News & Events

The greatest challenge facing any new product is the FUD Factor—Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt. This holds true whether you’re trying to influence Reporters, Editors, Prospects or Customers. Effective public relations not only eliminates FUD, it earns your product the dominant position in customer minds. In PR, like many areas of business, the 80-20 rule applies. In this case, 20% of the market influences the other 80% of the market. In his book titled “The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding” author Al Ries says, “The birth of a brand is achieved through public relations, not advertising.” When your product is first in its category, effective PR not only brands your product, it can make that entire product category synonymous with your product’s name. For example, if I say, “a candy with a hole in it,” it’s likely that the first thing that pops into mind is “Lifesaver.” Other recognizable examples are the first adhesive bandage, Band-Aid, the first cable news network, CNN, the first portable personal computer, Compaq, the first microprocessor, Intel, and the first cotton swab, Q-Tip. Effective PR informs, educates and influences Editors by providing them what they most want to provide their audience—what’s new, what’s first and what’s [...]

Workplace culture plays a significant role in company success. Read Forbes’ recommendations on how to strengthen company culture here.

Every business owner wants to save time and money. Read Inc's 6 tips here.

Once upon a time, an enterprising company hired a Marketing Firm to create a dynamic, multi-faceted campaign that included advertising, PR, and targeted email.  A few days after the campaign broke, the company received an envelope containing a check and a note saying, “I’ve been waiting forever for a product like this!  Send me 1,000 of them right away!” The CEO ran to the bank with that check immediately, ran back, and waited for the next day’s mail.  And the next, and the next and the next….and guess what happened?  Nothing!  That’s because the chances of receiving a large order without a nudge or phone call from your sales staff is roughly the same as receiving a bucket of magic beans.  Far better to follow standard protocol – once your marketing campaign breaks, have your sales people step in, follow up on the leads, and close the deals. “Sales and Marketing” are often lumped together as if they were one function, when in fact they are distinct, separate functions that need to work together. The role of marketing communications (MarCom) is to create your brand image, make your target audience aware of your brand or product through “Air Cover”, and [...]

Are you considering rebranding your business?  Business News Daily shares excellent information from 5 business owners Read the article "Rebrand Your Business Without Losing Your Audience" on Business Daily News HERE

Forbes shares interesting information on how "Now, more than ever, the lines between earned, paid and owned media are fading, as PR, advertising and content creation become inextricably linked." Read the Forbes article HERE

PR as Part of the Modern Marketing Mix What kind of honor is it to be recognized as "Small Business' Best-Kept Secret"? No matter how long you’ve been in business, customers are less likely to buy from you if they have never heard of your name or product. Name recognition and visibility are the keys to growing your business and Public Relations is one of the best ways to make your company more visible. Did you know Public Relations can even help your SEO/SEM results? We had one recent client who reached out for PR services because their SEO Firm recommended they hire a PR Firm for better “Domain Authority”. When high quality websites like Forbes point back to you through an article, this helps your website move up in perceived value by Google and Bing. A most common misconception about PR is that it’s just publicity. This is far from the truth. Publicity is merely getting the word out. PR is a multi-faceted approach to changing the way the public thinks about, feels about, and reacts to a certain company, person, service or product, by a third-party affirmation. This is also the reason why public relations is not advertising. Advertising is a controlled message [...]

RMR Helps House Buyers of America Hit the Mark with a Direct Response TV Campaign The client’s commitment to long-term growth led the decision to retain one of the area’s leading marketing and public relations firms Rockville, MD – April 9, 2019 – RMR & Associates, Inc. (RMR) announces today that the direct response TV advertising campaign it has planned and implemented for its client, House Buyers of America, Inc. (House Buyers) has been a critical element in the dramatic increase in the lead generation, engagement, and sales growth the company has seen over the past six-months. The integrated campaign included more than 5,000 ads running over top network television stations in the Washington, DC region, the 6th largest media market in the country. To-date, it has generated the following key results: Overall website traffic increased by 53%; Website leads increased by over 77%; and Leads and information requests more than doubled. To achieve these results, RMR leveraged its decades-long experience and success in direct response marketing, digital advertising, call center operations, and TV advertising to develop a fully-customized, integrated campaign. The media buys centered on local contacts and outlets for a regional, as opposed to a typical national campaign, [...]

Imagine that you are shopping - it doesn’t matter whether you’re grocery shopping or preparing to buy large, high-tech office equipment – and you have the choice of buying from a well-known company with a good reputation, or one you’ve neither seen nor heard of before.  Which one would you choose?  Whether you’re deciding on a box of cereal or a high-end car, your choice is clear.  People want to do business with someone they trust.  And you can’t trust someone you’ve never heard of, can you? Build their trust to get the sale. If your company’s name isn’t on the tips of your buyers’ tongues, how do you gain their trust so they’ll buy from you?  Fortunately, this isn’t the puzzle it may seem to be.  In marketing, we know the formula for building trust: Consistency of Message + Frequency over Time = TRUST Or, simply put, consistency over time builds trust.  Determine your most compelling message for your target audience.  Then, regardless of the media you decide to use, get that message in front of your audience on a regular basis over a period of time. Top-of-Mind Awareness is the key. This formula has been tested and proven, [...]

This is the second part of the article with advice for millennials on succeeding in today’s business environment. Each part stands alone and can be read before reading the other. To read Part 1 click here. Back to Basics - Part 2 If you have millennial employees, you know how creative, quick and tech savvy they are. They can be at a disadvantage, though, because their education and life experiences didn’t prepare them fully for work. And this lack may hold them back in their careers unless they learn now what they need to know. Here are the “missing secrets” that will help them survive, thrive and become valuable employees. 1. Start each day with a smile. Repeat It’s a scientific fact that flexing your smile muscles sends a signal to your brain that tells it you are happy. And when your brain believes you’re happy, you become happy. Really! Happy people see the possibilities around them instead of troubles. Problems become challenges they’re eager to overcome instead. Over time, they become positive people. And positive people are like magnets drawing everyone to them. Who would you rather be around: someone who complains about everything, or someone who finds the [...]