Marcom Matters

PR Tips for Small Businesses

jblane21 — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 10:03:47 +0000

At the WIBN lunchtime session I’ll be speaking about how small businesses can leverage their in-house expertise to promote themselves through PR and social media. For many small businesses, including self-employed and one-woman/one-man bands, social media and PR seems daunting – but it needn’t be and I hope to explain how it can be integrated into what you do everyday to grow your business.

Gearing up for Summer

jblane21 — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 15:27:57 +0000

(June 2010) With the sun peeking through the London skies I’m gearing up for Summer by planning ahead of school holidays with some short term projects in networking and PR. Stay in touch with me on Linkedin.com/in/julieblane

Joining Spark PR in London

jblane21 — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:33:14 +0000

(November, 2009) I’m thrilled to be joining Spark Public Relations in London to cover for Rachel Bremer while she is on maternity leave through April 2010. Spark PR have a very exciting range of technology, consumer and VC portfolio companies and is one of the world’s top independent PR agencies. As a freelancer for so many years I am looking forward to working ‘in house’ with such a fantastic team – from San Fran to London town. Follow us on Twitter too, Spark_PR

A New Year Begins

jblane21 — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 22:27:18 +0000

(September 2009) Kids are back at school, the apples and honey come forward… a new year approaches. I am looking forward to getting stuck into some new marketing and PR projects and will update this blog with news accordingly.

Building a PR Roadmap

jblane21 — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 10:02:07 +0000

(July 2009) On board with a new client, Koopmans, and will be building a PR programme to expose them to a wider audience via media relations and targeted client events. Koopmans are a commercial property firm with a niche in asset management – their clients are savvy investors who are happy with the returns they see from property, especially when bank interest rates are so low. I’m keen to let other people know that there’s more to do with their money these days than just hope their mutual fund manager can ride out the slump.

Back in the saddle

jblane21 — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 20:37:09 +0000

(Summer 2009) Starting to explore new projects this month. Top question – how can I introduce social media campaigns into my projects that (a)won’t intimidate clients who feel comfortable in their markets and uncomfortable with social media and, (b) won’t be expensive?

What I’ve been up to in 2009

jblane21 — Wed, 13 May 2009 21:07:51 +0000

Since having a baby (number three!) a few months ago I am taking a break from my regular marcomms and PR work to focus on being an at-home-mother. Not that this isn’t work – its the toughest job I’ve ever loved and my ‘clients’ are very demanding…

I am looking to return to work in September 2009 so keep an eye on this blog!

Portfolio

jblane21 — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 14:49:30 +0000

This is the web site for Julie Blane Damelin focusing on the work I’ve been doing in London as a marketing communications consultant. For a bio see About Me.

In most cases my clients are organisations or busineses without a dedicated in-house marketing role or, where the in-house marketing function needs support during a planning process or highly active stage of growth.

Because I work flexibly and on an outsourced basis, I am able to custom-make a viable and affordable marketing communications programme that propells and supports the business growth of an organisation.

Some of my roles with clients in the UK have included those listed below. Additional short-term projects have included marketing communications consultancy on a day-rate basis and other freelance assignments.

PR and Media Relations, Women Like Us

jblane21 — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 23:32:06 +0000

(2008) Women Like Us is an award-winning social enterprise. They approached me in the spring/summer of 2008 to cover for a maternity leave in media relations, to handle all press enquiries and to lead pro-active media campaigns in local, national and trade press. I also developed a successful new format for their internal newsletter.

This 5 month assignment was the second time I worked for Women Like Us since their incorporation – see entry below from 2006 for details of the previous projects I completed for them.

Artis Education – Spring Newsletter

jblane21 — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 14:47:57 +0000

(March, 2008) I recently started working with a terrific organisation called Artis who provide schools in the UK with creative programmes that are integrated with the National Curiculum goals for each year group. Artis works alongside teachers on a variety of levels to bring more innovation and creativity into learning. I helped them produce their latest newsletter, distributed to a newtork of Head Teachers and Class Teachers across the UK.

I was most inspired by a quote from one of their Patrons, Michael Bichard, “Economies rise and fall on the ability to innovate…Today’s economies are based on innovation, performance and teamwork- and these skills need to be developed.”

Consultant, Early Stage Start-ups

jblane21 — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 11:58:47 +0000

(2008) Over the past few months I have began working with very early stage Internet start-ups, helping founders and potential investors discover viability of markets. In some cases I am helping incubate branding, marketing messages and planning communications tactics. For others I am creating investor presentations and developing working prototypes of the start-up’s website. In early start-up phases such as these I find that I have been supporting founding teams on both generalist and marketing matters.

Virtual Marketing Director, Linksfield Technologies

jblane21 — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 12:56:05 +0000

(2008) As a high-growth technology consultancy and software services provider, this client needed an outsourced marketing professional to coordinate the company’s messages across collateral and sales materials as well as preparing for a media relations campaign based on customer success stories. With a flexible approach to their marketing needs I have worked for Linksfield Technologies both on a retained basis, from 2005-2007 and on an ad-hoc basis since depending on which marketing materials are needed.

I also wrote copy for their website, including all case studies and product sheets.

The Dinah Project

jblane21 — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 13:41:26 +0000

(2007-8) The Dinah Project is a website written by women for women on issues surrounding women’s sexuality. Started in 2007 by a small team of sexual health experts, The Dinah Project aims to give informative, researched and original content on sex, toys, relationships and more. It’s where ‘sex education just got a whole lot more fun’.

I was working with The Dinah Project on website promotion and content related partnerships.

Media & PR Campaign for The Independent Consultants Group

jblane21 — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 12:51:36 +0000

(2005-2008) The Independent Consultant Group (ICG) is the largest professional organisation of independent market researchers in the UK. The ICG attracts top-level experienced market researchers as well as a wide client base. The project currently underway is to raise profile externally with new, more focused messages and to increase exposure of the organisation through targeted media relations campaigns.

I also contributed to webcopy for their news section on www.indepconsultants.co.uk.

Executive Director, MaAfrika Tikkun UK

jblane21 — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 12:56:33 +0000

(2004-8) MaAfrika Tikkun is focused on fund-raising in the UK to support development in some of South Africa’s poorest townships. This retainer-based project included advising the UK Board with regards to communications and marketing tactics for awareness-raising, donor relations and arranging targeted events for fund-raising.

During my time with this wonderful charity, I was also involved in project managing the fund-raising process in the UK – from identifying potential donors, administering all correspondence and logistics surrounding receipt of donations and reporting back to donors on utilisation of funds.

Marketing Communications Planning, Women Like Us

jblane21 — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 15:59:39 +0000

(2006) Women Like Us is an award-winning social enterprise. They approached me for a maternity leave cover and to establish a marketing and communications strategy for increasing client revenue and for raising its profile among potential employers in North and Central London. The wide brief included planning, and some implementation of, direct mailings by email and post, advertising placements, awards management, PR, media relations and on-line marketing.

Events Producer, Early Childhood Development, JCC for London

jblane21 — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 14:39:10 +0000

(2004-6) During the initial years of programming for the innovative Jewish Community Centre for London, I was responsible for launching, coordinating and evaluating events for families which were not only fun to run (I was also facilitating many of the toddler groups using creative arts and storytelling) but also helped in building the JCC brand among a key target audience. At our launch event in January, 2005 we had over 200 people attend, far beyond our original expectations.

Director, Lifelong Learning, UJIA

jblane21 — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 14:16:56 +0000

(2003-4) Filling a maternity leave, I was contracted to implement and sustain key educational programming for Jewish adults including promoting courses and developing educational materials. This included progamming and evaluation of the Adam Science Leadership Programme (a 10-month leadership training course for graduates), a Hebrew Learning Crash Course and other community-based workshops, lecture series and events.

Marketing Manager, Supply Chain Connect

jblane21 — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 14:39:43 +0000

(2000-5) For this company’s launch into the UK market, original corporate branding and positioning was created along with a medium-term marketing roll out plan. Initial focus was on marketing materials for sales support and to portray credibility. This included producing case studies, product leaflets and the company’s original web site.

Marketing Communications Planning, Pilat HR Solutions

jblane21 — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 14:43:08 +0000

(2004) This blue-chip integrated human resources consultancy & IT systems provider needed a short-term project to research and produce a comprehensive marketing communications plan to analyze competitive environment, the company’s branding, positioning and messages. The final product included qualitative interviews with key internal players, suggestions for marketing strategy and a comprehensive analysis of viable communications tactics. The final document also included production budget, milestones, time-lines, and a branding audit.