9 May 2007

Forty people turned up for our meeting in May. Our guest speaker was Jackie Jarvis who runs her business Marketinco in Witney.

Jackie Jarvis is Director of ‘Marketingco’ and author of the new business marketing book ’85 inspiring ways to market your small business’ (publishing date January 2007)

Through Marketingco she aims to help SME business owners and independent professionals to ‘Make their Marketing Work’

Marketingco combine expert facilitation with design, copy writing and delivery to enable their customers to get the right message to their right market. Brand image, marketing collateral, advertising and promotional campaigns can all be produced from initial concept through to completed design and print.

Jackie works personally with businesses and their teams on a regular basis facilitating the creation and actioning of an effective marketing plan. The ongoing relationship providing the expertise, focus and structure required to make sure results are achieved.

Based in Oxfordshire she regularly runs a series of monthly small group workshops entitled ‘8 Steps to a Profit Making Marketing Plan’ which are designed to facilitate and stimulate the production of that all important marketing plan and the motivation to action it.

The title of her talk was “How to get FREE PR for your business.” Jackie explained the importance of having a marketing plan which will undoubtedly help you ensure that your PR activity “fits” with your other marketing activity. Writing Press releases can be very time consuming so it is important to be selective. Her definition of a Press Release is “A short concise description of a potential newsworthy story about your business”. Your chances of getting PR will be enhanced greatly if you can build good working relationships with editors and consider the needs and interests of their readers.

Editors are looking for:

• Quick easy stories
• Something different and unusual
• Local interest
• Non commercial
• Good headline and summary of story
• Well written releases with short sentences and paragraphs

Jackie talked us through a couple of case histories and some examples of good and bad Press Releases. She invited 729 Club members who may want to find out how PR could help their business to a free one-hour’s consultation and she directed us to her web-site for a free report on PR, see www.moneymakingmarketingideas.com

Jackie nominated “Against Breast Cancer” to receive the £40 raised in the Bob Geldof bucket.

May’s meeting is probably the last that we will hold at The Crown & Cushion. We’ll endeavour to find a venue that can cope with 40 people for breakfast.

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