This morning I had the pleasure of giving a presentation to an engaged group of people involved with early childhood education and family services at the Augusta Civic Center. Called “Engaged Communities, Growing Small Children,” the conference focused around a book called “The Charismatic Organization, 8 Ways to Grow a Nonprofit,” by Shirley Sagawa. I tied my presentation in to Shirley’s book by talking about how organizations can engage themselves better with their communities through effective communications if they share their stories and newsworthy events on an ongoing basis. Continue Reading »

Today we launched a new website for our client, Saddleback Maine. This is the third website we have created for Saddleback and I believe they keep getting better. We worked hard to show big beautiful images of the beautiful scenery, while also including optimized copy.  Thanks to the NMC team as well as the Saddleback team for their hard work on this site.  Since we at Nancy Marshall Communications do both the PR and the internet marketing for Saddleback, we have the opportunity to merge the two things we love to do most: create beautiful websites then leverage their exposure on the internet through great public relations. Check out the EStore which we are really proud of:  here you can buy concert tickets, seasons’ passes and Saddleback souvenirs through this online store featuring the latest and greatest in eCommerce functionality. Very exciting technology for NMC, for Saddleback, and for the Great State of Maine!

Speaking of optimized copy, I read a really good blog post today called Nip and Tuck, Three Secrets of Great Web Copy. The message echoes exactly what I wrote about last week with regard to writing naturally as opposed to loading up your web copy with your key words. I encourage you to check it out and to write naturally, as opposed to writing copy that is merely a list of your key words repeated over and over and over…..

At Nancy Marshall Communications, we are in the business of full-service website development, including web strategy development and internet marketing. I wanted to share the news about a website we lauched recently for the New England Outdoor Center.

AUGUSTA, Maine - The New England Outdoor Center (NEOC) officially unveiled their new website, http://www.neoc.com.  The site provides information about the four-season Maine adventure resort,  including their wide variety of outdoor activities, lodging options, special packages, recent news and videos. Based in Millinocket, Maine since 1982, the New England Outdoor Center has provided visitors from across the world with a one-of-a-kind Maine outdoor experience.

“With the start of the whitewater rafting season in Maine and our plans for expansion, we recognize that our website is going to be one of the most valuable tools for our customers. We feel that the layout, design and capabilities of our new site will allow customers to make plans at our four-season resort from whitewater rafting to snowmobiling, as well as select lodging options easier and faster than ever. Due to our wide range of customers from Maine and across the globe, we are excited to work with the team at Nancy Marshall Communications to create the new website and an ongoing Internet marketing strategy to communicate to our current customers and attract new ones,” said Matt Polstein, co-owner of New England Outdoor Center. Continue Reading »

This is going to date me, but when I was a teenager, while spending summers at our cottage on Damariscotta Lake, I used to collect S&H Green Stamps and paste them into the little green stamp books. Then my mom and I would go to Rockland where I could redeem my books full of stamps for “stuff.” I don’t remember what “stuff” I used to get, but back then, it was pretty darn exciting.

This brings me to the subject of fish bait. Rockland used to smell like fish bait. Mainers would say “that smells wicked.” I didn’t talk like a Mainer back then, so I would just say, “Mom, it stinks here!”

Well Rockland has cleaned up its act. It doesn’t smell bad there any more. It is a beautiful town with lots of boats, restaurants, and shopt so visit, not to mention the Farnsworth Art Museum where you can see works by the Wyeth Family and the Maine Lobster Festival where you can eat plenty of my favorite crustacean. Continue Reading »

There’s a blog at http://www.copyblogger.com that I receive by RSS every day. I find the information to be really useful and interesting. Today’s post analyzes a landing page created for a Cost Per Click Ad Campaign for www.babynapswell.com. The information provided by copyblogger is really specific and detailed on how this landing page could be improved to increase the click-through rate from the ad to the landing page.  I encourage you to read this post if you currently engage in CPC advertising, or if you plan to dip your toe in the water.

Thanks to Rich Brooks of Flyte New Media  and to Nicole Ouellette of Breaking Even Communications for this article that was published on Fast Company’s blog about making the social media choices that are  right for you. Some of my clients have asked me recently which social media they should engage in. There is no one clear answer. You need to engage in the online communities where your targeted audience can be found (the expression is to ‘fish where the fsh are,’) and you shouldn’t over-extend yourself. Only get invovled with as many online networks as you can keep up with.  If your goal is to drive traffic to your Web site, then you need to measure how many visitors are going to your site from each online community or network, then measure the effectiveness of your efforts. 

Of course some people engage in social media because it’s fun!  I love to go on to Facebook because it’s an extension of my normal socializing. I don’t really expect to achieve anything from it other than happiness.  If  happiness is your goal, that’s O.K.!

This morning my son was leaving for a ski race in Vermont for the week, and he realized that he was nearly out of ski socks. We have a problem with an overly excitable yellow lab who chews socks when people come to visit us at our house. It’s her way of trying to get attention. So our inventory of socks diminishes quickly.  The problem with replenishing the supply is that the type of socks my boys and my husband have been wearing for the past couple of years costs $16 a pair. Continue Reading »

If you’ve been following this Maine PR Maven blog for any period of time, you have read about the process we have been going through to develop a new Web site for our own agency.

And you may know the saying “The Shoemaker’s Children Have No Shoes.” I understand why the shoemaker struggled to keep his own children in shoes. I feel his pain. When you have customers who want your products, you always feel that taking care of their needs is more important than taking care of your own. Continue Reading »

People are changing the way they read books. Amazon put out a press release on Christmas Day saying that more Kindle books were sold this holiday season than ”physical”  books. 

I don’t have one yet.  I still love to curl up in my cozy bed and read a book while I  hold it in my hands. I like the feel of the paper and the heft of the book. Sometimes I like to underline and highlight things in the book.  I also like to mark my place with a bookmark or by turning the page corner over (only on paperback books, however.)

On the other hand, my brother Walter (who is six years my senior) digests books at am amazinng pace, so he loves his Kindle becsause it allows him to acquire and consume several new titles each week. And my friend Ross loves his because he likes to read the New York Times on it each morning.

I imagine I’ll get one at some point, but for now, I am going to stick with my old-fashioned paper books. Continue Reading »

This morning, Greg Glynn from my agency team and I presented a seminar on Social Media for Small Businesses at the Skowhegan Community Center. The workshop was sponsored by our client, Skowhegan Savings.  We talked about how small businesses need to define their goals, their identity, and their key messages before diving into the pool of social media. We recommended that people who are totally new to social media start by establishing an account on Linked In to start experimenting with the power of increasing your network of contacts. Continue Reading »