Pawsible Marketing at BarkWorld Expo 2010

Two weekends ago I had the extreme pleasure of attending BarkWorld Expo and speaking to the attendees of the event.

What a great group of pet business professionals, pet owners and of course, pet lovers. I really enjoyed meeting everyone and talking pets throughout the weekend. And especially enjoyed listening to all the speakers talk about various aspects of social media - from Twitter, Facebook and blogging to social media etiquette, how to most effectively engage clients and prospects through social media, and how to build a great social media program.

My presentation was on Friday and entitled "Utilizing Social Media to Market your PetBusiness.' The talk was geared toward pet business owners, non-profits utilizing social media to further their cause, and pet lovers looking to utilize social media to share the love of their pet with the World. The room was standing room only, and there were a lot of questions following the event. What a great group to speak with! Here is a copy of my presentation to the group, outlining the highlights of my discussion:


I took my two dogs, Johann (YoYo) and Gracie to the event. They were fortunate enough to have two wonderful companies sponsor their attendance, allowing us to showcase the great products both companies provide to dogs (and cats).

Special thanks to Cranimals for allowing us to share their great Cranimal supplements and ZenDog Treats with the attendees, and The Company of Animals who allowed us to share their great line of Nina Ottosson Interactive and Intelligent dog toys, their Haltis, Clix Car Harness, Clix Multi-Clicker and other products with all the pet parents at the event.

JoJo posed with all the great gear from The Company of Animals in the green room, before sharing it with the attendees at the event...

Niqqi, one of the dog blogging attendees and speakers, had a great time trying out the Cranimals ZenDog treats...

And Cosmo, another Tweeting, Facebooking and blogging dog, really had a great time with The Company of Animals Dog Pyramid and Dog Tornado...

JoJo got to show off his enthusiasm for the Dog Pyramid before we shared it with all the dogs at the event...


Gracie, since she's the quietest one of the family, got to attend a few of the sessions with me...although I think naturally she was more interested in playing with the other dogs attending the sessions...

It was a great event, one I hope to be able to attend and participate with again in the future. If you'd like to catch up on a lot of what went on at BarkWorld Expo, go to Twitter's search page and type in #BarkWorld...you'll see the entire stream of Tweets before, during and after the event as all the dogs, participants, attendees and speakers were tweeting away about BarkWorld Expo.

BarkWorld Expo this weekend!

This weekend is the BarkWorld Expo in Atlanta, August 20-22, at Atlantic Station. The conference, expo, and weekend of events will be a really fun and educational time for those interested in learning more about social media for pets and pet businesses.

The conference boasts some amazing speakers including Natalie Malaszenko, PETCO; Rick Rockhill, Natural Balance; Lynn Haigh, PawPawty.com; Charlotte Reed, The Pet Expert and more. I will be speaking tomorrow, Friday, August 20th and discussing how to utilize social media to market your pet business. Although the presentation is geared toward pet businesses, both B2B and B2C, it will also be helpful to non-profits, individuals and even pets parents to learn how they can utilize social media to promote their business, cause or their pet through social media.

As part of our trip my dog's Johann and Gracie from JohannTheDog.com and RaiseAGreenDog.com will be in attendance. They have teamed up with Cranimals, makers of the healthy, green, whole food supplements and functional ZenDog biscuits for our upcoming trip. While at BarkWorld, they will be handing out Cranimals supplements and treats for dogs to try.

If you'll be attending the expo I hope that you'll stop me and introduce yourself, I'd love to meet you! And if you are attending my presentation, get your questions ready as we'll have a nice Q&A session following the presentation to help businesses, non-profits and individuals learn tips and tricks to best utilize social media for their situation. Those attending my session will be provided with a copy of the presentation with notes, so they can put what they've learned to work right away.

See you in Atlanta!

Pawsible Marketing listed as one of Entrepreneur Magazine's Annual 100 Brilliant Ideas

Pawsible Marketing today announced that it has been named to Entrepreneur Magazine’s list of “100 Brilliant Ideas” for 2010.

The cover story for the June 2010 issue of Entrepreneur recognizes “brilliant” companies in categories ranging from mobile technology and outsourcing to fitness and pets.

Co-authors Kara Ohngren and Jennifer Wang examined 10 business areas that are growing fast and found companies in each of the categories that "bring jaw-dropping ingenuity to the table. A bold concept perfectly in sync with the moment: It's what great companies are built on. It's what shapes the future. It's entrepreneurship at its best.”

Pawsible Marketing was also featured in a recent Entrepreneur.com article, "10 Ways to Build Your Personal Brand." Author Lydia Dishman explored 10 business owners who have managed to navigate the rough waters of personal and professional branding to emerge with winning concepts.

"When it comes to starting and growing a business, there's one kind of equity that can't be measured in dollars: brand equity. It has nothing to do with cash on hand, real estate, inventory or any other tangible assets, but it's more important for the health and sustainability of the enterprise than any of them. A strong personal brand that dovetails seamlessly with a business has the power to turn customers' perception into profits. This is most important for entrepreneurs who often start businesses with nothing more than an idea and a firm handshake," shared Dishman.

“What an honor to be selected by the Entrepreneur editorial staff as one of the most brilliant business ideas for 2010, as well as singled out for our personal branding success,” said Leslie May, founder of Pawsible Marketing. “Every day I feel fortunate that through our company's marketing efforts and guidance, I am able to assist and inspire other pet business owners to help build their businesses and further our collective passion for enhancing the special bond between humans and our four-legged friends," shared May.

Leslie May, founder of Pawsible Marketing was a successful veteran marketer who began her own consulting business in 2002. Her love of animals - and growing menagerie of cats and dogs - was the inspiration to take her firm into a branded niche service exclusively to help owners of pet-related businesses with all their marketing needs.

Pawsible Marketing has since spawned several other growing concerns, including Johann the Dog (an online portal offering toys and products for agility training), Raise a Green Dog (presenting tips and products for raising environmentally friendly and healthy dogs), and Rescue Me (helping lost pets find their furever home), each focused on a different aspect of serving those beloved furry friends.

About Pawsible Marketing

Pawsible Marketing was formed to help the pet business vertical with marketing to increase sales and revenue. The company helps B2B and B2C pet businesses worldwide with a variety of marketing services and projects including marketing planning and strategy, lead generation, social media, online and offline marketing, blogging, brand development, websites, corporate and cause-related marketing, communications, new product launches and more. For more information visit www.pawsiblemarketing.com, call 317-847-0855, or email lmay@pawsiblemarketing.com.

The online version of the Entrepreneur magazine June cover story, “Entrepreneur’s Annual 100 Brilliant Ideas,” can be viewed here.

Leslie May, founder of Pawsible Marketing, to speak at BarkWorld Expo!

Leslie May, founder of Pawsible Marketing, will be among an amazing roster of featured speakers at the upcoming Bark World Expo, August 20-22, 2010, at Atlantic Station in Atlanta, Georgia.

The 2010 BarkWorld Expo (BW) is a social media event for pet owners and businesses that use Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and other social media applications. BW will also provide a forum for the “behind the scene” tech savvy pet lovers to come out from behind their laptop and learn from each other and discover the products and services available to them.

The event is also a great forum for pet business owners, as BW will provide education and tips on how to utilize social media to build their brand and increase visibility.

"It's going to be a great event for any pet lover or pet business owner to find out from the experts how social media can further their business, and also connect with other like minded pet lovers from all over the world," says Leslie May. "My dog Johann and I are excited about the opportunity to meet with many new pet lovers and pet business entrepreneurs at the event to network and share knowledge of social media marketing from not only my perspective, but Johann's as well."

May will be speaking at length about the how pet businesses can use the power of social media to bring their marketing efforts to an entirely new level on Friday, the first day of the event.

Pawsible Marketing and president, Leslie May, featured on Entrepreneur.com!

Leslie May, president of Pawsible Marketing is featured along with nine other entrepreneurs on Entrepreneur Magazine's Entrepreneur.com, talking about branding in the article, "10 Branding Successes (and How They Did It)"

Click here to view the article, and learn some great tips from some very successful entrepreneurs. As the article says..."no matter what industry you're in, a strong identity will help you stand out with customers."

Online press release distribution basics.

Over the years I've used many online press release sites on behalf of my customers, and for my own business, to get out the word on new product announcements, events, company announcements and more.

Online press release distribution is key in your total PR campaign to let the pet business media, customers, prospects, and other key publics learn about your business, and what's new with your business.

Press release distribution can also be a terrific tool to help you garner higher Google, and other search engine, placement for key words that are important to your company and your product.

Free vs Paid

What are the differences between free and paid sites? A quick review...

Generally speaking, most paid sites will provide you with not only the ability to gain Google, and other search engine placements, but they will also provide you with statistics and metrics to see who and how many have viewed your press release.

In addition, many pet business medias utilize some of these key paid sites as a way to search for pet business news and information from pet business companies to share with their audiences. Paid sites like PRNewswire and Marketwire are very popular online news media outlets and can have their advantages over free paid sites.

Free online sites can be just as effective as paid sites in my opinion, but it does depend on your goal. While in some cases you may not be able to track how many people and who have viewed your press releases, they can get very good Google, and other search engine placements; many times getting the front page of Google for key search terms related to your announcement.

In addition, I see more and more pet business medias utilizing Google (and other search engine) searches, as well as press release sites, in gaining information, and new product and company announcements, just as much as searching some of the paid press release sites.

Free press release sites do have some limitations that paid sites can provide, like adding images, or multiple hyperlinks to your press releases. In many cases you can add those elements, but there is an additional cost on free sites. Most importantly, there is usually a delay in when the free press release will be pushed out online (sometimes 2-3 days). So if you have very timely news, paid press release sites are definitely the way to go.

What I recommend

In most all cases, I recommend my clients utilize several free press release sites to distribute their press release online, unless they have an extremely timely topic that would require getting the word out immediately. I also do the same when getting out announcements about my business.

I have found that it is a bit more time consuming and sometimes challenging to the 'computer novice' to submit your press release to these free sites. Like anything else that's new to you, there is a learning curve. The more you do it, the easier it becomes.

Also I have found that when utilizing free or paid sites, there isn't really any difference in how my press release for my business or my clients gets results. Free or paid, I see the same results in Google (and other search engine) placement, contacts and more.

Again, it depends on your goal before making a final decision on free vs paid.

A quick listing of my favorite press release sites

Free

Pitch Engine - Pitch Engine is by far my favorite free press release distribution site.The only draw back is that now they only keep your press release up for free for 30 days. But the interface is very attractive and can make your business really stand out. And the social media sharing aspect is spot on with there system. You can purchase services from Pitch Engine to keep your press release up for a longer period.

PR.com - One of my primary recommendations for free press release distribution.

24-7 - I have had good luck in getting front page Google placement for key word searches with 24-7.

PRlog - Another one of my top free sites, allows links in free press releases.

PetPress.net - This site is free with approval of your press release. And specific to the pet business trade.

Paid

Pitch Engine - Even though I've listed Pitch Engine as one of my favorite free sites, they are also one of my favorite paid sites. Great interface, ease of use, and more.

Marketwire - One of the top three most visited online paid press release sites by journalists and medias.
Businesswire - Another top paid online press release site for distribution.

PRNewswire - One of the top three most visited online paid press release sites.

PRWeb - I see a lot of pet businesses utilizing this paid service and getting good results.

Online press distribution is only one part of your PR plan

Remember, online press distribution is only one part of your PR plan, albeit an important one. Other PR elements also play a very important part in your plan, from fashioning and scripting the writing of your press release to differentiate your business and your product or event, to distribution to pet business media and more.


Photo credits:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/meaganjean/ / CC BY 2.0

http://www.flickr.com/photos/deerwooduk/ / CC BY 2.0