In fact, many company leaders never even look at their own websites. Their awareness is seems to be more focused on what their staff puts in front of them or what their customers tell them. What they’re missing with these feedback loops is the hundreds (and maybe thousands) of people visiting their website. A company’s website is the most accessible way that a customer, potential customer, news reporter or random person can find that company.

As a result, having an outdated website is like making a sales presentation in your underwear.

It makes you look bad. Just like if you were standing in a meeting in your underwear, most people would laugh, look away, or tell you to take a hike. However, few would hire your company, even if you told them that you were too busy selling products to put on pants that day.

The same is true with websites. Your website is what gives you credibility… most people won’t see that new wizbang brochure or catalog, but they’ll likely go to your website to find your phone number, location, and browse to see what your company is about. It’s the world’s biggest tradeshow… and you already have a booth, whether you like it or not.

On the inside, however, it was just like every other direct mail seminar pitch, except of course it included two free tickets to admit us to this special event.

My husband and I both laughed, and I couldn’t quite throw it away. I wanted a photo of it for this blog (and to show my grandchildren someday).

Then I got thinking about it? Is the economy so bad that Donald Trump has to hawk educational seminars and give away free CDs? Or did some training company buy the rights to his name? At any rate, is it the type of celebrity endorsement that all PR people dream of OR does it tarnish The Donald’s reputation?

At any rate, I won’t be attending the free Trumpathan training event.

How do I know?

On company websites of all sizes, I find typos, outdated information, vague details, and very little about the people who work there and the products or services they sell. Sometimes its even a chore to find a phone number – hard to believe, but true!

Ironically when I make it through the red tape to appropriate person to interview for the article — usually a marketing director or CEO — then I am often sent a capabilities brochure on the company. These brochures are amazing: great photos, interesting text, and all the proof that this is indeed a professional company.

So why is it that the boss cares more about a printed piece stored in their backroom than the website which is available to entire world in one click? Because that’s what they see. They aren’t looking for information about their own company. They are looking to hand something to someone they meet. And yet, if they actually went to their own websites on a regular basis, I think they would be shocked at the less than professional image they are projecting.

So if you are part of a company, go to your website. Pretend that you are a first-time visitor. And if you can’t, ask someone else to check it out for you. Get their honest opinion. Then consider: what image do you want to project to the world?

He always looked at me and said something like: “It’s on the list.” I usually then shook my head and thought that he needed better planning skills.

This was before I left my 9-to-5 job as PR director of a national association to start my own business. Since then, I’ve been whisked into the crazy world of entrepreneurship, or what I lovingly call, “finding work to get paid.”

I made many lofty goals and business plans. I created to-do lists using my favorite service, www.rememberthemilk.com. I planned on writing a blog post every week and networking on Twitter, Linkedin, and Facebook. I would do everything to market my company, plus some. It’s what I do for a living!

Then reality hit. My blog posts went from once a week to once every other week. My tasks got postponed…again and again.

For the past month, we’ve both been slammed. I haven’t written a post in a month, and I haven’t done much proactive marketing either. I’ve just been working for clients.

So is this irony? I’ve got so much work to do that I haven’t had time to market myself, even though this is part of what I do for others. It’s like doctors who smoke and let their waistbands expand: they take care of your body all day long, so they let their body go.

So you either work and make money… or you market yourself and sacrifice some cash. Tough call.

I guess that’s why my husband’s new website is still three-fourths done, while his clients’ sites all look great. I’ll have to work a bit harder at fitting it all in this year and start “hiring” myself to promote this company.

What did they do?

According to Jason Della Rocca, executive director of the International Game Developers Association, his association used new media to inexpensively and effectively promote their conference.

Della Rocca’s conference marketing tips include:

• Set up your conference’s website using a free, self-hosted blog system. Check out IGDA’s conference website.
• Encourage subscriptions to RSS feeds on your site. This will keep your members updated without having to do as many “push” marketing emails.
• Post your content on other blogs. Have staff members share information about your event by posting and commenting on other relevant blogs.
• Examine and use your site statistics. You can find out who is linking to your blog and what keywords they are searching for on Google by examining your blog statistics.

The article also suggest recruiting attendees to post articles about your event as it is going on–either on your blog or on their own blogs. Other areas to think about: establishing a Facebook group for attendees and recording videos and posting them on Google video or YouTube.

By the way, the IGDA’s conference was a sellout.

The great thing that I see about these ideas are that they are something association staff can do in-house or they can outsource to a marketing or tech vendor. My husband’s company often helps out groups with their meeting promotion sites, but most haven’t gotten quite this techy yet.

I hope that RSS will catch on soon with association members; I know it would have saved tons of emails at my last association.

Access the full ASAE article here.

Here’s a few more tips to follow to improve your writing process:

• Read out loud. After writing, speak what you write. This unveils awkward phrasing, gaps in the structure, and areas that need revision.
• Strengthen verbs. Replace ho-hum verbs like “go” and “made” with powerful action verbs like “build” and “discover.” Look for spots where other modifying words are watering down your words, “like trying to communicate.” Drop the “trying to.”
• Evaluate the tone (or attitude). Is your writing friendly, funny, professional, intense, curt, pushy or cold? I get a letter from my health insurance that always starts with, “To get the most from your benefits, you need to understand how your plan works.” The bossy, arrogant tone of this first sentence irritates me every time I get the letter. Sometimes a small tweak can drastically improve the mood of what you’re writing.
• Keep it brief. One of the tricks I learned from years of working with a magazine is to cut the word count by 100 words if possible. This will help you to tighten the article, get rid of any duplication and focus your message.
• Get feedback. Find someone to review and proofread your work. You will make mistakes. But with an extra set of eyes, you can avoid a lot of embarrassment and reap a great reputation for you and your company.
• Double-check people’s names. Last stop before completion: fact-check names and other pertinent details. It only takes a minute, and it is worth it every time.

Take to the time to produce great writing. Fine-tune your efforts, and you’ll get more return on your time investment. (And you can avoid looking stupid…who wouldn’t want that?)

Writing has never been more important as we all spend hours every week writing emails. Although this list applies to nearly all business and promotional writing, I wouldn’t suggest applying it to essays and creative writing.

This is, however, a great checklist the next time you sit down to write anything. I know I’ll be using it to polish up the article I wrote last week.

Here’s a few tips to follow to improve your writing process:

• Determine the purpose. Start out by jotting a few notes: Who is going to read this? What main points do you want to make? What actions do you want to inspire the reader to take?
• Structure the outline. Even a simple business letter or email improves drastically with a little forethought. Clarify what you are communicating and plan the flow of the piece.
• Keep paragraphs short. My general rule is to keep paragraphs under 3 sentences for most purposes. Think about thick, black blocks of impenetrable text. Don’t you find that daunting as a reader?
• Use bulletpoints, highlighting, and subheads. These “reader entry points” help a reader scan and follow along with what you are saying. They make reading easier. Plus, they often show the writer when a point or paragraph is unclear.
• Know your style. Most people don’t realize that many writing styles exist, each with its own set of rules. Most business people are familiar with Modern Language Association (MLA), which is taught in English class. Publications use Associate Press (AP) style or Chicago Manual. The science and education fields use American Psychological Association (APA).

So often, bad writing results from rushed, sloppy words. Good writing can evoke joy, teach new skills, inform and entertain, and improve lives, not to mention increase your paycheck!

I’ve done it on the cheap and with a big budget. And, since I only had one video class in college, I learned from experience…and from my incredibly talented crew of video editors, videographers, and directors.

Plus, most of the videos I created played in front of a crowd of 500+ people, and there’s nothing like a live reaction to know if the video is a success or a flop. Luckily, I experienced more successes than flops!

Video Creation Tips:

• Have a point: what is the action you want the audience to take or the piece of information you want them to remember?
• Keep it brief: Five minutes of video is an eternity. It doesn’t matter that you spent 3 days shooting the footage. Be ruthless when you cut.
• Cut ruthlessly: Remove anything that doesn’t move the video forward.
• Consider the audience’s perspective: It’s not all about you.
• Boring is boring: If it puts you to sleep, no magic can make it interesting.
• Entertain: Be funny (or fun) if you can.
• It’s a video for a reason: Provide as many visuals as you can.
• Set the tone: Music is really important.
• Make it flow: Have a plan and work on the transitions. People remember stories as long as they’re brief.
• Be considerate: Make people look good.
• Go for quality: Hire a good editor and videographer or learn to be the best yourself.

Videos are a powerful medium; I hope you get the most bang out of your buck!

Here’s 6 ways to create a press release that everyone will love:

1. Ask your self, “Who cares?” What is newsworthy about this topic? Make it relevant to your audience or postpone the idea until you come up with a good news angle.

2. Create an informative, benefits-oriented headline. This is the one sentence that everyone will read: make it good! For a product release, tell the reader how the product helps them. For any other topic, tie it in with a big picture issue or trend.

2. Simplify, condense, and streamline. Make it easy for people to read and understand what you are communicating.

3. Tell readers how to take action. If you want them to register for an event, buy a product, participate in a survey or call their legislator, tell them how to do it.

4. Use testimonials. Using quotes from customers or supporters brings other perspectives into your release, while also increasing the credibility of what you are saying. This takes extra effort, but is always worth it.

5. Provide a contact person’s name, phone number and email. I really dislike reading a release on a company’s Website, but not being able to find any way to get more information. I don’t want to call an 800 number; I want a person. Don’t block people from calling you.

6. Use AP style. Pros know the format of a press release and so do publication editors. Make it easy to copy and paste the text in your press release so you will get published more often.

The press release is under-utilized in marketing and sometimes mangled by those eager for free publicity. Regardless, it’s a great tool to get the word out!