Along with ringing in the New Year with raised glasses to the promise of success in 2012, many of us already have and/or will make annual resolutions. In business, these resolutions are often achievable but many of them never come to fruition. Why? The old adage “out of sight, out of mind.” People commonly get distracted after the New Year’s momentum dissipates. To avoid this scenario and establish accountability for your resolutions, here are a few tips for keeping your eye on the prize.

• Put Pen to Paper:  Develop a plan of action, with realistic and specific benchmarks that lead up to your ultimate goals. This ensures you don’t get lost in the forest and allows for resolution (pun intended) of any hiccups along with way without derailing the overarching results.
• Gain Consensus:  Your goals may be important to you—even to your entire department—but take a moment to ensure they relate to your organization’s overall focus or somehow contribute to it.
• Get Management Buy-In:  Aligning your goals with the organization’s overall mission is important, but securing an official nod from management means they are now invested in seeing the results come to life.

While setting annual goals is certainly the first step toward achieving them, a real commitment is needed to proceed forward with a plan and assume accountability for sticking to it. Wishing all of our clients, partners and friends a successful 2012—we look forward to seeing your resolutions come to be!

The holiday rush is in full swing and there certainly is no shortage of new tools, tips and resources to help consumers make good purchase decisions and maximize their holiday shopping budget. So in the name of shopping and saving I’d like to offer a few tips for those marketing, PR and other business professionals shopping for external PR services.

1)   Make a list – While as a kid you made a wish list of what you wanted and sent a note to the North Pole, you should have a similar approach for your PR services.  Knowing what your must-have services are, e.g., news releases, media placements/interviews, bylines, social media, as well as your nice-to-haves, e.g., case studies, awards, speaking opportunities, will help you properly evaluate PR providers.

2)   Set a budget – Most people have a budget for their holiday spending so they don’t overspend and they can maximize their gift giving, decorating or party planning. Selecting a PR partner is no different. At a minimum you should be able to discuss a budget range that you can invest in PR. There is no use spending hours discussing your goals, and developing and sharing proposals if you aren’t ready to put a real dollar figure on the services.

3)   Have a deadline – For folks who celebrate Christmas, Dec. 24 is a drop-dead date for Christmas shopping. Knowing when you want your PR program to begin will help you and potential partners be more realistic about program ideas and proposal development will be more real time.

Best wishes for a successful 2012. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah and Happy Holidays!

First, let me start out by congratulating our client Emptoris – acquired by IBM yesterday. Fantastic news. This by the way, marks the 5th client acquisition in a year for Y&A. It has been an amazing year for the agency as we entered new markets (higher ed technology) and grew our foothold in others (daily deals, consumer technology). Check out our December newsletter for more news on the agency, our best advice for getting the most out of conferences and our own Jennifer Mirabile’s Wish List for Reporters – a must-read in my humble opinion.

Wishing everyone a fantastic holiday season and one where everyone can put down their iPhone or iPad for a few short days to reflect on what’s truly important in life. Good friends and family.
Happy holidays friends!

Happy Thanksgiving!

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, as I double check my menu, grocery list and turkey cook times, let’s talk about the ingredients for a successful PR product launch. Product launches are not a one-way ticket to media fame. The key to success is crafting and promoting a more comprehensive story about the marketplace trends and challenges that make the new product relevant.

So, if you are considering the impact a product launch will have on your media strategy and overall business visibility and sales cycle, there are a few key points to keep in mind:

Get the Bird in the Oven Early
Many companies wait until they have the biggest announcement possible to begin a PR campaign; however, it is valuable to develop media relationships prior to the launch so you can quickly get beyond the introductions and focus on the meat of the news. Pre-brief analysts to ensure you have 3rd party validation on the solution and the issues that make it viable. Also, beta test the product with key clients who would be willing to discuss their experiences with media and/or analysts.

All About the Sides
Build a pipeline of news stories around the launch timing so there are plenty of potential topics to address with key reporters, bloggers and influencers. Also, rather than narrowly focusing on the product features, plug the business benefits, key trends and industry challenges that make the product relevant.

The Big Event
Consider timing the launch around a high profile industry event – where you can sit down with reporters, bloggers and other influencers in person to help cultivate the relationship and story. Be ready to offer a multimedia demo and screenshots.
Just as turkey alone doesn’t make for a Thanksgiving feast, there is more to a product media launch than just the new bells and whistles.

From all of us at Young & Associates, Happy Thanksgiving!