Marketing Tips and News

FUTURES Foundation for Volusia County Schools

3750 Olson Drive

Daytona Beach, FL  32124

Phone:  (386) 255-6475, Extension 50730

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DAYTONA BEACH (FEB. 23, 2010) – The FUTURES Foundation will introduce a new component to its well-known Bowl-A-Thon this weekend: Wii Bowl for Volusia County Schools. Those who visit Sam’s Club in Daytona Beach and donate $5 can take part in a video-game bowling challenge that benefits the county’s public schools education foundation.

Wii Bowl for Volusia County Schools will be from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 27; Sunday, Feb. 28; and Saturday, March 6 at Sam’s Club, 1175 Beville Road. For a $5 donation, each participant can play one game, plus have a chance to win prizes, including a Wii game system and Sam’s Club gift cards.

Awards will be presented to top bowlers in several categories. Tickets for Wii Bowling are available at Sam’s Club on the days of the event, and Sam’s Club membership is not required to participate. Visit FuturesVolusia.org for more information.

Have you thought about using social media to get leads and find potential customers? You should. Social media is the new word of mouth marketing and listening to it will help you find new audiences. The #8 conversation you should be listening for through your social media engagement is The Question/Inquiry.

If you provide health, medical and care services to help elderly adults stay in their home, listening to the questions people are asking about your industry can provide an opportunity to position yourself as an expert on the subject and help attract clients.

When people post a question using social media, they are doing so in the moment when they are looking for a solution. Listen, respond quickly, be a resource. The time you invest in this new form of word-of-mouth marketing is time well spent because you are speaking directly to someone who needs your services. It’s targeted, personal and impactful.

Sure, it would be nice to have a service like Vocus or Cision.

It would take care of or automate a lot of the drudge work of PR, such as tracking down media contacts for your campaigns and keeping track of results. But it’s not cheap!

The least expensive option a company like Vocus can offer — without many of the bells and whistles that make it so attractive in the first place — is about $4,000 a year. Since we deal mostly in locally oriented companies and our clients are deeply rooted in the communities of Volusia and Flagler counties, it’s easy to see that the national media contacts one of these big services can provide  would not be a good value for them.

We are always looking for ways to give our clients a lot of bang for their buck, and that includes doing as much as we can for free. Of course, it takes some digital elbow grease on our part. But, if we need to, we can use traditional methods, plus social media and other means to pitch for attention on a national level. Here are two free services that can be useful:

• pr.com: Experts say this is one of the few free news release sites worth the bother, but it can be tricky to keep from racking up a bill here. The “free” news release distribution is bare bones — no google or Yahoo news, no links, no embedded images or videos — but it does do pretty well in straight-up search engines and will be seen by a good number of people. I recommend the video above to see how it works. (If you can’t see it, it’s at http://www.youtube.com/v/w9DW2vbCiXE)
• pitchengine.com: I just learned about this from a Vocus Webinar — many are free and I recommend you check out the Vocus link that opened this post for a list — and it offers a lot for zero investment. In your pitch, you can include videos, audio, images and social links. Pitchengine shares your release with “your media contacts via link or email or with thousands of consumers via social sites like Facebook, Twitter and others.”

In Time for Capitol Steps Show

Hannah Gonzalez and her family, from DeLand.

DAYTONA BEACH, FL (Jan. 28, 2010) – The first of several encores for the “Faces of Ability” photography exhibition, which opened earlier this month on the main campus of Daytona State College, begins today at the college’s News-Journal Center.

“Faces of Ability” features the everyday lives and triumphs of 13 young Easter Seals clients and their families as photographed by Daytona State College and University of Central Florida students. Easter Seals Volusia and Flagler Counties and the Daytona State College Foundation are the show’s presenters and will be mounting the exhibit at various locations throughout the two counties.

This stop at the News-Journal Center, 221 N. Beach St. in Daytona Beach, is just in time for the audience of tonight’s Capitol Steps performance at the facility. Other visitors can see the photographs for free during the center’s lobby hours throughout February.  Details of  “Faces of Ability” will be updated periodically at www.facesofability.org.

Media Contact:

Catherine Klasne,

(386) 212-7376

Write Result for Easter Seals

klasne@write-result.com

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In Time for Capitol Steps Show

DAYTONA BEACH, FL (Jan. 25, 2010) – The first of several encores for the “Faces of Ability” photography exhibition, which opened earlier this month on the main campus of Daytona State College, begins on Thursday at the college’s News-Journal Center.

Photo by Jean-Marie Appleby, Daytona State College. “Faces of Ability” subject Auburn Smith, center, and her mother, Linda, left, both of Port Orange, look at additional photographs by Tara Koenke.

“Faces of Ability” features the everyday lives and triumphs of 13 young Easter Seals clients and their families as photographed by Daytona State College and University of Central Florida students. Easter Seals Volusia and Flagler Counties and the Daytona State College Foundation are the show’s presenters and will be mounting the exhibit at various locations throughout the two counties.

This stop at the News-Journal Center, 221 N. Beach St. in Daytona Beach, is just in time for the audience of Thursday’s Capitol Steps performance at the facility. Other visitors can see the photographs for free during the center’s lobby hours throughout the month of February.

Updated information about the “Faces of Ability” collection will be posted periodically at www.facesofability.org.

Media Contact:

Catherine Klasne,

(386) 212-7376

Write Result for Easter Seals

klasne@write-result.com

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