Make a Friend

Do you want a surefire way to get some free publicity? Make a friend with a journalist! Create a Top Ten List of media contacts. The list should include those journalists who are most likely to tell your story. Know their beats and be sure to craft a clever pitch. Remember to include television, radio and print media contacts.
Once you have that Top Ten List, concentrate on getting to know those journalists. We are not talking about 'sucking up' here. Journalists are very perceptive people! They can smell a 'brown noser' a mile away! Simply learn to build a rapport with your contacts. Get to know them as genuine, regular people...like you would a new friend. See if you share common interests and/or hobbies. Remember, journalists are just like you and me.
Free publicity doesn't always happen overnight. But if you are smart, you'll have a consistent stream of newsworthy publicity for your business and you may just make a couple of good friends in the process!

It's not all about you!

One of the biggest problems business owners make when it comes to seeking publicity is making themselves the subject of the story.  In an effort to drum up some interest around their product, service or idea, a lot of business owners take the focus off the business and put it on themselves.  BIG MISTAKE!  Unless you are an expert on something useful, offering a solution to a common problem, or you are about to make a trip to the moon (or some other major accomplishment) you as a business owner should remove yourself from the story. It's not all about you!  A good storyteller knows when to step out of the way and let the story speak for itself.  In your case as a business owner, your product, service or idea should be so fantastic, that it should stand on its own.  Otherwise, why would I as a consumer give you my business?  

Publicity should be earned and not given to any and everyone with a business.  Consumers are smart and they can smell a rat and meaningless publicity a mile away.  Be creative, unique and most of all, newsworthy and your business will stand out from all the rest. 

News Clues

Want to breathe some new life into your marketing or publicity plan?  Turn on the news or open your local newspaper and your problems will be solved. In just a few quick seconds, you will be bombarded with one idea after another.  Here's a few to get you started:

1.  The Stimulus Bill

2.  Recession Blues

3.  The G20 Summit

4.  Stock Market Roller coaster

If you put your mind to it, you can come up with creative ways to weave these headlines into your business, product or service.  Do you have a sale going on or can you provide a service that can offer a cure to your customer's recession blues? (Even if it's only temporary.)  Are you a financial consultant who can help your customers brace the roller coaster ride of the stock market these days?  Remember, the key is to give a solution to a common problem. Put your thinking caps on and think of  something you can do better than anyone else in the marketplace. Your customers will thank you for it and they will be coming back for more.

Ask The Expert

What can you do better than anyone else you know?  What is that special skill that you take for granted?  Think hard, now.  There has to be something.  Can you balance your checkbook better than the rest of your friends?  Are you super organized or a really snazzy dresser?  Can you read a two hundred page book in just a few hours?  

Don't sell yourself short.  What you may not think is a 'big deal', could actually be the makings of great free publicity.  One of the best ways to get free publicity is to build it around something you can provide better than anyone else.  That is what's gonna drive customers to your front doors and viewers to your websites.  People will pay for a product or service that comes from someone who calls him or herself "an expert".  But you better deliver what you promise.  Don't oversell yourself...because you will destroy your credibility.  

No credibility=No publicity.

Make a Memorable Moment

When I was a television reporter, the one question I heard over and over was:  " What is your memorable moment?".  If I couldn't definitely answer that question, it meant that my story was average or run of the mill.  That meant it was time to go back to the drawing board.  Asking myself that question on a regular basis challenged me to think outside of my comfort zone.  The result was a story that lead the newscast...a story that was memorable.

When it comes to free publicity, asking yourself that same question will elevate your business to another level.  No longer will you be average or garden variety.  You create a need or a reason why someone should offer your business, product or service free publicity.  Creating a memorable moment will separate you from the masses.  It can make the difference between whether or not you get that call back from a television producer.  So the next time you seek free publicity, ask yourself:  WHAT IS MY MEMORABLE MOMENT?".

What Are You Hooked On?- Part II

2. Timely-This is related to what is newsworthy, but involves a little more immediacy or something that’s tied to an event. Is time for kids to go back to school or time to do little spring cleaning? Another way to look at it is to ask yourself what is trendy or hot right now. The answers to those questions could be a great springboard to a timely hook.

3. Seasonal- Simply put..what time of the year or season is it? Can you tie your business into the renewal of springtime, the fun in the summer or the hustle and bustle of the holiday season? I’m sure you can, if you think about it. Be creative!

The thing to remember about crafting your hook is that it represents you and your business. Most importantly, it represents what you can offer to an audience and potentially your customers. Your hook can make or break you. Make it one they will remember!

What Are You Hooked On?

When it comes to getting free publicity for your product, service or business, there are several "must haves" that have to be in place.  One of them is a "hook", that one element that will make people sit up, take notice and WANT to listen to what you have to say.

For instance, say that you want a local or national talk show to do a feature story on your business.  Before you pick up the phone and call that producer or reporter, you better know what your hook will be.  If not, you will be wasting your time.  When you don't have a hook, it's like telling the whole world that there's nothing special about you, that there's nothing that separates you from the masses.  I know that's not the message you want to tell.

So, for the next two posts, I will be giving you three suggestions on what makes a compelling hook.  

1.  You should know by now what the first point is.  Your hook must be newsworthy.  What is the  hot button issue in the news right now?  What are people talking about?  Is it unemployment, the stimulus bill, the housing market?  There are TONS of angles out there you can pull from.  Pick one and run with it.

Stay tuned for #2 and #3.