Projects

Hoosier PRSA Social Media Strategy

hoosier prsa social media strategyServing as the Social Media Chair for the executive board of the Hoosier Chapter of PRSA, I launched its social media initiative in 2006. The goals was to raise awareness of social media trends in the public relations industry and to build community among members of the chapter and with other professionals at large.

We have since incorporated other minor tools to deliver information. This strategy used the following tools primarily:

As the primary lead on this project, I worked with a small team of volunteers to develop an editorial calendar for the blog, recruit guest bloggers from our chapter, and share management responsibilities, each according to their interest and available time commitment.

Hoosier PRSA Blog

Accu-Chek Diabetes Link

accu chek diabetes linkWorking with the leading, worldwide manufacturer of diabetes care products, I assisted the Internet Marketing Team in the development and deployment of its global social media initiative. Canada was the first project completed during my tenure.

The basic strategy was to balance federal regulations (or the lack thereof, at the time) with the over all goal of empowering people with diabetes to live healthier lives.

We recycled diet and other health-related content into a blog, used Facebook and Twitter as community building tools. In addition, a cross-functional team reached out to several prominent bloggers and community managers of people with diabetes. The success of the program hinged on listening and responding to what the bloggers and community managers told us. We built a special, on-going relationship with those people.

Research told us that diabetes was one of the loneliest diseases and hardest to understand from the patient’s point of view. Using the resources of the manufacturer, connecting communities was important, as was developing and maintaining a global social media panel comprised of a select group of though leading bloggers and internal marketing staff. I sat on this panel.

Accu-Chek Internal SM Newsletter

In addition to building the social media engagement strategy, we had to educate internal audiences of the important of engagement. This education also included an effort to explain the return on investment of social media engagement as well as educate marketers in affiliate markets. Here are the newsletters:

ProVim Hosting and Development

provimProVim wanted to transform itself from a traditional web hosting and development company into a inbound marketing and and social media company. During the short time I managed this project, I help the organization develop a forward-thinking strategy that would provide and easy and robust transition. Part of my responsibilities was to blog and earn the company media exposure.

I promoted its filter junk email solution primarily through blogging and earned media exposure. Here are some blogging examples:

Research shows that earned media coverage in leading publications drives results for business. I earned the company media placement in “Web Host Review,” one of the leading online publications for the industry. Here is the news release I wrote and below that the coverage it earned:

Besides working internally with ProVim senior management to lay the foundation for rebranding the company, I worked externally with clients and acquired several thousand dollars in signed business projects in Q4 of 2010. Clients included a pre-clinical contract research firm, specializing in diabetes research, and a grocery store chain.

Little Red Door Cancer Agency

Working for the Little Red Door Cancer Agency as a contractor and consultant, I managed its media relations and social media effort during Breast Cancer Awareness Months. We earn coverage in several TV news programs and the agency’s mammography outreach initiatives were placed in community calendars across Central Indiana. My duties also included managing and developing content for the agency’s Facebook Fan Page, Twitter account and its e-newsletter and uses ExactTarget as its e-marketing campaign tool.

Here are a few news releases:

IUPUI Speaker’s Lab

The IUPUI Speaker’s Lab is an academic resource on the campus of Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis. As the Director of the lab, I was was tasked with strengthening the image of the program. I managed a complete top-to-bottom redesign of the website. This included a full rewrite of the website copy. With the help of the IU Medical School Creative Services, I managed the creation of  new brochure. The Creative Services staff designed the new look and feel of the brochure, and I wrote the copy.

I aligned the Speaker’s Lab image to conform to IUPUI branding guidelines and created a more professional look and feel for all of its marketing collateral. View the brochure copy.

I also worked with the School of Liberal Arts to redesign and retool the Speaker’s Lab website. We now have a website with an automated appointment system to streamline student services and a blog to build community, thought leadership, as well as a resource for IUPUI students.

Castle Wealth Advisors

castle wealth advisorsManaging communications and marketing for Castle Wealth Advisors was my primary responsibility from 2006 to 2008. In this role, aside from raising awareness of the brand and disseminating financial information for educational purposes, I helped the company earn media coverage that generated bottom line results. Our media relations strategy included placeing byline articles and columns in targeted media outlets, primarily trade and association magazines. See below for examples.

Here are a few examples of news releases:

May 07, 2008
Indiana’s oldest fee-only financial firm inks deal with America’s largest buying cooperative, CCA Global Partners. Castle Wealth Advisors will provide financial services to two flooring divisions of CCA Global.

Feb 17, 2008
Succession planning is important for any business to survive for generations. Gary Pittsford, CFP, CEO and President of Castle Wealth Advisors helps business owners understand six key questions they need to know about succession planning.

Feb 11, 2008
Gary Pittsford, CFP shares four smart business tips to survive a slowing economy.

Here are examples of a few byline article we placed in trade and association magazines:

Marketing Approach

Research found that Castle Wealth Advisors was not properly branded. Among clients and prospects, the message of the company was confusing; this included understanding of the services Castle Wealth Advisors offered. As part of the overall marketing strategy, we decided to rebrand the company. This included a total top-to-bottom redesign of the company website, new copy written to web industry specification and printed marketing collateral to match and augment the organization’s online presence. In addition to the rebranding strategy, we launched e-newsletters targeting clients, prospects, and next-generation small business owners. From a business prospective, Castle Wealth Advisors decided to focus its resources and knowledge base in three verticals: cooperative hardware business, logistics and warehousing companies.

Here are examples of the newsletter:

Here are examples of copy from the website:

Castle Wealth Advisors Landing Page

Panther Racing LLC

Content coming soon.

Indiana Secretary of State — HAVA Program

Content coming soon.