Publicity for Your Business: How to Make a Good Media Relationship Great
May 16, 2012
By Johanna Baker-Dowdell, Strawberry Communications
Anyone who has ever tried to generate publicity for their business will know it doesn’t happen overnight; it’s more of a slow burn.
Of course there are ways to get noticed quicker, like pulling a huge publicity stunt like climbing up to place a banner on the Harbour Bridge for instance, but for those without that sort of bravery – or budget – a better way to speed up the process is to establish a great relationship with key journalists at the media outlets you want your business to appear in or on.
Here are seven tips on establishing and building a great relationship with the media:
- Tailor any press releases or pitches to the journalist and their publication. Don’t send a bulk email to every contact on your media list. This is a waste of the journalist’s and your time, and will not endear you to that contact.
- Respect the way the journalist wants to be contacted. Most prefer email, but some like over-the-phone pitches, information sent by fax, or a quick pitch via Twitter. Just ask them their preference and stick with however they respond.
- Follow up anything you send. Journalists receive hundreds of emails and calls every day, so make sure they notice yours by following up with them using their preferred contact method.
- Be available. If the journalist likes what you pitch, don’t make it difficult to contact you to find up more or organise an interview. Include several contact methods so they can get you while the story is fresh in their mind.
- Think about deadlines. Journalists operate to strict deadlines daily, weekly or monthly, depending on the media outlet, so find out when your contacts’ deadlines are and don’t hassle them about publicity while they are in it.
- Offer options. Sometimes a journalist might be interested in your business story, but not enough to take it further, so try to give three different ideas to show how your story can be used, i.e., a press release about winter hats could become a fashion article covering the season’s millinery trends, a business article about how and where materials are sourced or a part of a bigger fashion item on the hot colours for winter.
- Check your facts. If you are quoting someone or using statistics in your press release or pitch, make sure you have permission and the information is right. While a journalist will check facts, they won’t come back to you if you prove to be an unreliable source.
Yes, building a relationship with journalists still takes time, but think of the benefits of that relationship down the track when you call your media contact and offer them an exclusive for your latest news. If you’ve done your homework and it’s right for them, it saves you starting the process from scratch each time you work on your business PR.
MORE GREAT POSTS BY JOHANNA BAKER-DOWDELL
- 10 Steps to the Perfect Proposal
- Diary of a Sweet Startup: Stanley & Nelson Cupcakes
- Creating PR around Special Dates
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Johanna Baker-Dowdell – Strawberry CommunicationsJohanna owns and runs writing and public relations service Strawberry Communications. The agency builds relationships with the media and key stakeholders on behalf of its SME clients. This service is provided through careful research and strategic communication, then maintained by telling the business’s story through amazing publicity and expertly crafted words. Strawberry Communications is based in Launceston and was launched in 2007. Johanna has more than 16 years experience in the media industry and is also a freelance journalist and blogger.
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Dealing With Journalists: Be on the Ball to Kick Some Media Goals
May 11, 2012
By Kerry McDuling, McDuling PR
When distributing a media release or contacting the media with a newsworthy story, it is important to remember that the media work to very tight deadlines and may require your input at short notice. Your ability to provide the information they require on time will ensure you remain a preferred contact on your topic of expertise in the future.
Being Immediately Contactable
Provide your contact details on the media release and on the email in a prominent position (e.g., at the top of the media release and on your email signature). A landline, a mobile phone number and an email address is sufficient. Once you have distributed the media release, ensure you are contactable on all of the numbers you have provided and also ensure you have access to your email account.
If you are not confident that you will be immediately available and contactable on the numbers you provided, then consider distributing your media release at another time when you are more readily available to respond to media requests.
If you miss that important call
It might happen that you miss a phone call from a journalist. Don’t panic – not all is lost. Journalists will almost always leave a message and upon receiving it, you need to return the call immediately, even if you suspect you have missed the deadline. This will show courtesy and ensure you will be considered next time a story opportunity arises.
Journalists will only call and leave a message once – after that, they will go elsewhere and you have missed out. You need to be available and provide the information they require in a timely fashion if you stand a hope of being a regular contact of theirs in the future.
Responding to emails
If the matter is less urgent, journalists may contact you by email – in other words, replying to your initial email to them requesting further information. However, treat this with no less priority than you would a phone call and respond appropriately at your earliest opportunity.
Remember that journalists often work out of normal working hours and may require your input early in the day (for example, for breakfast radio) or in the evening (for a print edition of a metropolitan newspaper.) Don’t be surprised or put out – that’s the nature of the beast!
MORE GREAT POSTS BY KERRY MCDULING
- Be Controversial to Win Attention
- How to Build Your Journalist Database
- The Biggest Problem all Businesses Face
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Kerry McDuling – McDuling PRKerry McDuling is a publicist and Director of her own public relations and publicity consultancy McDuling PR and exposure speciality business, Stratosphere Me – building brands and developing profitable business opportunities for companies, authors, speakers and entrepreneurs.
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Be Controversial to Win Attention
April 13, 2012
By Kerry McDuling, McDuling PR
It is no secret that the media loves controversy, simply because sensationalism sells!
It is therefore always a good idea to keep this in mind when generating your idea and composing your media release.
A controversial news item is by definition one that has the characteristics of a prolonged public debate, dispute or point of contention.
With this in mind, the type of news items that are controversial dispute something of common knowledge. They can also appeal to audience fear about a negative impact occurring if they fail to take a certain action or as the result of an unavoidable circumstance. For example, a controversial headline might be: ‘Most small businesses will not survive another Global Financial Crisis.’
Here are some tips that may be helpful when generating news items of a controversial nature:
Newsworthiness
As well as being controversial, your story also needs to be newsworthy. For example, you might be refuting an expert opinion or findings that has recently been or is commonly reported in the media (e.g., that chocolate is in fact healthy). Make sure you are able to back your statement up with clear facts or statistics from research you have undertaken.
Impact
Just because something is controversial, doesn’t mean it will be of interest to any readers, or have the desired outcome for you. So, if your business is an accountancy firm, contacting the media with a story about chocolate being healthy or cane toads being useful to gardeners wanting to grow frangipani trees is not relevant to a small-business audience. Your news needs to have an impact on your audience.
Timely
Controversial news items should also coincide with events. For example, a news item about chocolate around Easter, or small business failure around a worsening economy, or struggling home owners around an interest rate rise.
Offer a positive outcome
It is also important to offer a lifeline or positive outcome when presenting a negative or fear-based headline. For example, taking the small business angle presented earlier in this article, an accountant might provide the suggestion that small business owners ensure they have enough reserves or a back-up plan/exit plan in the case of a worsening economy, with some suggestions on how to do it. This also presents an opportunity to demonstrate expert knowledge and status.
Surveys
The media view new research favourably, especially when refuting an item of common knowledge. If you have a good client database, create a short anonymous multiple choice survey with an incentive for completion. Remember to word the questions so that you can skew the results in favour of the result you would like to anticipate: e.g., Do you feel comfortable that your cash reserves are enough to tide you over in a lengthy downward economy?
Remember that you are not aiming to shock or create enemies – a little bit of controversy will go a long way.
MORE GREAT POSTS BY KERRY MCDULING
- How to Build Your Journalist Database
- The Biggest Problem all Businesses Face
- Is Publicity and Media Coverage the Magic Bullet for My Business?
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Kerry McDuling – McDuling PRKerry McDuling is a publicist and Director of her own public relations and publicity consultancy McDuling PR and exposure speciality business, Stratosphere Me – building brands and developing profitable business opportunities for companies, authors, speakers and entrepreneurs.
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How to Build Your Journalist Database
March 30, 2012
By Kerry McDuling, McDuling PR
There is arguably nothing more valuable than a favourable article about you and your business in a media outlet (newspaper, magazine, online, TV) that your target client group accesses.
Why is an article so much more valuable than an advertisement?
Simply because it is written objectively by a third party (and therefore more likely to be viewed as accurate and credible by your audience, than an advertisement, that is entirely subjective) and of course this space is free!
Your most valuable tool when building your profile in the media will be your journalist database. If you have an up-to-date list of all the journalists that operate in your area/industry and for the relevant media outlets, this list will become gold for you.
So, when starting out, how do you build your list?
Firstly, do some research online for the media outlets that you feel are relevant to your business. For example, if you own a local clothing store, then your local media – radio/newspapers – would be most relevant. If your business is an online store of baby products, your target audience would be parenting publications (magazines, online publications, etc).
Once you have gathered a list of the media outlets, you need to find out the contact details of the journalists. These are usually displayed in the publication itself, or alternatively on the publication’s corporate website. Alternatively, put in a phone call to reception and ask for the journalists’ name and contact details.
Continue to add to this list as it outdates and work on building genuine relationships and rapport with the journalists on it.
Here are my golden rules to establishing a mutually-rewarding relationship with a journalist:
- Never send them junk. If you have no news, then rather wait until you do have something interesting to tell them.
- A well-written media release or email with some sentences plainly describing your news will go a long way. Follow up with a phone call and offer a photo.
- No need to follow up more than once or the journalist will feel hounded. If they don’t respond, they are not interested. Don’t be offended. Next time you might strike gold.
- Treat your list like gold! Be careful who you share it with.
MORE GREAT POSTS BY KERRY MCDULING
- The Biggest Problem all Businesses Face
- Is Publicity and Media Coverage the Magic Bullet for My Business?
- Sending and Receiving News Updates via Social Media
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Kerry McDuling – McDuling PRKerry McDuling is a publicist and Director of her own public relations and publicity consultancy McDuling PR and exposure speciality business, Stratosphere Me – building brands and developing profitable business opportunities for companies, authors, speakers and entrepreneurs.
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The Biggest Problem all Businesses Face
March 16, 2012
By Kerry McDuling, McDuling PR
Anybody who is operating a business of some description has a product or service to sell in exchange for money. If the business owner is not expecting or hoping to make money as a result of your enterprise, then it is in fact a hobby or a charity/not-for-profit organisation, rather than a business in the traditional sense of the word.
More often than not, the quality and variety of product and/or service itself is not the cause of a business failing to make money.
The real problem is that nobody is buying it.
In fact, a business may have created the most innovative product in its industry, provide the best quality service that really delivers or even found the solution to a problem that humans have struggled with since the beginning of time. So, why then, when the product or service is of absolute value, nobody is buying?
Many business owners will spend a lot of time and a great deal of money trying to figure out the answer to this question through extensive market research activities, and often find themselves in the middle of a costly, and usually completely unnecessary, rebranding process.
As with many other problems, the answer is quite simple. If the market has no idea that a product, service or business exists, then of course they will not even be given the opportunity to decide whether or not to buy. In other words, a business is already given a strike without even getting off the starting block.
There are a number of ways to raise awareness of your business – some cost more than others, while some are more effective than others.
Here are some ideas:
- Advertising on radio, TV, local newspapers, metropolitan newspapers, magazines
- Advertising online, such as Google Adwords, on other people’s websites, online directories, and on social media forums
- Your own website through SEO and links to other websites
- Promoting yourself to your own database via a newsletter and other customer specials
- Creating an online community to connect with your clientele, e.g., through Facebook
- Public relations – having the media quote you as an expert on your area of expertise and print your news (for free).
What you choose to go with will depend on your budget and, importantly, where your clientele can be found.
MORE GREAT POSTS BY KERRY MCDULING
- Is Publicity and Media Coverage the Magic Bullet for My Business?
- Sending and Receiving News Updates via Social Media
- Go Viral – Publicity using Video
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Kerry McDuling – McDuling PRKerry McDuling is a publicist and Director of her own public relations and publicity consultancy McDuling PR and exposure speciality business, Stratosphere Me – building brands and developing profitable business opportunities for companies, authors, speakers and entrepreneurs.
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Is Publicity and Media Coverage the Magic Bullet for My Business?
March 2, 2012
By Kerry McDuling, McDuling PR
Small businesses and solopreneurs mistakenly believe an article in a newspaper or an interview on radio or TV will literally turn their business around.
The answer, based on my own experience, is no, it won’t. Even if you manage to achieve a slot on morning TV, an article in your local newspaper and a number of radio interviews, your book will not suddenly start to sell like hot cakes and your phone will not ring off the hook.
Why then do people spend time and money pursing publicity through the media if the result is quite clearly not worth the while?
The truth is publicity and presence in the media is not a magic bullet – more of a long-term business marketing strategy.
If you appear in the media on one occasion, chances are much greater that your audience will read it and forget about it shortly after. If anything, it will simply provide valuable credibility for your business to those customers and clients who already do business with you. But it is not likely to cause people who haven’t heard of you to make a purchase, unless there are extraordinary circumstances at play – for example, if you operate within a very specific niche and have targeted your publicity perfectly.
The best goal to have for your publicity efforts is to aim for consistent and regular media appearances, in a variety of media that all target your desired audience. This way, your name and business will start to become recognisable and when consumers are ready to make a purchasing decision, they are more likely to go with who they consider to be the sector/industry expert. Remember – it is perception that matters in this instance, so whoever is more visible commentating on your industry sector, is who they will perceive to be the expert.
Here are some tips to ensure consistent media coverage:
- Include publicity as part of your marketing and business plan. If you don’t make a concerted effort to focus on this as often and seriously as you do your accounting, for example, chances are it won’t get done.
- Where possible, plan months ahead for the topics you will present to the media. If your funds allow, work with a public relations specialist to help you prepare your media schedule and put it into operation.
- A journalist contact database is like gold! Especially one that has come to respect your input and relies on your contribution. Build it and treat it the way you would your VIP clients!
MORE GREAT POSTS BY KERRY MCDULING
- Sending and Receiving News Updates via Social Media
- Go Viral – Publicity using Video
- Building a Personal Brand for Increased Exposure
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Kerry McDuling – McDuling PRKerry McDuling is a publicist and Director of her own public relations and publicity consultancy McDuling PR and exposure speciality business, Stratosphere Me – building brands and developing profitable business opportunities for companies, authors, speakers and entrepreneurs.
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Sending and Receiving News Updates via Social Media
February 17, 2012
By Kerry McDuling, McDuling PR
Over the weekend, many would have been shocked and dismayed to discover that songstress, Whitney Houston, had passed away. It has been said that this talented woman inspired a whole generation of artists. One of the most popular ways that this particular piece of news reached Australians would have been via Facebook, and not via the radio or TV, or newspapers, who were yet to run the story when it broke.
Collecting news via Facebook or other forms of social media is actually quite convenient because if you require more specific information, you can simply ask for it via these channels, and it will more often than not be supplied immediately. This eliminates the need to go trawling through news reports on public news outlets for information you are looking for.
Whether social media will replace all or a part of the need for traditional media remains to be seen, especially as it bleeds across into disseminating news in the areas of politics and business too.
You can also use social media to effectively disseminate your news, both to journalists and directly to your audience/customers.
Here are my top tips:
Firstly, make sure you have a presence on the various social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Google+.
- When you have news, post it there. Facebook and Twitter don’t allow room for your entire news broadcast, but they are perfect to provide links back to your blog for the full report, or even brief updates on news you have previously shared.
- Make sure you collect an audience across these channels. There is no point sharing news here unless you have people to consume it. There are plenty of tips to gather your audience specific to each platform, but generally, be active in relevant groups on Facebook and invite relevant people to “add” or “like” you. Hashtag relevant words to your industry in your Twitter updates and follow others so they are more likely to follow you.
- Post regularly and make sure it’s interesting and relevant. Whether your posts are all news oriented or personal as well depend very much on your publicity strategy, the nature of your industry of work, and the posts themselves among other factors. But the golden rules are regularity and relevance to your audience.
- Have an end goal in mind. Always! What are you hoping to achieve? This could be to build your profile as an expert in your industry with the view to gaining a reputation, or to sell a certain product or service. But an end goal will help you develop your news posts accordingly.
MORE GREAT POSTS BY KERRY MCDULING
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Kerry McDuling – McDuling PRKerry McDuling is a publicist and Director of her own public relations and publicity consultancy McDuling PR and exposure speciality business, Stratosphere Me – building brands and developing profitable business opportunities for companies, authors, speakers and entrepreneurs.
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Creating PR around Special Dates
February 10, 2012
By Johanna Baker-Dowdell, Strawberry Communications
Children have been heading back to school, Valentine’s Day is next week and 2012 is a leap year, so there is an extra day this month.
All three events happened in February, but they also have more in common than just sharing the same month.
They are each opportunities to create some PR for your business and approach the media.
Stationery suppliers and department stores across the country have been promoting pens, pencils and lunchboxes for weeks now; florists are working overtime to source the perfect flowers for the 14th; and jewelers are selling special pieces for the women who plan to propose to their partners on the 29th.
If you look at an annual events calendar and think about all the dates that could relate to your business, you will find plenty of opportunities to create some PR.
Think about these options:
- Seasons – summer, autumn, winter and spring
- Summer and winter solstices
- Annual holidays like New Year’s Day, Easter and Christmas
- End of financial year
- Friday the 13th
Then look at the special days, weeks, months and years for further ideas. This list could include the following events for 2012:
- Australia Day
- Chinese Year of the Dragon
- International Year of Sustainable Energy
- International Women’s Day
- St Patrick’s Day
- Seniors Week
- Earth Hour
- ANZAC Day
- Remembrance Day
- Melbourne Cup Day
- Mother’s Day and Father’s Day
Finally, look at weeks and days tied to causes that may relate to your business:
- World Kidney Day
- Multiple Birth Awareness Week
- National Volunteer Week
- Pink Ribbon Day
- R U OK? Day
- Movember
Now you will have a well populated calendar of days and events from which to draw inspiration for media releases, articles or events of your own. Think about whether your business can get involved in a community event to raise money for a charity and then contact your local newspaper for a photo opportunity. Or you might donate a prize for a Girl’s Night In event to help raise money for the Cancer Council.
There are lots of ways you can be creative with your business PR and it makes sense to tie your activities to something that is already happening.
When the media is looking for a story on that topic, who do you think will be top of the journalists’ mind?
MORE GREAT POSTS BY JOHANNA BAKER-DOWDELL
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Johanna Baker-Dowdell - Strawberry CommunicationsJohanna owns and runs writing and public relations service Strawberry Communications. The agency builds relationships with the media and key stakeholders on behalf of its SME clients. This service is provided through careful research and strategic communication, then maintained by telling the business’s story through amazing publicity and expertly crafted words. Strawberry Communications is based in Launceston and was launched in 2007. Johanna has more than 16 years experience in the media industry and is also a freelance journalist and blogger.
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Go Viral – Publicity using Video
February 3, 2012
By Kerry McDuling, McDuling PR
As many, if not more, searches are conducted on YouTube than on the most popular search engine, Google. YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos. The launch and rise in popularity of YouTube has created so many additional opportunities for publicity and building profile, that are open to virtually everybody with a recording device.
Create a unique YouTube video for branding exposure
The options are endless and anybody with half a creative bone in their body can post something really unique that will give exposure to their message, company, brand or product. In fact, some videos that are really different, creative, interesting or humorous have gone viral; in other words, people have willingly shared them with friends, family and colleagues because they found the video interesting or entertaining.
When coming up with ideas on what can be created, options are literally only limited by your imagination and what sort of video/editing equipment and experience you have. The technology nowadays is not only inexpensive, but relatively simple to use.
Here is an example that a book publisher, Bright Light Multimedia, used to promote an anthology of love stories and poems in the lead-up to Valentines Day.
They uploaded two videos, each with a similar theme, but will a completely different take on the idea. The concepts are simple, but effective.
Top tips for creating a successful YouTube blog post:
Use these ideas to capture attention, build your profile and maybe even get people talking!
- Keep videos short and sweet and make sure you grab the attention of the viewer in the first ten seconds. People’s attention span online is vastly reduced than offline, so you need to grab them immediately.
- Include an element of entertainment, humour or interest. Remember that just because you think your idea is fabulous, others won’t necessarily, so get a second, third and fourth opinion.
- Steer clear of making it look and feel too much like an advertisement. That is generally not what will get the attention of YouTube viewers.
- However, that said, be sure to direct viewers back to you so they can buy from you. Your website at the end of the video clip is a good idea.
In future blog posts, I will share ideas on creating a brand and expert profile via regular YouTube videos.
MORE GREAT POSTS BY KERRY MCDULING
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Kerry McDuling – McDuling PRKerry McDuling is a publicist and Director of her own public relations and publicity consultancy McDuling PR and exposure speciality business, Stratosphere Me – building brands and developing profitable business opportunities for companies, authors, speakers and entrepreneurs.
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Have you checked-in lately? An introduction to location-based marketing for business
February 2, 2012
In March 2011, I heard one of the founders of location-based application, foursquare, speak at the South By South West Interactive festival in Austin, Texas. Up until that time, I’d not used location apps except for the occasional checkin through Facebook places.
Since then, however, I’ve been playing with foursquare to understand its application and how it can be used as a marketing tool for business.
Location-based applications work because they are available on mobile devices. Wherever I go, whatever I do, I can share with the world what I’m enjoying. And, if what I’m enjoying is a product or service that your business provides, then that’s good news for you.
The key part of using location-based applications is to CHECK IN.
By saying “I am here” at this location (restaurant, bar, show, place of interest, live event, playground) and (if I want to) posting comments and photos, I share what I like and dislike about this experience so that friends can take that information on board to make a better decision in the future.
And as the system gets to know what I like better, it’ll provide me recommendations — ’facilitate serendipity’ as co-founder Dennis Crowley explains in this video:
A newbies special – a great way to reward new clients
I had my first experience of foursquare as a business tool a few months back when I went to visit a local hair salon. When I checked-in (the application invites me to register my visit in order to accumulate points and to share with my social networks great places I’m visiting), a message popped up – a Newbies Special.
It offered me a free hand massage while I was waiting to have my hair done. I was chuffed. Who doesn’t like a freebie?
A few weeks later, I was traveling to Melbourne and while in the hotel bar grabbing a pre-dinner drink, checked in on my iPhone. Up popped a special from the restaurant. Free glass of wine with my meal. I was planning on having dinner there, so this extra little bonus was the source of a promotional message from me out to my friends to share my good fortune.
Both these instances are examples of how thousands of small businesses are harnessing the power of location-based applications like foursquare to connect with clients and to reward customer loyalty.
Who doesn’t want to be mayor?
Foursquare is acquiring over one million new users per month. Millions of people in every city, in every country, are checking in and playing the game of foursquare – vying to be mayor of their favourite establishment.
The built-in gaming technology (you win points for multiple visits, you get crowned the mayor if you’re a regular – and many establishments reward mayors with extra love, attention, discounts) keeps fans using the application because loyalty and use is rewarded and because the built-in rewards system of acquiring points and beating your friends to a high score work.
(Quick aside: I’m the Mayor at my gym. Now, that’s not because I go there more often than anyone else who trains there, but I religiously check in to maintain my mayorship. When I’ve been ousted and de-crowned! — which foursquare takes joy in letting me know the minute it happens — I’m quick to get back on my game to redeem my position. Sounds silly, but for the business, it’s a good testament. And, because each time I check in I have foursquare post to my social networks, those that I’m connected to on those networks get to see that I like going to this gym – and that’s a powerful endorsement when your customers are posting your name all over the social-media-sphere.)
Recommendations and referrals from people you trust
Dennis Crowley - Co-founder of foursquare
The ability to know what someone whom I trust thought of a place is a shortcut for me. Should I spend time going to that show or visiting that exhibition? My friends recommendations matter and I can know them by seeing what they said when they ‘checked in’.
It’s very clever.
Location-based marketing and your business
Facebook, despite having it’s Places application recently bought foursquare’s major competitor – so you can bet they know the power of location and are looking to make bigger waves in this aspect of social media and social sharing.
Still relatively new to businesses in Australia, foursquare is a powerful tool that should be explored as part of an integrated marketing campaign.
But what is foursquare and why has it become the hottest customer magnet ever conceived?
Here’s what bestselling author, David Meerman-Scott has to say:
“The power to reach buyers at the exact time and the exact place they’re looking for what you offer has massive implications for all kinds of businesses worldwide. Carmine Gallo expertly shows you how to tap into the foursquare revolution, and he does it with a practical approach you can put to work in your business right now. There’s an epic swarm and it’s time for you to check in!”
—DAVID MEERMAN SCOTT, bestselling author of Real-Time Marketing & PR
Join the Australian Businesswomen’s Network on 8 February for a closer look at foursquare
International bestselling author Carmine Gallo not only has had unprecedented first-hand access to foursquare’s founders, he also has interviewed dozens of business owners and marketers who have revolutionised their businesses through The Power of foursquare.
He joins us on 8 February as our guest on BOOKED for Lunch, a free lunchtime webinar during which we’ll interview Carmine and ask him about his new book The Power of foursquare.
You can read more about this free upcoming webinar here.
