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Digg it UP - 'Til the Cows Come Home: 6 Ways to Maximize your Local Connections
If you are thinking about owning your own profitable home based business, then you need to seriously think about advertising if you intend to build a strong and lasting business.Most people think that if they have a website, then they already have a booming business. These people could not be more wrong! An online business starts with having a website and a web host, but if that's all you've got, then who else is going to know
Did you go to college? Send your alumni magazine a “news note,” then take one extra step. They often “localize” national stories with alumni interviews. Why shouldn’t one of them be yo
There have been few entrepreneurial ventures in business history as rewarding as the offshore call center. Within Asia, there are numerous tales of entrepreneurs who made tons of money for themselves by creating substantial value for their customers and employees.A recent one is Ambergris Solutions Inc. in Manila. The company was started a few years ago by three young entrepreneurs with little money of their own and even less ca
MOOED.
We kept the package around the newsroom for weeks, but never published the press release and professional photos wrapped inside.
Hey, it was cute. Probably expensive. Just one problem. I ran a local newspaper focused on local connections, and this had none.
In 20 years, I probably tossed upwards of 15,000 press releases. Even though the name of our community featured prominently in the masthead, scores of expensive media kits promoting people and businesses from everywhere you can imagine crossed my desk.
I decided if I ever ended up in the PR business, I’d try to keep people from wasting so much time.
I started with Susan*, who came to me for help with marketing an educational toy. She’d been selling to day care centers, but one or two sets at a time barely covered the cost of gas.
She had a wonderful story, one that needed a larger audience – and got it.
Even with a very limited budget, Susan’s product was profiled in community newspapers, a parenting magazine and a regional daily. I’m not taking much credit; she did all the legwork.
I told her who to talk to, what to say, and how often to say it.
It’s just plain silly to throw your PR blindly at an editor, hoping it sticks. Sure, you can e-mail every media outlet in the free world. It won’t cost you a dime, and you’ll probably get exactly what you paid for.
Why waste your time, when you can invest it on the front end? Just find your connections – and then give them what they want.
Start with a list of every place you’ve ever called home. Community newspapers, accessible through any search engine, would welcome news of your business and accomplishments. Be sure to mention your “local connection” in a cover letter.
Did you go to college? Send your alumni magazine a “news note,” then take one extra step. They often “localize” national stories with alumni interviews. Why shouldn’t one of them be yo
Every business owner dreams that advertising in a certain medium will net them dozens of clients in the very first week or month. Sometimes those dreams are fulfilled, but most of the time they are not. If advertising was a sure thing, there would be less of it. It would be more expensive. Every business would be successful. There would be no small businesses.There are many ways your advertising message can be delivered. All
I decided if I ever ended up in the PR business, I’d try to keep people from wasting so much time.
I started with Susan*, who came to me for help with marketing an educational toy. She’d been selling to day care centers, but one or two sets at a time barely covered the cost of gas.
She had a wonderful story, one that needed a larger audience – and got it.
Even with a very limited budget, Susan’s product was profiled in community newspapers, a parenting magazine and a regional daily. I’m not taking much credit; she did all the legwork.
I told her who to talk to, what to say, and how often to say it.
It’s just plain silly to throw your PR blindly at an editor, hoping it sticks. Sure, you can e-mail every media outlet in the free world. It won’t cost you a dime, and you’ll probably get exactly what you paid for.
Why waste your time, when you can invest it on the front end? Just find your connections – and then give them what they want.
Start with a list of every place you’ve ever called home. Community newspapers, accessible through any search engine, would welcome news of your business and accomplishments. Be sure to mention your “local connection” in a cover letter.
Did you go to college? Send your alumni magazine a “news note,” then take one extra step. They often “localize” national stories with alumni interviews. Why shouldn’t one of them be yo
Have you ever seen one of the signs regarding customer services that many places of business have hanging up? They say, "Rule Number 1: The customer is always right," and below that, "Rule Number 2: Refer back to rule number 1."Although that's a pointed oversimplification, the statement makes a valid point, and that is the customer is the reason for the business, whatever that business might be. The customer is what keeps the
She had a wonderful story, one that needed a larger audience – and got it.
Even with a very limited budget, Susan’s product was profiled in community newspapers, a parenting magazine and a regional daily. I’m not taking much credit; she did all the legwork.
I told her who to talk to, what to say, and how often to say it.
It’s just plain silly to throw your PR blindly at an editor, hoping it sticks. Sure, you can e-mail every media outlet in the free world. It won’t cost you a dime, and you’ll probably get exactly what you paid for.
Why waste your time, when you can invest it on the front end? Just find your connections – and then give them what they want.
Start with a list of every place you’ve ever called home. Community newspapers, accessible through any search engine, would welcome news of your business and accomplishments. Be sure to mention your “local connection” in a cover letter.
Did you go to college? Send your alumni magazine a “news note,” then take one extra step. They often “localize” national stories with alumni interviews. Why shouldn’t one of them be yo
So much has been written and said about the current prospects for the investment property market in Bulgaria now that the nation has joined the European Union; opinion ranges from those who believe the hike in property prices prior to EU accession represented the majority of the positive adjustment due in Bulgaria, to those who are certain that property prices could now mirror those of other recent EU entrants where prices doubled foll
It’s just plain silly to throw your PR blindly at an editor, hoping it sticks. Sure, you can e-mail every media outlet in the free world. It won’t cost you a dime, and you’ll probably get exactly what you paid for.
Why waste your time, when you can invest it on the front end? Just find your connections – and then give them what they want.
Start with a list of every place you’ve ever called home. Community newspapers, accessible through any search engine, would welcome news of your business and accomplishments. Be sure to mention your “local connection” in a cover letter.
Did you go to college? Send your alumni magazine a “news note,” then take one extra step. They often “localize” national stories with alumni interviews. Why shouldn’t one of them be yo
Less than one generation ago, if you needed a box of full color business cards you would have contacted your local graphic arts printing company, paid for expensive design and set up costs, and received your ordered cards one or two weeks later. If you wanted your order completed quicker, you paid extra for that service too. Thanks to the internet, ordering business cards has gotten a lot easier…a lot cheaper too! You can save money on
Did you go to college? Send your alumni magazine a “news note,” then take one extra step. They often “localize” national stories with alumni interviews. Why shouldn’t one of them be you? Contact the editor, establish yourself as a willing expert.
Your insurance provider, wholesale club, auto club and other groups probably publish member-focused magazines. Offer to help them out, as a source in your field. Or let them know how their business has helped yours.
All those editors still receive drifts of press releases. Still, you can shine through. I know you can, because I’ve seen people do it. Here’s how:
1. Create a press kit that includes a clear, well-written press release in long and short formats, and high quality photographs.
2. Don’t forget the simple stuff, like affixing sufficient postage or including your contact information.
3. Contact the editor by phone three or four days after sending your information, to make sure it arrived and answer any questions.
4. Respect an editor’s time when you make your follow-up call, asking whether he or she has five minutes to talk.
5. Create a lasting impression with a snappy 30 to 45-second “pitch” about yourself, your product or service.
6. Keep a tone that blends enthusiasm, professionalism and courtesy.
Finally, remember this: All you can do is improve very long odds Editors are people first. They have personal problems and biases, just like everybody else.
Stay positive, patient, polite and persistent – sooner or later, you’ll beat those odds.
And you won’t need a “lowing” press kit to do it.
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