Family first
What a delight it was to spend a few hours with the Westlake family during the Springfield’s Own May/June fashion shoot, which took place at Bunn Gourmet. If you haven’t been there yet – it’s a must! (And they have free WiFi).
I first met Courtney Westlake last year, she’s an accomplished writer and keen photographer and I wanted to get to know the face behind the blog Blessed by Brenna.
When she spoke at the Illinois Women in Leadership luncheon in February I, like many in the room were inspired. So, when the time came for us to select a family to photograph for our fashion shoot in the Family/10th-anniversary edition we couldn’t think of anyone better than Courtney, Evan, Brenna, and Connor.
As always, I leant on Kate Spencer who is a phenomenal photographer to take charge and do what she does best – take fantastic photos. We chose Bunn Gourmet as our location because Bunn is a family run company, which operates internationally, but has remained at its core a Springfield business. We worked with the Itty Bitty Fashion Truck team when it came to Courtney’s outfits, I selected clothing from Macy’s for Evan, Connor and Brenna (I got a little carried away with Brenna’s outfits … so many cute items to dress her in) and we also featured t-shirt designs by Jesus Couture by Paige Plummer one of this year’s Sangamon CEO students. The BJ Grand Salon and Spa girls did an awesome job with Courtney’s hair – as always. A huge thank you to everyone that helped!
So, don’t miss your next edition of SO featuring Springfield family businesses, 10 Sangamon CEO students, a GREAT fashion shoot and more non-profits in the SO Positive section, which is available on May 15th.
Meeting Hillary and reflecting on change, challenge and opportunity
Yesterday I met Hillary Clinton. It was brilliant. I was lucky enough to attend the MSNBC town hall at the Old State Capitol because my very talented friend wrote a fantastic piece in support of Hillary, six weeks ago, which was read by two million people. Not only is Courtney Enlow-Hall my friend, an extremely talented writer, but also the latest addition to Gem PR & Media. We are so excited that she will be working with us to continue the strategic and sustained approach we take when it comes to delivering global public relations, social media and marketing services for our clients.
Each year the president at Illinois Women in Leadership chooses a new theme. Our current president, Cheri Plummer, chose challenge, change and opportunity. I mention this because sat there, yesterday, listening to a woman who is likely going to be the next president of the United States of America and the country’s first female president I thought about the challenge, change and opportunity that had lead up to this moment for me.
The challenge of moving from one continent to another, making new friends and building a business.
The change of living in what my niece calls ‘the other world’, where, as Hillary said yesterday, on average 90 people die each day from gun violence and you’ve lived most of your life on a 25-square-mile island, with 60,000 people in the English Channel and it’s safe to leave your front door unlocked; it’s a big change.
When it comes to opportunity for me it’s about leaving my mark by giving back, by using my experience to help those who need it, whether being PR chair for Friends of Memorial, volunteering for Daily Bread through Rotary or working with people like our friend Tony DelGiorno who is running for the State Representative in the 99th district. I am extremely thankful for the opportunities that have come my way over the past 18 months, living in Springfield, Illinois. I do not take for granted the people I have met, those I get to work with and the growth our business is going through.
Google rankings
According to the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, ranking number one in Google’s organic search gets you a 34% click through rate on a non-mobile device. Last week Gem PR & Media reached number one in the Google search for ‘public relations companies in Springfield Illinois’. Not only does this prove that social media makes all the difference when it comes to Google rankings, but it also means we practice what we preach.
I am teaching my Social Media for Non-profits class today at Lincoln Land Community College and this is probably one of my favorite classes because you see the moment attendees realize they can ‘do this’ and get results in order to help their organization meet its goals and benefit the recipients of its services.
Not only does social media play a major part in Google rankings, but the updating and improving content on your website will make a vast difference. We aim to add a new blog to our website every week and in order to drive our rankings we include key messages, or search terms, within each blog.
Your ultimate aim should be to appear amongst the three-pack (the big map box with the three businesses highlighted) or at least within the top five, which attracts just over 80% of the traffic.
We work with several businesses in the US and the UK to improve their Google rankings through continuous updates to websites, the addition of interesting, informative and engaging content and effective social media campaigns – and we’re seeing a return on investment in real time.
Thank you, not just for engaging with Gem PR & Media online, but also those who continue to entrust us with your business: creating awareness, educating and informing your audience and delivering positive outcomes.
Lights, camera, and action
TV interviews are a great way to get in front of your target audience, increase brand awareness, educate them and create a call to action.
Preparation is key to a successful TV interview. It also goes without saying that the more practice you get, the more confident you will feel. So, here are our top tips for TV interviews.
Know your key messages: what are the messages you want to get across to the audience? Know these inside and out, whilst also being able to provide examples.
The curve ball: having worked on political campaigns you can always count on a curve ball question. Make sure you have a fail-safe that will allow you to gather your thoughts and provide a cohesive response. If you want to steer the conversation away from the question then redirect.
Do your research: know the program and the audience.
Speak with authority: own the interview. If you’ve got the opportunity to get your message across then do it – don’t hold back. Hold your head up, don’t slouch, place your hands on your lap or on the desk in front of you (if you’re standing place you hands to the side, in front or behind you), don’t fidget, lean in (slightly), make eye contact with the journalist/host and speak clearly, slowly and annunciate your words.
Provide good sound bites: I’ve had clients stand outdoors and do a 20-minute press conference or 30-minute recorded interview for the TV station to then select a seven-second sound bite. If it’s the world’s best sound bite that’s ok. Make sure you are able to respond to a question in one sentence, but allow yourself the opportunity to expand upon the initial answer.
Visual aids: when you are approached to do an interview offer visual aids, photos or footage. If it’s appropriate you may want to demo your service or product. We recently had a client perform acupuncture on live TV.
Dress to impress: if you’re representing your business and it’s appropriate to do so wear branded apparel. However, if you’re more comfortable in a suit or smart casual and this reflects your role within the business or your ‘uniform’ that’s perfectly fine too. Don’t wear anything too busy or with a pattern; bold, block colors look better on TV.
Practice: if you want to practice then there’s no harm in asking someone to run through questions with you ahead of your interview. We work with clients who are well accustomed to live interviews and still like us to run through a few questions with them ahead of time; that’s perfectly fine.
Good luck … and enjoy.
Creating a PR plan
As I am writing the curriculum for my four-part PR & Media Tool Kit course at Lincoln Land Community College for non-profits, I thought I’d take a few minutes to talk about the first installment: Creating a PR & Media Plan.
So … how do you create a PR plan? Well, there’s a formula, which I use pretty much each and every time. Each part of the formula plays an important role. First, analyze the current situation; what PR/marketing and/or interaction have you had with the media to date? Has it been a success or a failure and why? How much money did you spend and what was your ROI?
Next you need to set objectives: essentially what is your ultimate goal? Some might say it’s simply to increase revenue, but others have a more altruistic approach, they might want to educate their target market or give back to the community.
Once you’ve set objectives, and here’s my favorite part, you need a strategy. What’s the route to meeting your objectives? The fun stuff! On your way to meeting your objectives, you’ll need to engage in tactics, which I also refer to as ‘activities’. It’s when considering the tactics that you need to know your target market and have a good idea of media opportunities. Tactics may include; award entries, corporate social responsibility or positioning your executive director/face of the organization’ as a thought leader in their field, for example.
Here’s the bit so many forget; evaluation. Have you created a situation where you are simply churning content and throwing it out there for anyone to use or are you strategically directing your message to the target market of your organization and engaging with the people that will help you meet your objectives? The latter tends to work best in my experience. Make sure you measure your ROI and evaluate along the way.
Finally, the bit people don’t like … the budget. My advice would be to start out with one or two areas and build on these as your PR and marketing budget builds. If you are constantly evaluating the ROI of your plan you can amend the tactics accordingly. My other piece of advice is to do a few things well rather than a lot mediocre. Invest in a good copywriter for your blog, for example, or someone who has a great track record for award entries. The best part about a well-written plan is that it can change with the direction of your organization.
If you’re interested in attending my PR & Media Tool Kit four-part course, which also includes; social media secrets, writing to promote and sponsorship crowdfunding and events, you can register online at Lincoln Land Community College.
That’s a wrap!
On a freezing cold January afternoon Kate takes her last shot, shouts ‘that’s a wrap’ and applause breaks out in Washington Park’s Botanical Gardens; it’s the end of the fashion shoot for Springfield’s Own Magazine March/April 2016 edition – and our most successful to date.
The 70-plus degree warmth of the enclosed dome, the stunning location, the gorgeous clothes supplied by The Itty Bitty Fashion Truck, the talented Kate Spencer of Kate Spencer Photography, the gorgeous models Allie and Rachel, hair stylists Becky and Stacy, make-up artists Katelyn and Miranda and props from Flea Market to Fabulous made for some of the best fashion photos we’ve been involved in creating – and with zero budget!
It’s a long day, which entails weeks of preparation, but there's no better feeling when the whole thing comes together and you end up with top class images.
We begin with a theme for the shoot, which mimics that of the magazine. Then Chris and I meet with Kate to brainstorm ideas. Once we’ve decided on the salient details we secure our models, location and clothes. I then liaise with our hair and make-up team, which includes Pure Skin and BJ Grand Salon.
Getting almost a dozen people together in one place, for between four-to-six hours, is no mean feat. However, we are lucky to work with the best of the best, the professional and creative … most of all we always have fun.
Kate increasingly makes it harder to select just seven-to-nine images, which will end up in the mag – because the 500-plus I have to choose from are all worthy contenders.
Once I’ve chosen the photos I add all the details so that readers know where they can buy the beautiful clothes, props etc.
A month later the mag goes to print. Only weeks later it sits on the coffee tables of thousands of homes, hotels and businesses in Springfield and beyond.
Thanks to Chris we also have a great selection of behind the scenes photos, which we are able to share with you now.
What a pleasure it is to work with such talent and share it with everyone else.
Display ad spending to overtake search in 2016
According to emarketer.com, this year for the first time in advertising history, advertisers in the US are set to spend more on display ads than on search ads. Search advertising isn’t expected to suffer it will continue to grow just at a slower rate.
Display ads are defined as traditional banners, native ads and video. While video ads are the logical benefactor of TV budgets shifting online, traditional banners and native ads, which imitate editorial content and appear in content feeds on sites as well as the likes of Facebook and Twitter, will continue to bring in more money for the foreseeable future.
We are seeing, with our clients, a growing willingness to invest in display ads, especially on Facebook. What is most appealing for many of our clients is the ability to measure return on investment through analytics. Our aim, of course, is for our clients’ customers to follow through with a visit to their website, office, store or to even pick up the phone and make a call.
What is particularly exciting for us is the opportunity to take our content generating skills online. The opportunity to reach greater numbers of our clients’ target audience and, even better, to interact with them is extremely rewarding.
We still believe print media has its place, but the rate at which we are producing online content for our clients, whether start-ups or established businesses, continues to grow.
What our clients have taught us … so far
When we first meet with a client we often hear ‘I do all these things, but I don’t tell anyone about it because I either don’t know who to tell or I simply don’t have time.’ Like Rockefeller said: ‘Next to doing the right thing, the most important thing, is to let people know you are doing the right thing.’
What we have learnt from our clients is that they don’t just need idea generation, or to build relationships with the media, in order to reach their target audience, but they also need more time. We can give them more time by fulfilling their public relations and marketing needs.
This is especially true when it comes to social media management or online content, whether that be a website, blogs or platforms such as Houzz. There are so many great marketing tools out there, but which ones do you pick for your business and how do you maintain them when you already have a busy schedule? Well, that’s where we come in. We maintain our clients’ social media accounts, write blogs, update content on their websites and manage relationships with the various online platforms. We also provide feedback with analytics so that we can explain what is working best, why and how to move forward with online investment. Return on investment is very important to us.
We tell the stories our clients forget or don't have time to tell themselves; through their own clients, customers or consumers. We look for the opportunities they do not have time to look for, whether it’s commentary in a magazine or a TV interview.
We negotiate advertising or advertorial, which speaks to their target audience – we do not take a blanket approach, but a strategic and sustained one.
We also work to align our clients’ corporate social responsibility activity with their business' needs. So, they don’t feel they have to say yes to every raffle or silent auction. We work their community involvement into the PR and marketing strategy so they can see they are making a valued impact.
At the end of the day, it’s all about adding value and seeing outcomes, which not only takes knowledge and expertise, but also that all important thing … time.
A good year
We’ve had a good year at Gem PR & Media; expansion into the USA, quadrupling our clients, gaining print, radio and TV exposure, helping them grow their businesses and meet their goals – as well as win awards.
We’ve worked with clients in the retail, health, technology and banking industries. We write for, proof and edit several publications in the US, UK and around the world including Guernsey’s Chamber of Commerce bi-monthly; Contact, the State Journal Register’s Springfield’s Own bi-monthly magazine and Blue Islands’ inflight mag Blue Skies.
We’ve also enjoyed contributing to a number of organizations and non-profits including Illinois Women in Leadership, the Junior Chamber of Commerce and Big Brothers Big Sisters. We worked on our first political campaign and are glad to say we’re in the midst of yet another.
Our social media offering continues to expand with several businesses, non-profits and organizations seeking our support, knowledge and experience in order to gain a successful online marketing campaign. We’ve also taught classes at Lincoln Land Community College, which we’ll continue to build upon in 2016.
Next year we will continue to grow our client base, provide further teaching in Springfield and beyond, and continue to provide support to non-profits in our much-valued community.
Open dialogue, opportunities and successful outcomes
In my opinion, gone are the days of lengthy meetings between clients and consultants. Sure, initially, there’ll be the need for a strategy and activity meeting, in which we develop the story, messaging and a timeline, but from that point on we prefer to develop an open, daily even, dialogue with our clients.
I used to grimace, in my former life as an employee, at the time stacked up thanks to the commute to and from meetings. You could end up charging the client as much as 15% of their monthly fee for something that could be discussed ongoing or entail a 15 to 20-minute conference call. This doesn’t include the prep time ahead of the meeting; writing an agenda, emailing or printing copies of said agenda – and then there’s the follow-up too, which includes the writing of minutes or a report. By this time you’ve racked up 30% of the month’s consultancy allocation, before you’ve actually got to the PR bit.
I acknowledge the fact that meetings are there to offer the opportunity for discussion, review, and planning, but I believe, unless there’s a dramatic change to the campaign strategy or a crisis has unfolded, if you know your client well enough you should be able to weave your way through their business, identify opportunities and execute successful outcomes without eating into valuable consultancy time stuck in a boardroom.
In fact, our approach goes even further than this. We often ‘pop in’ on our clients or arrange a catch up once a quarter, rather than a sit-down, itemized, formulaic meeting. And, they love it; especially when it involves lunch, coffee or even (dare I say it) a glass of wine or pint of beer.
On top of this we see it as our responsibility to introduce our clients to opportunities outside of their office, practice, store or workshop. We often play host to our clients at networking events, luncheons or fundraising galas because we want to help them to grow their network – and ultimately their business.
I was once told that it was wrong to socialize with my clients (pre Gem PR & Media I’ll add), but this was a misconception – I wasn’t socializing, but building a network of successful opportunities and outcomes with and for my clients - long may we continue to do so.
IWIL, I do and I can
Illinois Women in Leadership is an organization close to my heart, not just because of the members – their valued professional guidance – but also the activities we organize and participate in together.
There are a number of projects, on which several committees work each year, including, the annual symposium in September, the Athena awards in July and the scholarship program.
As public relations chair for the organization I have chosen to sit on both the symposium and Athena committees to ensure that I remain up to speed with activity, especially when it comes to promoting events and gaining our generous sponsors the recognition they deserve through the media.
Like I’ve said before, at Gem PR & Media we use our strengths to help create opportunities in the areas for which we are known best. So, with the IWIL Holiday Social just days away, I thought I’d tell you a little bit about the scholarship scheme, which is funded by the event and what it means to the recipients.
Each year three female, high school seniors living in Sangamon County are awarded a $1,000 scholarship. In addition, one female adult in Sangamon County, who has been out of high school for five years or more and is enrolling in a college, university or trade school, or is continuing or returning to college and does not yet have an undergraduate degree, is presented with the chrysalis scholarship for $1,000. Since 2008 IWIL has awarded 24 high school scholarships and nine chrysalis scholarships.
The applications open in January 2016, are available at cfll.com, the deadline is March 1 and winners will be presented with their scholarships in May.
But first, we must raise funds to support the program through the sale of raffle tickets for the Holiday Social, which can be purchased at iwil.biz. You do not have to be present at the event to win.
So, please, help us in our efforts to support one of the communities in which we operate.
Further information about IWIL is available on the website; there’s also a Facebook page, Twitter account and LinkedIn group.
A targeted approach
It’s important to find and do what works best for you. For our clients it’s a strategic, sustained and targeted approach. Like we’ve said, right from the start, one size does not fit all. We also want to provide our clients with value for their hard earned dollars or pounds so we always aim to go above and beyond.
One of our clients, in the health sector, has grown their business over the past two years thanks to a great reputation, referrals and word of mouth. We started working with the client just over eight months ago to increase awareness, develop that reputation and educate the public about the benefits of the services being offered.
We began by getting to grips with the details behind the story of the business and it’s owner. We created a plan to disseminate the information and draw attention to the great work our client is doing. We first told the story behind the business by creating great content and pitching it to editors of health publications and to lifestyle magazines with health features; this is what we mean by a targeted approach.
We then entered our client into a number of professional and business awards, for which they were either shortlisted and/or won: gaining additional exposure through the media partners of these awards.
Most recently we identified an opportunity for our client to appear on a morning TV show. We created talking points for the interviewer, which we knew would lead to opportunities for our client to speak about what they do and why. Following our client’s first appearance we pitched a range of topics, for the next 12 months, which relate to the seasons, trends and our key messages that our client can talk about. We are very excited about this opportunity because our client will be speaking directly to one of their largest target audiences, moms, on TV.
Next, we’re tackling the older generation and our client will be speaking to some of these individuals in person, no gimmicks, no need for technology, just a good old personal approach.
So, it is not about the number of appearances or articles published, but about the timing, audience and publications or programs themselves: in short, a targeted approach.
Get LinkedIn
Gemma and Chris Long with Chris Carollo of LinkedIn.
LinkedIn has over four hundred million users. These are not my words, but those of LinkedIn global accounts manager Chris Carollo, who gave a presentation to Sangamon CEO students today, hosted by O'Shea Builders in Springfield.
Chris was there to help spur on the young minds in the room, encourage them to build a great profile, to connect with business owners, recruiters and professionals in their field of study, but we learnt some great tips too.
Get on LinkedIn now! 123 million of the 400 million members make up 82% of the US workforce.
- Develop your network and when requesting to connect with someone remind them where you met and explain why you want them to be part of your network.
- Make sure you’re not one-dimensional
- Make an investment in a professional profile picture.
- Remember, whatever you post online will stay online forever.
- 70% of jobs come from networking.
- 25% of recruiters look down on selfies.
- Make sure you’re a resource and asset to the people you connect with.
- Build a diverse range of recommendations.
- Interested in learning? Looking for content? Check out Slideshare.
- Always have your finger on the pulse of the community. Check out Pulse for relevant professional content, which you can also share with your network.
- Connections – the lowdown. 1st is anyone you’re currently connected with, 2nd means any connection of his or hers that’s not a connection of yours and 3rd means someone your 2nd connection is connected with.
- Who gets requests from people they don’t know? The advice from Chris is … if you don’t know who they are then there’s really no value in connecting unless you or they are recruiting.
- We tell clients this all the time, but here’s a good reminder; use your business profile as a hub to share content, branding, marketing and encourage sales.
- Check out Lynda.com … it’s the future.
Last, but not least; you can’t break LinkedIn so use every little piece of it to help you excel.
Paying It Back
We love what we do at Gem PR & Media because, through our consultancy and press service, we have an opportunity to work with a number of non-profits in Springfield, USA, the Channel Islands, UK and across the globe. Either through the work our clients do and the opportunities we provide to highlight these activities or in the articles we write for magazines, newspapers or journals we feel we’re doing our bit to help spread the word.
We believe strongly in using the skills and resources we have to help those from the communities in which we operate, through our widespread media contacts, business connections and PR skills. We advise clients to do the same. If you’re a bank or large corporate perhaps a financial donation or the donation of staff time is appropriate, if you’re a physiotherapist, chiropractor or paramedic maybe you could provide your time and skills during a 5K fundraiser or if you’re in the hospitality or retail industries you could provide a product or service for a raffle or silent auction, for example.
During the past few years we’ve worked to highlight a number of charitable organizations and our involvement in Springfield’s Own Magazine has certainly helped spur this on. The ‘Positive’ section in the magazine contains features about non-profits in and around the city – all working to better the community. In just a few months we’ve met with or spoken to representatives from Cochlear Implant Awareness Foundation, Flags for Heroes, Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Illinois, Central Illinois Foodbank, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Bright Star Equestrian Center, Contact Ministries, Young Philanthropists, Girls on the Run and Sojourn Shelter and Services.
So, if you’re involved in a non-profit that you would like highlighted in SO Magazine, or you’re a business in Springfield, Guernsey, Jersey or the UK and require public relations and media support to not only highlight the work you’re doing, but also make the very most of your time and resources through your corporate social responsibility program, please contact us at hello@gemprmedia.com
SO Active
Yesterday, Gem PR & Media undertook our second fashion shoot at the Springfield Racquet & Fitness Center with the unbelievably talented Kate Spencer of Kate Spencer Photography, models Lauren and Brett, hair by Javita Martin of BJ Grand Salon and Spa, make up by Miranda Mogle of Pure Skin and clothes kindly supplied by Scheels. It was an extremely successful shoot full of professionalism and positive energy.
Much goes into the fashion shoot for Springfield’s Own Magazine. There are weeks of preparation, which include meetings between the team to decide on a concept, sourcing models, a location, organizing and selecting clothing, deciding on make up and hair. Work begins between two to three months before the shoot takes place and up to five months before the edition is published. This means we can often end up shooting the fashion pages and front cover in seasonal weather conditions that will have passed by the time the magazine is in the hands of our readers. For example, we shot the November / December edition on a sunny September afternoon and luckily it wasn’t too hot for our models who were dressed in festive party gear. Our models are not paid, but provide their time free of charge and for that we are very grateful. All of our models work and live in or around Springfield. Like we’ve said before, this is a magazine for Springfield by people in Springfield – and we’re proud of it.
We intend to keep our readers on their toes though. Each edition we plan on having a different concept, location and clothing for our fashion shoot. The shoot itself can take between four and six hours, depending upon location, number of outfits and weather conditions (we managed to get our outdoor photos for the January / February edition done just before it started to pour yesterday).
There’s still plenty of work to do once the shoot has taken place. Kate, Chris and I usually wade through between three and five hundred images to pick out between 10 and 12 of our favorites, which also allows for a selection of different outfits, poses, expressions etc. When it all comes together it’s a brilliant feeling. We are so lucky that we have the opportunity to work with great people in this awesome city. We hope you have enjoyed the shoot in the current edition and don’t forget to look out for the January / February issue next year!
Meeting objectives through professionalism and innovation
As a PR and media consultancy we rely on the professionalism of others to uphold the standards set by our clients. We are responsible for their reputation in public and in the media, on and offline, but we rely on others to provide support in other areas and that is why we choose to work with individuals or organizations that are experienced, knowledgeable and innovative.
We work with small, medium and large businesses, so it’s only right that we collaborate with professionals that offer a range of services and price points. For example, if you’re a start-up you may not have the capital available to invest in a $5,000 - $10,000 (£3,500 - £6,500) website right away, but if you speak to the right person he or she may be able to work with you to provide the $3,000 website now, which can be developed, built upon and invested into in the future.
It’s hard to find good people, but when you do it’s important to champion them, support them and remind them how fantastic they are.
Kate Spencer is a photographer in Springfield, Illinois she is professional, hardworking and continues to improve her own work and the industry. Kate Spencer Photography is our go to in the US. We would ask Kate to work with any of our clients and know they would be impressed with the end result. Kate is the fashion photographer for SO magazine; she works with us to conceptualize the story we want to tell through the clothes, make up, location and models. And she nails it every time. Try choosing seven to nine of the best Kate Spencer photos from a selection of 300 to 500 … it’s tough. The best thing about Kate is that she doesn’t know how good she is.
Jon Thomas is more than a web developer; he helps businesses deliver designs that please users and meet their business’ goals. He takes a modern, collaborative approach, which involves meaningful iterations and user feedback. He does all of this for one reason; to ensure the success of your business objectives.
See what we mean about working with great people.
Another area of our business that continues to grow is our events services. Tony Boston of Superior Sound Entertainment is a technical wiz when it comes to uplighting and sound. He takes an idea and turns it into reality, what we love most about working with Tony is he likes a challenge; he’s willing to innovate, but yet never compromise on quality.
So, if you find good people who push the boundaries, are professional and continue to challenge what has come before, hold onto them because they will help your business grow in the way you want it to.
Social Media for Non-Profits
At Gem PR & Media we’re always eager to share our knowledge and experience with those who need it most, but cannot afford consultancy fees, such as non-profits and charitable organizations.
One of the ways we are able to do this is through teaching classes at Lincoln Land Community College in Springfield, Illinois. Our next class is Social Media for Non-Profits – and it’s only $15 for two hours. We’ll be teaching some of the tricks and tools we’ve learnt over the years whilst managing numerous social media accounts.
Social media can be a minefield for anyone, not least non-profits that are already under-staffed and have little resources or time, for that matter. But social media is a great tool to get your message out there to the masses. Whether promoting a fundraiser or requesting donations for raffle prizes, the way in which you approach posting, such as the inclusion of an interesting photo or the times at which you engage with your audience, all make a difference.
We support a number of clients in the US, Channel Islands and UK that have the capacity to engage in advertising, but we also work with a number of non-profits that do not have the finances available for social media advertising. So, we have developed a toolkit for those organizations that want to engage with their audience online, but need to be thrifty about it. Our next class is on November 10th between 11am and 1pm at Lincoln Land Community College.
We will also be teaching classes next spring, which will provide non-profits and businesses an opportunity to learn about PR and marketing planning, crowdfunding and how to develop media relations. If you are interested in any of the above please visit http://www.llcc.edu or ping us an email at hello@gemprmedia.com and we’ll point you in the right direction.
Budgets, PR and planning
What I love most about what we do at Gem PR & Media is the variety of services and clients we offer and work with. We have had an awesome week, which has included putting to bed our first edition of SO magazine (one last proof and it’s off to the printers), working with our new client McKenzie Smith of INorupt and the launch of her new website, daily management of 30 social media accounts, finalizing plans for the Springfield Jaycees Beerfest, networking, business developing and contributing, where we can using our skills, knowledge and expertise, to the non-profits, such as IWIL and Rotary, in which we’re involved.
I love fall in the US (that’s Autumn for the folks back home) and there’s no sense of slowing down ahead of Thanksgiving and Christmas, in fact September was our busiest month this year, after June.
What this time of year does though is provide an opportunity to reflect and plan. We’re evaluating the past nine months, reviewing our own business, budget and PR for the year ahead and many of our clients will be doing the same. We work closely with our clients on their PR and marketing plans to align with their business development and growth goals, which is so important when it comes to evaluation and results. We pride ourselves on providing sustained and strategic advice and we’re also always working to improve standards for the PR and media industry as a whole.
A great brew
The 2015 Springfield Jaycees Beerfest designed by Colby Jennings.
While Gemma has been working on SO Magazine I’ve been organizing the 2015 Springfield Jaycees Beerfest.
Craft beer is booming in the US; both micro and regional brewers are having to meet demand for great beer.
One of our key objectives for the Beerfest was to feature as many local breweries as possible. Timotheus Brothers Brewery is new to Springfield and has already gained popularity. Hand of Fate Brewing Company from Petersburg, Illinois is about to open its brewery – we even headed down to the Petersburg Harvest Festival at the weekend to take in an early sampling. Gemma’s favorite was their milk chocolate stout … go figure! Makraft Brewing Co. from Centralia, Illinois is also going to be making its first appearance at Beerfest. Working with the local breweries has been particularly rewarding.
We’ve also got samples on offer that we know are going to be popular having spent the past months sourcing beers, wines and spirits from across the country. I’m particularly excited about Forbidden Root, Chicago's first botanic brewery. Kentucky Ale is another at the top of my list; its beers are aged in decanted Kentucky bourbon barrels. Don’t worry, we’ve got their bourbon too. In fact, we have over 40 brewers and around 140 beers at the festival.
A good media partner can go a long way in helping create a successful event. We’re working with the Illinois Times because its team, not only understands beer, but also has recently diversified its services by introducing an online ticketing service operated locally, which we’re using for Beerfest.
Finding the right location for a beerfestival can be a challenge, but we decided to stick with last year’s venue as it gives us a chance to grow. The Exposition Building at the Illinois State Fairgrounds offers plenty of covered space and parking.
For every event we are involved in we want to create a wow factor. At this year’s Beerfest we’re bringing the outdoors indoors with a beer garden inside the Expo Building, designed by Pleasant Nursery. We also have Superior Sound Entertainment’s DJ and master of ceremony services and live music from Brooke Thomas and Mark Burnett.
A good beerfest also needs awards and this year we'll be introducing several. Look out for celebrity guest judges and don’t forget to vote for the People’s Choice award.
Another aim of the festival is to create a fund for the Springfield Jaycees Capital City Celebration on the 4th of July so we have relied heavily on donations, sponsorship and volunteers. We are lucky enough to have developed a great network of contacts that have committed their support to the event.
The Springfield Jaycees Beerfest takes place on Saturday 24 October tickets are available to purchase online now.
For more information and updates visit the Springfield Jaycees Beerfest event page .
SO exciting!
One of our latest projects at Gem PR & Media is Gemma’s new role as editor of Springfield’s Own Magazine, which is the State Journal Register’s bi-monthly lifestyle publication with a circulation of about 40,000. Our first is the holiday edition for November / December and we are currently busy developing new editorial and advertorial features. On Friday we shot our holiday fashion shoot at Sangamon Reclaimed with photographer Kate Spencer.
New features will also include interviews with local entrepreneurs, Springfield celebrities and the SO positive section, which will champion individuals and organizations that give back to the community. Of course we’ll still have On The Town pages where people in the area are invited to send us photos from their events to feature in the magazine.
We have been working closely with the sales team to develop opportunities for businesses in the city to market their products and services in a targeted way. Themes for 2016 include Love, Family and Celebration. Our aim is to help produce a publication by and for people in Springfield, Illinois. We want you to be a part of it, which is why the magazine will also feature guest writers and artists.
If you are interested in finding out more about opportunities for editorial and advertorial in SO Magazine please email gemma.long@sj-r.com