Public Relation (PR) Tools for Your Business

When you think of public relations, the first thing that comes to mind is a press release. A press release is, and will always remain to be an important tool for reaching the media and getting the word out about your business.

But there are other ways to tap the media, and here are some strategies you can use for your business:

• Bullet articles = readers and editors love articles with numbered tips -- e.g. 10 Ways to Save on Taxes; 6 Steps to Losing 10 Pounds; or 81 Tips to Market Your Business on the Web. Editors love this type of article because they can easily be used, especially if a space needs to be filled up quick. However, the articles should really be useful and not a veiled advertisement about your business.
  
• Market Studies = one type of press release that never fails to get a lot of usage from the media are results of quantitative or qualitative surveys. Editors as well as bloggers (myself included) love publishing survey results because of the unique perspective and information they provide. Think of your market and what would others find interesting. Then come up with a possible survey. You can enlist the help of market research professionals or use do-it-yourself tools such as SurveyMonkey.com.
  
• Talk radio = Radio shows are always searching for interesting guests. If you have an expertise that you can share, and you can speak well (no long pauses or aaahhhs punctuating every sentence), radio shows can be a great tool to reach a wide variety of audiences. For detailed tips on how to use talk radio, read the article "Using Talk Radio To Market Your Small and Home-Based Business"
  
• Article Reprints = If you or your business has been previously featured in a print publication, make sure you get reprints of that article. Not only can you use it to include in your press kits, but you can send those reprints to editors of other publications to see if they would be interested to feature your products or service, or about your success.

The Secret of Sending Press Releases

ChiefMarketer.com has a very interesting article that summarizes the essential elements of an effective press release. I've read a lot of articles on how to make your press release stand out and get noticed, but this article does a good job in outlining the strategies to ensure better pickup of your press releases:

• Set an objective - who do you want to read your release?
• Make your story relevant and real - how is your business revolutionizing the industry and what sets you apart from your competitors?
• Sell your company - what makes your organization unique?
• Drop names - they can give added credibility to your release
• Punch up the headline - the headline is what sells
• Provide hard numbers - stats grab attention
• Cater to reporters - give them all the information they need and make it easy for them to write about your business
• Remember the basics

You can read the article at ChiefMarketer.com

The Value of Media Mentions

In today's highly competitive environment, you need to employ as many marketing arsenals as possible to increase awareness to your business and get the word out about your products and services. One of the best ways is to get mentions from the media.

Getting mentioned in a newspaper, TV or radio can benefit your business in a number of ways:

• Branding - the fact that a respected publication mentioned your business gives it credibility


• Prestige - getting mentioned by the media particularly the top guns like Wall Street Journal or CNN is certainly prestigious


• Marketing tool - some even go to the extent of ordering reprints of the media mention to showcase to existing and prospective customers that a major media outfit mentioned them; while others include the link to the media web site in their PR pages on their website

So how do you get mentioned in the media? Some of the strategies to get your business in the radar of these media organizations include:

• Hiring a PR firm to help pitch your expertise to media outlets


• Sending press releases


• Contacting editors and letting them know how your ideas can help the articles and stories they are working on


• Creating great content in your website

PowerHomeBiz.com mainly relies on the quality of its content to get the attention of media. Most recently, some of the mentions we received include

• Forbes.com "Differentiate or Die" article


• Long Island Business News


• Essence Magazine "Make Your Day Pay Off" article

One main caveat though: media mentions hardly give you live links. So if you think that being mentioned in Forbes.com can result in huge traffic, unfortunately, they did not give a live link back to PowerHomeBiz.com. So traffic wise, you can't expect a huge upsurge in traffic as these organizations are very stingy in giving hyperlinks. Though if they give you a link, such as a Wall Street Journal article that previously featured PowerHomeBiz.com, the traffic can be amazing.

So if you are looking at traffic building, you're better off working with bloggers than the media as bloggers tend to give live links -- hence traffic -- to sites that they mention in their blogs. But if you want prestige, bragging rights and credibility, strive to get mentioned in a major or local media organization. Better yet, do both!

Using Talk Radio to Market Your Business

A couple of weeks ago, I interviewed Francine Silverman, an author and a publicity expert, on how to market your small business through talk radios.

I am not a radio listener, so I was surprised to learn that radio reaches 94% of consumers every week according to the Radio Advertising Bureau’s study “Radio Marketing Guide and Fact Book.” The study also found that consumers listened to the radio for about 20 hours per week -- with every minute representing an opportunity for your message to be heard.

Francine gave a number of great information on how you can tap the radio for your business. She has created her own Internet radio show Book Marketing with Fran on Achieve Radio and specializes in helping authors tap the radio to publicize their books. She has a new book coming out entitled “Talk Radio for Authors,” which contains valuable information on talk radio shows across the U.S. and Canada that invite authors as guests.

To complement my article, my colleague Lyve Pleshette wrote an article on how to get guesting or interview spots on talk radio. You can read the articles at

• Using Talk Radio To Market Your Small and Home-Based Business
• Radio Marketing: How To Get Invited To Guest On Radio Talk Shows