oasis, Free, Reuben Steiner and whole pile of other cool stuff, I had a great think about work, life and the universe.

A gentleman approached me (he had put me in the position of expert, I guess!) and asked me about the virtues of the Flymo as he had been warning his son against buying one .. “would you get electrocuted easily with the lead dragging behind you?” was his worry

Nah, just be careful and besides there is no need for petrol and servicing .. the Flymo is great I told him! I changed his mind but he did turn down an opportunity to try out the orange machine  for himself – he had his chance.

Before I knew it the job was finished, the grass was looking respectable, I cleaned the machine, put it back in its home and grabbed a bottle of cold beer and savoured a great job done and this very unusual occurance!

What next I wonder ..

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion Communications

Follow Greg on Twitter

Connect with Greg on LinkedIn

Tags:, , , , ,
Posted in Gardening | 6 Comments »

The New PR Guru’s!

June 10, 2010
PR Guru

The PR Guru

This week we started off round two of the PR course that we are doing for the South Cork Enterprise Board.

Can I tell you a secret – I love it !!

The first group were absolutely terrific, they bonded, we bonded, and we all learnt some great new stuff and had fun in the process.

Having a room full of business people all with interesting stories and all pro-actively pushing the door to try to make things happen for themselves is totally exhilarating.

.. among them we had people from an art gallery, an online antique jewellery business, en established Cork firm trying to make new waves, a ballroom dancer, an Irish festival crew, intern placement, oriental gifts, high end electrical installations, makeup experts and even a PR person sharpening their skills.

Listening to people sharing their issues and challenges and then taking these objectives and applying the PR process to it is really great .. and don’t forget about the Purple Cow – they had to hear a lot about that particular creature from yours truly!

Can’t wait for next week ..

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion Communications, Marketing & PR

Tags:, , , , , ,
Posted in Marketing, PR, Recession | 4 Comments »

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »