06.24.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 6:21 pm by Emily
Three Girls made the 2008 San Jose Business Journal’s list of the 14 Largest PR Firms in Silicon Valley! The list was published last Friday, and our inclusion is truly an incredible accomplishment given that Three Girls has just turned 3 years old. Of all the firms on the list, Three Girls is by far the youngest, and the only new addition to the list this year! We’re thrilled to be listed as #14.
In other news, Erika and I have both chosen the same photographer for our upcoming weddings! Both of us are very impressed with Stan Wong of Stan Wong Photography. Not only are his prices reasonable, but he is extremely professional with a comfortable style – three qualities we strive for at Three Girls.
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06.10.08
Posted in Uncategorized, PR Tips & Tricks at 1:41 pm by Emily
When promoting your company through written word, it is extremely important to pay close attention to detail – especially spelling. Consumers often choose between competing businesses based on the text of the website, brochure(s) or other written collateral.
As I was browsing various blogs I enjoy reading, I found a post on Inside Chris’ Head about Spell-Check Tips. While the post is written specifically for Mac users, here are three tips that I added my own thoughts to:
- Check Spelling While Typing – most computers have a ‘Spell-Check’ feature that allows you to check the spelling and/or grammar while you type. In Microsoft Word it’s listed under ‘Tools’ in the menu bar at the top.
- Speech – Inside Chris’ Head mentions a specific program that reads the text back to you, but if your computer doesn’t have such a program, it helps to read it out loud yourself word-by-word or ask a friend or family member to read it out loud to you.
- Google – if you aren’t sure how to spell a word, go to www.google.com and type the word into the search engine. When Google gives you the search results, it will also suggest an alternate spelling (i.e. Did you mean: spell check).
At Three Girls we always recommend printing out a hard copy for a final proof-read. We find it a lot easier to catch typos or misspelled words on a piece of paper as opposed to a computer screen.
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06.03.08
Posted in PR Tips & Tricks at 3:58 pm by Emily
I spend a lot of time at Three Girls pitching our clients to the press. While the PR industry tends to write a lot of Press/News Releases, Three Girls tends to write a lot of pitch letters instead. I came across an interesting analogy on The Bad Pitch Blog earlier today:
Pitch Letter is to News Release as Cover Letter is to Resume
A press release is not a pitch. Would you send a resume with no cover letter to a prospective employer?
In both instances, the letter provides context. You should pull out the value your release or resume offers that specific media outlet/editor and company/HR contact, respectively.
No one has the time to digest an entire news release or an entire resume to see why/how it applies to them. And the more I see just press releases being sent to me, without even so much as a salutation, the more I realize this is probably the reason so many hold such (deep) hatred for the news release format.
While the analogy isn’t perfect, it makes it easier to figure out how to go about writing a pitch. Like a cover letter, there are a few key points to hit:
- What/who the product/person is
- Why the person receiving this should care
- Where to get more information
The analogy falls apart a bit because, unlike a Cover Letter and Resume, sending a pitch letter without a News Release is perfectly fine. You don’t need to bombard the press with information all at once. Send a quick note to let them know what you’re pitching, why they should care, and where to get more information. If they want a formal release or have specific questions, they’ll let you know.
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05.19.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 5:55 pm by Emily
Last week Erika Taylor, CEO-Chief Publicist of Three Girls, was profiled in the San Francisco Examiner! You can read the full article online at www.examiner.com.
In other Three Girls news…I got to visit Koo-Ki Sushi’s retail store and gourmet chocolate-making facility on Friday! Koo-Ki Sushi makes unique cookie confections designed to resemble popular sushi pieces. They just debuted a brand new product: Musubi Munchies. This new collection of bite-sized “musubi” looks like Japanese rice balls, but they’re really sweet candy pieces inside crispy cookies. They come in packages of five different flavors, each with various tastes and textures! Erika and I got a tour of their facility, and then Karen Sasaki (Founder) and Lynn Ichinaga (CEO) took us to lunch in an adorable Hawaiian restaurant in downtown San Jose. When the lunch ended, they left us with samples of their Musubi Munchies. They were great - my favorites were the Peach-Mango and Cranberry Truffle. Koo-Ki Sushi continues to impress Three Girls with their artistic chocolate sushi, and their friendly, thoughtful attitude.
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05.16.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 11:09 am by Jeanna
I shouldn’t have to tell professionals this, but many people have made email into casual conversations. In an everyday conversation, people do not have to worry about capitalization, punctuation, paragraphs or spelling…unless you say the word wrong.
My point is that it’s easy to shoot off a casual email, but far too many people have decided that email somehow doesn’t need to follow the rules of written communication.
We have all received emails from friends, colleagues and family members who have forgotten that everything comes down to readability. Using no caps, little or no punctuation, run-on sentences, and long paragraphs, can be confusing to read. Even if they do use capitals, periods, and commas, they certainly do not spend the extra 20 seconds it would take to run spell-check, which is located right next to the send button in an email.
What are these people thinking?
If I received an email from a colleague or a friend within the office that had words misspelled or other errors within their email or other written work, I am not likely to want to partner up with them on any project. I would not want my professional creditability to lie on the lines of their laziness or carelessness of a job.
If people do not take the time to do things right, whether it’s emailing, filing, having a conversation, etc., then why anyone would take them seriously in or outside the workplace? With an email, your co-worker is able to easily forward the note to someone else – and wouldn’t you be embarrassed if it was sent to a client, your boss or an office crush?
My tip for you: Write and proof email just as you would other written work. In the Three Girls office we have 8 simple steps to proofing written work:
1) Review a Hard Copy Whenever Possible – Many errors are easier to see when printed out.
2) Spelling – Especially of capitalized words and numbers that spell-check does not catch.
3) Grammar – Are sentences and their structure the best they can be?
4) Punctuation – Are apostrophes in the right place? Commas? Periods? Is the punction at the end of the quote inside the quotation marks, etc.?
5) Consistency – Are numbers spelled out or numeric (one vs. 1)? Are proper titles capitalized throughout?
6) Complete/Detailed Information – Almost everything produced should be extremely detailed, especially for clients. We are often so familiar with insider terms or the workings of our process that we neglect to provide full explanations and details.
7) Writing Format – Is the right information in the right place?
8) Writing Style – This is not as clear-cut as the other categories, but each written piece of communication should be completely professional and have a ‘voice.’ Look for adjectives before nouns and the positioning of critical, or the most meaningful, information at the top.
Everything you send to others speaks of your qualities as a professional. With these tips in mind, your emails will reflect your seriousness as a business owner and/or as an employee, even when you’re “off the clock.”
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05.13.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 5:28 pm by Emily
I found a blog with some great Social Media tips (i.e. blogs, sites like LinkedIn or Facebook, RSS Feeds, etc.) that I think you would find useful. The post I chose to highlight is about things you can do to improve your blog. You can read the full article here, but I’ve pulled out my three personal favorite tips:
Tip 1: Be the About- Make that ABOUT page rock. If you’re not shy, add a picture. Add a name. Tell people who makes this thing, what you’re into, and hint at how one might do business with you, should business be your goal.
[I’d add that if your blog is for professional purposes, it’s critical that people know who you are. Besides the potential business, people generally like to know whose ideas they are listening to and what gives them credibility.]
Tip 2: Pay attention to the FORMAT of your writing- Break things up, so that eyeballs don’t feel buried in text. Use the occasional (or frequent) picture or graphic. Use bullet and number lists occasionally. Try visually laying out your posts, is what I’m saying.
[To go along with this, I would think about how you approach articles you read. If I come across a huge block of text, I generally think “I don’t have the time to read all of this,” whereas something broken down into a numbered list or bullet points is easy to skim over and take a few ideas away from.]
Tip 3: Start storing up posts for rainy days- You don’t have to blog daily, but everyone hits a wall. When it’s your turn, have something ready to post. I have about 7 things at all times.
[Even if you don’t store up posts for rainy days, I would at least store up ideas. We have a folder in the Three Girls office of blog ideas, so when one of us hits the wall we can pull something out for inspiration (such as magazine articles or newspaper clippings) that will benefit our blog readers.]
Some of these suggestions are for full-time bloggers, but I really do think that the three things listed above can be applied to any blog, whether for business or personal use.
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05.12.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 11:00 am by Jeanna
I have to admit that I am not as loyal as I’d like to be when it comes to going “green”. It is not that I can take it or leave it. It’s more the point that I can’t get past the price of organic foods, products or services. My family owns a gourmet grocery store, Piazza’s Fine Foods, and walking through the produce section, if I see that conventional apples are $1.39/lb and organic are $2.39/lb, I most likely always buy the cheaper item.
Yesterday, MC Milker, Green Marketing Expert, Business Consultant and Lead Writer for Ecoprenurist.com was the guest on PR 101 Radio: Marketing Advice For Small Business. She spoke about the changing world of “green” marketing and how it has its unique challenges. Along with the rise of green packaging, products, and services, who is buying these consumer green goods?
Are you buying green? MC gave PR 101 Radio listeners four ‘green’ categories consumers fall into.
What category are you in?
1) DEVOTED (16% of shoppers) – 100% most committed to organic living and its ideals … most likely to have changed their lifestyle to integrate organics. They insist on buying only organic products and live a dedicated green life style.
2) TEMPERATE ( 22% of shoppers) – Have a modern organic attitude and fit organics into their lifestyle; but are often wary of the higher cost of organic items. They are committed to integrating some green living into their lifestyles.
3) DABBLER (44% of shoppers) - Non-committal about organic – they can take it or leave it. For them, buying organic is more about hipness and being trendy than the health or environmental benefits.
4) RELUCTANT (18% of shoppers) - The least trustful of organics! They believe that conventional products are just as good (if not better) than organics and that organic products are not worth the extra cost. They are rarely involved in any type of green living.
To hear more about the changing world of green marketing, be sure to check out the PR 101 Radio archives!
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05.08.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 5:37 pm by Emily
Three Girls offers our clients solid advice on what to expect when being interviewed for any number of Public Relations situations—we wouldn’t be in business if we didn’t. Yet no mater how well we do, the best teacher really is Experience.
Karen Sasaki is one of Three Girls’ clients and owner of Koo-Ki Sushi—unique chocolate cookie confections designed to resemble popular sushi pieces. Karen just flew to Washington, D.C. for a live interview and product demo with TV anchor Jennifer Ryan of WUSA9 the local CBS affiliate. Her interview and demo went well she said, but there were a few surprises along the way. These “surprises” are typical of show biz. Through a humorous story that Karen was kind enough to share with Three Girls, we thought you might learn a great tip—maybe two—that will give you an advantage when it’s your turn in the world of show biz.
Prepare for the unexpected & roll with the punches.
Before the unexpected and rolling, let’s back up and say that Karen had prepared as much as anyone before her plane took off. She had her equipment, product demos, mental script of what she’d say, set clothes, and assistant—her husband. She arrived at the studio at 6 a.m. as instructed but quickly found out that her segment went live at 7:15 instead of being taped to air at 9:00! When she began to set up the “set” kitchen, she discovered it was a rolling island, not the home-style counter and stove everyone’s used to. She had decided not to temper chocolate (a delectable ingredient to her sushi cookie sensations) or mold the cookies (they’re unbelievable sushi look-alikes)—two good moves since the set kitchen didn’t offer her the luxury to do either. She soon discovered that the producer was nowhere to be found. She was on her own. Luckily she arrived with her “assistant” who helped her unpack and set up the demo while the newscast went on. Right on queue, Jennifer Ryan came in and introduced herself. Ryan went straight into the interview—with the grace and ease of any professional TV host. However, Karen wasn’t experienced, and wasn’t expecting a quick change from what she thought would be a Mother’s Day gift focus to the TV anchor’s generalized questions. When the interview changed direction, it would have been easy to get unnerved. Karen kept her composure and as she puts it, she “just had to wing it!”
Karen was asked to stay to close to the Weatherman, Tony Penn, who tasted Koo-Ki Sushi’s cookies live on-air—a nice touch, and unexpected added coverage for Koo-Ki Sushi. The news crew was delighted to get the left-behind chocolate morsels, and a special Obento was left for producer Janet Terry.
Although there were a lot of unexpected twist and turns, the wild ride ended well. Like they say in show biz, “All’s well that ends well.” Three Girls is thrilled when clients get their happy ending. Bravo Karen and Koo-Ki Sushi!
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05.06.08
Posted in PR Tips & Tricks at 10:44 am by Emily
I found an article online with some great tips for securing placement on TV. The full article is here, but I’ve pulled out three tips I think are the most valuable:
1. Specialize your pitch to the show and producer:
A pitch letter is specific to:
- The TV show;
- The TV show audience;
- The targeted TV show segment;
- The TV show producer reading it.
2. Do your homework! Know the show.
Before you write the pitch letter, watch the TV show enough so that you can answer these questions:
- Know the various TV Show segments;
- Pinpoint exactly which segment of the TV show your expertise will be appropriate for;
- Know the TV show audience so well you can predict what brands they buy and what stores they frequent;
- Above all else, know the right TV show producer to send it to (and the correct spelling of his or her name).
3. Make sure your pitch gets straight to the point and tells the producer why you should be on the show.
The pitch letter is a carefully thought-out and crafted document specifically designed to grab the interest of a busy, often distracted TV show producer and discreetly trumpet the following:
- Why you are the best authority to speak on your subject
- Why the subject would be of interest to the show’s audience
- Why the audience needs the information you’re giving NOW
Also remember to:
- Focus on your expertise
- Convey the value you will give the audience
- Think of visuals for the show
Remember to keep checking back for more Tips & Tricks.
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05.05.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 11:39 am by Elizabeth
If your marketing is working, great. But if the same old isn’t selling anymore, it’s time to get creative. Michele Pariza Wacek tells ZeroMillion.com readers how to get their creative juices flowing. Here’s 4 tips that make sense to any small business looking to invest in great ideas and strategies that payoff, with little dollars down.
1. Find the “second right answer.” Roger von Oech talks about this in A Whack on the Side of the Head. Don’t be content with the first good idea you come up with. Take the time to think of a 2nd, or 3rd, or 50th idea. Quantity counts. The more ideas you have to choose from, the more likely you’ll discover an excellent or even a brilliant one.
2. Change the question. If you change the question, you’re probably going to get a different answer. You say you want to sell more products? What if you changed the question to how can you make more money? There are other ways to make more money than to sell more products—maybe you lower the cost of making the product or you raise the price of the product. Now you suddenly have new avenues to explore rather than just going down the same tired path.
3. Change the think tank. If you’re stuck in a stale corporate environment, go somewhere where your team can gain a new perspective, lighten up, have some fun, and think outside the same old box you might be stuck in. The most important tip of all says Michele? Make sure you have a blast. Being creative should be fun. Don’t struggle too hard with it, and see how many ideas you’re rewarded with.
4. Walk away from it. If nothing is working, then stop. You can literally walk away by taking a walk, or just quit thinking about it. This is especially important if you find yourself getting frustrated or discouraged. Give your subconscious time to mull things over. The idea may just suddenly appear to you. Or, after a few days, try another exercise or two. That may be the catalyst you need.
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