Posted by Ronan on Oct 30, 2009 in LEAP, Limerick, startup | 0 comments
Bryan Marshall (SMS) came in to talk to us on Marketing and Business Communications.
I couldn’t make all of the business communications, but I kinda reckon that both could have been combined together into one day instead of two .
Bryan obviously is very well experienced in the marketing and PR area - some of his clients are the biggest in the world. He is surprisingly very modest too – which is refreshing & a great attribute. He dispensed loads of great tips and underlined common sense.
I’ve found that the LEAP training seems to come at the wrong time i.e. you are mad busy with stuff – but what I find with the training is that it gets you to focus for a short while on a single topic (try and push everything else away) and you come away
One of the exercises was to do a 30 sec pitch – it’s actually very difficult! It takes a while to get your head around the idea. The way I think about it is as follows - You say just enough, in plain and simple English, to get the person curious enough to ask the next question. It’s all about knowing your audience too. The pitch will therefore change depending on the person you are talking to. It’s a hard one to call – go with your gut!
Another valuable tool in the marketing world is the Press Release.. every one should consist of a Short (7 words) Headline followed by
and then Notes for editor.
Of course when you are releasing the PR you need to ensure is the timing right?, is it newsworthy?, will it interest the reader?, is your PR clashing with anything major? .. and is it topical?
on that topical note.. It’s Halloween tomorrow! Take it easy this weekend – avoid zombies (and squirrels).
