The difference between PR and advertising is that with the latter you pay for exposure and control the message. PR is the art of getting favourable coverage without paying for it – except in time and effort.
If you’re targeting a niche, there must be something about what you’re doing that’s newsworthy. You could even write an article on a hot subject or a letter to the editor. The important thing is to contribute to the editorial of the publication or site, not to plug.
Free publicity and how to get it PR, spin, publicity – whatever you want to call it, the point is it’s FREE. So, how you can you get stories about your business published in the press or on the web?
Before you start writing a press release, stop! You need a plan. PR works best when it’s a sustained campaign – a steady flow of stories designed to attract people to your website.
Start by looking at what your target market reads:
- what kind of stories does the media like to run about your industry? There’s probably a mix including stories about people, new products, surveys, trends and views about industry issues.
- Write down what’s going to be happening in your business over the next 12 months, the challenges you face, new things you’ll be doing, expansion/contraction plans, people you might be hiring or working with and so on.
- Put these into a chronological order and aim for at least one story a month. If there’s not enough, add ‘survey, competition, or letter to the editor’.
- You should now have 12 opportunities for media exposure. Now you start planning the first six stories.
- If one of these is a survey, you need to think of a subject that the media will be interested in. Journalists love surveys – they fill space quickly and you do the work! BUT, they’ll only get published if the results are interesting and gathered from at least 250 people. For example, if you’re a recruitment consultant, you could do a survey of recruits asking them to rank their preferences for pay, holidays, pensions etc. Or what people like/hate most about bosses and so on.
- Now you need to write your stories.
Writing a press release Follow these tips and you’ll have a good chance of getting some free coverage.
1. Put yourself in the journalist’s shoes and ask why they should publish your release? What’s in it for their readers? Is it relevant? Is it interesting and newsworthy? Adapt the story until it is but don’t tell any fibs!
2. Make sure your press release answers the questions "Who? Why? What? Where? When? & How?"
3. Write in clear, short, punchy sentences using plain English. You can check your writing style for plain English using StyleWriter. Download a free trial here – www.incisecomms.com
4. Write a strong headline that gets attention but, remember, you’re dealing with journalists and they’re a cynical bunch. So don’t go overboard.
Structure your release so that the first paragraph explains the headline and captures the essence of the story, the second adds supporting facts, the third expands on these and the fourth has a good, attributable quote.
5. Read the release through and challenge each sentence with the "So what?" test. If you can't think of a good answer, delete the sentence.
Do this at least three times and get someone else, ideally someone not involved, to read it and check their reactions.
6. Add ‘For Immediate release’ or ‘Embargoed until x date/time’ if it’s time sensitive.
Put your contact details including out-of-office hours and mobile details.
7. Finally, make sure the release stands alone and doesn’t need attachments – to avoid being classified as Spam. If you’ve got pictures that add to the story, offer them but don’t email them.
Getting coverage The first thing to do is add the release to your website under ‘News’. You’ve got your first release published! Obviously, that’s only valuable if you get plenty of visitors on your site but it’s a start.
If you don’t have access to a PR Planner system, email it to all the publications and sites you want to target.
Now follow up – THIS IS ESSENTIAL! Call every journalist you’ve approached within 48 hrs of the release going out. Check they got it and see if they’ve got questions or need help. If they say it’s no good, ask why and use the learning for your next story.
If your story is bad news – job losses for example – prepare your answers in advance but don’t read them parrot fashion over the phone. If the media sees that you’re prepared to be open and available when your story is negative, they’ll be more inclined to listen when there’s some good news.
Journalists are human too – no really!
Try and build relationships with journalists. The days of boozy lunches and daily press conferences may be long gone but the more you’re prepared to give in terms of quotes, facts and access to the right people, the closer you’ll become.
Finally, to discover how you can use free publicity to drive an avalanche of traffic to your site have a look at www.turnwordsintotraffic.com
How to get FREE publicity - To learn more about this author, visit Paul Lock's Website.
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Paul Lock
(Visit Paul's Website)
Brought up in London and been in marketing
since the days of Johnny Rotten - yes,
that long. Corporations may be slow moving
and full of political windbags but
they're a great way to get your training.
After 20 years 'training' I went into
the agency world and set up my own company
three years ago. We help small businesses
make the most of their web marketing
investment, from design and planning to
search engine optimisations and analytics.
If you can't measure it, don't waste
your money - are you a business person or
a gambler? Over the years I've made more
mistakes than you could shake a stick at
and, on the basis that an investment in
knowledge pays the best returns, I offer a
few morsels which might help you make
fewer mistakes than me. I hope my articles
help and feel free to visit my web site.
Best of luck,
Paul
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