Not all topics are worthy of a press release, but there are quite a few that you should share with your local media.  Beyond the grand opening announcement, be sure to develop press releases for expansions or relocations.  If your franchise is receiving a “face lift,” this is definitely newsworthy.  If you have been recognized in the industry or by your franchisor, then spread the word.  Do you have new personnel or management to announce?  Include this in your press release.  And, always…

What if the local news station contacts you and wants to do an interview tomorrow morning at your location?  Would you be prepared?  If not, you may want to take note of some simple steps you can take to be as prepared as possible for your next interview.

Step 1:  Follow These Pre-Interview Tips

Prior to the interview, determine the key messages you want to convey during the interview.  For a broadcast interview, you’ll want to keep it simple with three…

There are several tools you can use to monitor social media sites and what people are saying about your brand. One great tool is Social Mention. Social Mention, is a social media search engine that searches user-generated content such as Twitter, Facebook and Blogs.

You can sign-up for free and set up keywords or phrases that you would like to have monitored. Anytime those keywords are mentioned you will receive an email…

It’s no surprise that now in days whenever a customer has a negative experience with a brand or product, they share their disappointment on social media sites such as Twitter. As a franchisee and franchisor it’s still important to acknowledge your customers and respond. The important key here is to take the conversation offline. This can be done in a simple way, such as tweeting back “Please email us at (insert email address) so we can resolve your concern immediately” or “Please contact our…