Specialists in Internet Web Sites Since 1995
Are You Ready for Free Publicity?
© 1999 Virginia Lawrence, Ph.D.
Don’t use the shotgun approach and simply send out 5,000 press releases
to a large media mailing list. That approach annoys editors when they receive
releases inappropriate for their publication.
Start by building relationships with editors, establishing yourself as an
expert in your field. You want to lay the groundwork for articles chronicling
your services or product. If you start slowly and keep working at it,
you’ll see your coverage snowball.
Does this really work? It sure does. I followed these steps to develop
publicity for my software company. Over time, we were featured in three cover
articles and one full feature article from the publication which was most
important to my potential clients.
Six Steps to Follow
1. Read the newspapers and magazines you hope to reach with your publicity.
While you are reading, develop an outline of the type of story they publish.
2. Make two lists:
- one list of the writers and editors who write about your topics,
- one list of those who write for the people you want to reach.
3. The writers and editors on those lists can benefit from your expert
information, so volunteer your services as an industry resource to each of the
appropriate editors. After editors see your expertise, they will be open to
future articles. In fact, they will come to you often.
4. Offer to send your newsletter to your chosen editors so that you can
remind them of your expertise periodically.
5. Don’t talk about your specific success story, but describe your
success in terms of your clients’ success. Tell about the teachers who
used your book to convince junior high students that reading and history can be
fun. Tell about hopeful writers who used your book to write compelling book
proposals.
6. Give your hometown paper a real story about your product or services.
This cannot be a simple announcement of a new service or a new edition. Rather,
the story must convey some important news. A plumber in the Valley recently ran
a publicity campaign based on the news that all of his trucks carried pictures
of missing children. His company basked in TV coverage and feature articles
(with pictures) in the Daily News and the Los Angeles Times.
Go to It
Take the time to build the relationships. After you become known to writers
and editors, you will reap the free publicity over time.
~ Virginia Lawrence, Ph.D. is an Information Architect
who publishes both in print and online. Contact her at
virginia@cognitext.com.
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