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Surefire ways to get newspaper or magazine articles written about your camp

How'd you like a newspaper or magazine article written about your camp? That's PR, and it's a high-impact, low-cost way to establish credibility, build name recognition and reach untold numbers at people at once.

Much of the stuff you read in newspapers and magazines everyday comes from people like you who pitch story ideas to authors and editors. Many writers aren't creative enough to come up with story ideas on their own. Instead they rely you for things to write about.

When a writer considers a story, they want timely, newsworthy, relevant information for their readers. Now that spring is here, you'll see more and more stories appearing about camp because camp is a relevant topic this time of year, and information about camp is beneficial to the public at large.

Some publications get pitched hundreds, if not thousands, of times each day. Like anything else, your idea must stand out if you hope to pique the author's interest.

Or does it?

Here's a practically surefire way you can get stuff written about your camp whenever you want.

Pitch your story to:

• Volunteer-run association newsletters
• Publications of membership groups
• Large companies who print newsletters for their staff
• Weekly "throwaways" you get in your driveway or mailbox

These places are STARVED for material. They'll publish almost any story as long as it features local people or places (you and your camp) and/or benefits its readers or employees.

Regarding employees, targeting company publications is among the easier ways to get your foot in the door. Businesses are always looking for ways to offer free employee benefits. Your article could be the ticket. One chiropractor I know pitched a story to a local t-shirt manufacturer. The t-shirt place printed a story about the chiropractor in its company newsletter. The employees loved it and the chiropractor picked up lots of new business.

If I know you, your mind is spinning a 100 MPH contemplating places to submit your stuff. Why not fish where the big fish are? Here's a list compiled by Fortune Magazine of the best places for women to work. Many of these organizations publish newsletters for their employee moms. I'll bet you can get a write-up in any number of them.

One more thing. Many people I advise decide not to try PR because they're afraid of rejection. Don't be intimidated! Not everything you pitch will be accepted, but these publications NEED your stories, otherwise they'd have nothing to write about.

Go ahead and see what you can do. Start with the HR departments. Ask who's responsible for creating the company newsletter. Then ask the person responsible about their story submission guidelines. Make your pitch and see what happens. You'll be pleased with the results!

Search Engine Market Share

Here's a look at the market share of the "Big 4" search engines from last month. As you can see, Google continued to dominate getting 71% of all user searches in February while Yahoo got 15%, Bing 10%, and Ask 3%.

How long has your camp been around?

Do parents ever ask how long you've been established? The longer, the better in their eyes; more years means more credibility.

They don't know it, but when parents ask how long you've been around, they've actually given you a FANTASTIC opportunity to send them to your website or Facebook page without sounding like your typical "visit our website" sales pitch.

Let's say you've been established 30 years. So when a parent asks, you can answer honestly and proudly: "This will be our 30th summer."

But you don't stop there.

Here's what else you do.

You say, "And you know what? You can even see pictures of our early years on our website or Facebook photo album. We've got some really cool pictures from way back when we started. You can see how we've changed and grown and improved through the years. I think you'll really like it!"

Bingo. Not only have you just blown the person away by telling them you've been around forever, you also just got a new website visitor and potential Facebook fan.

Obviously this won't work if you're a newer camp or don't have a website or online photo album. But for established programs, it's great.

Right now there's some pictures on Aloha Beach Camp's Facebook page we call "Old School Aloha Beach Camp." There's even one on our wall showing kids who used to be campers, and who are now COUNSELORS at Aloha Beach Camp.

If you've got pictures of your camp from the early years, start posting them today. People love nostalgia, and your old-time photos will help you grow your camp today.

How to achieve response rates of 12% or more with sales letters

When I worked at an advertising agency many years ago, I learned how to market with sales letters. Now they're one of my favorite marketing tools.

Sometimes I achieve response rates as high as 12% or more when I send sales letters soliciting camp enrollment. Most people I know are happy with response rates of 2% or less.

Sales letters can be VERY effective sales tools IF you know the nuances involved in creating and sending them. If you don't, marketing with sales letters can punish you financially.

You know the kind of letters I'm talking about - the typical sales letter you get everyday from credit card companies, gyms, or magazines trying to get you to buy their stuff.

Here's the thing about sales letters though. You're competing against every other piece of mail that arrives in your prospect's mailbox every day. So you gotta make your letter stand out.

Here's a relatively plain sample sales letter I found online:

Nothing about this letter grabs me. It looks like any other one you'd get. In fact if I got this letter in the mail, I'd probably trash it before I even finished reading it.

Most direct mail experts say writing a jaw-dropping, lip-smacking, smash-them-in-the-mouth headline is the most important step to writing an effective sales letter. I agree the headline is one of the most important components.

But you know how to really stand out from the crowd? Start your letter at the end.

Huh?

Let me explain. I mentioned I send lots of sales letters to market my camp. But instead of writing them the traditional way, where you'd thank the person for reading your letter and putting your signature at the bottom, I write my letters as if the person has already read the letter. I even put my signature at the top.

Your typical letter starts like this: "Dear Mr. and Mrs. Smith ..."

But my letters (above the salutation) start like this:

"If you think your child would enjoy all these fun activities, give me a call at 1-888-51-ALOHA. Thanks for your time. 

Sincerely, 

Eric Naftulin

P.S. I know you're really busy, but just in case you're even busier than usual I wanted to give you the gist of my letter first. If you've got the time, here's the rest of the letter..." 

Then I go on writing the rest of the letter.

People like this format. It's creative and respects their time. It introduces Aloha Beach Camp right off the bat and teases prospects into reading the rest of the letter. While normal response rates for direct marketing sales letters hover around 2%, I consistently draw response rates of 7% to 12% or more. That means for every 100 letters I send, I can expect between 7 and 12 people to sign up for camp. That's a pretty amazing stat when you think about it.

But forget about me. This blog is for you. And you can achieve the same dramatic response rates with your sales letters with just a little work. Let me know if you'd like any help. Good luck.

Hubspot says no to Camp Fairs. (I mean trade shows.)

If you're like me, you probably don't think attending camp fairs pays off. In my opinion they're too expensive, time consuming and don't attract the number of prospects we need to make these events worthwhile. Before the "internet age" and online marketing, attending camp fairs was worthwhile. Now a MAJOR internet marketing company,  Hubspot, has quit attending trade shows, too. Check it out.

Moving Billboards: My New Marketing Experiment

One of the marketing tactics I've always wanted to try but never have is "transit marketing."

You know those huge ads plastered on the sides of big trucks that drive up and down major major streets and thoroughfares all the time? That's what I'm talking about.

I confess I'm MESMERIZED by those things. Every time one goes by I pay close attention. I'll bet lots of other people do, too.

I might be wrong but I think these "moving billboards" could be a very effective advertising tool. Just imagine a picture of a big happy camper with your camp's name, phone number and website on the side!

What's not to like about this type of advertising? For one thing, people of all ages, income levels and backgrounds see your ad. And if you live in a big city like me, thousands and THOUSANDS of people could see your ad every day.

But most importantly, this kind of advertising goes to the very heart of what's needed for advertising to be effective -- repetition.

The reason why is because people take the same route to and from work or school every day so they'll keep seeing your ad over and over, day after day.

Everyone should set aside a portion of their marketing budget to try new things, capitalize on opportunities and for unabashed, experimental marketing.

Advertising on these trucks will be my experiment this year. I'll let you know how it goes.