laura gunn marketing Archives

November 1, 2023October 12, 2023

Electronic Press Kits

Electronic Press Kits – What are they and who needs one?

An Electronic Press Kit (EPK) is a comprehensive digital package that includes promotional materials about a person, company, or event. However, in most cases EPKs are associated and most used for musicians and bands. It typically consists of a collection of digital files such as press releases, bios, photos, videos, music, and contact information. EPKs are used to provide information to music and media professionals. Additionally, they are used for industry influencers, and potential collaborators, making it an essential tool for gaining visibility.

Here are a few reasons why you should have an electronic press kit:

1. Easy access and distribution: As EPKs are digital, they can be easily accessed and distributed to various recipients. Whether it’s sending it via email, sharing a download link, or hosting it on a website, EPKs allow quick and convenient dissemination of your materials, ultimately saving time and effort.

2. Professionalism and credibility: Having a well-designed EPK adds a sense of professionalism and credibility to your image. It showcases your materials in a cohesive and organized manner, making it easier to understand your story and potential value. A professional-looking EPK can help you stand out from competitors and make a positive impression.

EPKs Do Much More

3. Efficient media coverage: Media professionals receive numerous press releases and promotional materials daily. By providing an EPK, you make it easier for journalists, venues, bloggers, and industry influencers to access essential information, enabling them to quickly assess your relevance and make informed decisions about you.

4. Showcasing your best assets: An EPK allows you to curate and present your best assets. Whether it’s high-quality photos, demo tracks, engaging videos, or compelling bios. By including these elements, you can effectively showcase your talents, products, or services, giving media professionals a clear picture of what you have to offer.

5. Time saving: Instead of responding to multiple individual requests for information, an EPK provides a one-stop solution to access all the necessary information they may need. Share consistent and accurate information and save time. Thus, reducing the chances of miscommunication or missed opportunities.

6. Increased visibility and networking opportunities: Immediately increase your visibility with a readily available EPK. Notice by media professionals, influencers, or potential collaborators who may come across your materials is key. It facilitates networking opportunities and increases your visibility across different platforms, potentially leading to beneficial partnerships or coverage.

Lastly, an electronic press kit offers a convenient and effective way to promote yourself, your band, your company, or your event. It saves time, enhances your credibility, and increases your chances of gaining media coverage and networking opportunities. Whether you’re a musician, actor, entrepreneur, or organization, having an EPK is essential in today’s digital landscape.

Contact me for your electronic press kits, I am happy to help!

October 1, 2023October 12, 2023

WordPress Website

A WordPress website is one of the best formats available in the website arena. WordPress is a popular content management system (CMS) that allows the creation and management of websites, easily. With WordPress, you can create a wide variety of website styles, including blogs, e-commerce stores, portfolios, business websites, and much more.

To create a WordPress website, you’ll first need a domain name and web hosting. Many web hosts offer one-click WordPress installation to make the process even easier. Once you have WordPress installed, you can choose from thousands of free and premium themes to give your website a unique look and feel. To a novice web designer, it can be overwhelming. While advanced designers welcome the variety we can offer our clients.

Website Options

WordPress also has a vast library of plugins that allow you to add functionality to your website. Whether you want to add a contact form, social sharing buttons, or an e-commerce store, there’s a plugin available to help you achieve it. This is why I encourage my clients to discuss their needs with me. The better I understand what will help your website function better for you, the sooner I can implement what you need.

The WordPress dashboard provides an intuitive interface for managing website’s content. You can easily create and edit pages, write blog posts, upload media, and manage comments. While I toss around the word “easily”, it takes practice to properly manage a WordPress website. Improperly managed sites often are the victim of hackers and this can be fatal for any website.

Built-in SEO

The platform also has built-in SEO (search engine optimization) features to help your website rank higher in search engine results. This is one of the main reasons I prefer working on WordPress websites over any other platform. Proper SEO is crucial for a website to show in search engines like Google. Improper SEO techniques can have adverse effects to a website. That is why working with a proven professional web designer is key.

WordPress is not just a website builder, but a comprehensive platform that caters to the needs of a wide range of users and designers. Whether you are a beginner looking to create a simple blog or a professional developer looking to build complex websites, WordPress has got you covered. Its interface makes it accessible to quickly set up a website.

However, what sets WordPress apart is its advanced customization options. Developers and designers can dig into the platform’s codebase to modify and extend its functionalities to meet the specific requirements of any project. With a vast array of plugins and themes available in the WordPress ecosystem, developers can effortlessly enhance the functionality and appearance of their websites. From creating custom post types and taxonomies to integrating third-party APIs, the possibilities are endless with WordPress.

Website Scalability

Additionally, WordPress offers unparalleled scalability, allowing your website to grow along with your business. Whether you start with a small blog or a simple business website, you can easily expand and add new features as your needs evolve. With its robust and constantly updated core, WordPress ensures that your site remains secure and optimized for performance.

In conclusion, regardless of the complexity of your project, WordPress provides a powerful and flexible platform to create websites of all types. Its vast features make it a favorite choice for designers, while the advanced customization options and scalability attract professionals. With its constant evolution, WordPress continues to be the go-to solution for individuals and businesses looking to establish a solid online presence.

Contact me for all of your website needs. Not only do I work on WordPress websites, but I also work on most other platforms. Let’s talk about your needs. I can help you navigate the current advertising landscape with ease!

Visit my YouTube Channel to see more examples of my work.

June 28, 2023October 12, 2023

Will Blogs Boost Sales?

Blogs have the potential to boost sales for a business. When utilized correctly, blogs can help increase brand awareness, and drive traffic to a website. Additionally, they can establish credibility and trust, and ultimately convert readers into customers.

Boosting Sales with Blogs

Here are a few ways blogs can contribute to sales growth:

1. Increased visibility: Blogs provide an opportunity to optimize content with relevant keywords, making it more discoverable on search engines. As more people find and engage with the blog content, it can lead to higher website traffic, brand exposure, and potential sales.

2. Thought leadership: By consistently publishing high-quality and valuable content, businesses can position themselves as knowledgeable experts in their industry. This can build trust and credibility among target customers, making them more likely to consider the business’s products or services when making a purchase decision.

3. Conversion opportunities: Blogs can include calls-to-action (CTAs) that encourage readers to take specific actions. These can include actions such as subscribing to a newsletter, downloading a free resource, or making a purchase. These CTAs, when strategically placed and relevant to the blog content, provide opportunities to convert interested readers into sales leads or customers.

4. Relationship building: Engaging blog content that educates, entertains, or solves problems can foster a sense of connection and trust with readers. By consistently providing valuable information, businesses can nurture relationships with their audience. Which can ultimately lead to increased sales and customer loyalty.

However, it’s important to note that success with blogging requires a well-planned and executed strategy. Consistency, quality content, understanding target audience needs, proper promotion, and effective optimization are all key factors that can contribute to the success of a blog in boosting sales. To answer the question, “Will blogs boost sales?”, yes, they will if you follow these guidelines:

Blogging Best Practices

Consistency: It’s crucial to have a consistent schedule for publishing new blog posts. This helps to keep readers engaged and lets search engines know that your blog is regularly updated.

Quality content: Providing valuable and relevant content is essential for attracting and retaining readers. This increases your blog’s credibility. It also encourages readers to share your content, which can lead to more visibility and potential sales.

Understanding target audience needs: Identifying your target audience and understanding their needs, preferences, and pain points is vital. This allows you to create content that resonates with them, addresses their challenges, and provides solutions. When your blog offers helpful information and guidance, it becomes a valuable resource for potential customers.

Proper promotion: Creating great content is just the first step. You also need to promote your blog effectively to reach your target audience. Sharing your posts on social media, engaging with relevant communities and forums, collaborating with other bloggers and influencers, and utilizing email marketing can all help to increase the visibility and reach of your blog.

Effective optimization: Optimizing your blog for search engines is crucial for driving organic traffic. This includes conducting keyword research, optimizing your blog posts with relevant keywords, optimizing meta tags and descriptions, improving site speed, and ensuring your blog is mobile-friendly. Higher search engine rankings can lead to more visibility, traffic, and potential sales.

Blogging Final Thoughts

In conclusion, blogging can be a powerful tool for boosting sales, but it requires careful planning and execution. By consistently providing quality content that meets the needs of your target audience, promoting your blog effectively, and optimizing it for search engines, you can increase visibility, attract more traffic, and ultimately drive sales for your business.

Laura Gunn Marketing offers Blog Services for as low as $45. Contact us for your marketing needs!

August 1, 2022October 12, 2023

VoIP Please!

The entire internet is working to acquire and sell any data it can manage to gather from you; fortunately, a VoIP can help! VoIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol. Basically, it’s an internet-based phone number, acquired on any number of apps or sites. In July, we discussed how spammers get ahold of your email address. It’s collected every time you make an account on a website, join a mailing list, etc. People buy those lists of email address, and then can spam the daylights out of you. But that’s not all! Facebook and Twitter have each admitted to giving marketers (read: spammers) our phone numbers too! Do we sign up for sites using our phone numbers? Not typically. Certainly not like email addresses! So where are they getting our digits from?

The Real Reason for a VoIP

The answer is two factor authentication (2FA for short). On many sites you can elect to prove that each of your logins are performed yourself by enabling this security feature. Typically, the site will send a code to that phone number, you type that code in on the website, and you’re in. It’s an important feature for account security, and it feels CRIMINAL that our security data, of all things, is being sold for marketing purposes.

Just like you have a spam-only email address, you can funnel all the phone-based nonsense to a VoIP! Not every website will allow an internet-based phone number for 2FA, but then there are 2FA apps to try, and so on. While it may feel like overkill, having your personal phone number gives access to documents such as your voter registration, real estate history, court proceedings, etc.

You can never tell exactly what a corporation is going to do with the data they gather. Ideally, you know all of these tips before putting your information everywhere, but it’s not exactly common knowledge! Keep checking back for more continuing education on how to keep your data YOURS in the digital age.

July 1, 2022October 12, 2023

A Spam Email for Spam Emails

Last month, we talked about how spam works in our modern digital age. We confronted the harsh reality that spam, like glitter, will never leave you fully alone. However, I mentioned a few ways you can reduce the amount that you have to deal with, and today I want to zone in on one: the spam-only email address!

If you remember my previous blog post (the one linked above), every time you enter your email address into a website, that site adds it to a huge list. On this list is everyone else who has put their email address into that site. Scammers buy these lists, and bombard the addresses with nonsense to find easy targets. Even hitting “Unsubscribe” can come with severely annoying consequences.

To get around this style of scammer, simply lean in!

Your first line of defense is a spam-only email address. This is the account that you’ll use for all your random website sign ups. If you play your cards right, this is where your spam should stay. One of the easiest places to create such an email address is Google!

Building a Spam Email

Simply create a new account, and make sure to put “spam” or “junk” or similar in the username. For example, mine could be LGMspam@gmail.com. That way I can see clearly it’s related to my business (LGM) but is designated as a spam trap. Now, I can use this to sign up for whatever I want, and I only have to see the mess it makes when I log in.

If you go this route, you may opt to, ironically, keep the spam filter low or off. That way, if you DO sign up for something legit, you can log in and find that Amazon gift card the internet promised you. Stranger things have happened.

All that’s left is to quit using your primary email address for all those Michael’s coupons! With your spam now neatly tucked away, you can go about your business with a significantly reduced spam load in your primary inbox. Enjoy the peace!

June 1, 2022October 12, 2023

Why Am I Getting Spam

You’re tired of spam emails. You’ve been tired of spam emails for a long time. It’s been so long, you’ve abandoned an overflowing email address and learned to keep your new one very private. And yet, the spam keeps coming.

Am I right so far? I bet so, because this is so common! Scammers and hackers are everywhere, and they want desperately to get ahold of your information and into your system. There are all kinds of ways they work their evil magic, and MAN are they persistent!

From Spam to Scam

Emails are an absolute favorite of online scammers: once you have the email addresses, they cost nothing, they take little time to put together, they require almost no maintenance, and they can be very tricky! Getting the email addresses is the only part that costs, as scammers often buy them in bulk. So how does your email address end up in those lists?

Well, being active on the internet will do it in most cases. Ever used your email for access to a cooking blog? News site? Forum? It can now be picked up by email-harvesting bots.

Another way is by unsubscribing from email lists. If you didn’t personally subscribe to that list, it may be an attempt to validate your email address. Unfortunately, clicking “Unsubscribe” will tell the originator that your account is active and ready to be sold in a nice, bulk package. This can also be done via a tracking image in the email. In this case, even opening the email will validate your address to the scammer if your email platform is set to auto-load images.

How Do I Stop It?

Frankly, there’s no way to get rid of spam emails entirely. Online tips will tell you to mark things as spam, delete the emails, don’t use your email address for anything, unsubscribe from email lists… You see why these won’t work, right?

For free, there’s only a few things you can do, and they’re not effective for long. Set up and keep up with spam filters on your email server, avoid clicking into emails you don’t recognize, use a spam-only email address for accounts when possible, and hope you don’t wind up on too many bulk lists.

Honestly, your best bet is to purchase spam protection, such as Norton or Bitdefender, and let it do the work for you. Buying a program may not be the answer you’re looking for, but email scammers are far too plentiful and far too persistent to fend off on your own. It’s not pretty, but it’s the (virtual) world we live in.

For more tips, tricks, and insights to navigating and marketing in this virtual world, keep an eye on this blog, and book a consultation!