the five biggest mistakes public companies make in ir- and how to fix them

© 2011 Stockhouse Publishing Inc.

Presented by: Marcus New, President

The Five Biggest

Mistakes Public

Companies Make in IR

- and How to Fix Them

© 2011 Stockhouse Publishing Ltd.

Who Is Stockhouse?

#1 Financial User Community in Canada

One of North America’s largest small cap investor communities

North America’s largest natural resource site

730,000+ Unique Users, 4+ million user sessions and 40+ million page views per month


Why Are We Qualified To Speak?

Experienced –16 years working with issuers

Own and operate Stockhouse one of North America’s largest small cap investor communities

We are Experts• Worked with 800+ public companies• Written for Investor Relations Magazine• Interviewed on Fox Business, CNBC, ROBtv and more than 40 other media appearances

• Work with 60 Analysts & Newsletter writers monthly


The Five Biggest Mistakes

Public Companies Make in IR

- and How to Fix Them

4

Discussion Today


Question?

With more than 12,000 smaller capitalized companies in North

America and 2300 natural resource companies in Canada, what are you doing to get noticed and stand out?


The Whole Story

BusinessManagement

Execution

& Assets

Corporate Struc-ture & Capital Raising

IR & Rela-tionships

Capital Market Communications& Expertise

6


Mistake #1

Failure to plan

7


Mistake #1 – Failure to plan

Consequences

Wasted resources

Lack of direction and focus

Inability to attract financing

Poor share price

8


Mistake #1 – Failure to plan

Solution

9

Action Plan Key Milestones IR Activities

2011 2012Campaign Items Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb MarKey Milestones Drilling Results Finance Acquisitions DrillingIR ActivitiesBusiness Plan MessagingAd campaign

What If Scenarios??


Mistake #2

Failure to form a strong message

10


Mistake #2 – Failure to form a strong message

Consequences

Investors don’t get your story

Mixed message – different people say different things

Market is confused with your value proposition

Don’t stand out from other companies11



12

Solutions

Spend the time to get it right

Find out why people like your company

Make sure it’s well written



13

Instead of Experienced Management Team

- Former CEO of Inco Chairman of board

- Mr. Z’s last company sold for $450 MM

Instead of Large Land Package

- Land package half the size of Switzerland

Instead of Low Cost Exploration

- $1 million dollars of exploration in Argentina is equivalent to $10 million in Athabasca


Mistake #3

Failing to target your audience

14


Mistake #3 – Failing to target your audience

Consequences

Ineffective results

Complete waste of money

Wasting your time

15



16

Solutions

Know who can buy your stock – retail / brokers / buy side / sell side

Identify & target risk orientated market participants

Ability to trade stocks on the Canadian exchanges



Watch Out For Phony Traffic - www.alexa.com

17


Mistake #4

Random acts of marketing

18


Mistake #4 – Random acts of marketing

Consequences

A lot of people see you only once

The investment community is smart – No one buys after seeing you once

You must tell your story 4-6 times

Waste of resources – time and money

Poor results19


Mistake #4 – Random acts of marketing

20

Solutions

Consolidate your resources around a couple of mediums only

Focus marketing around moments of highest potential impact

Manage your database with a professional strategy

Contact strategy to reach investor 4 – 6 times


Mistake #5Failure to measure your marketing

21


Mistake #5 – Failure to measure your marketing

Consequences

Poor selection of vendors

Lack of understanding results

Wasting money

Can’t reinvest in success

22


Mistake #5 – Failure to measure your marketing

23

Solutions

Only deal with vendors who can provide results/metrics

Have realistic expectations


The Five Biggest Mistakes Public Companies

Make - and How to Fix Them

1. Failure to plan

2. Failure to form a strong message

3. Failure to target your audience

4. Random acts of marketing

5. Failure to measure your marketing

24


Everything Counts

Table stakes – you are being judged against your best competitors

Investors are intelligent, quality information is available 24/7/365

Small details can make a big difference

25


How Stockhouse can help you

26

Prepare(Mistake #1 & 2)

Viral(Mistake #4)

Measure(Mistake #5) Target

(Mistake #3)

Momentum(Mistake #4)

Execute(Mistake #4)


The Stockhouse Response

27

1. Preparation Phase • Message research• Professional copy written summary • Develop multi message advertising units • Shoot, edit and produce 2 minute interview • Q&A interview• Project planning• Mid Campaign program results report



28

Action Plan

Campaign Items Mar Apr May J un J ul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec J an Feb Mar

Advertising [ROS]

Ticker Targeted Advertising

Video Profile

Company Showcase

Social Media Services

Investor Marketplace

Roadblock (Bullboards/Blogs) 20-Jul 2 Roadblocks left to create awareness around big news

Stockhouse Alert 25-Aug 3 Alerts left to generate leads

News Blast 26-Jul 15-Sep 3 News Blasts remaining for press releases

8-Jul

Next Steps:I tem Due Launch

Ticker Targeted Ads ASAP ASAPRoadblock TBD TBDStockhouse News Blast TBD TBDStockhouse Alert TBD TBDLet us know a day of key importance

Provide press releases prior to releasing to the publicLet us know a day of key importanceELD and KMK are not getting enough traffic. Please provide more tickers to target.

Next Steps

Client

Responsibility

ClientClientClient

Campaign-Long Awareness T ime-Sensitive Awareness

2010 2011



2. Target The Best Market Participants• Exclusive to Stockhouse - Target

Shareholders of other public companies

3. Execute Marketing Program• Focus on building your story a minimum

of 3-7 times• Use specialized marketing strategies for

lead generation

29


Investors Need To See You 6 Times



4. Create Momentum• Instantly Disseminate Actionable News to

Members via email prior to market open• On day of news use SH Road Block –

deliver up to 2.5 million ads in one day

5. Engage Shareholders with Viral Strategy

31


Bullboard Road Block – Tell Everyone


Stockhouse Has Viral Members Who Tell Others

Connecting with Stockhouse Members is unlike any other audience. Members are highly influential and can become viral ambassadors for companies.


6. Measure

34

Advertising (ROS)

Ticker Targeted Advertising

Road Block

SH News Blast

Company Showcase

Video Profile

Social Media

IMP / InvestorMarketPlace

SH Alerts

120 investors clicked through for more information120 leads generated

175 investors clicked Social Media Bullboard Link

Build The Database

480 investors visited InvestorMarketPlace profile since launch83 leads generated

1 Alert was deployed47,171 emails sent to investors

18 investors clicked through for more information6 leads generated

Engage New Community

7,754 investors viewed Company Showcase page since launch 23 investors clicked on the Featured Company Button

3,118 investors watched Video Profile

185,427 ads delivered to investors137 investors clicked through to your site

2,057,551 ads delivered to investors436 investors clicked through to your site

3 Press Releases were blasted out97,691 emails were sent to investors

Attract New Investors

601,270 ads delivered to investors240 investors clicked through to your site


Stockhouse Delivers Results

Stockhouse is the largest Smallcap and Natural Resource community in Canada

A Stockhouse Campaign researches and builds your strongest story and key messages

Only Stockhouse can target specific shareholder bases

Only Stockhouse measures and provides action plans and management reports

Only Stockhouse is accountable for your IR $$


Find Out How Stockhouse Can Help You

Email us at [email protected]

Phone us at 1.877.578.4349

Visit us at www.stockhouse.com – About Stockhouse

mailto:[email protected]