Van Eperen Public Relations CEO Addresses Commercial Real Estate Group About Marketing in the Current Economic Environment

The CEO of Van Eperen Public Relations (VE PR), www.vepublicrelations.com, Laura Van Eperen addressed a group of approximately 30 professional women about marketing in the challenging economic environment at the Commercial Real Estate for Women (CREW) - Suburban Maryland chapter meeting on June 10, 2009.

Bethesda, MD (PRWEB) June 21, 2009 -- The CEO of Van Eperen Public Relations (VE PR), vepublicrelations.com, Laura Van Eperen addressed a group of approximately 30 professional women about marketing in the challenging economic environment at the Commercial Real Estate for Women (CREW) - Suburban Maryland chapter meeting on June 10, 2009.

"In the trying business environment for real estate agents, lawyers, engineers, and related industry professionals, I strongly recommend a dual marketing strategy which relies on a 'back to the basics' or traditional outreach approach, while incorporating 'cutting edge' new media/Web 2.0," said Laura Van Eperen, VE PR CEO.

Van Eperen went on to say that many marketing budgets are tight so maximizing networking opportunities through traditional methods, such as participating in industry and business organization committees, makes good fiscal sense. A large part of her presentation focused on traditional methods because Van Eperen believes one of the best ways to quickly establish a relationship with a potential client is to meet him/her and demonstrate credibility.

Van Eperen also focused her presentation on new media/Web 2.0 marketing because most of it doesn't involve outlaying out-of-pocket marketing dollars. New media strategies do involve an initial and ongoing investment of time however, but it is increasingly becoming a mainstream mode of marketing and will surpass many traditional methods in the coming years. Van Eperen has found a large number of professionals - even in the greater Washington, DC market - are still reluctant to engage professionally online. Van Eperen recommends getting business-related accounts set up and maintaining them at least on www.LinkedIn.com, which is a social networking site geared toward professionals.

Van Eperen also spoke about the value of engaging on www.Facebook.com and www.Twitter.com, and encouraged attendees to go to www.vepublicrelations.com to win the book she strongly recommends professionals read: The New Rules of Marketing and PR by David Meerman Scott.

VE PR is an award-winning firm that provides traditional and Web 2.0 media and marketing outreach, media/speaker training, copy writing, video and podcast production. Client case studies can be found at: http://www.vepublicrelations.com/casestudies.html.

About VE PR
VE PR is a full-service marketing communications firm located in Bethesda, Maryland. VE PR is award-winning and specializes in providing custom communications programs that achieve renowned results for federal, state and local government agencies, associations and corporate clients. The firm has a practice area dedicated to healthcare communications. VE PR is a certified small, woman-owned MBE/DBE and is on the GSA schedule. For more information, visit vepublicrelations.com.

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