Posted by Pete on October 21, 2010 · Leave a Comment
Business people are often disappointed when they fail in their quest for media publicity. But there are usually many reasons why they are rejected.
Among the top of the list is their lack of understanding as to what journalists are looking for. Just about every business person in the world believes their business would make a great news story. But unfortunately, without a grasp of what is considered newsworthy, they will remain anonymous in terms of publicity.
To interest the media, and its readers, listeners and viewers, there must be an interesting angle, or focus on the story. For example, ‘local business makes exciting products’, is not an angle. But ‘New product creates 100 new jobs’, is an angle.
The point is that there must be something significant to make it newsworthy. So rather than focus on the success of the business, you need to look at what flows from that. This could be anything from how a large export order will help the local economy to how a product helped prevent a disaster. The possibilities are endless, but without angles, your publicity hunt will never move past the editor’s desk.
Another thing journalists love are stories related to topical issues. For example, during the recent recession, many stories were produced on how businesses were thriving against the odds. In the same way, anything to do with earthquakes has been hot news in Canterbury lately.
Anything out of the ordinary is another winner with the media. If you are struggling for media attention, publicity stunts can be created. For example, recently a restaurant owner in America was concerned that he had empty tables on a Tuesday night. To create a media buzz, he decided to let bald people eat free. That led to a barrage of publicity and soon his restaurant was full on Tuesday nights. He also made money because all the bald people bought their friends and family. Could you do something like this?
There are many opportunities out there for businesses to gather valuable publicity. It’s just a matter of finding them and following the publicity process. The resulting profile and enhanced reputation will do wonders for your business bottom lines.
Posted by Pete on August 17, 2010 · Leave a Comment
One of the best ways to promote your business is by becoming the local industry expert in the eyes of your clients and prospects.
This may sound like a difficult task, but it is not as challenging as it may seem. You can become that person through your local media.
All you need to do is comment on issues affecting your industry when they become prominent. For example, when real estate figures are released for different regions, a real estate agent should comment on whether the trend has been followed in his or her patch. This then becomes a local story and of interest to local media.
Currently national associations are the only ones who comment on such things. This means local media will either not cover the story, or use comments made by national associations in Wellington. They would far rather use local comments, but don’t have the time to find them. That’s why you need to approach them.
Real Estate is a good example of the opportunities available, but they exist in all industries. For example, when tourism figures are released, a tourism business could comment on how the figures relate to that particular company or region. Or after the government increased the tax on tobacco recently, pharmacists could comment on what that policy has done to the demand for smoking cessation products. I could go on.
The reasons local companies fail to get this coverage is because they are not proactive with the media. This is despite the many benefits of becoming the local industry expert.
By preparing simple press releases as soon as issues arise and sending them to local media, you can become this expert. Press releases are similar to the stories you see in the newspaper, but they are sent to journalists to encourage them to write stories on the topics covered.
When writing your press releases, remember to keep them short and sharp and avoid promoting your business. This is purely about you offering the local media information that will interest their readers. Anything that looks like a company advertisement dressed up as a news story will be rejected.
A good site to find press release examples is infonews.co.nz.
Any issue that can affect your industry or business is fair game to comment on. If you are in the news commenting on things related to your industry, you gain instant status among potential customers or clients as an expert. This does wonders for your credibility, reputation and inevitably leads to more business.
But this can only be achieved if you take advantage of the opportunities that arise. This requires you to include media publicity as an important part of your overall marketing strategy.
Posted by Pete on July 16, 2010 · Leave a Comment
Public relations and marketing go hand in hand, but they are quite separate in their means to the same end. Everyone understands what marketing is, but public relations is often overlooked among small business marketing ideas because it is not understood.
Public relations is about forming relationship with clients and potential clients. It is designed to increase credibility and reputations, leading to more business. This is different from marketing, which is all about being seen by potential clients. Advertising is a good example of marketing.
How PR and marketing consultants each work with newspapers is a good example of the difference between the two approaches. A marketing manager may take out an advertisement in a well known newspaper that is read by his target market. He pays the newspaper and can say what he likes with the space he has paid for. The aim of this is for people to see the advertisement and buy the product or service on offer.
A public relations manager on the other hand would use a different approach. He would analyse the newspaper to see what types of editorial information it publishes. This would include the news written by journalists and the columns produced by guests. He would then try to get his company into the news or used as a guest columnist.
He would do this to improve the reputation of his business, because news coverage in the media cements people as experts in their fields among the audience. This also leads to more clients and customers.
Another difference is in the direct marketing area. The marketing manager may send out regular fliers to letterboxes from a local builder offering his services. This is obviously designed to get more work for the builder.
In contrast, the public relations manager for the builder may write an informative regular newsletter with tips for potential clients such as how to find the right builder, or the things you need to look for when hiring a builder. This again would be designed to lift the credibility and reputation of the builder so that those looking for one would keep him in mind.
The point is that all businesses need an element of both options. They need to get their services in front of potential clients through marketing. But just as importantly, they need to demonstrate their expertise and maximise their credibility through public relations. In a difficult market, this is vital as potential clients become fussier with their choice of service provider.
Unfortunately, most marketing and PR companies make all this seem highly confusing. But what I have just explained is the difference in a nutshell. Marketing is for exposure and PR is for credibility, although it also creates exposure.
PR is often overlooked among small business marketing ideas because it is not well understood and is perceived to be expensive. That impression is created by major PR companies who have contracts with large corporations.
But by learning media relations and putting together a low cost newsletter, a small business can cover its own PR without spending the big dollars.
Whether this DIY approach is followed, or an independent consultant is used from time to time, PR should be at the top of the list when it comes to small business marketing ideas.
Posted by Pete on July 6, 2010 · Leave a Comment
Many people wrongly believe that writing and sending a press release is all they need to do to get media publicity.
For those new to the media game, press releases are like stories you see in newspapers, but they are sent to journalists to encourage them to produce their own stories on the topics covered.
These must be written properly, but there are other things in the publicity process that are just as important.
Finding the correct target media is the first step. Often the best targets are overlooked.
Niche media is often the best home for press releases, rather than metropolitan newspapers.
The next thing is to understand what journalists want. Most press release are just advertisements written in a different format. Editors reject these because they have no news value.
When to send the press release is another important consideration. The end of the week, particular Friday afternoon, for example, is not a good time because journalists are all going home or are focused on the weekend.
It’s also important to keep well away from journalists when they are approaching their deadlines.
It’s a good idea to see what else is happening in the news. If lots is going on, it can be beneficial to delay sending your release. As an example, anyone planning to contact the New York Times on September 12, 2001, would have been better to wait. That’s because stories on 9/11 would have filled the paper completely.
Another common mistake is the failure of people to educate themselves on how to make the most from media interviews. If your press release is successful, you may receive an interview request.
This could be from any form of media. They are a great way to demonstrate your expertise and raise your reputation in the minds of the audience. However, they can backfire if not handled properly.
These factors all illustrate that writing a press release is just one step in the publicity process. It can only be successful if all these other steps are followed to complete the puzzle.
Posted by Pete on July 2, 2010 · Leave a Comment
The battle to gain credibility is a major reason why millions of small businesses wind up each year. This credibility can only be achieved by receiving positive coverage in the news media. That’s why media publicity is a popular option when it comes to small business marketing ideas.
While large companies often have big budgets to promote themselves through the media, smaller players find it hard to connect with their target markets.
This becomes even more pronounced during economic downturns. Funding to generate publicity through the news media is often the first thing to be cut, when it should be the first thing to be increased.
A company without business is a company in trouble and the only way to turn the business around is to generate credibility in the marketplace.
Media coverage is so beneficial because media audiences know that what is produced as news is determined by editors, not you. That makes it so much more credible than advertising.
This is not such an issue for big businesses because they have a high profile anyway and have expensive pr companies working for them. But smaller players don’t all have that luxury.
There are ways for smaller companies to promote themselves through the media without breaking the bank, but most do not even try.
By learning the basics to generate their own coverage in the news media, they can gain a positive profile without having to pay expensive companies to do the work for them.
By learning how to communicate with the local, national and niche media, a business owner can not only improve his public profile, but also his credibility and reputation.
This editorial coverage is also free if you don’t need to commission a public relations company. This also makes it the most cost effective option among small business marketing ideas.
Unfortunately, for fortunately for those who take advantage of this, very few businesses even consider this form of marketing.
