How do you best promote yourself, your business or your cause using publicity?
The list could easily be 100 items long. But 14 items stand out that can make
yours a winning publicity campaign. If you follow these 14 tips, you
tremendously increase your chances of getting publicity.
Even better, all 14 tips are easy to put into action.
Here are the Magic 14:
1. Establish a Consistent Look - A great way to get your release pulled
and looked at first, is if the editor becomes familiar with your name and
the look and quality of your previous stories.
2. Submit Anything To Start Off With - Get your name on file. Whether
or not they run your first story isn’t important, you just want to have a
"previous story" on file the next time something important in your field
comes up.
3. Keep On Submitting - Always be on the lookout for good stories.
Editors need to see your name popping up regularly, not just once or
twice a year.
4. Watch The News - Become "The Authority" on your subject. Watch
what’s happening around the world. Send out timely press releases
connecting your story to local, national or world news. Be ready when
editors call wanting to know about something that broke the news this
morning.
5. Keep Up On The Trades - Understanding the trends and aims of your
profession is essential to your being able to speak knowledgeably when
called on short notice.
6. Piggyback Your Cause - Find community events where you can offer
your services. If media personalities know you can deliver a good
interview, they’ll be very interested in talking to you.
7. Be A Character - Don’t be afraid to get out of yourself. Study
successful talk show hosts. Watch how they work topics, how they keep
your attention. Become a fun, knowledgeable person to interview. Your
character is as important to an interviewer as your story is. You don’t
have to be outrageous (although that can be a real plus), just an
enjoyable, knowledgeable expert in your field.
8. Network In All The Right Places - Go to the gala balls, the fund
raising banquets, the Lions Club or Country Club events. Anywhere the
press might be looking, be sure they see you hanging out. Make a point
of striking up a conversation as often as comfortably possible.
9. Remember Names - Everybody loves to hear their name. Especially
reporters. Carry a small spiral notebook and write down names and
details on every media person you meet. It helps immensely in
remembering who they are the next time you run across them around
town.
10. Be 100% Reliable - Reporters become incredibly frustrated when
someone cancels or postpones an interview ’ or worse, don’t show for
the interview. Establish a rock solid reputation for being a reliable
interview. Also become known as a person who can be available on
short notice for an interview. Reporters will love you for that.
11. Be A Source Of Referrals - Many times the reporter interviewing you
will ask for the names of two or three other people in your field they can
interview. Don’t be afraid to give them the names. There are three
solid reasons for this. First, the people you refer to them will be very
grateful to you for the opportunity. Second, the reporter will be grateful
and will look on you as a great source of information. And third, very
frankly, the people you refer to the reporter will almost certainly not
know how to either do a good interview or how to turn that interview
into additional business. It’s very unlikely these other people and their
interviews will be a threat to your business.
12. Follow Up On Stories - ALWAYS send thank you notes for any
interview or story a paper or station runs. With a little imagination you
can often parlay this "after the fact" moment into more coverage. One
singer more than doubled her coverage by sending flowers to a PBS
television station after her interview thanking them for the time and
wishing them a successful fund drive (which just happened to be in
progress). Her flowers and note kept showing up all day, along with
clips from her interview.
13. Stay In Charge Of The Interview - Don’t let interviewers take off on
their own paths. Remember always, you are the authority on this topic
and a bad interview will ultimately reflect only on you. If an interviewer
is trying to dig in areas the general public will find boring, be courteous,
answer the questions quickly, and then point the conversation where it
should be headed, towards the more fascinating and lively topics. A
good Q&A, following my system, will almost guarantee that you stay in
control of the interview from beginning to end.
14. Finally, Don’t Be Afraid To Create News - Write a book, do a survey,
author a research project, anything that’ll take yours out of the "boring
profession" category. Always look for the angles you know will fascinate
the general public and become the authority in those areas.
My favorite saying concerning the media is: "Media people are very willing
to make you as famous and wealthy as you’d like if you just give them a good
story."
There are tens of thousands of media people waiting for your good
stories. Give them what they want and they’ll reward you very handsomely.
# # #
Paul Hartunian is widely considered the world’s leading authority on writing press
releases and getting publicity for any product, service, cause or issue.
Subscribe to Paul’s free publicity ezine “Million Dollar Publicity Tactics”. By going to
http://www.Hartunian.com/ezine. Also be sure to check out all the great free
publicity resources at his website
http://www.Hartunian.com
Also be sure to read the story of how Paul used press releases and publicity to
become the first person in history to really sell the world famous Brooklyn Bridge.
You can read the story at http://www.Hartunian.com/bridge.html
You can reach Paul at (973) 857-4142 or by email at href="mailto:Paul@Hartunian.com">Paul@Hartunian.com.
