Tweet

How to Propel Your Invention, Startup or New Business with Publicity

Guest post by: Scott Lorenz

Article Overview: There’s ONE thing that propels most business. What is it? Publicity-PR! It’s the one common theme that runs through the history of all great companies. Publicist Scott Lorenz says, “If you want to get your company on the radar then put PR in your plan.”

How to Propel Your Invention, Startup or New Business with Publicity

There's ONE thing that propels most startups and early stage businesses. What is it? Publicity-PR! It's the one common theme that runs through the history of all great companies. If you want to get your company on the radar then put PR in your plan.

As a publicist I've known this for years. I've seen media exposure launch everything from new medical procedures to special events and inventions. Why does it work? It works because PR is the bridge that connects large audiences with a single person with your idea. How do you get it? You can do it yourself up to a point or allocate some money for a publicist.

That's because having idea is not enough to produce success. Your idea must be shared with consumers, buyers, producers, manufacturers, readers, patients, literary critics - whomever is the desired audience. Most successful entrepreneurs use publicity as a tool to reach select audiences that represent the niche market that would be interested in their particular product, service or Big Idea. Not all were natural publicists, by any means. Most struggled through trial and error, enduring many failures and disappointments before discovering that PR was the key necessary strategic tool. Thus, some took longer than necessary to achieve their dreams because they lacked PR skills and had to acquire them through experimentation, which is difficult and time-consuming. And so everyone with a Big Idea faces a choice - be a self-publicist and delay success or hire a PR firm to achieve your dream much more quickly.

As founder and president of Westwind Communications, I have helped many clients with numerous ideas to help them achieve the American Dream. One inventor had a handy tool-organizing product for the garage or to store mops, brooms and dusters in closets. We organized a publicity campaign that included a New York Times feature article which ultimately resulted in the product being placed in several large retail outlets.

Before laser eye surgery became popular in the U.S. I conducted a publicity campaign for a laser surgeon in Canada to convince the American public that laser surgery was safe, painless and highly successful. People naturally are very fearful of eye injuries or complications and had to be convinced that the laser procedure really was safe. Now laser surgery is a billion-dollar industry and safety is taken for granted by most - because of PR. The highlight of that campaign was one of the first laser eye surgeries ever performed LIVE on FOX-TV.

Another client with a great cause was a lady who wanted to rescue thoroughbred horses that, after being retired from racing, were being slaughtered and sold for meat to be eaten in European and Asian restaurants. Her motivation was great but her financial means were limited. So publicity was used to gain television and radio interviews to get others to make financial contributions to keep her dream alive. We used hot news pegs, such as the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, Belmont, and the Michael Vicks case to keep re-telling her story in the mass media. The effort landed dozens of interviews culminating with a feature on ESPN. The upshot? The public is now aware of this practice due in great part to our efforts and those of others demanding a ban.

A blind author who was upset by the violence in children's nursery rhymes contacted us. She wanted to recite wholesome poems to grandson Jack and so wrote him a book of non-violent nursery rhymes. Her Big Idea was to have an impact on children's literature so that grandmothers across the nation could have better choices in bedtime reading for their grandkids. We launched a PR campaign that resulted in this blind poet being interviewed by numerous media outlets including WCBS-TV in New York.

Several times during my career in PR and marketing, I have met fascinating people with big ideas and big dreams. I have taken great personal satisfaction in using my public relations and marketing skills to help these inspiring American Dreamers achieve their dreams. I know from personal experience that the biggest idea of all is that the key to success is a successful publicity campaign aimed at just the right market.

Contact a professional publicist to help make your big idea come to fruition. Don't waste time trying to do it yourself.

Related Articles
  Authors! There’s Power and Profit when you get FREE Publicity
  Passive-Aggressive Behavior Is Useless In A Startup
  Begin Your Publicity Campaign
  A Patent Search in 7 Steps
  Five Tips for Inventing

Article Tags: invention promotion, PR, promotion, publicist, publicity, startup marketing



Related Forum Posts
My entry - 1. The Best Business Books Ever: The 100 Most Influential Business Books You'll Never Have Time to Read - this is a fascinating book about the history of Business theory, and I'd recommend it to anybody. 2. The Big Book of Small Business: You Don't Have to Run Your Business by the Seat of Your Pants, by Tom Gegax. Ditto. 3. PADI: The Business of Diving Book Okay, so this book won't be of use to anyone who doesn't want to start a scuba store, but I did, and this book was of course invaluable to me in reaching that goal.
Upcoming inventors exhibition - Hi Forum, Just wanted to get an idea if any one has been to the previous British Invention Society exhibition. Also are there any inventors exhibitions in the near future. Lets a arrange a calender of events which Inventors may find useful to attend around the world.
Re: Top Banner Help - The more popular ones that I've seen: Online Marketing and Publicity Search Engine Optimization Web Design and Programming Blogging Re: the poll, I think there was enough response to warrant the new category. These are very popular search terms. I agree that too many niche categories is not a good idea, maybe keep it to a minimum 2-3 internet related topics. Good job on the banners BennyBoy!
Re: Top Banner Help - [quote:35xjo6uq]Good job on the banners BennyBoy![/quote:35xjo6uq] No probs:) I agree Online Marketing and Publicity Search Engine Optimization - Web Design and Programming Blogging also may be... Web Design Tutorials Looking to Hire - jobs section Interesting Articles / websites
Exclusive: Interview with Results - Hi Forum Members, I'm helping start up a Business Coaching and Consulting company here in Toronto, Ontario, Canada (a Subsidiary of RSC Business in Los Angeles). As a Research and Development Intern I am required to practice my listening and interview skills by surveying Small and Medium Businesses on thier Business. This Survey is designed by RSC Business to also assist the Business being interviewed more insight into their own business. I am looking to interview about 30 businesses across North America over the span of 3 months. At the end of these interviews I will be publishing a report of the results and they will be made available for free to the Interviewees. The Report data will include responses from a minimum of 100 interviews. I would like to extend this opportunity to members of the Forum. If you would like to have this short 20-30 minute interview conducted on your Business and you reside in North America please send me an email or PM. Please contact me at andy[at]jvprosperity[dot]com to arrange our interview and to get free access to the results when they are published.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Anger Solutions at Work: Why Customers Get Angry

How to Handle the “I Am Not Interested” Objection

9 tips to increase ROI in PPC Campaigns

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.