Elyse Batista Awarded Second Annual MarketingMel Scholarship

Published on October 26, 2015 by maryellen in Advertising, Entrepreneur, ETSU, Internships, Leadership, Marketing Tips, MarketingMel, mentor, Next generation, public relations, Small Business, social media, Social Media Marketing

: Mary Ellen Miller, Elyse Batista and Dr. Stephen Marshall present Elyse with the 2015 MarketingMel Mass Communications scholarship.

This fall the ETSU Mass Communication department awarded the MarketingMel Mass Communication scholarship to ETSU senior, Elyse Batista.

As a transfer from North Carolina, Batista, a senior, maintains a 3.77 grade point average, leads the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) as president, and has been awarded the Dean’s List certificate since her arrival at ETSU in 2012. She will be interning with MarketingMel for the 2015-2016 academic year.

MarketingMel, founded by Mary Ellen Miller, is a creative firms that offers marketing, public relations and social media strategies. “The MarketingMel internship has propelled me into the communications industry,” says Batista. “From networking, researching and attending events to one-on-one mentoring with Mary Ellen (Mel), I’m able to put classroom lessons into action.” Batista says that the scholarship is a great bonus to a great program.

Originally, the scholarship fund was established by Miller in honor of the fifth anniversary of MarketingMel. She began the internship program as a mentoring opportunity for young women aspiring to work as communications professionals and the scholarship was a natural outcome. Over the years, the internship has come to be known as a great opportunity for students.

Since the start of the mentorship program six years ago, MarketingMel interns have experienced a 100 percent employment rate upon graduation. These interns have moved forward in the communications industry and have found their niches within a variety of specializations including public relations, marketing, sales, and advertising.

Miller enjoys mentoring young professionals. “I feel it is my duty to give back to the community that has been so good to me,” says Miller, “What better way than to mentor the next generation of PR professionals?”

When have you mentored or been mentored by another? Please share your experiences with us.

MarketingMel’s LinkedIn for Business Podcast with WJCW’s Carl and Tim

Published on August 27, 2015 by maryellen in Communications, Entrepreneur, Executives, Instagram, Leadership, LinkedIn, LInkedIn groups, Marketing Tips, MarketingMel, Personal Branding, PR, public relations, Sales and Marketing, Small Business, social media, Social Media Marketing

MarketingMel talks LinkedIn with Tim and Carl on WJCW Radio

Recently I had the opportunity to go “on the air” with Carl and Tim on their “Thinking Out Loud” morning program on WJCW Radio. We covered everything from trends in social media to LinkedIn tips for business people.

Here’s our podcast link: click the audio link at the top of the page.

I’ve also copied my notes below for those who prefer reading to listening.

Mary Ellen Miller, MarketingMel, teaches LinkedIn workshops for business professionals and for college students. She recently taught a hands-on workshop for the Northeast Tennessee Association of Realtors and she conducts a workshop for Milligan College Seniors each semester.

Why would our listeners care about LinkedIn?

Your listeners are business professionals. This is the network for business professionals. The demographics are truly a gold mine: 364 million members, average age 42, average income 100,00+, well-educated, professional, skews male…if you want to change jobs or think you ever might consider changing jobs…this is the place to be. Furthermore, it’s the place to reach the decision makers.

What times are people on LinkedIn?

Time on 8 and 5 pm.

What can our listeners do immediately to boost their LinkedIn profile?

Your listeners can do three things to boost their LinkedIn profile.

Use a professional head shot – profiles with head shots get 11 X more views
Use keywords to describe themselves (example: conference speaker, author,etc.)
Provide occasional updates. (I suggest at least once a week.)

Have you seen these tips actually help people?

A student at Milligan College credits the workshop I teach there once per semester with providing him tools to find a job at Baylor.

Tell us what your LinkedIn tip is that helped you get
904 views, 98 likes and 17 comments?
Published a post about Peyton Manning’s Leadership Tips from Leadercast! Nothing like Star Power
What are the Trends in social media?

Facebook is graying….the fastest growing demographic on it is grandparents. With over a billion people it is a force to be reckoned with. Now it is more and more a “pay to play” network in terms of business presence there.

So where are the young people? Instagram, Snapchat, Watching Vine and Instragram videos, etc. My 13 year old has not one time asked for a Facebook! He loves his Instagram. Watch young people in order to watch trends and see where we are heading in the future.

Do you have comments to add in terms of your own experiences with LinkedIn for business?

“Put on Your Big Girls Panties:” 12 Success Tips for Working Women

Published on August 18, 2015 by maryellen in "Communications Skills for Women", Ask for what you want/Be specific, Communications, Entrepreneur, Leadership, Marketing Tips, Personal Branding, public relations, Small Business, social media

Wynne Tyree, CEO of Smarty Pants, tells working women to “Put on Your Big Girl Pants.”

Wynne Tyree is CEO of an internationally known children’s market research firm. Her clients are some of the largest companies in the world (Think: Lego and McDonald’s.) She’s also a wife and a mom (which is how I know her; our kids are in Tae Kwan Do together.) When it comes to inspiration for other business women she’s full of practical advice.

Here are twelve success building tips she presented to the “Women Empowered” gathering sponsored by the Bank of Tennessee.

1. Know your WHY. Wynne actually had us take a few minutes to write down our personal “whys.” After thinking her son was developmentally late at crawling, she placed a red toy just out of his reach in front of him. Guess what? He crawled! What moves you forward?

2. Specialize. Be an expert at something. Take a cue from the medical world and specialize. “Tell me why you’re awesome in 60 seconds.”

3. Take Calculated Risks. This was my favorite visual as one fish jumped from one gold fish filled bowl into a bowl of water with no fish in it. Be willing to do what others won’t. “99% of Americans swim in the same bowl,” she said. “You don’t regret the things you do. You regret the things you don’t do.”

4. Be Passionated and Contagious. Tell yourself you’re great and you will be!

5. Get Uncomfortable. Sometimes we have to move outside of our comfort zone in order to really grow, learn and succeed.

6. Surround Yourself with Amazing People. Nobody succeeds alone. Move with the people you want to be, not the people who you used to be. Move toward the people who are where you want to grow. Along with that, be slow to hire and quick to fire.

Wynne Tyree (an amazing woman!) and CEO of Smarty Pants and Mary Ellen Miller of MarketingMel.

7. Demand Excellence. Wynne said if you’re concerned with an employee who’s turning in less than excellent work, role play with a trusted companion/spouse. If they’re not performing up to par they may not want to be in your company.

8. Know your value and ask for it. Wynne said women often won’t ask for their real value whereas men will ask for “another $10,000 and then go out and play golf together two hours later.” She asked each of us to actually put a pencil to paper and calculate own net worth as we considered the many facets of our work and home careers. Add up the value of each job and then divide by two to get our real hourly rate. When she looked at life like this, cleaning the living room wasn’t quite so important. What is the best use of our time?

9. Stop Multi-Tasking. Learn to Compartmentalize. Multi-tasking is a lie. We actually need to create walls, structure and time frames. Set boundaries with e-mail (and with our kids if we work from a home office.)

10. Be “Selfish.” While that may sound strange, Wynne said we have to first put on our own air masks before we can start saving others when a plane is going down. What “fills our bucket?”she asked. Do more of that to save our own sanity, first.

11. Say “No.” “Remember the trampy girl in high school?” Wynne asked, as chuckles filled the room. “When you’re not so accessible, you have more value. It ups your ante,” she said.

12. Reassess and Course Correct. Check where you are and be willing to make a detour. For example, if after three years your original business plan didn’t work out, let it go and move on.

Which of these tips resonates with you? How will apply them in your business or every day life?

For more information about Wynne’s fascinating market research business visit www.smartypants.com.

What Consumers Really Want: Snickers! The Jobs to be Done Theory

Published on June 18, 2015 by maryellen in Advertising, Communications, Customer Service, Entrepreneur, Executives, Leadership, Marketing Tips, public relations, Sales and Marketing, Small Business, social media

“People don’t want to buy a quarter inch drill they want a quarter inch hole.” Professor Theodore Levitt

Take a healthy dose of sociology, psychology and marketing, mix them liberally and serve up a marketing presentation to the Northeast Tennessee ADFED. That’s exactly what Bite Interactive’s Chief Technology Officer, Brant DeBow, did recently in talking about his company’s “Jobs to be Done Theory.” He used the professor’s quote above to introduce the concept of discovering what consumers really want. Focus groups are not always the answer. Neither is blanket targeting of demographics. Instead his team uses a system of in-depth interviews to determine the functional, social and emotional reasons for purchasing a product. “When you purchase a product you change your behavior,” he says.

“People are bad at knowing the future,” he said. “But they are good at telling you what’s going on now and about the past,” he said. “Correlation is not causation.” His example was the Motorola 2007 Razor phone. SMS was barely on the scene and that slim, little phone did its job as a telephone extremely well. Who would want something bulky with a large screen back then? (Little could they imagine the iPhone!)

Netflix vs. Blockbuster was another example. Blockbuster mowed down the Mom and Pop video stores offering a better in-store experience. Netflix however offered a completely different model; what the customer really wanted — entertainment in his/her own home.

DeBow said four forces are involved in purchase decision making: push, pull, anxiety and habit. The first two move us toward the new product and the second two keep us maintaining the status quo.

DeBow’s team launched a clever campaign for Snickers after determining that Snickers, unlike Milky Way, was used to curb hunger. They deliberately mis-spelled words related to Snickers in their online ad campaign and then purchased associated mis-spelled keywords, attempting to gain the hungry and tired 3 PM-need-a-candy-bar crowd. “Snickers is now the most successful candy bar as a result of the Jobs to be Done reorganization of the brand,” said DeBow. “Who do you compete with? For Snickers it was hunger, so it was actually other snack foods. It was not Milky Way, as they originally thought, because Milky Way was perceived as a guilty pleasure, a reward and something people didn’t want to share.”

What examples have you experienced where a company has completely met your needs as a consumer? When did someone serve you the “quarter inch hole?” instead of making you buy the “quarter inch drill”? Please comment below.

Trends: A How-to-guide to Instagram

Published on May 21, 2015 by maryellen in Alex Quillin, Communications, ETSU, Instagram, Internships, Marketing Tips, MarketingMel, Next generation, PR, public relations, Small Business, social media, Trends

If you enjoy watching communications trends then you know that young people are all about visual social media channels. The more pictures and videos, the better! One of their favorites is Instagram. This photo-sharing social site is growing at a faster rate than twitter. Recently, MarketingMel was called on to assist a client with her Instagram presence. Public Relations Intern Alex Quillin (who is 20 and loves Instagram) was given the assignment and received rave reviews from our client. Alex first had a customized one-on-one social media training session with the client. Then she created this handy step-by step how-to-guide to Instagram as a follow up piece. The client loves having this to refer to as she continues to build her personal brand on social media channels.

Instagram How-To

How are you/your children using Instagram? For business or fun? (Note: My tween LOVES Instagram and uses it daily to communicate with friends and even share homework!) Please comment!

LinkedIn for REALTORS®: A MarketingMel Small Business Presentation

Published on May 7, 2015 by maryellen in Communications, Human Resources, LinkedIn, LInkedIn groups, Marketing Tips, MarketingMel, Personal Branding, public relations, Sales and Marketing, social media, Strategic Planning

All of the REALTOR® LinkedIn students were great and one had 4 legs!

More and more, LinkedIn is the online connecting place for business professionals. It’s the modern day Chamber of Commerce breakfast on a virtual scale. As I shared with the Northeast Tennessee Association of REALTORS (NETAR) during our highly interactive presentation, making connections and updating profiles now may lead to business in the future. The SlideShare deck is below. What are some ways you’ve built your business using LinkedIn?

MarketingMel Receives Three PRSA Tri-Cities Awards

Published on April 30, 2015 by maryellen in Alex Quillin, Communications, ETSU, Internships, Marketing Tips, MarketingMel, Next generation, political campaign, politics, PR, public relations, Small Business, social media

A column about Lisa Rice’s successful judicial campaign, the Socktober campaign to help the homeless and the Johnson City Up & At ‘Em Turkey Trot were all winning entries for the MarketingMel public relations team at the Tri-Cities Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) awards banquet April 21 in Kingsport. Two awards were “Awards of Excellence,” the highest honor given.

Mary Ellen Miller, founder of MarketingMel, received the 2015 Award of Excellence in Column Writing, for a column titled “Three Ways to be a “Shoo-in” in Business and Politics.” MarketingMel was the only winner, in the writing category, to receive a perfect score from one of the judges on a writing entry. The column, first published in Out ‘N About Magazine, and later on MarketingMel’s blog, offers tips to success in the world of business and politics.

Miller was the campaign manager for Criminal Court Judge Part 1 Lisa Rice’s campaign. After watching then-candidate Rice’s hard work and determination, Miller was inspired to write the column. “It was an honor to work with, and learn from, the professionalism of then Candidate (now Judge) Rice,” said Miller.

“This is a wonderful and well deserved award. Congratulations to Mary Ellen Miller and the MarketingMel team,” said Judge Rice.

Additionally, MarketingMel received a second Award of Excellence at the ceremony. This was given for the Socktober campaign that saw numerous organizations come together to support the cause of socks for the homeless, first initiated by YouTube sensation Kid President. During this campaign, MarketingMel, with the assistance of Johnson City Schools’ homeless coordinator, Bonnie White, set a goal of obtaining 750 pairs of new socks. With the help of Johnson City Morning Rotary, Spine & Sports Chiropractic, Appearances Hair Salon, Exalt Academy of Cosmetology and numerous other businesses, more than 1,100 pairs were collected and given to the Johnson City/Washington County Area United Way for distribution through its agencies that serve the homeless. “The judges loved your measurable objectives and your clear goals for the project” said Brad Belote, Tri-Cities PRSA president.

The final award, the Award of Merit, was given to MarketingMel and the public relations team of Jenny Brock, Karen Hubbs, Keisha Shoun and MarketingMel Intern Alex Quillin, for their work on the 2014 Johnson City Up and At ‘Em Turkey Trot 5k. The race featured a first-ever press conference at Fairmont Elementary School. The event, which received widespread coverage from regional media, included a mascot race along with Biggest Loser Season 15 top five finalist and Grand Marshal Jennifer Messer.

“It is a tribute to the giving nature of our region that projects like Socktober and Turkey Trot have been so successful,” said Miller.

Elyse Batista, Mary Ellen Miller and Alex Quillin

Miller was accompanied to the event by her newest intern, Elyse Batista, and her outgoing intern, Alex Quillin, both ETSU PR/Advertising majors. Mentoring the next generation of PR professionals, including Batista and Quillin, is a pillar of MarketingMel’s mission. “It is so incredible to get awarded for all of the work we put into these campaigns. Mel has taught me so much during my year with her and this ceremony was the cherry on top!” said Quillin.

MarketingMel, now in its sixth year in business, is a communications-consulting firm offering marketing, public relations and social media strategies to business professionals. For more information visit www.marketingmel.com

Ten Tips to Manage a Crisis

Published on April 2, 2015 by maryellen in Communications, Crisis Communications, Entrepreneur, Human Resources, Leadership, Marketing Tips, Personal Branding, public relations, Sales and Marketing, Small Business, social media, Workforce

Editor’s Note: This post was first published on LinkedIn.

Few people ever think they’re going to have a crisis at work. That’s something that happens to “the other guy” right? The unfortunate reality is crises happen all the time in business. I was recently called in to manage communications for an “unexpected” (they all are) corporate crisis. Here are some tips to remember.

1. Call in a Crisis Communications Expert: Even though a CEO may think they are expert at handling calls from the media, it’s best to bring in someone who works with the media everyday. This needs to be someone who understands the way the media works, who the key influencers are, and what their deadlines are. Preferably this is someone who’s had a working relationship with the local media for years.

2. Employees Will Call the Media. Count on it: Remember that famous line from Shakespeare? Et tu Brute? There were double crossers back then and there are still double crossers today. It’s interesting to me how very trusting CEO’s are of their employees. They are always taken aback when they receive that first call from the media only to learn that their very own paycheck-loving employee was the one to inform the local news channel.

3. Consider Internal Publics: Given point number 2 the company actually wants to get to internal folks first. They are the ones who will carry the message out to their loved ones and, in some cases, to the media.

4. Remember External Publics: Does the company need to speak directly to an external audience, namely customers? If so what is the best communications channel to take? Web site? Social media? Direct mail?

5. Monitor the Online Conversation: Keep in touch with “the buzz” about the event on social media channels. Is it just people whining and belly aching or do some of the comments have merit?

6. Be Authentic: Tell the truth when a reporter asks a question. If the interviewee doesn’t know the answer, say so. People can always smell out a liar. Don’t do it.

7. Be Careful Not to Implicate Others: Until all the facts are known it’s best to keep other company’s names out of the story. Just stick with what is known.

8. Get it Right the First Time. Know that the initial news release and first company statements will live on and get repeated over and over online. Other news outlets simply pick up the first stories, change a few words and repeat.

9. Time is of the essence. By the time the professional communicator is called in there is generally only a few hours to prepare. Be sure the consultant works well under pressure. The communicator needs to synthesize the facts, write a news release and assemble a communications game plan in a very short time.

10. Be prepared: It’s best to plan ahead. When possible, take steps to create some scenarios in advance of an actual crisis. Knowing who the company spokesperson is and having them media trained is a step in the right direction. Readiness helps.

Since I first wrote this and published it on LinkedIn I’ve been invited to speak to a group of regional Human Resources Directors. What are some tips you would add to the conversation from your own experience with workplace crises?

Editor’s Note: This post was first published on LinkedIn.

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