THE SECRETS OF FREE PUBLICITY FOR YOUR BUSINESS
Product publicity is the "secret pathway" to
business success everyone wants. In simple
terms, product publicity is a kind of
advertising that costs you nothing, yet
brings in the orders for you.
Regardless of what kind of business you are
operating, you should want, and strive for,
as much publicity for your business and
your products or services, as possible.
After all, it's "free advertising" that is
essential to the growth of your business.
However, your publicity efforts should be
well thought out, and pre-planned for
maximum results.
The first, and basic form of obtaining
publicity is through what is known as the
press or news release. This is generally a
one page story about your business, your
product/service or an event/happening
related to your business that is about to, or
has recently occurred. These publicity
stories are generally "shot-gunned" to all
the various media: local newspapers, radio
and TV, and trade publications.
Problem number one is getting the people to
whom you've sent these publicity stories, to
use them - publish or broadcast them. And
this leads us back to the "right way" of
writing them and sending them in.
In every case, send a short cover letter
addressed to the person you want your
material to be considered by ... this means
that you send your story to the city editor
of the newspapers; the news directors of the
radio and TV stations; and the managing
editors of the various trade publications.
It will do you no good whatsoever, to send
your managerial to the advertising,
circulation, or business managers -
describing how you're a long term
advertising, subscriber or listener. The
most important thing is that you will make
contact with the person who has the final
say as to what is to be published or
broadcast, and at the bottom line - this
person's use of your material will somehow
make him a "hero" to his or her readers,
viewers or listeners.
The cover letter should be a short note. Go
to a paper supplier - tell them you want a
hundred or so sheets of good bond paper - A4
size, preferably in a pastel color such as
blue or ivory - and that you want this paper
cut into quarters, giving you a grand total
of 400 sheets of notepaper.
On this note sheet, begin with the date
across the top - skip a couple of spaces and
then quickly tell the recipient of the note,
the attached material is new, and should be
of real interest to his readers. If you
were promoting business opportunities, yours
would read something like this:
"Here's something that's new, and for a
change, truly helpful, to people trying to
cope with inflation - the soaring costs of
living - and those engaged in building extra
income businesses of their own. Should be
of real value - interest - to your readers.
Please take a look - any questions, or if
you need more info, call me on 12345". Then
of course you skip about four spaces, type
your name, your business name, and your
address - sign your name above where you've
typed it, and staple this note in the upper
right hand corner of your news release. This
note should be typed and double spaced.
So now, you've got a cover letter, and you
know where to send it to. We type up one such
note, and take it to a near-by quick print
shop. They copy the note 4 times, paste
these 4 copies onto one sheet of paper, print
50 to 100 copies, and cut the paper into
individual notes.
Now you need the actual written publicity
release, which also must be "properly"
written if you expect it to be used by the
media. Above all else, there's a proper form
or style to use, plus the fact that it must
be typed double-spaced, and short - about
half a page in total length.
About an inch from the top of the paper, with
an inch and a half margin on each side of the
paper, from the left hand margin, type in all
capital letters PRESS RELEASE: Then,
underline these words. Immediately following
the colon, but not in all capital letters,
put in the date. Always set the date forward
by at least one day after the day you intend
to mail the release.
On the same line, but on the right hand side
of the page, and in all capital letters,
write the words, FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
Underline this, and immediately below, but
not in all capital letters, type your name -
your phone number - and your address.
Skip a couple of spaces, then in all capital
letters - centerd between the margins - type
a story headline, and underline it. Skip a
couple of spaces, and from the left hand
margin, all in capital letters, type the
words, FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: from there
on, it's the news or publicity story itself.
You can write the headline before the story,
and then a story to fit the headline - or
the story before the headline, and then a
headline to fit the story - either way, it's
basically the same as writing a space ad or
a sales letter ... You attract attention and
interest with the headline, and fill in the
details with your story.
Here's an example of the headlines we use on
publicity blurbs for one of our products:
HELP IN MAKING ENDS MEET
NEW PUBLICATION FOR EXTRA INCOME SEEKERS
Notice how we continue to sell or involve
the editor - his readers are always looking
for better ways to make ends meet, and he's
specifically interested as to what our
promise involves. He wants his readers to
"think well" of him for enlightening them
with this source of help, so he reads into
the story to find out who, what and how.
Suffice to say that your headline, and the
story you present to the editor, must sell
him on the benefits of your product or
service to his readers. Unless it
specifically does this, he'll not use it.
You must sell the first person receiving
your materials. Keep this fact uppermost in
your mind as you write it. The person you
send your press or publicity release to,
must quickly see and understand how your
product or service will benefit his readers
- thereby making him a hero to them - and he
must be assured it will do what you promise
in your headline. Come right to the point
and say your product is lower in price, more
convenient to use or in what way your product
or service is useful to the people in general.
It's also a good idea to include a
complimentary sample of your product or an
opportunity for him to sample your services.
Remember, the editors receiving your
information are fully aware of your purposes -
Free Advertising! They are not in the least
interested in you or your credentials - if
you've sold them on the benefits of your
business to their readers, and they want
background details, they'll call you. That's
why you list your telephone number and
address.
These people are busy people. They have not
got the time nor the interest in reading
about your trials and tribulations or plans
for the future. They want only a "flag" that
alerts them to something new, and of probable
real interest to their readers.
Sell the editor first. Convince him that
you've found the better mousetrap. Show him
that your product or service - that your
business - fills a need and/or will interest
a large segment of his readers, his viewers
or listeners.
When an editor uses your publicity release,
always follow up with a short thank you note.
Never, but never send a publicity release to
an editor and then call or write demanding to
know why he didn't use it, use it as you
wrote it, or only gave it a quick mention.
Do this once, and that particular media will
"round file" any further material received
from you, unopened! If your first effort is
not used, then you should review the story
itself: perhaps write it from a different
angle; make sure you're sending it to the
proper person - and try again!
As stated earlier, these people are busy,
with hundreds of publicity releases passing
across their desks every day - they only
have so much space or time - therefore, your
material has to stand out and in some way,
fit in with the information they - the
editors - want to pass along to their
readers, viewers, or listeners. Regardless
of your business product, or service, you
must build your press release - write it -
around that particular angle or feature that
makes it beneficial or interesting to the
readers, viewers or listeners of the media
you want to run your press release. Without
this special ingredient, you're lost before
you begin!
The timing of your press release is always
important. Try to associate your press
release with current events in the news. A
story on job lay-offs and increased
unemployment carried in the newspapers, on
tv and radio would prompt us to get a
publicity release out to all the media on
the help and opportunity offered by our
product. Say there's a deluge of chain
letters and pyramid schemes making the
rounds - the media picks up on it and
attempts to warn the people to beware ...
within 5 days, we would get a publicity
release out, explaining the availability of
your report on chain letters, and pyramid
schemes - a report that explains everything
from A to Z - who're the winners and who're
the real losers.
There's another kind of timing also to keep
in mind ... publication deadlines. For best
results, always try to time it so that your
material reaches the editor in time for the
Sunday paper. This is because that's when
the papers have their greatest circulation;
the most space is available; and the people
have the most chance to read the paper.
For articles you'd like to appear in the
Sunday paper, you'll generally have to get
your releases in at least nine days prior to
the date of publication. If you're in doubt,
call and ask about the deadline date.
IN SUMMARY
Choose the media most likely to carry your
press release. Select those that carry
similar write-ups on a regular basis.
Always use a cover letter of some kind. It
pays to call ahead to find out the name of
the person you should be sending your press
release to.
Use the proper press release form, complete
with a headline that will interest the man
deciding whether or not to use your item.
Be sure your press release is letter perfect -
no spelling mistakes - and don't photocopy it.
Always have each letter individually typed or
printed.
When your item is used, send a thank you note
or call the editor on the phone and thank him
for using your press release.
Never, but never call or write an editor
demanding to know why he didn't use your
press release why he had it re-written, or cut
it short - just try, and try again!
