If you’ve never been in the press, securing media coverage or garnering attention for your business is not usually an instant thing; but it is accessible to everyone and consistent efforts WILL reap rewards. While it can happen very quickly for some - especially if you are able to tie-in with breaking news - for others it may take weeks, or even months, to see results depending on a few factors such as how simple (or not) your story is to communicate, and how consistently you reach out to media.
There are things that you can do, however, to bring positive momentum into your business and, in particular, your public relations efforts.
Perseverance: Like growing your business in general, a successful PR campaign means dedicating some energy to it. This means continually developing new pitch angles that can spark the interest of media, and following up with the news organisations where you want to be covered.
Avoid the Overwhelm: Don’t try to build Rome in a day. There is a wide universe of media out there and the thought of attempting to reach them all can feel overwhelming. Try starting in your local market where you already have built-in news value by being a local business or expert. Or focus on one genre of media, such as trade publications read by your industry, or business press. “Working” one area of media can give you the confidence, and success, to spark momentum.
Set Clear Goals - on Paper: Write down your public relations goals and three things you can do to achieve each goal. Take at least one action a day that gets you closer to achieving a goal. The mere process of taking that action creates momentum that will build upon itself.
Build Time For PR in Your Schedule: Every week, find at least one hour to focus on your public relations efforts. Even if it means blocking it off in fifteen minute increments at a time; in fifteen minutes you can email a pitch to five journalists, place three follow-up calls, or research a new media outlet to see where you could be covered.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Justin Herald: The Right Attitude for PR
If you think that selling t-shirts in your bare feet and creating you own ‘Bamboozle a BMW salesman’ game aren’t the signs of a serious businessman, you’d be right.
Justin Herald is anything but serious; that is unless he’s trying to p*** someone off. The catalyst behind his global, multimillion Attitude™ Gear Clothing empire: bug the bejesus out of the lady at church who had told him he had an attitude problem. How? By seating him and his mates in the front pew with an array of slogan t-shirts he’d devised. Those t-shirts turned into the Attitude Gear clothing line, selling through 3500 stores nationally.
As he shared last night at the Southern Sydney Think Business Event, “And now, I get to royally-p*** her off globally, which is awesome!”
Much has been published about his $50 working capital (lent from his brother) that he parlayed into $7k plus a week selling t-shirts at Parklea markets.
But what I loved hearing last night was how he’d used free publicity to grow his business.
Unbeknownst to him at the time he had a great media hook: Oddity.
Here he was, business acumen zero - “The only thing I passed at school was recess” – and he’d built a thriving clothing brand from just $50. He challenged every business stereotype, yet weekly sales were booming. His oddity made him newsworthy. Little wonder Alan Jones wanted to chat to him on 2UE.
Justin then discovered the other benefit of publicity. As all journalists know, the best way to discover your next news story is watching/reading/listening to what the other news organisations are running. Shortly after the 2UE interview, he was asked to appear on ‘A Current Affair’. Which put him and his grass-roots popular clothing brand in front of millions of people.
The very next morning, he received hundreds of calls from retailers wanting to take his stock.
What he achieved - beautifully - was publicity leverage: jumping from talking one to a few, to talking to millions, in one sweet television appearance. Which cost him nothing but his time.
I’m delighted that Justin Herald has agreed to be interviewed by me as part of my monthly calls for my Publicity and PR Protégé Club. Broadcast in June, I can’t wait to share his insights into business and publicity. Make sure you’re in the loop for the date and time!
Follow me on Twitter @PhilippaLowe or sign up for my weekly eZine ‘Publicity Train’ at http://www.publicityexpress.com.au to get all the call info. You’ll also receive your own copy of my free report: 'Publicity Secrets That Only The Pros Know - Why DIY Publicity and PR is Easier Than You Think'.
It's sure to be a great call!
Justin Herald is anything but serious; that is unless he’s trying to p*** someone off. The catalyst behind his global, multimillion Attitude™ Gear Clothing empire: bug the bejesus out of the lady at church who had told him he had an attitude problem. How? By seating him and his mates in the front pew with an array of slogan t-shirts he’d devised. Those t-shirts turned into the Attitude Gear clothing line, selling through 3500 stores nationally.
As he shared last night at the Southern Sydney Think Business Event, “And now, I get to royally-p*** her off globally, which is awesome!”
Much has been published about his $50 working capital (lent from his brother) that he parlayed into $7k plus a week selling t-shirts at Parklea markets.
But what I loved hearing last night was how he’d used free publicity to grow his business.
Unbeknownst to him at the time he had a great media hook: Oddity.
Here he was, business acumen zero - “The only thing I passed at school was recess” – and he’d built a thriving clothing brand from just $50. He challenged every business stereotype, yet weekly sales were booming. His oddity made him newsworthy. Little wonder Alan Jones wanted to chat to him on 2UE.
Justin then discovered the other benefit of publicity. As all journalists know, the best way to discover your next news story is watching/reading/listening to what the other news organisations are running. Shortly after the 2UE interview, he was asked to appear on ‘A Current Affair’. Which put him and his grass-roots popular clothing brand in front of millions of people.
The very next morning, he received hundreds of calls from retailers wanting to take his stock.
What he achieved - beautifully - was publicity leverage: jumping from talking one to a few, to talking to millions, in one sweet television appearance. Which cost him nothing but his time.
I’m delighted that Justin Herald has agreed to be interviewed by me as part of my monthly calls for my Publicity and PR Protégé Club. Broadcast in June, I can’t wait to share his insights into business and publicity. Make sure you’re in the loop for the date and time!
Follow me on Twitter @PhilippaLowe or sign up for my weekly eZine ‘Publicity Train’ at http://www.publicityexpress.com.au to get all the call info. You’ll also receive your own copy of my free report: 'Publicity Secrets That Only The Pros Know - Why DIY Publicity and PR is Easier Than You Think'.
It's sure to be a great call!
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Growing Your Referral Sources
Referrals or word-of-mouth recommendations are priceless. Anyone who reads this e-zine regularly will know how passionate I am about testimonial marketing, but how do you accelerate the referrals you receive?
Referral sources are the lifeblood of your business. Whether they are current clients or colleagues in complementary businesses, you must make sure you are initiating P.R. activities to constantly remind those sources about you - so they can refer more prospects to you!
Before you explore your referral opportunities, you absolutely need to know your target market. After all, if you can't describe your target market, how can you educate your referral sources about them? The more descriptive you can be here, the better. For example, don't just think "women". Think "women ages 20-35 who like sports and fitness".
Then it's time to look for your referral sources. Do some online research regarding your target market. What newsletters, magazines, blogs and e-zines do they read? What websites are they visiting? What non-competitive businesses exist that also target your market?
Come up with a list of your top five websites, e-zines, magazines and non-competitive businesses that are already reaching your ideal client or customer.
Contact these magazines, websites and e-zines and see if they will:
- Review your book, products, services, or ezine for their readers. If so, send them a review copy and follow up a week or two later. Request that when they run the review they mention your e-zine and direct people to your website to sign up.
- Accept guest articles. If so, then submit one of your best, with a short bio that links people back to your website to sign up for your ezine.
- Swap ads or recommendations for each other's websites, products, or services. If you have an e-zine that reaches the same target market they want to reach, this is a great win-win.
- Approach the non-competitive businesses. See if they will link to your website.
Perhaps they will co-find some joint marketing, such as a direct mail, live or teleseminar where you both promote your products and services and harness the opportunity to grow your database.
Referral sources are the lifeblood of your business. Whether they are current clients or colleagues in complementary businesses, you must make sure you are initiating P.R. activities to constantly remind those sources about you - so they can refer more prospects to you!
Before you explore your referral opportunities, you absolutely need to know your target market. After all, if you can't describe your target market, how can you educate your referral sources about them? The more descriptive you can be here, the better. For example, don't just think "women". Think "women ages 20-35 who like sports and fitness".
Then it's time to look for your referral sources. Do some online research regarding your target market. What newsletters, magazines, blogs and e-zines do they read? What websites are they visiting? What non-competitive businesses exist that also target your market?
Come up with a list of your top five websites, e-zines, magazines and non-competitive businesses that are already reaching your ideal client or customer.
Contact these magazines, websites and e-zines and see if they will:
- Review your book, products, services, or ezine for their readers. If so, send them a review copy and follow up a week or two later. Request that when they run the review they mention your e-zine and direct people to your website to sign up.
- Accept guest articles. If so, then submit one of your best, with a short bio that links people back to your website to sign up for your ezine.
- Swap ads or recommendations for each other's websites, products, or services. If you have an e-zine that reaches the same target market they want to reach, this is a great win-win.
- Approach the non-competitive businesses. See if they will link to your website.
Perhaps they will co-find some joint marketing, such as a direct mail, live or teleseminar where you both promote your products and services and harness the opportunity to grow your database.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Choosing PR over advertising
Whenever I speak at a small business event, I like to assess the amount of budget being allocated to marketing. It’s rare to see hands raised when I ask if anyone is spending over $15K in a year. It’s more likely to hover around the $5-10K bracket.
Advertising is an expensive part of the marketing mix. Costs include design, paying for it to run on radio, TV, print or online. Plus for an advert to gain traction you need to have a strong call to action and the budget to run the advert for at least 6 weeks.
Compare that to developing a news hook that appeals to your ideal customer, pitching it to the target media you know your ideal customer reads or listens to, gaining an interview with a reporter on radio and in print – and having hundreds of prospects call or visit your website as a result. If you choose to DIY PR (and if you’re a regular reader of Publicity Train you’ve some know-how to do that) all it would cost is your time.
So next time you think about booking an advert, why not divert some of the time and energy into PR? Set yourself a PR goal: within 6 months to have achieved three stories about your business in your target media. Let me know how you go!
Advertising is an expensive part of the marketing mix. Costs include design, paying for it to run on radio, TV, print or online. Plus for an advert to gain traction you need to have a strong call to action and the budget to run the advert for at least 6 weeks.
Compare that to developing a news hook that appeals to your ideal customer, pitching it to the target media you know your ideal customer reads or listens to, gaining an interview with a reporter on radio and in print – and having hundreds of prospects call or visit your website as a result. If you choose to DIY PR (and if you’re a regular reader of Publicity Train you’ve some know-how to do that) all it would cost is your time.
So next time you think about booking an advert, why not divert some of the time and energy into PR? Set yourself a PR goal: within 6 months to have achieved three stories about your business in your target media. Let me know how you go!
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Spread the word
Testimonials and ‘Word Of Mouth’ is one of today’s most potent forms of promotion and grassroots marketing for all business. Positive, believable comments from real life customers are proof positive to other potential buyers that you are worthy of their business. Testimonials and ‘Word Of Mouth’ are the missing link for prospects considering a commitment to your product or service.
I urge everyone to look at testimonials as the fuel for their PR and marketing. Try this quick brainstorm exercise, and ask yourself the following:
1) Which customers would make good testimonials for my business?
2) What industry are these customers in?
(TIP: it’s always good to have spread across all the industries you work with, representing your different products and services)
3) What attributes do these customers have? (For example, one customer may be a great public speaker, and someone you’d like to have present on your behalf at an event).
4) What significant business benefits does the customer demonstrate as a result of using your products or services? When possible, include relevant figures, dollar amounts, and/or percentages in support of your product or service. You'll soon attract attention from prospects and dramatically increase your response rate with solid examples of your track record.
I urge everyone to look at testimonials as the fuel for their PR and marketing. Try this quick brainstorm exercise, and ask yourself the following:
1) Which customers would make good testimonials for my business?
2) What industry are these customers in?
(TIP: it’s always good to have spread across all the industries you work with, representing your different products and services)
3) What attributes do these customers have? (For example, one customer may be a great public speaker, and someone you’d like to have present on your behalf at an event).
4) What significant business benefits does the customer demonstrate as a result of using your products or services? When possible, include relevant figures, dollar amounts, and/or percentages in support of your product or service. You'll soon attract attention from prospects and dramatically increase your response rate with solid examples of your track record.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Your publicity is all about them
There are a lot of reasons why people want to hear about your business, and they are all about those people – not you.
How often do you ask your customers what they love about you? Their answers can be an enlightening insight into how your business is perceived.
Similarly, your success securing media coverage is dependent on your ability to think about what journalists and their readers find interesting. By identifying the pain points that might bring clients to your business, you can begin to suss out hot topics or new story angles you can weave into your business in order to achieve media interest.
Remember, your publicity is all about them – the end-reader or listener. The journalist serves as a gate-keeper to that audience, the final decision maker who decides if your story will ‘get a run’. Ask yourself these questions:
What have you done that’s ‘new’ lately?
Do you have a new product or service? Rather than shouting all the features and benefits, pitch your story about its unique selling point.
Forget how fast, how bright, how shiny.
Don’t focus on your widget’s features. Instead, get publicity for clients who are doing something amazing with one of your widgets. Highlight these achievements to a trade publication and keep the story about the client. Not only will you strengthen client relationships, your product will be shown in the exact light required to attract others.
Why, Oh Why?
If you’ve had a phenomenal spike in sales, work out the why. That you’ve made more sales is not news in itself. But if you address why all of a sudden people are coming to you, you can find your news hook. People may be seeking particular services or buying in a particular area or taking advantage of a particular grant or loophole. Find out why and develop your news story from there.
Go niche as often as you can
Finally, your products might be wonderful but not necessarily unique. That’s not to say you have to miss out on publicity. Research the media your target audience would read or listen to. Call up the media organisations and ask for a list of upcoming features. Then try your hand at placing your products as part of a wider feature or buyer’s guide – or send them to a stylist for inclusion in a photoshoot with other products. Register with www.sourcebottle.com.au, a free subscription service that emails 'call outs' for sources from journalists and bloggers. The media opportunities are there, so put yourself up in lights!
How often do you ask your customers what they love about you? Their answers can be an enlightening insight into how your business is perceived.
Similarly, your success securing media coverage is dependent on your ability to think about what journalists and their readers find interesting. By identifying the pain points that might bring clients to your business, you can begin to suss out hot topics or new story angles you can weave into your business in order to achieve media interest.
Remember, your publicity is all about them – the end-reader or listener. The journalist serves as a gate-keeper to that audience, the final decision maker who decides if your story will ‘get a run’. Ask yourself these questions:
What have you done that’s ‘new’ lately?
Do you have a new product or service? Rather than shouting all the features and benefits, pitch your story about its unique selling point.
Forget how fast, how bright, how shiny.
Don’t focus on your widget’s features. Instead, get publicity for clients who are doing something amazing with one of your widgets. Highlight these achievements to a trade publication and keep the story about the client. Not only will you strengthen client relationships, your product will be shown in the exact light required to attract others.
Why, Oh Why?
If you’ve had a phenomenal spike in sales, work out the why. That you’ve made more sales is not news in itself. But if you address why all of a sudden people are coming to you, you can find your news hook. People may be seeking particular services or buying in a particular area or taking advantage of a particular grant or loophole. Find out why and develop your news story from there.
Go niche as often as you can
Finally, your products might be wonderful but not necessarily unique. That’s not to say you have to miss out on publicity. Research the media your target audience would read or listen to. Call up the media organisations and ask for a list of upcoming features. Then try your hand at placing your products as part of a wider feature or buyer’s guide – or send them to a stylist for inclusion in a photoshoot with other products. Register with www.sourcebottle.com.au, a free subscription service that emails 'call outs' for sources from journalists and bloggers. The media opportunities are there, so put yourself up in lights!
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