Wednesday, October 24, 2007

A Bonus Post!

Actually, it's more of a late-evolving thought.

Here's an idea for a last minute PR event for those of you inclined or in need for some good & easy publicity.

Set up a Halloween Safety Stop either at your firm or somewhere close where trick or treaters can go if they feel scared or threatened or if they just need a rest. Get a tent from your vault company and set it up in your parking lot or nearby park or other high traffic (foot traffic, that is) area for kids trick or treating. Coordinate with your local police/sheriff to have an officer there (better yet, the DARE car if they have one, or their Department mascot or McGruff the Crime Dog, you get the idea. )

Have candy to hand out, maybe bottles of water for the parents. Giveaways are always good, people love the freebies. Decorate with hay bales, cornstalks and Jack o'Lanterns.

Then publicize the heck out of it. Send press releases to the radio/TV/newspapers. Mention in the TV releases that there are photo ops of kids and the families, or the DARE car or McGruff if you get him, and make sure you're set up by 4:00pm so that a TV crew can set up and do a live broadcast from your spot for the 5 o'clock news.

If you do it right, you can probably get this done for $200 or less. You'll get a lot of exposure and good PR in exchange for that paltry sum.

Just food for thought!

Happy Halloween! (My personal favorite holiday, in case you were wondering.)

Dan

www.guerrilladirector.com

Merry Christmas, Norman Rockwell!

My soon to be new boss was walking me through on a tour of the funeral home. He spoke with misty eyes and froggy throat about the years of family tradition and his personal favorite...their holiday remembrance service.

"The music, the fireplaces crackling, the tree and decorations...it just feels like Christmas."

He also told me that the owners and staff were just like one big happy family. He failed to specify that he meant the Manson family. :) But I digress.

If you haven't jumped on the holiday program freight train yet, I highly recommend you do so now, while the pumpkins are still in the windows, so you have time to plan it appropriately.

I'll leave it to you whether you think it should be an open house type format, or a memorial remembrance service...you should do whatever you believe your community would like. Saturday or Sunday afternoons are times when these have been most successfully held.

Whatever you do...go heavy on the Norman Rockwell.

Music, food, decor-think Martha Stewart meets the Saturday Evening Post. Sights, smells, sounds, tastes-here's your ultimate chance to do some serious primal marketing. Wrap up the experience in a neat little bow and reap the benefits of making numerous primal connections with your community. Lucky for you, it happens to be just before one of the busier times of the year!

Inside and out...deck the halls. But do it right. Too much is gaudy...too little makes it look like an afterthought. If you have the budget...consult with an interior designer (or if you don't, talk to a friend or acquaintance whose house is always the best in the bunch). At the very least, pick up Southern Living, Better Homes and Gardens, Martha Stewart or any of their ilk when they have their special holiday issues. Page through until you see a style that harmonizes with your firm's architecture and interior design. When in doubt, ask a professional. Ambience sets the tone for the whole experience...do it right or not at all.

Here's one of the tricky parts-if you decide to pursue the remembrance service event, avoid asking your favorite preacher to host it. Instead, reach out to a new pastor or priest. It's a great opportunity to connect with them and introduce not only to the community, but to your firm and staff in a way that's more comfortable for them. After all, they've all done Christmas services before...at least they should have. The firm I worked with used both a Catholic priest and a Protestant minister for each holiday event, inviting new ones every year. This actually worked out quite well, and we made sure to give each one equal billing and time.

Music is very important. Low budgets might have the local school choir (acappella if they have one) or bigger budgets have a string quartet, or quality soloist.

The final touch would be your refreshments...these can be simple, easy and low-cost. Christmas cookies and punch, coffee, hot chocolate, hot cider. Easy stuff to buy at a warehouse club or local bakery. You can't go wrong by offering more, but don't feel like you need to.

The true guerrilla would make sure the attendees leave with a meaningful parting gift with some lasting memory value. An ornament for the tree, a wreath lapel pin, a Christmas tree seedling, etc. After all, they took the time on their weekend to come see you when they didn't have a need to. Reward them with some thoughtful planning and an inspiring event, and they'll reward you with their dollars later.

Thanks for the comments that keep coming! And for those curious among you, no one other than the reader I mentioned last week stepped forward in defense of Proper English. Bad grammar carries the day!

Here's to a profitable last quarter for us all!

Warm Autumn Wishes,

Dan Heaman, CFSP
The Guerrilla Director
http://www.guerrilladirector.com/

PS - No one was able to guess the quote from the last post - it was Kurt Cobain.

I'll make the same offer this time for this quote - a free one-on-one hour long coaching session to the first one to correctly name the author:

"The pure and simple truth is rarely pure and never simple."

Peace,

D

Sunday, October 14, 2007

A Little Sugar Helps The Medicine Go Down!

Greetings Friends!

Sorry for the unusual absence...time is a precious commodity and that being said, let's call the meeting of the Order of The Sleepless Knights to order, please! (With apologies to Mr. Buffett!)

There's something to be said about rattling cages, and my article on FuneralWire provoked an interesting reponse from one of the readers.

This nice lady took me to task for the article I wrote about Holiday Marketing Plans...not about my theorys or observations, but my writing style. She found such things like my referring to our client families with the generic "Joe and Jane Jones" (a variation of the technique called Seussing, for all you copywriting folk out there) and my using vile words, like "crap."

Oh, crap.

As I typed a response to this reader (by the way, I'm ALWAYS read and respond to feedback from my readers, so if you want to weigh in, fire away!) I found myself befuddled and amused by her concerns, for this reason:

Due to years of our own selfishness and ineptitude, the crystal ball is murky at best. Don't we have more important things to address, like the future of our firms and our industry?

There are a number of us working to recharge and renew funeral service as we know it. My knowledge base is funeral service marketing/advertising, public relations, and customer service excellence. I write how I talk, which is one of the first rules they teach you in any successful writing course. Dutifully sit through your English classes, and if you choose to write as a vocation, bid Mr. Warriner goodbye and write how you speak.

So here's what my thoughts are:

Normal marketing article *snore*
Classroom style lecture *ditto*
Adhering to the Queen's English *major snore*

Can you imagine if Stephen King wrote his tomes in the style of a textbook?

My goal is for YOU to feel as if we were sitting down together on a Friday at a tavern in our neighborhood...sipping a frosty one and talking about our week. This week's blog entry is all about you...how do you want me to present these morsels to you? Harvard Grammarian or Guerrilla Director? I want to do it the way YOU want me to!

Thanks for your time, and I look forward to your comments!

Best,

Dan Heaman, CFSP
The Guerrilla Director
http://www.guerrilladirector.com/


PS - Do I dare risk ruffling a few more feathers?...I'll give a free coaching session to the first person who emails me with the name of the person who said this:

"I'd rather be hated for who I am than loved for who I am not."

Have a great week!

D