Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Doing PR Yourself

I listened to a fabulous blog talk radio call today with Lara Galloway, The Mom Biz Coach, and her guest Elena Verlee of PR in Your Pajamas (check out blogtalkradio.com to hear it again). Elena did a great job of sharing how the small business can manage their own PR efforts. I'd like to add a few more pieces of information regarding who to target with your PR efforts. As you never know exactly WHEN/WHERE a reporter or interested party will get their information:
  • Identify potential editors and reporters of your local publications, TV and Radio. Even if your business is national in scope, local media loves to do feel good stories on successful local companies.
  • If your business is local in nature, be sure to include chambers of commerce, local calendar websites, groups of potential interest, etc. There is no bad place to send the release! PR is NOT just for reporters - the goal is to tell as many people as possible about your business, event, service or new product.
  • Be sure to add the release to your website. It adds timely content (good for SEO) and shows anyone visiting your site what you are sharing with the world, and the exciting things you are doing.
  • Take advantage of your social media connections. After posting the release to your website, create a link on sites like Twitter, Facebook and Linked in to drive others to link to the release that's already on your site - and poof! - the reader is now at your website learning more about your company.
  • Don't be afraid to use your personal and professional connections to share your news. I love to share information on companies I patronize or are owned by friends. It's a great "pay it forward" action and makes me feel good for supporting businesses that I want to see flourish.

You can create great continuity from a press release by having a plan of who to share the information with, where you will post the information, and how you will not only "push" the information to others, but "pull" others to your website.

Need assistance figuring out what is PR-worthy, what to say in your press release, who to send the press release to and/or how to follow through? Feel free to contact me to help you create a plan for using this great tool while you focus on the core of your business.

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