Why Bother With PR and Marketing Anyway?

Have you ever come up against internal pressures like that question? If you work for a tech company, it’s all too common for some to think marketing and PR are a waste of time.

Watch this replay to not only help you make the case for demonstrating the importance of marketing and PR in tech, but go beyond that to explore what is worth your time and attention and how to prioritize the most effective strategies within PR, marketing, and advertising.

This event is a less than 30 minute conversation with Neil Howman of LIVE! and Cindy Zuelsdorf of Kokoro Marketing.

By watching this replay, you’ll find out:

How to make the case that marketing and PR are worth time and budget
The factors to consider when you are deciding on your PR and marketing priorities How you can know when it’s actually working (and when it’s not)
What to do in house vs. out-source
How to balance the tension between PR, marketing, advertising, and sales

Cyber Intelligence for Your Small-Medium High Tech Business

Wednesday 6 December at 1:00 p.m. Pacific / 4:00 p.m. Eastern / 9:00 p.m. UK / Thursday 5 October at 6:00 a.m. Australian Eastern Standard Time

Phishing scams targeting customers… Hackers stealing login credentials… Bitcoin ransom schemes…

If you think these dark web nightmares only happen to huge corporations, think again.

Bad actors on the internet target even very small companies, seeking personal information about employees, phishing for customers’ logins, passwords, and credit card numbers, and aiming to fraud anyone they can get access to.

If you’re a manager or owner of a small or medium sized business, you need to know how to prevent a breach of your cyber security.

Please join a panel discussion that will share critical information that can help you protect your business and its most important assets, followed by the opportunity to continue the conversation and network freely on the LIVE! Platform.

Hosts Neil Howman, Managing Director of 202 Communications, and Cindy Zuelsdorf, Founding Partner of Kokoro Marketing, will be joined by John Bellamy, CEO of DarkXposed, an Australian cyber risk intelligence monitoring solution that helps companies protect their brands, customers, and cashflow.

By attending the panel discussion, you will:

Find out why it’s important for small to medium businesses to monitor cyber threats
Discover how hackers gain access to a team member’s credentials, putting the entire business at risk
Know the difference between cyber security and cyber intelligence (and why it matters)
Get an overview of the cyber intelligence solutions options available to non-enterprise level businesses
Understand the impact on brand and reputation a cyber attack can have for a business of any size

How to Make Short Videos That Get Noticed

You already know videos are crucial for successful marketing, especially at trade shows, but creating content can feel like a massive challenge. Maybe you don’t know where to start, what to say, or the whole process just seems daunting?

Find out how to easily make your next short video that stands out and starts sales conversations in this 20-ish minute LIVE! On event with Simon Tillyer from KitPlus, Cindy Zuelsdorf from Kokoro Marketing, and Neil Howman from LIVE!

Discover:

• Why video content is such an important part of your business marketing strategy

• What to take into consideration to decide what to say that will land with your audience

• Top mistakes to avoid in your videos

• Exclusive pro tips to ensure your video is a success

Simon Tillyer of KitPlus.tv’s Top 11:

1. Define your purpose for creating short videos. It might be to showcase your latest product release, share news with your audience, having a clear purpose will provide motivation to give it a go.

2. It can initially be overwhelming so Instead of diving into complex video projects, start with short and simple videos. Break the process into smaller tasks (scripting, recording, editing, etc.) and tackle them one at a time.

3. Don’t forget that everyone started somewhere and the more you do the better the outcome.

4. If you’re looking to grow you channel then you’re going to have to make more than one video, so before you start try to make a list of topics and themes for your videos in advance so you can create content consistently. With that in mind try to have a regular posting schedule whether it be weekly or monthly. At KitPlus we do 30 studio based industry news shows per year, we might do more but that is our base line target plus other videos at trade shows and so on.

5. So with that in mind consider if you need continuity of where you are, should you be in front of a green screen so you can key yourself into anywhere you want? Pop up screens are all you need to get started for a waist up shot and as little as £30.

6. Don’t invest in expensive equipment. To begin with the biggest barrier to getting started is you.
A smartphone is fine to capture videos and you can get lots of little tripods to hold it steady
Lighting then a cheap ring light is fine for starters
Audio – there are lots of lapel mics for mobile phones, or a shotgun mic like the MKE 400 from Sennhesier is a great little rig for under £200. Kitplus.com/mic
Editing –there are loads of apps and tools to help with recording and editing. For mobile phones you can try lumafusion and if you are an adobe cc subscriber then check out adobe clip plus of course premier pro and Da Vinci from Blackmagic all worth a look.

7. In terms of sitting in front of the camera People watching don’t want to see you reading a script – so ideally try to be natural, a bullet point list if fine but don’t read lines as the audience will see your eyes moving. If you have to have a script and place it as far away as possible and use the camera zoom

8. Focus on delivering value within a short timeframe. Attention spans are short, so make your videos engaging from the start.

9. Learn basic video editing skills to trim, add captions, and make simple enhancements. There are user-friendly editing apps available and many of them are free of charge. Learning how to do basic editing will enable you to insert graphics, cut-aways, screen recordings and so on to enhance your end result.

10. Share what you produce and compare your latest video to your first few, it’s a great way to see how far you’ve come.

11. Not every video needs to be flawless. Authenticity resonates with audiences, so don’t be afraid to show your personality.

Have you thought about starting a customer forum or user group, but weren’t sure where to begin? Discover the untapped potential of customer communities and find out how to build and maintain thriving user groups that drive business growth. Watch our interactive LIVE! On event with guest expert Lisa Collins of Dovetail Creative and host Cindy Zuelsdorf of Kokoro Marketing to find out how to unlock the power of customer communities for your company.

Tuesday June 20 at 8:00 a.m. Pacific / 11:00 a.m Eastern / 4:00 p.m. UK / 5:00 p.m. CET

Thursday March 16 at 9:00 a.m. Pacific / 12:00 p.m. Eastern / 4:00 p.m. UK