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increase your income how to make your business newsworthy

by Sue Barrett

We’ve all heard it before. "Get the media to announce news about your business – it’s a great way to get FREE publicity!" It’s true. Good publicity can really make a world of difference in your business, so it’s well worth the time and effort involved to get information about your business to the media. However, most times the media will not come knocking on your door. You’ll have to go to them. You’ll need to find something intriguing about your business that will grab the media's attention: make your business story NEWSWORTHY. First, you need to decide on a goal - what do you want to accomplish from this FREE publicity? Second, you need to find out who your target market is and what they want. Third, you need to decide on a fascinating topic that will appeal to your audience. And fourth, you need to deliver it to the media in a way that will get your business noticed and publicized for FREE. 1. y o u r . g o a l What do you want to gain? Increased website hits? New customers? More referrals? More re-orders? Knowing your goal will help you decide where and how to publicize and focus your news story to get the response you want. For example, if your company is introducing a new software upgrade to an existing software product that you sell, you'll want to target customers who own or at least have knowledge of your existing product. 2. y o u r . t a r g e t . m a r k e t If you don’t already know, find out exactly who your customers are. What are they interested in? What do they want to know about? What do they want that your business can give them? A. Savings - lower price, free trial B. Options – more product or service additions C. Convenience - easier or faster ordering D. Information - valuable knowledge on the industry Once you understand what your customers want, build your message around their need. 3. t h e . f a s c i n a t i n g . t o p i c You want to get the attention of your audience, but you first need to get the attention of the media – or your news will never get published. Focus on a news topic that is current and will spark emotion in your audience. Also, remember that news stories revolve around (1) people and (2) change. Here are some ideas: A. Do you have a recent business success story – or for that matter, a failure story? (sometimes even more interesting!) B. Is you company offering a new product or service? Does it relate to other current events in the news? C. Is your business new? Announce your opening – and how you plan to grow and expand. D. How do you differ from your competition? Are you using new or unique strategies to grow your business? E. Have famous people or well-know organizations used your product or service? F. Has your business taken an unexpected turn – have you attracted customers not in your typical market? Don’t have anything new and exciting going on with your business? Why not create something new and exciting! I don’t mean telling wild and crazy stories about your business that aren’t true. I mean creating activity and motion in your business. If you have new, interesting stuff happening with your business – people will want to stop by your store or website or inquire about your business and find out what’s going on. A. Hold a contest or a drawing B. Give away FREE samples or a 30-day FREE trial service C. Sponsor a local event or fundraiser Compare the money you would normally spend on advertising to money you could invest in a product giveaway or charity donation. You can get just as much positive attention (or MORE) by giving away a $100 product or service as opposed to placing an ad that costs $1000. Think about it. 4. m a k e . i t . n e w s w o r t h y ! After you’ve decided on a topic to publicize, how can you make it NEWSWORTHY? Let’s take a look at some factors that can make your news newsworthy and attractive to the press. A. Timeliness. Did the news occur this morning or last year? B. Close Proximity. Is the news happening next door or halfway across the world? (focus on where your target market is) C. Future Impact. Will the news possibly have a direct effect on your audience sometime in the future? D. Prominence. Is there a famous person or well-known organization involved? E. Conflict. Is there disagreement or two opposing sides within your news story? F. Human Interest. Does your news cover people who have undergone extreme experiences or have a story that your audience will relate to? Once you’ve accomplished these four basic steps – you’ve got most of the work done. You now need to write the press release and submit it to the media (or have someone do it for you). * . * . * . * . * . * Sue Barrett works for HomeBusinessCenter.com and has helped hundreds of entrepreneurs successfully start their own home-based businesses. For simple do-it-yourself press release templates, effective press release submission services and companies that can help you get started, Click Here! Bulletproof Press Releases: Help at Last for the Publicity Deficient DYI PR The Small Business Guide to Free Publicity