The Wax Blog

One struggle I have with my clients at times is convincing them that they need to credit sources. Their opposition isn’t because they don’t want to credit the sources that they use, it’s because they’re afraid they’re sending traffic away from their website. It’s a common fear, but that isn’t the reality, at least not exactly. (more…)

For entrepreneurs, small business owners and experts, the daily query boards like HARO and ProfNet can be incredible resources for gaining media placements. From major news broadcast shows to popular niche bloggers, these sites host queries from journalists and producers looking for specific sources for current stories.  Despite how great these resources are,  reporters tell me most  folks  blow their chances completely by the time they write the first sentence in response to a query. Here are some ways to up your chances for getting the media to email you regarding a query, and hopefully get mentioned in a major story! (more…)

Photo from fOTOGLIF

By Beth Graddon-Hodgson

In last week’s post about writing headlines we touched a little bit upon keyword usage and the tools that are available to determine the right terms to incorporate. Relevant keywords must appear in your blog content as well as in your headlines in order to fare well with search engine results. To use them, you’ve got to learn how to determine what relevant keywords are with regards to your blog and each individual topic you choose to focus on. The term SEO tends to scare many new bloggers, but it’s not necessary to get all technical in order to get the right results. (more…)

As promised in the wonderful Dana Larson’s post on time management, I’m going to fill you in on the rough process I use to manage my own (and Wax Marketing’s) social media accounts. Because I work on social media campaigns for some of my clients, people tend to think it’s really easy stay engaged in my own social media accounts. Unfortunately that’s not the case. Like most people, I either get totally sucked into goofing off on Twitter ( lately it’s @pharm84 who is a bad influence ) or I get so busy on client work I ignore it. But for the most part I have a routine I follow, and tools I use, that seem to work well for me in terms of staying consistent.  I hope it gives you some ideas, and PLEASE – let’s get some good comments going on favorite tools and tips for making social media less overwhelming. (more…)

We might be operating in a new technological paradigm, but the basics still apply when you’re trying to find time to make use of social media. In this post, Dana Larson provides a refresher on some easy ways to make time for online marketing. On Monday, I will share with you the specific tools I use to automate as much of my own social media platform (and my clients) as I can. But first, here’s Dana…

We want to be able to “do it all”, but let’s face it – we don’t have time. You probably don’t even have time to read this blog post, right?  Staying up to date on all the new advances in online marketing is a full-time job in itself. Below I’m listing my top 5 ways to manage my workload. (more…)

By Beth Graddon-Hodgson

Once you’ve chosen a focal point for your blog – your vague subject area on what you’ll focus upon, the next step is to start making more specific decisions about the writing style. When writing each blog post you can make them personal or topical – or any combination of the two. In order to get a feel for what might work best for your blog, I’m going to provide you with some basic guidelines about what each of those categories mean. With this post, the focus will be upon personal business blogs. A second related article next week will discuss topical blog posts. (more…)

I was sitting here wondering when a marketing person was going answer my email (from two days ago) when it occurred to me that  traditionalists will have to add a sense of urgency to their worklife in order to survive. I came out of sales where response to request timing was everything. But when I started working with other publicists and marketing folks I realized that isn’t always the norm. Okay I understand when you’re working with books that get released 6-8 months after you’ve sent the galleys out for review. Or when you’re developing brand images with focus groups, etc. All those things move at a snail’s pace (at least to me).

A sense of urgency in response can no longer be reserved to the daily print reporters and local TV folks, or for breaking news. Folks, we’re living in an extemporaneous, real-time conversation world now. Getting back to someone three days later -or never- isn’t gonna cut it. I work with quite a few partners in what I do, whether it’s web design, marketing, writers, etc. Guess what – the blogger that answers my email or tweet the same day I send it is going to get my business. The one that answers me within an hour – they will always move to the top of the heap. And I think my clients feel the same way, and have felt that way long before the social media “engagement” craze started.

Look, I’m not asking you sew a Blackberry into your bra. But the days of taking days to answer messages are over. And the traditionalist publicists and marketing folks better learn that or they might end up like poor Goose.

I am a huge fan of Problogger . The latest post has some of the best writing advice I’ve seen for blogs. Here’s a recap of the 8 tips, but be sure to read the entire article. (more…)

Bart the Dumpster Dog

I realized right away that @bartthedog was gaining followers at a much faster rate than @waxgirl333 , my twitter handle. Not to mention the fact that he has more than ten times the number of Facebook fans for his Bart the Dumpster Dog fan page. Neither of us are megastars in the social media stratosphere (yet!) but I thought taking a look at how @bartthedog pays attention to his social media might give you an idea of how he’s added more than 3000 followers in such a short time – with very little effort.

1. Bart has a GREAT back story. Not everyone can say they were rescued starving and frozen from a dumpster on an Indian reservation.

2. Bart has a unique and consistent voice. This is probably because I have anthropomorphized Bart and his brother for the past three years to such an extent that I’m fairly fluent in Dog.  His followers call him “cutey” and “sweetie” and “lovey” so I guess it doesn’t matter that he’s over 90 pounds – his voice is crystal clear to them.

3. The dog lover niche, particularly for rescued dogs, is really strong, if not zealous. I told a car dealer once that if he supported his local humane society in a big way he’d have more customers than he could handle and I was right. One woman drove from South Dakota to Minnesota to buy a car from the guy – for helping rescued animals.

4. Bart’s not selling anything. He’s just a friendly guy that sends out tweets about interesting dogs for adoption on petfinder, cool doggy news and stuff he’s been doing lately.  He’s also very good at RT’ing information for animal rescue groups, so there’s a certain altruistic side to the boy.

5. Finally, Bart is always positive and never controversial. He doesn’t take sides and has no politics.

I started Bart’s accounts as a way to test some of the programs and apps for Twitter and Facebook, not to grow his profile.  Before long he’ll be writing a book and signing pawtographs.

Since I’m working the Minneapolis Boat Show this week I thought it would be appropriate to share my top tips for getting great public relations for any event. Although they all might not be as big as this one, events work well for traditional broadcast and print pitches. But there’s definitely a trick to it – here are some things that work for me. (more…)