I was 14, it was 1979 and I stood there in awe in a hot, sweaty and packed City Hall as Phil Lynott roared down at us with his fist shaking .. “Are You Ready?“.

Of course he was greeted by loud roars from the thousands of rockers. Again he roared “Are You Ready?” and he managed to increase the decibels even more from the devoted audience.

Once more he roared the same even louder and with the crowd now in a frenzy the band launched into an incredible version of the song “Are You Ready” and lifted the roof off the place!

I was mesmerised…to this day it must have been my best ever concert moment and it cemented my passion for music. Thank you Phil!

So, start of another year and to take a lesson from the Phil Lynott school of motivation … Are You Ready?

It’s a time for resolutions and of course we all have the very best of intentions so I just wanted to offer you a few of our Marketing & PR tips to help you on the way – if you’re as passionate as Phil about your business as he was about his music this will be valuable ..

1. Positive Intent – before I go into all of the practical stuff it is vital that you have this and that your let your team know that you want them to have the same. This should be the driving force behind every thing you do. You will be amazed the opportunities that come your way and will appear when you have this mindset.
2. Get in the game on-line by being found – this is the low lying fruit guys. These are the punters who are already looking for your products or services. Test it – try a few searches and see how you perform (for example PR firms in Ireland should hopefully bring a listing for Fuzion). If you are not found for your priority keyword searches you should optimise your website and maybe consider a pay-per-click advertising campaign on Google.
3. Online Communication – if you decide to communicate to all your customers, previous prospects and other contacts right now could you do it? If not consider adding an email newsletter service to your communications and let people know of changes to the business, new products, new services, awards and other news on a regular basis. This is easy to set up and it is easy to capture new contacts for your newsletter directly from your website.
4. Social Media – one of my buddies gave me some guidance recently gently advising that I was too concerned about online. I’m sorry, when I see an opportunity maybe I just point it out until I see it being grasped! Online gives you an opportunity to amplify your existing efforts – In truth very people in business today are using the popular platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter and even Facebook properly. There are a few who are thriving by using these very cleverly – thankfully we are one of these and to be honest we could always do even better. Social Media Consultancy is a thriving industry because there is a huge appetite to learn by those who have spotted the importance of this communication medium.
5. Good stories – one of our motto’s at Fuzion with our clients is Never waste a Good Story. If there is good news happening in your business, if there are interesting personalities, if there are changes that should be publicised and great products then get them out there with a strong PR Plan. Every business has good stories – don’t waste them. PR can be a very effective and economical way of getting your message out there.
6. The Mirror – have a good look in the mirror for your business. Does your branding, signage, website and other tangible visible elements properly reflect the quality of your business, products and services? Right now take a glance at your business card! It may be time to refresh your branding and put your best foot forward.
7. Advertising & Promotions – If you have pulled back on activity in this area then maybe it is a time to revisit this activity. There is terrific value to be had if you do this in a very planned way, securing great prices and also negotiating promotions and editorial coverage. The chances are your competitors have cut back on their activity – time to steal a march on them?
8. Marketing Plan – Map out all of your Marketing & PR activity including your budgets for the year and share this with your team. Try to ensure that there is a constant stream of activity so that your business is always very visible with your target audience.
9. Measure – Track the performance of your activities, giving each of them a proper chance to seed so that you can properly assess their effectiveness. Flex your plan where necessary.
10. Be Ready – Be ready to grab those new opportunities as they come along – they will!

Have a great year and we should leave the last word to Phil Lynott and Thin Lizzy

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6t6zhpDpPs?rel=0]

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion