Marcom Short: Your Annual Reminder to Update and Check the Security of Your Website and IT Systems

By Bob Decker

Just as you need to check the batteries on your smoke detectors annually, there are checks and updates you need to do on your computer, website, and other IT infrastructure. 

For example, when was the last time you checked each of the domains you own?

I recently spoke with Teresa Hardy from New Media-Designs, giving you an annual reminder of what to check for to ensure you won’t lose any valuable data, assets, or security. The new year is a perfect time to get these tasks done, or you could tie them to tax season or Daylight Savings time changes if you live in the US.  

Watch the 5-minute Marcom Short. >>

Here’s a list of the updates and checks we mentioned in the quick video:

• Does your computer operating system need updates?
• Are there software and/or applications you use that require updating?
• Check website plugins that need updating.
• For the subscription services and SAAS you pay for monthly, are you still using them? Are they useful? Are you getting a return on your investment?
• Do you have access to your Google analytics? 
• How about your hosting account? 
• Are all of the domains you own still working? I shared a story about one of his domains and how you might not even know if a domain switch takes place. 
• Make sure your data is backed up daily by either 2 different cloud backups, or an external drive that backs up regularly plus a cloud backup.
• Check to make sure your website is being automatically backed up regularly too. 

 

Are you inconsistent or out-of-date on doing these regular checks and backups for your website? Is this one of those things that never gets crossed off your long to do list? 

Give me a call at 415-409-0233 so you can start off 2024 with confidence that you are set and protected against losing your valuable data and security. 

Marcom Short: Why You Need Impactful Backlinks to Improve Your Website SEO & How to Get Them

By Bob Decker

If you’re not satisfied with your current standing on search engine results, at least part of the problem can be attributed to insufficient backlinks. 

Luckily, more high-quality backlinks are also the solution. 

Are you familiar with backlinks? They are links on someone else's website that point back to your website. But not all backlinks are created equal. 

I sat down recently with Teresa Hardy from New Media-Designs to do a deep dive on SEO backlinks, and how you can get more of the most impactful kind for improving your standing in search engine results, which is authoritative backlinks. 

Watch the 4-minute Marcom Short >>

Examples of authoritative backlinks that improve your website SEO are trade press, conference websites, and YouTube videos. We explain how to get more of each of those types, and what they will do to improve your overall marketing. 

Posting a video or contributing an article to a trade magazine is going to help raise your standing in SEO results because it's authoritative. And you don't necessarily have to have a new product story for that. You can also talk in general about how you would go about solving a common problem for your prospects. 

Do you want to know more about how to get more authoritative backlinks and boost your SEO in general? Give me a call at 415-409-0233 for a simple SEO audit and specific actions that can get you more backlinks. 

Marcom Short: The Alternative to Typical SEO Services That You Ought to Consider: the SEO Audit

 By Bob Decker

A lot of people think the only way to improve SEO is to agree to long, drawn out, month after month services forever.

If you’ve thought so, it’s understandable because that’s all that many SEO providers offer. It’s enough to scare you away from even trying to improve your organic search traffic. 

But the good news is that there's another option: a one-time SEO audit. A quick audit is like periodic maintenance on your car. It doesn’t have to be endless to make a lasting impact on your website’s performance. 

A smart SEO audit will check to see if your content is properly aligned with what people are searching for, as well as take a look “under the hood” to make sure your website is structured correctly. 

I recently chatted with Teresa Hardy from New Media-Designs about how to have a more layered approach to SEO rather than a one-size-fits-all monthly contract.

Watch the latest Marcom Short from Teresa & Bob. >>

Teresa talked about how to place abstracts of pages with good content that are relevant to your target audience so that search engines find them, and then create as many backlinks as you can in places potential customers will see them. 

And I spoke about my speciality, which is having great content on your website and updating it regularly. It’s a good way to improve your SEO, and it's also what actual human visitors want to see when they visit your site. 

Would you like to find out if the content on your website is attracting your target audience? Or if a one-time SEO audit would be a smart investment in the future of your web traffic? Call me to get started at 415-409-0233.

Marcom Short: What You Can Do Now To Avoid Website Crashes And Security Breaches

By Bob Decker

Are you aware your website could be vulnerable to a crash or security breach? It might not even be your fault, as a website that starts off secure may not stay that way as time goes on.

To ensure that your site is safe and secure, it’s critical that it stays updated. And if it won’t update, that could mean your web host has outdated servers preventing the important updates you need. Scary stuff!

If you rely on your website for your business, you can’t afford to stay with a host that neglects to update their servers, putting your website at risk because it’s out of date.

Recently, I spoke with Teresa Hardy from New Media-Designs about web hosting considerations for optimal security, and she told me a story about a client who ran into this very problem, and how she helped bring them back to safety.

Watch this Marcom Short from Teresa and me to see for yourself >>

The last thing you need is to have to deal with a security breach or website crash because you weren’t even aware your site was vulnerable. 

If your website has been around a few years, you may be using a host with outdated servers, and your site may be at risk. To get the help you need to check up on this important security consideration, give me a call at 415 409-0233.

It’s worth making the time now to see if you need to take preventative measures before it’s too late.

Craft: The Redpines Press Meeting Checklist

By Bob Decker

Wherever you might be in the multiple ecosystems that Redpines works in, chances are you've got a big trade show coming up next month. Perhaps it's IBC . . . or The Battery Show . . . or electronica India. (We'll have clients at all of them.) If it's a while since you've done press meetings at one of those shows, you're not alone. A lot of companies got out of the habit in 2020-22. 

But now it's time to jump back in. There's many ways Redpines can help — from setting up press appointments to creating content for your media outreach — but one that's completely free is our press meeting checklist. It takes only a few minutes to read, but even if you've already thought of all the same points we have, you'll get the peace of mind that comes from knowing that there's nothing major you've forgotten. To get your copy, just click on the cover image. And don't hesitate to reach out if you have questions that the checklist doesn't answer. I'd love to hear from you.

Highlights: July 2023

1. The 25th anniversary of the press release announcing a new Silicon Valley office for Wall Street Communications, the founding agency of Dundee Hills Group, passed quietly on July 8. It might have passed unnoticed altogether had I not been rearranging the contents of some three-ring binders in the hope of finding a new home for my collection of chicken recipes, which for personal reasons are taking a hiatus.

It was my thought to scan in all the random items in this particular binder so the originals could be recycled and the sheet protectors now protecting them put to use as protection for non-chicken recipes. But I hesitate; the Wall Street Communications letterhead is printed on such lovely textured paper. If the original is discarded, subsequent generations will find it hard to believe what nice stationery we had 25 years ago and how pleasant it was to hold a sheet of it in one's hand.

Craft: Ingredients for Successful Product Launches

By Bob Decker

In the past several weeks the Redpines team has been focused on product launches for several of our clients. In fact, there's been so much activity around product launches that I've been thinking up new ways to track it all. While every client is different, the process of launching a new product from our point of view is nearly always going to include the following:

• A completed briefing sheet, questionnaire, "platform," or other document that goes beyond the product's specifications to explain what problem it's solving for customers, why they should care, and how it compares to products like it on the market
• A sharp, simple, well-lit photo of the product
• Content on the client's website about the product that includes a way to learn more, get a demo, or order samples
• Outreach content created specifically to be served up to these audiences
• Inside sales and channel partners — who normally should be the first to know when a new product is hitting the market
• Anybody who's ever reached out to the company before indicating an interest in this type of product
• The media and influencers interested in new products in the client's industry
• The client's social media followers and anyone the company would like to have as a social media follower
• The company's investors, if it's a public company

Of course, there are so many other ways to talk about a new product—videos, podcasts, infographics, webinars, and so forth—but you always want to be sure the basics listed above are done as well (and done first). 

Looking for more helpful ideas about successful product launches? I invite you to download Redpines' Product Launch Checklist, which goes into more detail on the key ingredients of a successful launch. 

Highlights: June 2023

By Bob Decker

1. The Posifa Technologies team had an excellent show at Sensors Converge in Santa Clara, where their messaging about hydrogen sensors for EV battery management systems and refrigerant leaks in HVAC systems fit right in with what (along with AI) stood out as cutting edge and different about this year's expo. The Redpines team is so grateful to have worked with them on promoting their presence at the show and creating some simple but actually very effective signage. 

2. Alliance Memory continues to be incredibly successful in growing its business, as evidenced by a string of appointments to newly created positions, including Korea and Taiwan country managers and a head of business development for Europe, all announced between the end of May and the end of June. Meanwhile, there are some very exciting product announcements set to roll in July.

3. Vancouver's Chinatown is a great place to be a digital nomad, particularly when you have day after day of sunny weather. My Airbnb on Georgia Street near the corner of Main was on the same block as Massy Books, a short walk to an amazing tapas place, and a five minute run to False Creek, which has a continuous path (thoughtfully separated into pedestrian and bicycle lanes) along its shoreline. One day I ran to the right, one day I ran to the left, for which the turnaround point (at 2 miles) is shown in the photo.

Event: How To Talk To The Press (At NAB or any other trade show)

By Bob Decker

Netra Ghosh (202 Communications) and I had the conversation recorded below a few months ago, but with Sensors Converge, InfoComm, and IBC coming up so soon, it's just as relevant as ever. Watch the video of our How To Talk with the Press event and you'll discover everything you need to know in order to be comfortable during press meetings and to ensure they are worth your while, resulting in positive coverage for your company.

• Advantages and disadvantages of having your press meeting before the show vs. during the show
• Exactly what information editors really want in order to write about your company
• Is it too late to reach out to editors now?

Looking at this several weeks after attending NAB (which was coming up when we recorded it), I have to say Netra really nails it when it comes to what to expect and what's working now with respect to meeting up with the press at back-to-normal trade shows.

Highlights: May 2023

By Bob Decker

1. We're incredibly thrilled to be working with Imagine Communications to help create content about how this company is helping its customers Plan, Make & Monetize for Linear and CTV. 

2. Here's one of the sleek "Sell Sheets" we've been working on with the graphics team at Vishay. Love the way these look, and product marketing loves how they help start sales conversations with customers.

3. I spent a few days in May working from an Airbnb in the Logan Circle neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Unlike downtown San Francisco or Vancouver, B.C. (where I'll be a digital nomad in June), downtown Washington still has a functioning Nordstrom. I wonder if this is because so many Washingtonians really don't have the choice of being digital nomads; they are required to haunt K Street or Foggy Bottom and thus do their clothes shopping like we all did 30 years ago. In any case, Logan Circle is a great neighborhood and it's wonderful to go to the various Smithsonian art museums for free and see American masterpieces like these:

West Side Ridge, San Francisco by Wayne Thiebaud

Hibiscus with Plumeria (1939) by Georgia O'Keeffe

Grandma Moses Goes to the Big City by Grandma Moses

Cape Cod Morning (1950) by Edward Hopper

Event: Watch the replay of our free paid social event

By Bob Decker

We had such a great turnout for our free paid social event on May 4, during which Cindy Zuelsdorf of Kokoro Marketing shared some great information on how to set up retargeting for LinkedIn and Facebook on your website as part of an overall strategy of reaching out to your customers wherever they are.

If you couldn't join us that day, you can watch a recording of the event here. It's just 20 minutes or so, but you'll get a lot of really useful information from watching it.

Highlights: April 2023

By Bob Decker 

1. It was nice to be back at a normal-feeling NAB. This "Unreal Ride" demo showcased MRMC's high-speed cinema robots and the capabilities of its virtual production and motion control software. At the end of the ride, the video footage was given to each participant via a code to share on their social media channels. 

2. Taking a quick break from a meeting-packed Sunday at the postPerspective booth with Amy Foley of Dundee Hills Group and Cindy Zuelsdorf of Kokoro Marketing.

3. Biggest surprise for a seasoned Las Vegas visitor: The Writer's Block bookstore on 6th Street, a new presence in a neighborhood dominated by the local courthouse and rows of 1930s vintage bungalows that are now mostly occupied by law firms. Purchase: The new translation of The Betrothed by Alessandro Manzoni.

Event: LinkedIn + the easy way to retarget your website visitors, customer list & top prospects

You know how we all talk about being everywhere our customers and prospects are, right?

Easier said than done, I know. :)

Trying to be everywhere at once – on all the socials, email marketing, plus keeping up with your website – (not to mention everything else you have going on) can feel like juggling… with 6 or 7 balls in the air!

It’s a lot to keep up with.

But if there is an easy way to reach the same people who have already shown an interest in your products or services, you’d jump at it, wouldn’t you?

That’s what we’ll be chatting about on an upcoming panel discussion on everything you need to know to start using ad retargeting to reach the people who visit your website on LinkedIn or Facebook too.

Sign up: Paid Social: How to use LinkedIn or Facebook to retarget your website visitors, your customer list, and your target market 

Highlights: March 2023

By Bob Decker

 1. Posifa Technologies is getting into battery thermal runaway protection using its MEMS hydrogen sensors. They're talking about this new application for their technology on this landing page which we worked on earlier this month . . .

and they'll be spreading the news at the Battery Thermal Management Innovation conference and expo coming up on May 11 in Palo Alto. Really excited to see where this takes the company.

2. If you couldn't make it to our Media Training Refresher webinar last month (starring my 202 Communications colleague Netra Ghosh) you can watch a replay of it here.

3. Vishay Intertechnology's use of infographics is a textbook case of how useful they can be as a sales tool. In effect they compress about the same content as 7 or 8 presentation deck slides into a single field landscape that's best experienced, in my opinion, by having a Vishay expert guide you through the various sections. You can browse through all of them by clicking on the image below.

Highlights: February 2023

By Bob Decker

1. Posifa Technologies made the most of an oddly shaped (8 x 10) booth space at the AHR Expo (devoted to everything HVAC) February 6 - 8. I'm so pleased with how their booth looked — the company logo is everywhere, and even though it's a small space, I thought it looked very classy and confident and am quite proud of Redpines' contribution to that.

Posifa Technologies at AHR 2023

2. Speaking of trade shows, Elecrama looks like one to watch, given the effort Vishay has been putting into its exhibit there. Elecrama has evolved since 2020 from being "all about electricity" to "Powering the Future of Energy" in 2023.

3. Everyone is so pleased with this new video we worked on with Vishay's high voltage MOSFET team in Taiwan and marketing communications team in the US. (Redpines created the script.) 

Event: How to Talk With the Press at NAB: A Media Training Refresher

By Bob Decker

If you’re heading to NAB Show, APEC, Sensors, or another in-person industry event and want a quick refresher on making the most of press meetings, check out the February 28th LIVE! On event, “How to Talk With the Press at NAB: A Media Training Refresher.”

Join me and Netra Ghosh (of 202 Communications) to discover everything you need to know in order to be comfortable during press meetings and to ensure they are worth your while, resulting in positive coverage for your company.

• Advantages and disadvantages of having your press meeting before the show vs. during the show
• Exactly what information editors really want in order to write about your company
• Is it too late to reach out to editors now?

Our conversation starts at 9 a.m. Pacific, 12 Eastern, 5 p.m. UK time. To sign up, just click here.

Book Club: The Copywriter's Handbook by Robert W. Bly

Once every couple of months, several of us at Dundee Hills Group, the parent company of Redpines, gather to discuss a marketing communications related book or topic that we've read or thought about. I always take a lot of notes, copying down those passages that I want to be able to tell people about later or that I simply thought were well written. Here are my top 10 favorite tips from The Copywriter's Handbook, © 1985, 2005, 2020 by Robert W. Bly. 

[Avoid] . . . clever wordplay, puns, and "cute" copy . . . [in a headline]

p. 22

Your headline can perform four different tasks:

Get attention.

Select the audience.

Deliver a complete message.

Draw the reader into the body copy.

p. 23

Grade your performance as a copywriter on sales generated by your copy, not on originality.

p. 24

A classic headline for an ad offering a facial lotion reads: "The $5 Alternative to Costly Plastic Surgery." . . . The headline would not have been as successful if it said "$5 Bottle of Lotion is an Inexpensive Alternative to Costly Plastic Surgery."

p. 27

We are not in the business of being original. We are in the business of reusing things that work.

p. 28

Whenever I'm stuck for a headline, I type "How to" on the page, and what follows those words is always a decent, hardworking headline: good enough to use until something better comes along.

p. 30

Question headlines should always focus on the reader's self-interest, curiosity, and needs, and not on the advertiser's.

p. 31

Numbers attract the reader's eye. They should always be written as numerals.

p. 36

[#1 tip for writing clear copy:] Put the reader first. . . . address the reader directly as "you" in the copy, just as I am writing to you in this book.

p. 45

Tip: If the subject is not saying exactly what you want him to say, use the "So are you saying" technique. Say to the subject, "So are you saying that . . . " followed by the statement you want him to make. If he answers "yes, that's what I am saying," you can attribute your phrasing to the subject.

p. 393 

Toolbox: How to create a social media strategy that works

By Bob Decker

The particulars of social media platforms are in a constant state of flux. But if you're a newcomer to social media, or if your company is a newcomer, there are certain rules of the game that don't change that much from year to year and which will help you turn your social media outreach into a fruitful, two-way dialogue. Here are my top five recommendations if you're thinking about launching or relaunching your organization's social media presence.

1. Reach agreement within your teams about what your goal is in being on any social media platform and whom your presence there is for. Look to be as specific as possible.

"Raising awareness" is a lame reason to be on social media. Examples of some good reasons:

• Showing the company to be a meaningful place to work so people will apply for jobs there (or won't quit)
• Getting people to come to your event or trade show booth—or wish they had
• Entice customers to buy something specific from you—and give them a link to do so
• Encourage people to like, trust, and respect you by pointing them toward useful information that they might not have found on their own

2. Reach agreement within your company about who "owns" your social media channels and how you're going to measure whether social media is working for you or not.

Yes, social media is always going to be a team effort. But you still need to be clear about who's responsible for driving it from day to day, and who's responsible when they're on vacation. 

3. Even if it seems "easier" to go on to each social media site and post things, sign up for and use one of the social media calendaring and posting platforms (like Buffer, Hootsuite, Sprout, and many others). You need this so you can more easily

• plan ahead for future posts and share the plan easily with your team
• scale out to more social media platforms
• enable coordination within your company between different functions (such as marketing and HR)
• prevent all the unpleasant things that can happen when everything depends on some spreadsheet somewhere that suddenly becomes unavailable for whatever reason
• measure the effectiveness of what you're doing on social media: most of these platforms are measurement tools as well as planning tools

4. Have in mind a recurring type of post that you can come up with a predictable frequency. Your social media channels need a "pulse," and you need to find that pulse before you launch. 

Here as elsewhere it's important to put yourself in the shoes of the audience(s) you're trying to reach. What's going to be interesting for them? As a starting point, assume they're most interested in their own problems and, if they're looking at social media at all, in being entertained and inspired. For example, as a marketing communications agency Redpines social media channels aspire to bring useful ideas to B2B companies about how to promote themselves more effectively.

Without knowing the specifics of your business, I can't recommend any specific kind of content that will work as an ongoing "pulse" for your social media channels; but I'm happy to make some recommendations in a free 15-minute consultation.

5. Be open-minded about what your goal is in engaging with social media. It's not just about getting more and more followers. For example, LinkedIn can be an excellent tool to help you find specific people in specific roles in specific companies you'd like to be in contact with so you can sell them things. Tools that automate this process, and there are many to choose from, not only save time, they can also circumvent some of the hurdles you'd face as an individual trying to reach out to people from whom you're separated by too many degrees to suit LinkedIn's rules about who you can contact directly.

I hope you found this useful! Some more Redpines resources on social media:

6 Useful Social Media Tips

5 Shortcuts to Getting Started on Social Media

Agenda: January 2023

1. Complete preparations for Posifa Technologies' participation in AHR 2023, the big HVAC show, where Posifa will be sharing some amazing new vacuum and anemometer sensors that redefine how, where, and when you can measure pressure and air velocity/direction. 

2. Wrap up video script for a new type of MOSFET family from Vishay, then admire the final video created by the internal Vishay marcom team.

3. Prepare first issue of the Alliance Memory quarterly newsletter, for which editorial calendar as already bursting at the seams.

4. Spend a couple days hiking at Big Bend National Park, which everyone says is so beautiful. On the way, check out the town of Marfa, Texas, where my Uncle Bob and Aunt Jackie lived during WWII when Uncle Bob was in the service.

5. Continue listening to Big Brains podcast from University of Chicago to see whether subsequent episodes are as engaging as the first one I listened to with guest Katy Milkman from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, author of How To Change: The Science of Getting From Where You Are To Where You Want To Be.

Bob's personal reading for the past few weeks has focused on

books originally published in 1939-41. In addition to the books

shown above, he's read or listened to Rogue Male by Geoffrey Household,

The Corporate State in Action by Carl T. Schmidt, and the

T. E. Lawrence translation of Homer's Odyssey.