Inside Small Business | Small Business & Home Business Marketing

8 Low-Cost (or No-Cost) Public Relations Strategies for Business Growth

By Margie Zable Fisher, President, Zable Fisher Public Relations

Need to jump-start your business? Here are eight low-cost public relations strategies to grow your business:

1. Send an E-mail Newsletter or E-mail Update. The only cost is your time and a bit of money (if you use a newsletter program like Constant Contact) – and the benefits can be huge. Not only will you be perceived as an expert, but you may also get direct business and/or referrals from people who see your name often. Jeff Gitomer, who writes a sales column for Business Journals around the country, sends out a weekly e-mail newsletter to over 100,000 subscribers. He directly attributes hundreds of thousands of dollars annually in new business just from his newsletter.

Consistency is important: If you can’t commit to a weekly newsletter, send it out monthly. Newsletters should contain valuable information that helps your readers, and promote your business as well. Providing timely information increases the likelihood that recipients will actually open, read — and act on — your E-Mail Newsletter.

2. Hold free or low-cost seminars. When you present a seminar, you gain instant credibility just by being the speaker. This can lead to new prospects, referral sources and strategic alliances. One local plastic surgeon (and former client) has been giving free seminars for years. He brings in actual patients who have had surgery, shows their “Before� pictures, then lets the audience see the patients after surgery. He has more business than he can handle.

3. Use testimonials. What’s more effective – you tooting your own horn, or someone else tooting it? Testimonials are powerful – use them as much as possible – in marketing materials, on your Web site, during promotional activities.

4. Send a personal thank-you note and/or gift. Nobody has ever gotten annoyed or insulted by a thank-you. An E-mail thank-you note is fine, but a hand-written, snail-mail note is even better. You have to decide whether or not to send a gift – some industries or businesses aren’t allowed to accept gifts. But a thank-you note is always welcome. Realtor Becky Woodbridge of Becky Woodbridge Properties is a master at this. Whenever I meet with her or help her with anything, she sends a thank-you note and sometimes a small gift (bottle of wine, t-shirt, backpack, etc.). This helps me think of her fondly, and often.

5. Remember birthdays. There’s only one company that sends me a birthday card every year, a local spa that offers a 20% discount on services during the month of my birthday. And every year I use the discount coupon. The moral of this story: Everybody (and every body) likes to be remembered on their special day. So if you don’t forget to remember, it can mean business for you.

6. Work with charities. You have lots of options here. Obviously, you can give money. But you can also give your time and talent, whether you help with fund-raising or sit on the Board of Directors. You can donate to silent auctions at events. You can sponsor an event or a local kids’ sports team. Or you can offer services or products that charities need, such as printing, food, etc. Whatever you do will establish you as someone who cares about the community. And studies have shown that people would rather do business with people who contribute to the community. Most important of all - it’s the right thing to do.

7. Write a guest column. In most Chamber newsletters, and often in business and industry-specific publications, you have the opportunity to contribute information that will help members. Sure, this takes time and effort, but it’s a free opportunity to showcase your own ideas and abilities. It’s also free advertising for you and your business, since your name and contact information are also included.

8. Get involved in a leadership position within your industry group. A few years ago, Milwaukee, WI-based Barb Friedman, owner of Organize IT, served as President of the Wisconsin Chapter of the National Association of Professional Organizers. At that time, the Dr. Phil Show was putting together a story about a woman who was very disorganized and also happened to live in Wisconsin. Because Barb was President of the Organizers Chapter, she was the person contacted to appear on the show — reaping P.R. dividends and business ever since.

Here’s my promise: Any one (or more) of these strategies, done correctly and consistently, will put you in the driver’s seat. And what better place to be when you travel on the Road to Success!

Margie Zable Fisher is the president of Zable Fisher Public Relations (ZFPR), based in Boca Raton, FL. ZFPR is a virtual agency, with team members throughout the U.S., Canada and internationally. Each team member has a unique specialty, such as media relations, events and specialized writing. To get the Free Special Report, “10 Killer Publicity Ideas,” visit www.zfpr.com.

Copyright 2006 Margie Zable Fisher

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Understanding Public Relations and What it Can do for Your Business. (Part 2)

Writing a Press Release and Getting it in Front of Reporters
BY NOELLE BATES
Director of Corporate Communications, LogoWorks

In last month’s ‘Marketing Tips & Secrets’, I wrote about public relations – what public relations is, and specifically about the component of public relations called media relations (to view this article, click here). As a refresher, media relations is the arm of public relations that is concentrated on dealing with the media – working with the media to place stories, developing relationships with reporters and journalists, and making sure that the press understands and writes favorably about a company.

For a small business, putting together a media relations strategy that will help it get press coverage, and therefore third party credibility, it is crucial to understand how to write a press release. A press release is a statement prepared for distribution to the media. The purpose of a press release is to give journalists information that is useful, accurate and interesting.

But writing a press release is not the whole story – you must actually get it in front of the right people. This involves writing a press release that is interesting, and then knowing how to get a reporter to look at it.

Press releases are a fundamental of any small company’s media relations strategy. In this article, I will focus on how to write a press release, and how to get it in front of the right people based on the news you are trying to share.

THINGS TO CONSIDER BEFORE WRITING YOUR PRESS RELEASE

Press releases follow the Who, What, Why, Where and How construct, but another element that is important for the press release is what I call the “So What?” component. Why should a reporter our journalist care about your news? Reporters at larger papers, on average, are sent anywhere from 25-100 press releases a day, so there has to be something about your news that makes it stand out enough to warrant coverage (be sure to also read the second article in this newsletter by Rhonda Abrams on ‘Getting Publicity for Your Business’ for more tips on writing an effective press release).

It helps to know what are newsworthy items, or when you should issue a press release. Here is a list of announcements that are appropriate:

• A new product or service
• Launching a brand-new company
• New hire in the executive ranks
• Winning a large contract or client
• Becoming involved in a sponsorship deal
• Expanding or opening a new outlet
• Winning an industry award
• Holding a speaking event, panel event, round-table discussion or debate
• Making a large donation to charity
• Conducting research in your arena that has produced interesting statistics

Once you’ve determined if your news item is warrants issuing a press release, it’s important to write your press release correctly since press releases conform to an established format.

However, before you embark on putting your fingers on the keyboard, know that your release needs to be concise and well-written. A good way to ensure your press release is tossed out is because it’s too long and includes poor spelling or grammar or illogical and unsubstantiated claims (like saying your company sells something cheaper than anyone else if you aren’t absolutely positive that it does).

WRITING YOUR PRESS RELEASE

First, at the top of every press release a media contact should be listed. The media contact is the person who will be sending and/or receiving emails and calls from the media and who would work with them to help develop any stories that might arise.

Second, the title of the press release should be listed in bolded and larger font. It should also be centered. The title needs to concisely state the main news of the press release, and if there is secondary information that is important for the release, listing a subhead right under the title is very common. Here is an example of a title and subhead and how they are displayed:

Next, before the first paragraph in the press release, you need to include a dateline. The dateline indicates the location from which the news is coming, as well as the date that the news is announced. For the fictional restaurant above, the dateline would be in bold and would look as follows:

Denver, CO – February 15, 2005 – [First paragraph of press release starts here] The first paragraph of a press release should contain in brief detail what the press release is about. The first paragraph usually consists of three or four sentences, where the editor or journalist can ascertain all of the important information about the announcement.

The second paragraph explains the ‘who cares’ aspect of a press release. The first couple of sentences in the second paragraph provide more details about the release. Then, the reason why the news is important or how it affects the company is usually best summed up through a quote from the president, CEO or spokesperson of the company. Oftentimes, the quote is taken verbatim from the press release and included in a story that might appear, and that’s the point – a good press release allows a journalist to get the details he or she needs to write a comprehensive story. Quotes should be short and enhance the news, and should be something you’d actually read in a newspaper, so steer clear of flowery or “hyped-up” wording.

The rest of the press release (and generally, it is best to keep the release to one page if possible) explains in greater detail the content of the news announcement. For instance, if you were to issue a press release about a new executive, you would want to include their previous history to illustrate why hiring them is going to be beneficial to the company. You might also include another quote from a different source. For example, in the fictional release about Murphy’s Restaurant, you might want to include what the organization giving the award said about why they won the award.

Under the closing paragraph, it is customary to include what is known as a boilerplate, which is a 100-200 word overall summary and description of the organization issuing the press release. For example, LogoWorks’s boilerplate reads as follows:

About LogoWorks
LogoWorks is the world’s largest and fastest-growing provider of logo design services to small businesses. The company solves a simple problem — small businesses don’t have good options for getting a well-designed logo or other graphic design services at an affordable price. The company pioneered a new model of design that leverages a team of designers on each project in order to create more variety and choice for the customer. To date, LogoWorks has empowered thousands of businesses with the same quality of design that used to be available only to larger businesses, at prices just a fraction of the cost: $265-$549. LogoWorks is located in Lindon, Utah. For more information about LogoWorks, please visit www.LogoWorks.com.
And for the finishing touch, the end of a press release is noted by three # symbols and is centered a few spaces from the closing sentence.

DISTRIBUTING YOUR RELEASE

News wires are the most trusted source of getting your press release posted. Most reporters, particularly newspaper reporters, scan the wires on a daily basis to find local news that warrants coverage.

Setting up an account with a reputable company like Business Wire (www.businesswire.com) is a good idea if you have national or statewide news to share. Business Wire account managers can help you determine how to post your release based on the news you’re delivering. You can target your release to different industries, markets, states, or segments of the country, and the different distributions differ in price. For instance, Business Wire’s 2004 rates listed putting a 400-word release out to just the state of California would cost $175, while distributing a 400-word release nationally will cost $595. (Contact Business Wire for 2005 rates).

If your news has a local bent to it, you may just want to email or fax the release to your local paper instead of incurring the cost of distributing a release on the wire. This is done by putting together a target list. A target list includes the names and contact information of the media personnel your news would most appeal to. Most newspapers and magazines list their masthead online, including contact information. If you can’t find it online, calling the main news number or editorial office for that information is a common practice. This advice also applies to TV newsrooms, however, for a story to appear on TV there must be a strong visual component to your news that would warrant coverage.

Target lists are vital to any ongoing media relations strategy. They allow you to develop relationships with specific reporters, and will help you get your news out to the right people every time. Even when I post a release to the wire, I will email the press release individually to each person on my target list. Note that I say ‘individually.’ Do not email the release to a mass group of reporters on the same list. Send out a personal email to each of them with a note at the top about the announcement, and cut and paste the release into the body of the email below (do not send an attachment).

Calling to follow-up on your release can be a touchy subject. Many reporters prefer email and will call you if they would like more information, while some reporters do not mind having you call to follow-up on the release. You will learn each reporter’s preference as you work with them, so it’s a good idea to keep notes about your interaction with certain reporters and what worked, what didn’t, and what they told you about how they prefer to receive your news.

Be sure to read the next article by Rhonda Abrams, a journalist who has received countless press releases, on writing effective press releases.

Good luck!

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Getting Publicity for Your Business

BY RHONDA ABRAMS
Gannett News Service Small Business Columnist and President of The Planning Shop

“Alert the media!”

Wouldn’t it be nice if you could get free publicity for your business? Imagine what it would do for your business if newspapers, magazines, or TV or radio stations ran stories praising your amazing products or outstanding service. We’d all like good publicity for our companies, but how do we get reporters and editors to notice us?

The basic building block for any publicity effort is the press release (also called a media release).

Of course, it takes a lot more than just sending out a press release to get coverage, but writing a good press release is a critical first step.

When designing your press release, remember most people in the media are overworked. If you make your story “easy” for them - in the sense that all the details are there - the better your chances of getting publicity.

Most importantly, you’ve got to have something the readers, listeners, or viewers of a media outlet will find interesting. Sure, you think it’s important you’ve promoted Ann Wong to vice president, but why would others care? Is she the first woman/minority/disabled person to reach this level? Is she only 17 years old?

What you need is a “hook.” A hook is an aspect of your story that connects readers to other things they know or care about; a hook makes your news compelling. Some stories are naturally compelling: a closely-contested election, a hot sports contest, a really cool new consumer product. But let’s face it: most of us don’t have stories that are naturally attention-grabbing.

Instead, we need an angle showing our story is timely, amusing, informative. One easy way is to tie your story to outside events that generate their own publicity, such as holidays, local celebrations, sporting events, or new legislation. Reporters always need timely tie-ins.

Here are other tips to help your press release be successful:

• Be creative. Reporters are tired of seeing the same old stories. The offbeat and unusual grab attention. Sometimes just a little “twist” on a story is enough, for instance, if you’re an accountant, you might want to send out a list of the “Ten Worst Tax Deductions” instead of the Ten Best.
• Be visual: Television, in particular, needs visually stimulating stories, but having a good photo opportunity also increases your chance of making it into the newspaper. Find ways to make your story visual: like the pet store that holds an Easter parade with pets in Easter bonnets.
• Work with others: Leverage the power of other organizations to gain visibility; consider unlikely coalitions, not just similar interest groups. Often, these organizations will have their own public relations staff or existing relationships with reporters, thus increasing the chance of you getting coverage.
• Use statistics: Media outlets love numbers. If you can provide objective, trustworthy information related to your industry or market, you’ve got a better chance of having the story covered. You’re likely to get more coverage if you include colorful graphic representations of the statistics if possible.
• Be available: No one can cover or quote you if they can’t reach you. Include all your phone numbers and contact information at the top right corner of your press release. And don’t send out a press release and then leave on vacation.
• Follow-up: Reporters get hundreds of press releases a week. They’re not necessarily going to read yours. Make a follow-up phone call, or two, and send an email to bring attention to your story.
• Respect deadlines: Don’t call reporters when they’re “on deadline,” typically late afternoon for daily journalists. Mid-morning is usually the best time.
• Do your homework: Get to know which media outlets (TV, radio, newspapers, Internet sites, trade publications) cover your industry or the type of story you’re likely to have.
• Develop a database of appropriate journalists. There’s no use sending a press release about your cooking school to the sports editor (unless a sports star is one of your students). If possible, get to know key journalists personally.

Finally, keep trying - over and over! You’re much more likely to get coverage if you send press releases regularly and repeatedly. Don’t give up!

About Rhonda Abrams
For over 15 years, Rhonda Abrams has provided business planning expertise to literally hundreds of thousands of entrepreneurs and businesses. She is the author of the best-selling The Successful Business Plan: Secrets & Strategies, now in its fourth edition, and several other business planning books. Rhonda is the Gannett News Service Small Business Columnist. Her nationally-syndicated column on small business strategies appears in about 100 newspapers and also USAToday.com as well as the Costco Connection reaching 20 million readers a week. A popular public speaker, Rhonda is frequently invited to speak at conferences, corporate meetings, and workshops. She is a graduate of UCLA and holds a master’s degree from Harvard. Learn more about Rhonda, her writings, and her speaking engagements at www.PlanningShop.com. You’ll also find all sorts of business tidbits on her blog.

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