You have news and you don’t even know it. It might not be the Wall Street Journal that picks up the fact that you have a new head chef in your restaurant, or a new winemaker at the winery, or that your software company just hired a new VP, but you’ll be surprised at the local coverage or online coverage you may get if practice a little public relations for your business. Every little bit helps!
3 Ways to get press for your business:
1) If your industry or the associations you belong to give out awards, apply for them! Just like the Leading Moms in Business Award here on StartUpNation. Then post the news if you win on your site and do a press release. Include a quote from the association or maybe even a customer. It is an inexpensive form of advertising that may get your name in the news. If you get word that you may be a finalist ahead of time, make a few phone calls to a local or trade publication and see if they think the award is worth covering on their site, blog, or publication so that when the announcement is made it is still timely and relevant.
2) Create news yourself by leveraging your current customers or your email subscribers. Create a survey and ask questions about your industry, the economy, etc. Then craft a press release and highlight a few of your findings out. VerticalResponse surveyed our small businesses around tax time last year and asked if they had already spent any refunds they might get. We then crafted a press release around it. Do you know what happened next? CNBC and an LA TV station picked up the news! It sure got our name out there.
3) No time to issue a press release or not sure how to write one. Try leveraging social media tools for effective public relations programs. Craft a short paragraph about a new service, new hire, or news about your company and email it to a few influential bloggers, twitters, and your company facebook page. Someone may just help spread the word for you if they happen to be suffering a little writer’s block that week. Need some ideas: your company experiencing exciting growth? moving to a new office location? hire an industry expert to join your team? survey data or research? speaking at or sponsoring an industry event? It may be just get you in the news.
Finally consider submitting your press release so the world knows about it. You can use free services to do this like PRLog or The Open Press. If you want greater distribution you can spend a little money and use PR Newswire or MarketWire.
Got any other ideas?
