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It doesn't matter what kind of business you are operating, you should want, even strive for, as much publicity for your business, your products or services, as possible.
It is "free advertising" after all, isn't it? And as we have said repeatedly, advertising is essential to the success and growth of your business.
In the simplest of terms, product publicity is the most basic kind of low/no cost advertising that seems to almost always bring orders into your business.
Probably not since the advent of the printing press itself has there been a better, more effective form of generating publicity than through the use of what's known as the press or news release. The release is most usually a single page story or article about your business, your product/service, or an event related to your business that will soon happen or has just recently occurred. These publicity announcements are generally blasted out to all of the various media outlets: local newspapers, radio and TV, and trade publications.
You should have a well thought out publicity strategy, just as you should plan out any marketing campaign you implement in your business. Pre-planning these publicity efforts will assure maximum results.
The most difficult aspect of this strategy is getting the people to whom you've sent these publicity announcements, to publish or broadcast them. Which leads us right back to the issue of what's the best or "right way " of writing them and submitting them.
The absolute surest way to approach this is to send a short cover letter addressed to the person you want your material to be considered by. This usually means that you send your article to one of the following:
- the city editor of the newspapers
- the news directors of the radio and TV station
- the managing editors of the various trade publications
The most critical thing here is that you make contact with the person who has the authority to make the final decision on what is published or broadcast. Make sure you structure the article so that person's use of your material will ultimately make them out to look like the "hero" to their readers, viewers, or listeners, describing how you're a long-time advertiser, subscriber, or listener will do you no good whatsoever.
It's also important to remember to avoid sending your material to the advertising, circulation, or business managers. They rarely, if ever, have the authority to sign-off on publishing your story.
The Note
Start with your cover letter. This cover letter should be in the form of a short note.
From a local office supply store, you will want to get about a hundred or so sheets of good bond paper - 8½” X 11”, preferably in a pastel colour such as blue or ivory. Either have them cut the paper into quarters (if they can) or do it yourself so that you have a grand total of 400 sheets of this notepaper.
Stay away from those pre-printed "From the desk of..." note sheets at first, they are too elaborate to use as a cold introduction. Wait until the people you're contacting get to know you and have used your material, then you might go to these semi-formal note sheets.
This note sheet should start with the date across the top. Then skip down a couple of rows and very quickly and succinctly let the recipient of the note know that the attached material is something new and should be of real interest to their readers, viewers or listeners.
Below is an example of a note that you might send out to the editors and news directors of the media in your area (this note should be typed and double-spaced):
"Here's something brand new and truly helpful, for a change, to anyone trying to cope with the soaring costs of living while engaged in trying to build an extra income business of their own. This should be of interest and great value to your readers. Please look it over and if you have any questions, or if you want more info, give me a call at (XXX) XXX-XXXX..."
Then skip down about another three or four spaces and type:
- your name
- your business name
- your address
Then sign your name above where it's typed, and staple this note in the upper right-hand corner of your news release.
Okay, now you've finished putting together your cover letter, and you know who to send it to. It's time to change our focus to the Press Release itself. It should go without saying that it must be neatly typed, but for the sake of clarity I've gone ahead and stated the obvious.
The page format should look like this:
- One inch margin from the top and bottom of the paper
- One and a half inch margin on both the left and right sides of the paper
The text should be as follows: From the left hand margin on the top line, typed in all capital letters and underlined: “PRESS RELEASE:”, then immediately following the colon, but not in all capital letters, type in the date (always set the date forward by at least one day after the day you intend to mail the release).
On the right-hand side of the page also on the top line, and in all capital letters and underlined, type the words, “FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:” Immediately below that, but not in all capital letters, type your name - your address - and your phone number.
Skip a couple of rows down from the top line and type a story headline centred between the margins. Skip down the page another couple of rows and from the left-hand margin, type the words, “FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:” in all capital letters.
After that, it's the news or publicity story itself.
It really doesn't matter whether you write the headline to fit the story or the story to fit the headline, either way, you should think of it as the same as writing a space ad or a sales letter. You attract attention and interest with the headline and fill in the details using the story.
Here's an example of some headlines we have used on publicity blurbs for promoting our products:
FREE REPORT: “SIMPLE AFFILIATE MARKETING”
You should use this opportunity to continue to sell and engage the editor. Their readers are always looking to them for better ways to make life easier, and these editors are specifically interested in what our promise involves. They will want their readers to "think confidently" of the information they provide to them so they will read deeply into the story to find out who, what, where, when, and how.
The person you send your press or publicity release too, must quickly see and understand how your product or service will benefit their readers (making the editor a hero to their readers in the process) and the editor must absolutely be assured your product will do what you promise in your headline.
Your headline and the story you present to the editor is what you will use to accomplish this. This point is so critical that it bears repeating, the headline and story must be written in such a way as to impress the editors on the benefits your product or service delivers to their readers, and unless it specifically does this, they will not use it.
Don't beat around the bush or try to be coy or slick in your writing. Always come right to the point and sell the benefits of your product, whether that means that your product is lower in price or more convenient to use or whatever it may be. Describe in what way your product or service is useful to these people in general.
You will also want to include a complimentary sample of your product or an opportunity for the editors to sample your services.
If you have been following along with this discussion the advantages and concepts here should be clear by now, however, there is more yet to come, so let's get right into it.
The people you are engaged in these business discussions with are not in the least bit interested in you or your credentials. Don't forget, the editors looking at your information are fully aware of it's intent - Free Advertising! If you've sold them on the benefits of your business to deliver value to their readers, and they want more details, they will call you.
That's why you list your telephone number and address and that's why you need to focus on the benefits your business can offer.
Editors are very busy people. They just don't have the time, nor the interest in reading about your trials and tribulations or your plans for the future. They're only looking for "a heads up" alert, notifying them to something new and of possible real interest to their readers.
Sell the editor first. Convince them that you've built the better mousetrap. Show them that your product or service (aka - your business) fills a need and will be of interest to a large segment of their readers, viewers, or listeners.
Be sure that you always follow-up with a short thank you note to an editor that uses your publicity release.
If your first publicity effort is unsuccessful, then try reviewing your materials; maybe you can write it from a different perspective. You should also make sure you're sending it to the proper person – and then try again!
Never, and I mean never, send a publicity release to an editor and then call or write demanding to know why they didn't use it, didn't use it as you wrote it, or only gave you a quick mention. Do this only once, and that particular media will "file 22" (trashcan) any further material received from you, unopened! This is very unprofessional and will get you and your business blacklisted in a hurry.
As we stated earlier, these people are very busy, with hundreds of publicity releases passing across their desks every day and they only have so much time to read & consider them and only so much space to publish them, therefore your material has to immediately jump out at them and in some significant way, fit with the information the editors want to pass along to their readers, viewers or listeners.
Irrespective of your business or product/service, you have to write your press release from a perspective or about a feature that makes it beneficial or of interest to the readers, viewer or listeners of the media you are wanting to run your press release. Without this special ingredient, you've lost the war before you've even fought your first battle!
And as with many things in business (as-well-as marketing) timing of your press release can mean everything. Associating your press release with current events in the news, i.e. A story on job layoffs and increased unemployment carried in the newspapers, on TV and radio, would prompt us to get a publicity release out to all the media outlets around on the help and opportunity offered by “SIMPLE AFFILIATE MARKETING”!
Another example might be that there's a flood of chain letters and pyramid schemes spreading through the community, which the media picks up on it and attempts to warn the people to beware! If you had a product to answer this issue, you could get a publicity release out, explaining the availability of your product that deals with this problem on chain letters and pyramid schemes within 3 to 5 days – perhaps a report that explains everything from “A to Z - who're the winners and who're the real losers”.
There's yet another kind of timing you must also keep in mind...and that's 'Publication deadlines'. For best results, it has always been our experience to try to time it so your materials reach the editor in time for the Sunday paper. This seems to work better because that's when the papers have their greatest circulation and the most space is available.
It is also best because it's when people have the most time to read the paper, so there is a greater possibility of more people seeing your release.
If you would like your article to appear in the Sunday paper, you'll generally have to get your release in at least nine days prior to the date of publication, but it's a good idea to call and ask about the deadline date, just to be sure. This will allow you to plan so you can react quickly to any developing opportunities you see arising. Responding faster than anybody else can, gives you a definite advantage over your competitors
IN SUMMARY:
Choose the media most likely to carry your press release. Select those that carry similar write-ups on a regular basis.
Always use a cover letter of some kind. It pays to call ahead to find out the name of the person you should be sending your press release to and the publishing deadline dates.
Use the proper press release form, complete with a headline that will interest the person deciding whether or not to use your item.
Be sure your press release is letter-perfect - no typo's or misspelled words - and don't photo-copy - always have each letter or press release individually typed or printed.
When your item is used, send a thank you note or call the editor on the phone and thank them for using your press release.
Never, and I mean never, call or write an editor demanding to know why they didn't use your press release, why they had it rewritten or cut it short - just try, and try again!
It should be obvious to you by now at just how effective this strategy can be and it's not really all that complicated to implement within any business model.
Next time we start a new 2-part discussion series titled “Classified & Display Advertising, What You Should Know.”, you won't want to miss.
Please leave a comment below to let us know how we’re doing.
Feel free to leave any suggestions for future posts or content. Or ask any questions regarding anything you don’t understand or need help with, I would be happy to help in any way I can.
I hope you find this information helpful. Thank you for reading.
P.S. A Business doesn’t have to be complicated, expensive, or time-consuming. We can show you a better way. CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE
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