From my (business) pad to iPad

If you haven’t heard all the buzz about Square in the last year or so, a new tool for accepting payments will soon be available for business owners to use.

Image: Darren Hester, Creative Commons

Square lets business owners use their iPhones and iPads as credit card terminals, giving them a little plastic attachment allowing for cards to be swiped.

With a slew of cool features such as emailed receipts, photo recognition, and signing on screen (image: Florian Seroussi, Creative Commons), Square is definitely the slick new kid on the payments block.

However, Square has been experiencing setbacks due to fraud concerns and underwriting issues after its explosive debut.

The problem has to do with the complexity of the credit card processing industry, something which Square had hoped to make easier for business owners by not requiring them to set up a merchant account.

This begs the question, if you’re an e-commerce merchant, should you wait for Square?

The best answer is: it depends.

To see whether Square is a good option for your business, check out this nifty calculator which shows whether Square is more cost effective than a traditional merchant account.

The biggest difference between the two is the way pricing is handled: with Square there is a flat fee of 2.75-3.5% (depending on whether the card is swiped of keyed in) plus a $0.15 per transaction fee.

There are no signup or monthly fees associated with using Square, making it very attractive for low volume merchants.

With a traditional merchant account, pricing is variable and gets more competitive as credit card processing volume increases. For the best pricing (called interchange plus) merchants pay interchange (the fee set by Visa and MasterCard) and a constant processor markup which is usually a predetermined number of basis points on volume and a per transaction fee.

Merchants should make sure to demand interchange plus pricing from credit card processors if they go with the merchant account route otherwise there is a good change they will get ripped off.

The bottom line

If Square can accomplish all the things it promised from the beginning, it is sure to be an extremely useful option for business owners.

However, make sure to check whether its pricing makes sense for your business.

More on e-commerce from Women Grow Business:

• Stella on how to accept e-commerce payments
• How an entrepreneur improved SEO for her e-commerce site, from Rebecca Malik
• Even though it’s just August, it’s time to get started! Holiday rush planning for small businesses, also from Rebecca

Stella Fayman blogs about credit card processing at the TransFS Blog. TransFS.com is the comparison shopping site for credit card processors; just like getting multiple quotes for airfare using Expedia, TransFS lets business owners compare top quality processors on an apples-to-apples basis and makes sure they get the best deal by not having any cancellation or hidden fees, and only interchange plus pricing. Contact Stella with specific questions at stella@transfs.com or connect with her on Twitter.

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Are you thinking about expanding your offerings to include online courses?

Not webinars – but sophisticated deliverables that combine recorded and live content augmented by simultaneous audio, video and slides,  with searchable posted assignments critiqued by you that are either viewable by all or restricted to identified groups?

It’s a very attractive idea isn’t it; one that seems like a logical and easy to execute addition to your other products and services?

But I’m willing to bet that very few of you have actually done it.

Instead of beating yourself up about yet another initiative you think you “should be taking but haven’t,” realize that your gut has a very good reason for not letting you move forward yet – even if you’re not exactly clear what that reason is.

So trust yourself – and keep reading!

Producing and successfully marketing an online course of the caliber you’d be proud to put your name on IS a daunting undertaking.

Don’t be misled by those who claim it’s quick and easy.

Yes, it’s a smart move;  yes, it’s the future; but it’s also a multi-faceted project involving multiple competencies and requiring 3-5 months from start to first air date.

Having done it, I can promise you that it would take hours to share all the lessons learned. Someday soon I’ll finish writing about them and will submit them to this forum.

Meanwhile, for my dear friends at WGB, I’ve prepared this short video that reveals the major mistakes I made along the way.

Chuckle, cringe, and chide you may; I hope my errors guide your way!

Image: Jason Pier in DC, Creative Commons

More from Women Grow Business:

• Five tips to build your business smarts, from Patricia Frame and Melanie Spring
• Patricia says, “Remember it’s people, not sheep” on the art of management
• Turning an unhappy client around, from Lori Saitz

Guest contributor Francie Dalton, CMC, is founder and president of Dalton Alliances, Inc. and author of the recently published book Versatility. Her Washington, D.C., based consultancy helps the C-Suite solve business nightmares. Francie equips clients to deal with what they didn’t see coming (and shows them there’s always another way to win!). She welcomes a chance to meet you via Twitter or on LinkedIn.

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All those wonderful conferences!

How do you decide where to invest your time and money? How do you assess the value of a specific conference?

Image: GrowSmartBiz Small Business Conference Sept 29 2009, courtesy the social media team at www.networksolutions.com and growsmartbusiness.com.

Whether you are planning for a new fiscal year right now or just trying to decide whether to attend a specific event, conferences can be a real value for your business success – or a big waste of time and $$.

Here, in Letterman style (i.e. backwards) are three tips to help you make that decision.

Tip 3: Grow your Knowledge and Connections.

How do you keep up with the changes in your field, your market, your business?  Do you learn best by reading, by talking with others, by listening, or through experiential methods?

Conferences and conventions are great for those who learn best by listening and talking shop or participating in a more active setting. But you still have to be sure that the way the program is laid out works with your style… and that the topics covered are those you value.

In my field, the laws change constantly.

With enough caffeine, I can read laws online.

But the most effective method for me is an annual legal conference on what the new laws mean for businesses, with recommendations. So that is one area I plan for each year.

In some fields, there are conferences where you MUST be seen to be considered a real player. In most fields, networking at conferences is very useful.

Don’t be like me – I get shy at such events and just talk to the folks near me.

Map out your strategy – do you know others who will attend with whom you can deepen your connection? Are there people you know you want to meet? Companies you want to discover more about? Speakers you would like to talk to?  Plan your networking – and work your plan.

Tip 2: Plan and Pick!

You do not want to waste time or money. So tie your conferences to your business plan/goals.

Think about all those you could attend and evaluate each in relation to:

• your short- and long-term business goals
• what you need or want to learn
• staying visible in your field
• becoming or staying visible to potential clients
• growing professionally; growing your business
• what you can afford to invest over a full year
• which provide the most for your money

And, remember that this same exercise applies to those you send staff members to. What is in it for your company, as well as for the person?

Before you decide to attend any specific event, make a list of your goals for attending. Define how success will look in achieving those goals. Then review the conference program carefully.

Can you achieve your goals? Will you? How?

Tip 1.  Embrace options.

Perhaps in your industry, there is one “main event” that you feel you must attend.  But are you really getting value out of it?  Could you skip it this year? Or send someone else?

Check out conferences before you sign up (two local conferences I think are valuable are the 2010 Women Entrepreneurs’ Expo in October and the 2010 GrowSmartBiz Conference, jointly hosted by Network Solutions and the Washington Business Journal).

Ask people you know what they felt the true value was. Ask for recommendations from your networks for conferences on topics which specifically meet your business needs – bet there are some you have never heard of that are really relevant!

And leave some space in your budget for choices during the year. New conferences may come along. Ones you ignored in the past may become more relevant with their choice of topics or speakers.

I could attend conferences all year around

that just look fascinating or are directly relevant to my work – and we won’t even discus those that are peripherally related but in a great location.

Fortunately or unfortunately, my budget is not quite so expansive that all which seem interesting – or even 10% of them – are going to make it into the plan .

So each year I have to look at all my options and re-think what makes sense for this year. What fits with my business goals for the coming year?

And then suddenly an event will show up – and here I am wondering again, how does that fit in? Is it worthwhile?

Do I just want to go or will it really enhance my future?

More:

• Patricia on Entrepreneurs and 2010: how to grow your development plan
• Marissa Levin on how to network with a purpose
• How to measure the ROI of a conference from Katie Paine

Patricia A. Frame is an experienced management consultant, speaker, and executive with expertise in human capital. Launching a new Women Grow Business series on human resources for small business, Patricia is founder of Strategies for Human Resources. She helps small to mid-size organizations achieve their goals through more effective human capital strategy and management. She can be reached through her website SHRinsight.com, where archives for her ongoing management series can be found.

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“Good morning, Terri.  I hope you have a beautiful day!  Love, Mom”

A few weeks ago I received this text message from my 83-year old mother, who for years has been adverse to using technology. Needless to say, I was amazed and tickled about this particular text.

Is this the same woman I grew up with?

As a youngster I remember her fumbling around with the VCR, cursing cordless phones and becoming overwhelmed with special features on our televisions, radios and Walkmans.

As technology marched on, she adamantly denounced her use of anything that involved a keyboard or screen. No email, smart phone or the Internet.

As she famously lectured, “Technology can take over your life…and besides, I’m too old for that stuff.”

I always accepted her argument, and I have mixed emotions about this. Over the years I’ve sensed her slowly being left behind, unable to connect with those who mean the most.

But not anymore! After a few hours of tutoring from my 15-year old nephew (and taking pages and pages of notes), my mother learned how to text!

The grandkids are particularly amused by this development. We’ve dubbed her “The Texting Granny.”

Too old for technology?  Not sure I can buy into that argument any longer…

When I talk to groups about social media and interactive marketing, invariably, there is always someone my age or older who describes it as “something young people do.”

I’ve never been shy to challenge this thinking, but my mom’s new skills have strengthened my resolve.

And contrary to popular belief, internet users in their 20s do not dominate every aspect of online life, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

Generation X – comprised of those born between 1964 and 1981 – banks, shops, and looks for health information online.

The project states that Boomers are just as likely as Generation Y to make travel reservations online and Silent Generation internet users are competitive when it comes to email.

In fact, the 55-and-older crowd is the fastest-growing age group on Facebook, increasing by 35% in the past six months.

Looking for inspiration?

• Ivy Bean, the world’s oldest Tweeter, tweeted until the ripe old age of 104.
• Eighty-three-year-old computer coach Virgil Heidbrink enjoys his retirement with his new online skills. He’s convinced that new social connections are keeping him young in spirit.
• My late father, Alonzo Smith (pictured above with me), became a computer consultant when he retired at 65. He remained immersed in technology until he died nine years later.

More and more senior citizens are embracing technology. What about you?

Three Great Reasons to Give Up the Argument that You’re Too Old

Most small business owners use some form of technology for operational purposes.  Successful business owners will continue to embrace technology as it continues to advance.

And regardless of your age, it’s a skill anyone can master.  Take it from my mom!

Here are three reasons to give up the argument that technology is too complicated:

1. Communication and Collaboration Made Easy. From Google apps and virtual meeting tools, to wikis and internal blogs, technology provides a fast, affordable way of communicating and collaborating.

2. Grow Your Business in a Down Economy. More than 50% of small business specialists considered customer relationship management (CRM), virtualization, or IT consolidation through a small or midsize server as the best investment for maximizing business growth in a down economy.

3. Strengthen Your Cerebral Muscles. Experts believe that the use of the Internet enhances and augments human intelligence as well as improves reading, writing, and rendering of knowledge.  Feel free to give that a big “like” on your Facebook page!

And who knows… the outcome might rock!

The Pew Internet & American Life Project survey shows Americans who are age 65+ love being online once they are there. Not surprisingly, they frequently become enthusiastic emailers, gamers, and information searchers.

Sorry. It’s not going away.

You can stop hiding under a rock and find technology before it finds you – or passes right by!

Begin developing your online skills now,  and you can stay ahead of technology as it continues to advance.

You’ll find that life online is interesting, rewarding and an excellent way to connect with the younger generation.

Gotta run – my mom is texting me (my father would be so proud of her)!

More from Women Grow Business:

• The rock star boss: a conversation with Lynn Tilton
• A few months ago, regular contributor Thursday Bram asked, “What has Ada Lovelace done for you?”
• Katie Kemple and Claire Meany on open source leadership

Photo of Terri and her dad © Terri Holley, used with permission

Regular contributor Terri Holley is the owner of Creative Blog Solutions and a social media strategist, plus a certified life/business coach. A forward-thinker and relationship-centric gal, Terri supports small businesses who understand the value of using social technologies to build deeper relationships with prospects and customers.

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Ever wondered if your X-chromosomes had “entrepreneur” written all over them?

Image: David Ascher, Creative Commons

Wonder no more. Here are five reasons women make powerful entrepreneurs:

As women, we already play multiple roles in a day.

Small business owners on average perform 10-13 jobs all at one time, including chief sales officer, market researcher, bill collector and secretary. Moms do too.  In fact, 82% of all women business owners are mothers, so managing details from work to home is a skill most women do as a reflex.

In the early stages of a business, it’s all about the juggle, and women are better equipped to handle the stress and responsibility of running a small business.

We are better bosses, well-equipped to make big decisions.

We think about the long-term impact of our business decisions on our families, customers, vendors and employees – we’re not just about the short term gain.

We also use our intuition as an additional tool when dealing with customers.  If it feels like a client is going to use double the project management budget with a bunch of hand-holding nonsense,

we might have an upfront hunch and hopefully, the sense to double the budget – or walk away from the contract.

We are better delegators.

We understand that we can’t do everything, even if many of us believe that no one can do it better than us. We put support systems in place to get the job done at home and a work.

Whether it’s a team of virtual assistants to follow up on sales leads, chase down opportunities or keep our social media networks working or a college student or nanny so that our children will have someone looking after their safety, we make sure that a full team is in place so the trains run on time.

While our team has our back, we can be present wherever we are, so that everyone we connect with knows we care.

We are willing to ask for help.

We don’t just ask for help with driving directions, we are willing to ask others (especially other women) for advice and mentorship in our businesses.

As women, we are willing to admit that we do not know everything and can show enough vulnerability to get what we need for our businesses.

We are also willing to take advice. Being coachable is our secret weapon.

We are better communicators.

As women, we believe in talking through opportunities, problems and conflicts. We work better at consulting with others on critical decisions, especially if we think we need more information.

We are not afraid to get face to face with a difficult customer to work through any challenges and we are also naturally friendlier and less likely to intimidate sales targets or our employees.

If anyone is “born” to be an entrepreneur, that “anyone” is a woman. So stop wondering (or worrying) and draw on your natural talents and abilities to take your business from better to best.

More from Women Grow Business:

• Mayra Ruiz on whether you were born to be an entrepreneur
• Stacy Yamaoka on four reasons not to be an entrepreneur… and why you should ignore them

Melinda F. Emerson, known to many as “SmallBizLady,” is one of America’s leading small business experts. As CEO of MFE Consulting LLC, Melinda educates entrepreneurs and Fortune 500 companies on small business start-up, business development and social media marketing. She also hosts #SmallBizChat weekly on Twitter for emerging entrepreneurs.  Melinda is the author of the national bestseller Become Your Own Boss in 12 months; A Month-by-Month Guide to a Business That Works. (Adams Media 2010). For more tips on starting or growing your small business, subscribe to Melinda’s blog or connect with her on Twitter.

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“I ain’t no BP”

You may think, “my business is no BP – there’s no way I would ever be caught in the midst of a PR disaster.”

While your crisis may not capture the attention of world leaders (we certainly hope not!), it’s a fact that small businesses can be impacted by events that attract significant negative attention.

Image: LadyDragonflyCC’s Flickstream, Creative Commons

Here are just a few worst-case scenarios that can (and have) hit small businesses:

• One of your employees, while running an errand for you in your company-branded car, is texting while driving and hits a school bus full of children.
• Your company hosts or sponsors an event that’s open to the public, and a fight breaks out among attendees.
• Due to an error by the production company, your business releases a product with a major defect.
• The company handling your online sales has a security breach, potentially putting your customers’ information at risk.

Whether the potential risks for your company include the above or something different, PR practitioners live by the motto, “hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.”

The difference between a brief blip of attention, and a full-on “feeding frenzy” of negative media coverage that lasts for several days (or more), is often due to the company’s reaction in the first 24 hours.

What to do

1. React quickly.

Years ago (before the 24-hour, up-to-the-minute news cycle), you could take a bit of time formulating the best response to a crisis.

Today, especially with social media allowing stories to spread in mere minutes, silence is simply not an option.

It’s important to note that today we often see a crisis of negative sentiment build online first, and then get picked up by traditional media.

Even if your first, short-term response is simply, “we’re currently gathering all the facts and will be issuing a statement shortly,” it’s important to show you care by being responsive when you first learn of the crisis event.

2. Always tell the truth.

While some folks mistakenly believe that PR pros are professional liars, nothing could be further from the truth.

It’s our job to protect an organization’s reputation, and nothing ruins this more quickly than getting caught spreading falsehoods – we know this well.

In fact, it came to light that Toyota’s top U.S. PR executive urged the automaker to inform the public of defects earlier this year.

Of course, just as our moms told us, complete honesty is simply the best policy and the only way to maintain credibility.

But beyond that, it’s also the way to prevent staying in the headlines for multiple days after your crisis occurs. Companies that only cop to part of a story are just asking for reporters to find out the other half on their own.

When it comes to painful situations and admissions, it’s like ripping off a bandaid – get it over with quickly!

3. Consult a lawyer when needed, but don’t listen to them for PR advice

In the case of the texting employee above, you could be facing litigation. In that case, as in others, you would definitely want to speak with your lawyer before making a public statement.

However, as Tiger Woods could tell you, a statement that is short on facts, skirts the truth and is full of lawyer-speak simply doesn’t ring true to the public.

If your community feels you’re being disingenuous, they can turn on you quickly. It’s important that any statements have a human quality, for example comments such as “our hearts go out to the families” or “our customers are our number one priority, and we value the trust they put in us” must ring true.

You may want to bring in a professional PR consultant with expertise in crisis communications to help you; many are available as “hired guns” to help in unpredicted situations.

Crisis Planning

When the white hot spotlight of negative attention is on your company, even the coolest heads tend to enter reactive mode and make mistakes.

How can you avoid “Chicken Little” syndrome when the chips are down? Develop a Crisis Communications Handbook.

A Crisis Communications Handbook for your business helps ensure you will follow the above guidelines by thinking through the possible scenarios in advance, when you’re calm.

Identify what kinds of events could potentially bring negative attention to your business, and then lay out specifics on how it will be handled.

Among them:

• Try to imagine the most knee-knocking questions that could come your way, and then craft how you would respond in a Q&A document.
• Think about the many different ways people access information these days, and identify who on your team will update the Web site, social media networks, etc.
• What if one of these key point people goes on vacation? Make sure each of the responsible parties in the crisis plan has a backup person.

Many organizations never have to face a PR crisis, but are you willing to bet your business on it?

A crisis planning document is like insurance – you hope you never need it, but you’ve got it just in case.

More from:

• Valerie Maltoni on applying risk communication principles to a social media crisis
• A wealth of crisis commentary from Jim Lukaszewski

Kellye Crane is an accomplished, award-winning communicator with more than 20 years of experience in strategic public relations, social media, and marketing communications. An in-demand speaker, Kellye addresses the intersection of social media and PR on her Solo PR Pro blog, which serves as a resource for those working as independent consultants — and those who’d like to be. She’s frequently listed as one of the top 100 PR pros to follow on Twitter.

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Part-time efforts = Part-time results

The amount of time and level of consistency you put into something is directly proportional to your results: part-time effort will get you part-time return.

It is with time and consistency that children move from crawling to walking.

It is with time and consistency that small savings become golden parachutes.

And it is with time and consistency that businesses grow from start-ups to household brands.

How many articles have you read on the concepts of passion, determination, focus, etc.? Two often over-looked concepts are time and consistency.

They are the little talked about twin towers of power for success. This principle rings true throughout every area of your business, lead generation, sales, marketing and so on.

In marketing

all of your activities require time to work and consistency to build brand recognition to generate a response.

This is true regardless of whether you send direct mail, attend networking events or buy advertising. Doing any of these activities once, or even sporadically, won’t net you the results you want.

Direct mail has be to sent multiple times of year to be effective.

You have to introduce yourself to people a few times to be remembered.

Your advertising will be a waste of money if not regularly repeated.

And social media can be a waste of your most valuable resource – your time – if done hurriedly and irregularly.

• Blogging requires time and consistency to build and maintain a readership. It takes time for readers to find you and trust what you’re posting.
• You must consistently blog in order to become a reliable and dependable source of information.
• It is better to not have a Facebook page, then to have one that is out-of-date, rarely updated or neglected, as it can go against the brand you are building.
• A Twitter stream filled with re-tweets, entries selling your services/products or other unengaging messages, such as quotes, will get a lot of bots following you.

You get the point: time and consistency are your allies.

Use them to grow your brand and better your business.

Image: Andrew West, Creative Commons

More from:

• WGB contributor Michelle Tennant Nicholson on using social networks to get publicity
• Bonnie Landau on Simple Web Toolbox and collaborative blogging for those short on time

Shannon Mouton is the social media and mobile marketing manager for an online higher education institution. She is passionate about utilizing social media for the greater good, information sharing and networking. Shannon has nearly 20 years of community building, outreach and relationship marketing experience. She is the owner of The Mouton Group, a real estate investment firm, and a principal at Topaz Consulting, a public relations and marketing consulting enterprise. She serves on the board of directors for the In Series and a regular volunteer at Calvary Women’s Services. Her blog, Shannon Sez So, examines life, its joys, pains and idiosyncrasies. Shannon is also a contributor to Gridiron Gals, as a die-hard fan of the Washington Redskins. Contact her on Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook.

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Yesterday we held our monthly #wgbiz Twitterchat where the special guest, as I mentioned last week, was YOU.

It was indubitably, positively, categorically, most excellent.

Did I get enough superlatives into that sentence?

Not that special guests aren’t great – they are, especially when they’re the likes of Tinu Abayomi-Paul, Kathy Korman Frey and Lori Saitz.

But it is equally refreshing to just chat among ourselves and share our collective learnings. Don’t you think?

Some of the gems from the chat included, on what they wish they’d known when starting their businesses:

Words of wisdom, if I ever heard them.

And I bet you’ve paid (or considered paying) several pesos or the equivalent to hear them from motivational speakers and business gurus.

And here, you get them for free!

You can view and download the entire transcript of #wgbiz Twitterchat – the YOU edition – if you’d like (we’d certainly recommend it).

And mark your calendars for our next chat – September 13, 12-1 pm ET.

It’s only a conversation if you join in!

Image: Mo, Creative Commons

Based in the Washington, D.C. area, Women Grow Business editor Shonali Burke is the IABC-accredited, award-winning principal of Shonali Burke Consulting, which specializes in “integrated communication to the nth degree.” She blogs at Waxing UnLyrical, under the watchful eyes of Chuck, Suzy Q. and Lola, her three rescue dogs. Her long-suffering husband has accepted that Shonali can most often be found on Twitter.

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A quick reminder that we hold our monthly #wgbiz Twitter chats the second Monday of each month, 12-1 pm ET.

We’ve had some great times since we kicked these off a few months ago: talking with Tinu Abayomi-Paul about inbound marketing, Lori Saitz about customer service, and Kathy Korman Frey aka Chief Hot Momma about what constitutes the new sisterhood of success.

This month, someone very special is going to be the guest.

YOU.

Image: Chris Owens, Creative Commons

That’s right. No special guests this month. We’re just going to let it all hang out and chat about whatever comes to mind as we discuss women entrepreneurs, the travails they face and who knows what else?

I do hope you’ll join. It’s easy: just log on to Twitter during that time and follow the #wgbiz hashtag to participate.

Have a great weekend!

Based in the Washington, D.C. area, Women Grow Business editor Shonali Burke is the IABC-accredited, award-winning principal of Shonali Burke Consulting, which specializes in “integrated communication to the nth degree.” She blogs at Waxing UnLyrical, under the watchful eyes of Chuck, Suzy Q. and Lola, her three rescue dogs. Her long-suffering husband has accepted that Shonali can most often be found on Twitter.

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1-2-3, 1-2-3

Building a relationship with the media is a dance, and just like a good dance partner you can’t step on their toes.

Image: southie3′s Flickrstream, Creative Commons

If you want to Salsa and the media wants to Waltz, you’re going to have some problems (and look ridiculous).

That’s why research is so important. It’s not that hard to figure out what will interest the media outlet; it usually just takes a visit to their website.

And once you know what they want — and more importantly what they don’t — you can say to yourself, either, “No, pitching them will be a waste of both their time and mine,” or “I think I have something that will really pique their interest — I need to get started on my pitch.”

Don’t stretch it though; if it’s not a fit, it’s not fit.

So when you email or phone the media, treat them like you would if you were asking someone to dance.

(No matter what you think though, you’re not Patrick Swayze from Dirty Dancing and the media’s not Baby. It’s the reverse!  Remember, Baby volunteered to be of service. Play your cards right, and they’ll be showing you the time of your life.)

So be respectful and ask whether or not it’s a good time for them to talk, if it’s a good time to pitch them; and if it’s not, let them know when you’re available to continue the conversation.

But before you even pick up the phone make sure you’re clear on what you have to offer and how it’s relevant to this specific outlet’s needs.

Remember: when you can add new, fresh and creative perspectives, angles and ideas to a news story you’ll dramatically increase your chances of grabbing the media’s attention, ensuring a callback and most likely a media placement.

Building relationships with the media to grow your business is all about being of service without being a nuisance.

You have to give the media what they want and we’ve learned time and time again: if you make the media’s job easier, they’ll pay attention to you.

Once you make your pitch, don’t badger the media about whether they received a particular news item you sent them. It’s OK to make one phone call or email to remind them and offer further assistance, but the last thing overworked reporters want to do is to spend time talking with publicity seekers to follow up on where their request stands.

If you’re a pest, the media might just put Baby in a corner.

More from Women Grow Business:

• Michelle on standing out and swooping in
• Inbound marketing: old beverage, new bottle, says Lori Saitz
• Mayra Ruiz on PR drivel

Twenty-year PR Veteran and Chief Creative Officer of Wasabi Publicity, Michelle Tennant Nicholson has seen PR transition from typewriters to Twitter. Called a five-star publicist by Good Morning America’s Mable Chan, Michelle specializes in international PR working regularly with the likes of Oprah, Larry King, BBC, The Today Show and all major media. Recently she secured a Dr. Phil placement for a client within eight hours of signing the contract. Contact her at PR blog http://www.StorytellerToTheMedia.com where she teaches tips from the trade.

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