Rembrandt’s Blog

As a new business owner, it’s easy to rush through publicity efforts in order to concentrate or core business activities and priorities. But before you contact the media or post a press release, ask yourself if the information you’re about to send is really newsworthy.

Will a reporter really care about what you have to say?

If you can’t answer this question accordingly, you need to conduct additional research, rework your story angle or rewrite your announcement. Focus on a specific benefit, current industry trend or unique idea.

Once you rewrite your announcement, have a regular customer, or someone in your target market, read it. At the very least, have co-workers, friends or family members review the information. Do they think it’s boring?

This work takes extra time and effort, but it can mean the difference between front-page news and the trash bin.

And if you are having trouble finding newsworthy items to share with the press, here are some tips to help.

Five Ideas for Creating Your Own News:

1. Take part in a community event, or create your own.

Give something back and encourage others to do the same. You’ll help others in need while creating a newsworthy event.

2. Create a brief report or “Top 10 List.”

Relate this document to a big trend in your industry that will help others solve a problem. Provide your expertise without asking for anything in return.

 3. Submit an opinion piece.

Write to your local newspaper, and provide your opinion about a published story or current news item. This can help build credibility and awareness for your business when written in a postive manner.

4. Give a presentation.

Speak at a local community college, business group or other organization where your target audience attends.

Provide valuable information without giving a sales pitch, and invite pertinent reporters. You’ll establish yourself as an expert and meet potential new customers while increasing your chances of obtaining media coverage.

5. Find success stories and promote them.

Talk to your customers, and ask them how your products and services have helped them save time and money, increase productivity, meet deadlines, etc.

Media members like unique, “before-and-after” stories, and you can always use these case studies to build credibility and market new customers.

Got News?

Now, please note that some announcements are just that – announcements about winning awards, events, fresh partnerships, new hires, etc. These may not be the most exciting news-items, but they are still important to share with the press. These announcements will help project a fresh, current and credible image for your business.

But before you share this information, be sure to create a list of appropriate press members, event-listing media venues and customers. Not everyone will be interested in this kind of news. And you want to send it to the right people so you don’t waste your time.

These are just a few, key ideas to consider when announcing your news. Hopefully these tips will help you provide valuable information to the press and build positive, company awareness.

And if you need help increasing sales, awareness and credibility with SEO copywriting and PR, please let me know here or at www.rembrandtwrites.com.

You have your business up and running and are ready to announce it to the world. Hold on! Before you send out that press release letting everyone know about your services, there are three things to keep in mind:

1.      Is your site ready?

If people see your press release and visit your site, what will they see? Does your content focus on customer-oriented benefits, or are you just saying, “We are the best, We offer…, We’ve been around since…”? Boring!

Your site needs to let potential customers know that you can solve their problem, and you only have a few seconds to impress them! If your site does not focus on the benefits you offer and provide valuable information to your target market, update your copy before sending out that press release.

2. What do you expect from the press release?

After your press release goes out, do you expect to be inundated with media requests and new-customer orders? Think again. Very few press releases create these kinds of results. Instead, a press release should help to boost online awareness via search engine optimization and build relationships with media members and new customers. Plus, it can help your business appear current, credible and newsworthy.

With this in mind, please have realistic expectations about your press release. It’s important to have regular, monthly news announcements, but press-release-distribution should be part of an overall, marketing strategy and plan involving other activities like e-mail auto-responders, newsletters, free reports, and more.

3.      Are you ready for orders?

Ok. Let’s say you’ve updated your site with the appropriate content and have started your well-thought-out marketing plan. What if your site is bombarded with orders after your release goes out? Are you ready? Can you system handle the orders? Are you customer-service-representatives trained on what to say and what to do?

Your press release can give you a lot of attention. But if potential, new customers show up at your door or Web site to make a purchase, and you’re not prepared, you could miss out on valuable sales and make a bad first-impression.

Press releases are an important tool for growing your business. Just be sure you have an action plan in place, have realistic expectations and think about what you need to do if your phone starts ringing with lots of media calls and online orders. This way, your press-release distribution will be as successful as possible, and you’ll save time, money and stress.

Do you need help boosting sales, awareness and credibility for your business? SEO copywriting and publicity can do wonders! For more information, please write to me here or at www.rembrandtwrites.com.

(Copyright© 2010, Rembrandt Communications^™, LLC – Not to be reprinted without permission)

After optimizing your site for the search engines and pursuing other marketing-efforts, it’s time to use the “power of the press” to boost sales, awareness and credibility cost-effectively.

But how do you pitch your story to a reporter?

Here are eight quick-tips to help you through the media process:

1. Know Your Targeted Media-Members.

Before you even reach out to a reporter, you should know what that person writes about and what he or she will be interested in discussing. Do your homework before contacting a specific reporter, and you’ll have a much better understanding of what you should say (and the topics to avoid).

2. Have Talking-Points Ready.

Keeping point number one above in mind, write down all of the benefits your business has to offer. Know why a reporter will be interested in what you have to say, and practice giving your unique story-angle. Then, when the time is right, you’ll be ready. (You may even want to place your talking-points on an index card by your phone.)

3. Be Newsworthy.

Try to think of a way that your business fits in with current news and industry events. Develop a story-angle related to something newsworthy and current. Then, approach a reporter with your idea.

4. Be Unique.

Media-members want fresh, interesting stories. Try to stand out from the crowd, and provide your opinion about a current topic, unique statistic or story angle that no one else can offer. By conducting research and offering something different, you’ll get much better results from your pitching efforts.

5. Be Succinct.

Reporters are on deadline. Get to the point fast. Practice what you are going to say in advance. Then, speak clearly and succinctly. Mention the most important benefits of your story-angle first. Reporters will appreciate your sense of urgency and respect for their time.

6. Know Your Industry.

Become an expert in your field and know the most current news, events and activities within your industry. Share your news with reporters. And soon, they will come to you for the latest industry updates.

7. Offer Expert-Advice.

Without pitching your own products and services, introduce yourself as an expert to targeted media-members. Comment on a current news-item, provide a special report and offer your help with a future article. Reporters will appreciate the fact that you are willing to provide assistance and may add you to their list of regular resources.

8. Follow Up Accordingly.

Media-members are busy people, and you will probably need to make an effort to stay in touch with them. If you are waiting for a pending story or a call back and haven’t heard anything for a few days, feel free to contact the media-member directly.

Try not to be a pest, but conduct the appropriate follow-up when necessary. This is essential to obtaining clips and maintaining professional, media relationships.

Go for it!

Hopefully, these tips will help you pitch your story to media-members and get results. By “thinking like a reporter” and offering beneficial information in a timely fashion, you’ll definitely increase your chances of obtaining some good media-coverage that can boost buzz and credibility fast!

Do you need help boosting sales, awareness and credibilty fast with SEO copywriting and publicity? Please write to me here or at www.rembrandtwrites.com.