4. Event Highlight - High Class Marketing on a Shoe String Success Lab
What happens when your limited budget and need to promote your business collide? With Robyn Sachs and Michele Joseph in your corner, you may just pull it off with flying colors!

Michele Joseph of click consultants is an expert on branding, bringing with her to the YES!Circle nearly two decades experience in marketing and advertising. Her business is to position your company in the mind of customers above your competition. How can you start the process on your own? Michele suggests that the first step is to firmly plant your business identity in the mind of customers - consistently, every time, with the same exact message. Image really is everything in business, so determine in advance how you want your clients to perceive you. This means that you have to first determine your target audience and identify the value and uniqueness you bring as opposed to your competitors. Next is spreading the awareness of your wonderful company - branding. Among the tips Michele offered were leveraging PR and media coverage - writing articles (e.g. in trade journals, local and national papers and magazines); making presentations (trade shows, conferences, or professional organizations such as the YES!Circle) and sending out your materials in form of postcards or brochures to your target audience. The most important aspect of branding is message consistency, Michele insisted, so clearly define your message and put it out there every chance you get! Next, Robyn Sachs of RMR & Associates took stage with a dynamic, informative presentation on Public Relations (PR), the least expensive form of marketing. And Robyn should know - she was awarded the 1998 Entrepreneur of the Year award by Ernst & Young for growing her company 600% to $24.7 million in just a few years! RMR & Associates has been named as one of the top 25 Advertising and Public Relations firms in the U.S. Yeah, and we got her as a speaker! Robyn said that every entrepreneur should start their PR campaign with some basic questions:

• Where are you today in your marketing plan/execution? What have you already done? Really assess your current situation.
• Where are you going - specifically? How much exposure do you want, need and have time for? What is your goal in seeking PR?
• What is the best PR vehicle for your company? This is where cost and capacity to handle consequences of a media campaign should be considered. Once that article on the front page is published and you're bombarded with orders, can you fill them? If not, perhaps targeting a smaller paper is more appropriate at this time.

Robyn described five steps to leveraging media:

1. Understand the editor's role. Whom does the publication serve? They are unlikely to interview you for an article so that YOU get free advertising. Give them hard facts - numbers, percentages, who, when, where, why should they care?
2. Define your target audience - what do they read? Develop a core list of publications to approach. (United Way puts out a book of resources on the local market, so look it up if you can use it).
3. Identify your top three message points and hit them consistently and clearly every time.
4. Create a press kit on your website or hard copy. Only share it with reporters who are likely run your story (obviously this will save you time and money). They like to see case histories and hard results - there is actually a formula - Problem, Solution, Results!
5. Become synonymous with your brand in a targeted market. Avoid diluting your efforts and trying to sell to everyone - be a big fish in a little pond! If you have additional questions about this presentation or services offered by Michele Joseph and Robyn Sachs, they are delighted to talk with you further. They also make fantastic speakers for your organization, so please don't hesitate to contact them! Michele can be reached at 301-332-3317 or mjoseph@klickconsultants.com; and Robyn at 301-217-0009, ext. 20 or rsachs@rmr.com.

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5. YES!Circle Holiday Gift to You
As our holiday gift to you and a thanks for supporting us over the past year, YES!Circle is offering a special-price $100 annual membership through the first week of January! Read more Please note that this is a special offer to our Newsletter subscribers and is not available to the general public, except by your referral. If you, or someone you know, would like to take advantage of this special offer, please email register@yescircle.org with "Special Membership" in the subject line and your name and payment preference in the body of the email (check or credit card via PayPal). You will be emailed an official application form and an invoice for your tax records. Furthermore, every membership referral in December will receive a free certificate to a future YES!Circle event, one of the many YES!Circle membership benefits (please view all membership benefits at http://www.yescircle.org/membership.asp)

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7. Survey Says
What is your industry?

Financial Services 15%
High Tech 23%
Manufacturing 0%
Media/PR/Marketing 8%
Personal Services/Consulting 23%
Retail 8%
Other 23%

Tell us about YOU and see the results from the previous poll.

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