Press Releases: A Powerful Publicity Tool to Build Business Awareness

August 7, 2012 Leave a comment

One sure-fire way to get your business known is by using press releases. A press release is written material that announces a news type event. Television networks, radio stations, magazines, and newspapers as well as online resources will publish the announcement if your news story peaks interest.

People are interested in the news and are always looking for a good story. Business owners can use press releases to give them those good stories while making a name for their company. The best way to do that is to make sure the release is a story and not simply an advertisement for your business.

Press Releases Provide Powerful Benefits to Small and Big Business Owners Alike

Press Releases are the most popular means of providing publicity online and offline. They have many advantages that both small and big business owners can profit from. Some of those are:

More traffic to your site - The press release that gets published on one of the media outlets will have your website link provided within it. Those who have reviewed your release and want more information will click through the link or check out the website.

Build a brand - What better way to get your business name into the minds of your target audience or anyone who happens to read your press releases. The more a consumer sees your business name being mentioned the more likely they will remember it the next time they, or someone they know, is in need of your products.

Inexpensive way to get free publicity - Getting an effective press release written will cost you some money. Some will include the costs of submitting it for you, so the cost of getting the free publicity will be inexpensive.

Gain Credibility - The press release can also help to get your business more credibility. Potential consumers will start to see you as an expert in your field and think that you should be the one to go to when they need the products you offer.

What News Items You Can Create to Make an Effective Release

By no means should you wait around for something newsworthy to happen within your business before you can start benefiting from news releases. Why wait? Start now.

Create news stories from what’s already going on. Here are some things that could be turned into news stories for your news release:

  • Any contests that you’re planning
  • Starting your business
  • Getting more products to sell
  • Special Discounts/Sales
  • Fundraising events your business is helping with
  • Offering Free Items
  • Any Awards your business has won

Some of these stories can not only be newsworthy items but also show what a humanitarian you or your business is. Credibility comes into play again and we all know that credibility helps to build rapport with your target audience and gains you a higher “expert” level.

Press releases are one of the most powerful publicity tools available today for all business owners. Use it to your advantage and join all the other successful internet marketers who have used press releases many times in the past with very positive results.

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Filed under Advertising, Brand, Branding, Business, Consulting, Content, copy, Entrepreneur, Expert, Marketing, Media, SEO, Small business, Techniques, Tips, Writing Tagged with , , , , , ,

How to Get Covered by Offline Media

July 20, 2011 Leave a comment

by: NEIL PATEL

Who wouldn’t like to get their picture in a newspaper? In most cases it is just going to build up your name and provide the perception that you are successful. Most people do this by paying a PR company, but if you don’t have much money here is how you can get covered in publications such as the Wall Street Journal and Wired Magazine:

> Figure out who is in the limelight.

In my industry (Internet marketing) I noticed that sites like Digg and a lot of contributors on Digg were getting covered by online and offline media. The way I figured this out was by browsing through all the trade publications in my industry. Once I figured out who was getting the buzz I started to get to know some of those people. Some of the people who were getting interviewed listed their emails and AIM screen names publicly. I simply created a list and started contacting these individuals.

> Start asking questions

Once you get to know the people who are getting interviewed ask them on how they got contacted by the media. In most cases they will tell you that journalists just contact them because they found them on XYZ.com. What you want to do is try to replicate the effect they created as well as ask them if they can drop your name to the journalist because usually at the end of an interview a journalist will ask “do you know anyone else that I could potentially interview”. This should help increase the number of journalists that contact you.

> Build relationships

When you get interviewed by a journalist make sure you are very friendly. You want to build a relationship with the journalist so that the next time they need to interview someone in your industry they think of you. One of the things you should always do is give them more than they require because that will definitely improve the chances of them interviewing you in the future.

> Rinse and repeat

After you do this with a few people you need to keep the wheels in motion and not stop there. The thing with media is that one minute one thing maybe hot and the next minute something else is hot. You have to keep on finding the people who are getting interviewed as well as build relationships with journalists because the window for you to get in there is very small.

Good Luck!

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Filed under Advertising, Brand, How To, Marketing, Media Tagged with , , , ,

The 6 Step Advertising Process

May 4, 2011 Leave a comment

By: Josh Druck

Step 1: Identify Your Purpose – Clearly identify one purpose that you expect your advertising to serve. Advertising is usually used to: Inform customers that your product or service is available and tells them how to get it. Persuade customers that your product or service is better than your competitors’. Remind consumers to use your product or service.

Step 2: Target Your Audience – Assuming that you know what you want to say and why you want to say it (your purpose), the next step is to clearly identify to whom you want to say it.  You want to advertise to people who will buy your product or use your service. Market research can tell you who and where your target customers are.

Step 3: Select a Medium – You want to reach as many potential customers as possible with the most effective, efficient, and affordable medium you can select for the advertising.

Step 4: Create the Ad – Beyond the widespread interest in great, creative advertising, your product or service, purpose and budget are the realistic parameters of what you can and cannot do with your creative advertising strategy. Make sure that your ad is always appropriate for your audience, product, service and budget.

Step 5: Place and Time the Ad – The proper selection of where your advertisement goes and when it is shows is crucial to the success of your advertising campaign.

When selecting where to place your ad consider these: Markets, Media Selection, and Placement (where and when your ad runs).

To determine when consider these: Time of Year, Month, Week, Day of the Week, and Hour of the Day.

Step 6: Fulfill Expectations – A great ad was released, at the right time and place. Make sure that you can fulfill the promises mentioned in your advertisement. Meet the customers’ expectations and continue to optimize your advertising strategy through tracking and new innovative technologies.

Filed under Advertising, How To, Josh Druck, Management, Marketing, Small business, Tips Tagged with , , ,

The Difference Between Marketing, PR, Advertising, and Personal Branding

June 17, 2010 2 Comments

A while back on Ads of the World and Pronet Advertising, the difference between marketing, PR, advertising, and branding was discussed through pictures.

Marketing

If you take a close look at the pictures from a personal branding perspective you’ll notice that you definitely don’t want to market yourself as well as advertise yourself. Doing these two things makes you seem a bit desperate. Telling a woman that you are a great lover usually doesn’t mean much because it is coming out of your mouth. And if you go one step further by repeating that you are a great lover (advertising), you can definitely count on the woman not believing you. But on the other hand if a woman tells another woman that you are a great lover or if a woman tells you that “I hear you are a great lover” chances are you are going to get laid.

If you want to brand yourself you need to understand that it is much more effective when other people talk about you in a positive fashion compared to self-promotion.

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Filed under Brand, Marketing Tagged with , ,

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