McKerns Development Press and PR
Strategic Press PR Marketing and Business Development
Marketing for Marinas and the Boating Industry
Leslie McKerns, B.A., B.S., Lic. ID, AIA Allied, SFPRN
www.linkedin.com/in/mckernsdevelopmentStrategic Marketing and Public Relations Consultant to the Marina and Marine Related Industry
McKerns Development Strategic Public Relations:
McKerns Development is a West Palm Beach, Florida based public relations firm delivering strategic PR, press, and media relations and strategic business direction and development. Ms. McKerns has a specialty in the strategic PR, development and promotion of marinas and marine related business and the professionals affiliated with them.
McKerns Development provides strategic public relations and promotion for the marina and marine related industries and related professionals reaching Florida’s 82 million annual visitors and nearly one million registered boaters, and within the US, the Bahamas, Central America and the Caribbean.
The McKerns Development firm has over 25 years of experience with business and those in the design, development and management of marinas, leisure and luxury amenities and related professionals, including architects, developers, engineers, interior designers and marina development and management professionals.
In her role as a professional publicist, Ms. McKerns maintains active interaction and relationships with news and other media, including those in the business, trade, luxury, financial, construction, development and specialty industry publications. Ms. McKerns writes feature articles for major media designed to provide high interest for publications and meet the strategic corporate goals of her clients.
As a marketing strategist and business development consultant for marinas, McKerns Development provides integrated marketing and public relations strategy, marketing, promotion and revenue building. McKerns Development consults with marine and marina financial experts in developing Marina marketing plans including pro forma analysis, competitor analysis, strengths and weaknesses and proposed branding and marketing platforms. McKerns Development also consults with and works with marina management companies and professional industry advisors.
Current Marina and Marine Related Case Studies:
McKerns Development Strategic Press and PR Marina Specialty program successfully develops and promotes marina projects in the many hundreds of thousands of square feet and numerous multi-million dollar projects each year - all in the strictest of confidence for each project, developer and client within the industry – we release news only when the client and related parties are fully ready to do so, and never divulge confidential facts or knowledge about one company to any competitor or potential competitor.
McKerns Development's current case studies include a five year contract as the strategic Publicist in charge of a branded marina group of twelve (12) marinas totaling 3,500 slips and waterfront properties from Miami north to Daytona Beach, in St. Petersburg on the west coast and on Lake Okeechobee in central FL.
Projects publicized include marinas in Miami, South Miami, Aventura, Hollywood, South Lantana, Lantana, Riviera Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Vero Beach, Daytona Beach, St. Petersburg, Lake Okeechobee. Highlights include a $180 million dollar marina development in Riviera Beach FL, recently awarded the “Marine Project of the Year Award”, “Marina of the Year” and “One of the Southeast’s Top Projects”, 12 Clean Marina (TM) designations, Ecomarinas and Sustainability programs.
McKerns Development is currently creating the development and promotion of a professional marina engineering and construction group with over 350 completed national and international marinas in the US, Central America and the Caribbean.
McKerns Development is providing marina marketing and public relations plans for marinas nationally and internationally, advocacy and strategy for the marine industry, marina destination travel and revenue building for marinas.
Marine and Marina PR, Marketing and Promotion:
McKerns Development, strategic PR professional has just successfully completed a five year assignment to create a corporate brand for what has become one of the State’s largest branded marina development groups, teaming with a branding and promotional expert marketing group for developing the founding platform and the marketing and public relations strategy for the acquisition, conversion and construction of marinas under the brand and for the successful marketing and promotion of the brand.
McKerns Development is involved with destination marina marketing including authentic regional events held seasonally throughout the year, water and nature based trips to nearby marinas, state parks, attractions and campgrounds, Florida’s historic places including settler and native American sites, Floridian and Floribbean seafood and tropical culinary adventures, regional and ethnic cuisine events and tastings, concerts, festivals, art shows, museums and galleries, local shopping and dining, athletic and sporting events including boat shows and parades, races, fishing tournaments, tennis and golfing events.
McKerns Development is involved with destination marina development and promotion, including Lake Okeechobee Outpost, a marina , campground and ecotourist destination directly on the 700 square mile Lake Okeechobee, (the 2nd largest freshwater lake in the United States), known as a bass angler’s dream.
The marina is part of the Lake Okeechobee Outpost, a beautiful cabin, RV and tent waterfront campsite complete with a luxurious lakefront pool, Tiki bar, lodge and conference center, marina, 400 foot concrete fishing pier and the 110 mile Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail (LOST) around Herbert Hoover Dike connecting to Florida’s National Scenic Trail. This marina is close to quaint fishing villages, natural Everglades adventures, the Big Cypress Seminole Reservation, Indian historic sites, Orlando attractions or beachfront, fine dining, shopping and antiquing in upscale Naples, FL.
Strategic PR: What is Strategic PR?
McKerns Development is an independent consulting firm, adept at defining a company’s niche and promoting it through exceptional marketing channels and in national, international and local media. The firm writes and pitches feature stories to the media in print and online using extensive, deep reaching media contacts and relationships. The firm makes use of the latest search engine optimization techniques (SEO), maximizing exposure on the internet, including dramatically increasing traffic to the website.
McKerns Development, in tandem with the marketing and branding entity, establishes the basis for the company and brand and strategically promotes these platforms and concepts through creative use of the news media and positive relations between the company, its company executives and its various points of contact. The PR strategy includes creating a stellar company background and history and a strong reference and research presence through the internet and the world wide community.
McKerns Development works with external and internal agencies and handles promotions and press, creating, writing and managing media and branded public relations campaigns, including the press surrounding openings, events and co-promotions reaching long and short term company goals and the promotion of products and professional services.
Essential Benefits and Elements of a Strategic Public Relations Platform:
McKerns Development generates opportunities to promote a positive image of the client’s company while establishing a business climate in which the client’s company can operate most effectively and with sustainable profitability.
McKerns Development Strategic Public Relations Program:
- Establishes, cultivates and maintains strong positive relationships with the news media in print and online, consumer groups, community organizations, and others who are in a position to impact the company’s public image. Uses relationships to suggest stories, provide quotes from company authorities and obtain interviews.
- Researches and reads extensively within the industry niche and the wider financial and luxury market in order to learn corporate and divisional objectives, understand key industry issues, and spots industry related news stories and trends that provide opportunities to advance the interests of the company.
- Responds to press inquiries by either selecting the appropriate company authority and briefing them on issues and suggesting answers, or responding as a company spokesman.
- Evaluates social, political and industry issues and determines the appropriate extent of the company’s involvement, and is involved in crafting and distributing relevant messages to the appropriate parties and the media. On major issues, develops a strong, consistent platform which provides media coverage, direct contact with producers and exposure to elected officials, financial partners and other noted business development targets.
- Writes public statements issued by executives including speeches, testimony, articles and press releases. Researches issues, gathers material from company experts, and presents in an interesting fashion so that audiences can understand and the press will want to quote.
- Reviews and selects public speaking opportunities for executives. Prepares executives by briefing on issues and meeting specifications, composing biographies of VIP's, anticipating questions and answers, and rehearsing the delivery.
- Determines target markets, writes press releases and communications, and develops a plan of action outlining creative means of generating publicity.
- Writes material for corporate communications which increases the visibility of senior executives within the company and explains corporate objectives and industry issues to employees.
- Suggests, Creates and Manages the community relations and co promotion program(s) which provides favorable publicity.
- Specifies and writes creative briefs for bids, Hires and directs the work of creatives - graphic, web design or other company or staff for large, critical projects as needed.
- Collaborates with key influencers and other strategic partners in Marketing Advertising and Business Development.
- Keeps company executives informed and notified of trends, issues and areas of attention so that corporate and business goals can stay on track and the media and press exposure will support company objectives and initiatives.
- Provides a historical record of media attention and press, and updates data bases and web sites with searchable content to deliver new faces to the company and its services.
Content Development and Professional Writing:
Leslie McKerns, McKerns Development is a nationally recognized content developer and professional writer with dual degrees in English and the Construction and Design Industry with hundreds of articles in print, electronic media and the internet, and press placements in national and international books, magazines, news, financial and trade media. Leslie McKerns, BA, BS, is a professional writer, and multi-published author and co-author of five books and hundreds of articles and creates bios, articles and web content for clients.
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Marina/Marine Industry Publications:
Press, feature articles and promotions for the marine/marina industry have appeared in the following publications:
- New York Times
- Wall Street Journal
- Robb Report
- Boca Raton News
- The Boating News
- Coastal Magazine
- Coastlines Magazine
- Power Cruising
- The-Triton
- Southern Boating
- Marina Dock Age
- Power Boat Magazine
- Florida Cruising
- CreativeLoafing
- Marine Business Journal
- Salt Water Sportsman
- Florida Sportsman
- Marine Operators Association of America Marine Industries Association of Palm Beach County
- Miami Herald
- Miami Sun-Post
- Palm Beach Post Business Monday
- Sun-Sentinel
- Business Monday
- Sun-Sentinel
- Orlando Sentinel
- The Orlando Times
- Jacksonville Daily Record
- The Jupiter Courier
- The Jupiter Courier Editorial Page
- Port St. Lucie News
- The Stuart News
- Hometown News
- Coral Gables Times
- Florida News
- Tallahassee Democrat
- South Florida
- Sun-Times
- Treasure Coast Business
- Hollywood Gazette
- Boynton-Delray Times
- MSNBC News
- The News Press
- The Observer
- The Forum
- Lake Worth Herald
- Coastal Observer
- The Florida Times-Union
- Tampa Tribune
- The St. Augustine Record
- Business
- Yahoo Business
- Google Business
- South Florida Business Journal,
- Orlando Business Journal
- Florida Real Estate Journal
- Daily Business Review (Palm Beach)
- Daily Business Review (Broward)
- Daily Business Review (Miami)
- Miami Today
- Tampa Tribune
- St. Pete Times
- Naples Daily News
- Tampa Bay Biz Journal
- Florida Today
- Visit Florida
- City Link
- Wellington Magazine
- Business Development Board of the Palm Beaches
- Luxury Consumer
- Variety
- Jupiter Magazine
- Delray Magazine
- Palm Beach Illustrated
- Florida Design
- Luxe/Luxe Living
- Luxury Living
- City and Shore
- Development/
- Specialty
- Multi-Family Housing
- Southeast Construction
- High-Profile Magazine
- Business
- Estate Insights
- Florida Golf Magazine
- Hotels Magazine
- School Planning and Management Magazine
- HealthCare Real Estate Insights
- Parking Today
- NAIOP Development
- Architecture/ Real Estate/Business
- ArchNews Now
- PR Web
- EMediaWire
- PRN Press Base
- The Open-Press
- AEC Professional
- Construction Executive
- Southern Architecture
- Emporis
- Globe Street
- Skyscrapers
- US Architecture
- Reed Construction
- City Feet-Commercial Real Estate News
- Globe Street
- Globe Street.com
- Newspad
- PRN-Press Base
- Online Real Estate
- Sarasota Magazine
Leslie McKerns is a professional publicist and CEO of McKerns Development. McKerns Development is a leading Publicist and Strategic Marketing expert for the Built Environment – the architecture, development, construction and design industries, and maintains a specialty in marinas, marina development, marina promotion, marina developers, engineers, architects and industries serving the marina and marine industry.
Prior to founding McKerns Development, Ms. McKerns was the Vice President of two of the Southeast’s largest architectural and design firms rated as No.2 and No. 3 in the South by Florida Trend Magazine. Ms. McKerns has previously been a partner and CEO for 16 years in two of her own Florida corporations. She is also Florida Licensed with 25 years of corporate design experience; in this role she was in charge of Corporate Marketing and Business Development for seven offices in two States over an eight State geographic target market; a Division Head; a lecturer and multi-published author of books and CEU professional courses.
In her strategic consulting roles, and as the CEO of McKerns Development, Ms. McKerns is responsible for forming multi-disciplinary development project teams for Architecture, Interior Design, Civil, Structural, MEP, geotechnical engineering, master planning and landscape, for representing firms at pre-proposal conferences, initiating client contact, professional coaching of teams for presentations, participating in the writing of contracts and RFP responses including those for state, county, municipal, education and joint venture participation. She also writes presentations for community and governance approval boards, supervises marketing and corporate communications departments, develops and delivers presentations, and writes articles, press releases, newsletters and corporate communications including Letters of Interest and specific project approaches.
Ms. McKerns served on the Board of Directors for the American Lung Association, and served as the publicist for the SE Florida Division. She was recently in charge of a multi-million dollar two company merger, diversifying both business practices into 12 clearly defined market sectors within an eight state geographic location, including the award of a ten year 500 million dollar continuing service contract. In her role as merger chief, she researched potential markets within a diverse geographic area, identified specific merger candidates, contacted each candidate and explored overtures and potential merger structures, introduced the parties and conducted the meeting negotiations.
Professional Licenses:
Ms. McKerns holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from Tulane University, in New Orleans, LA; and a Bachelor of Science in Interior Design and Construction from Florida International University, in Miami, FL.
Professional Member- Gold Coast Public Relations Council 2007- 2008
Professional Member – South Florida Public Relations Network – 2010- current
Licensed Interior Designer-State of Florida 1988 inception-current – 2010
National Trust for Historic Preservation---2000-2007
Board of Directors American Lung Association--2005-2007
Strategic Marketing and Public Relations for Marinas, marine related industries and waterfront development is one of the specialties of McKerns Development. McKerns Development supports each marine related brand through Strategic Press & PR, writing press and pitching feature stories to the media. McKerns Development creates a branding program for the marine and marina related industry, and extends the brand for each additional property or service added.
McKerns Development provides Strategic PR and Media Relations for the marina and marine related industries, developing each custom platform of benefits and services and building the public relations campaign around the tailored branding platform. McKerns Development publicizes all events in advance and after each event, and contributes fresh content to the branded website. Fresh content and news on the internet and website enhances participation with the brand, invites new and return visitors, and drives traffic to the website through keyword search.
McKerns Development writes feature stories for marine and marina related industry magazines, including investment, trade, financial, travel, sports, equipment and watercraft publications. McKerns Development has an excellent relationship with the marine and marina related media, and regularly develops and pitches story ideas to the media and its publications.
McKerns Development works as a Strategic Public Relations and Marketing Consultant to the many professionals who work in the marine industry: architects, engineers, developers, marine and marina suppliers and marine and marina managers.
Did you know?
Florida's Marine Industry is a huge economic engine, providing nearly $19 billion dollars in annual economic benefit, and employing 225,000. To understand the relative importance of this industry, the Florida citrus industry has an economic impact to the state of $9.1, and employs 90,000 people.
McKerns Development has worked for the past four years as an independent publicist, writer, promoter and strategic marketing expert for the marine industry and private marina developer/operators of more than 11 marinas, and over 3,000 slips in Southeast and Central Florida. McKerns Development has consulted with national and international marine and marina related companies in Scotland, the Bahamas, Costa Rica, and on the US east and west coasts including California, Louisiana, Florida and Maine.
Contact: www.mckernsdevelopment.com
mckerns@mckernsdevelopment.com
