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 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!

New Book on Promoting Your Business via Talk Radio

I just received a copy of Francine Silverman's book "Talk Radio for Authors: Getting Interviews Across the US and Canada." I previously interviewed Francine on how a small business entrepreneur can market their business through talk radio shows http://www.powerhomebiz.com/022007/talk-radio-marketing.htm so I was looking forward to getting a copy of the book.

The book is light on tips on how to land radio interviews or how to prepare for a radio interview. But it offers a comprehensive listing of radio shows all over the country, both big and small markets, categorized by industries. In fact, the book provides the much-needed information on the contact person for each radio show, the theme of the radio show and the expertise the show is looking for in a guest.

Under the section of Business, Careers and Marketing, here are summarized versions of a few of Francine's listings:

• Business of Success with Alan Rothman http://www.businessofsuccess.com = guests are typically CEOs, Preisdents, entrepreneurs (about 50-75%)
• Career Talk with Maggie Mistal http://www.maggiemistal.com = guests are experts in a career-related or work related fields or have a particular perspective on careers that are new and different
• The Entrepreneur Home Based Business Show with Paul and Sarah Edwards http://www.wsradio.com = self employment and working from home topics
• Growing Your Business Show with Fred Hueston and Lyna Farkas on All Talk Radio http://www.alltalkradio.net = specialties of guests include small business, entrepreneurs and home based businesses.

If you're interested in using talk radio shows to generate publicity for your business, I strongly suggest you check out Francine Silverman's new book.

How to Improve Effectiveness of Your Press Releases

Simply sending a press release will seldom, if at all, give you any press. Sure, you can use press releases to increase your link (if the press release distribution service you use actually give you a live link), but just using a distribution service is not a guarantee that it will be talked about by the media.

If you want more bang for your buck in terms of getting more results from your press releases, it is important to do your research. You need to make a targeted pitch. Media such as newspaper editors receive a lot of press releases per day, so you need to make sure that yours stand out among the rest.

For starters, be sure that your release format actually conforms to the standard press release format. Then make a list of publications that might be interested in your news release and your product. Include local publications as well. Contact the right editor/s and send your release to that person. One great resource that can help you in your research is Bacon's Newspaper and Magazine Directory -- check if the book is available in your local library.

Our section on publicity and public relations offer several articles on how to improve the effectiveness of your press releases

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