5.5 How to get Publicity and build your Profile and Credibility

‘There are many easy-to-use techniques that turns a simple story in the media into money in your pocket.

If you’re a business start-up, just have a great idea, or own a small to medium sized business, you’re already way ahead of the game when it comes to getting publicity in the media.’  Sue Papadoulis, Publicity for Profit 

How and why to get publicity in the media was something that I had virtually no knowledge of.  I knew that Public Relations firms were one way to do this, however they were very expensive.  Getting to journalists seemed almost impossible because they were busy and only dealt with celebrities and PR firms.  To me they were inaccessible and off limits to normal everyday people like me.  Because of this, it was not even on my radar until I heard about an organisation called Publicity for Profit and went along to a training day.

Sue Papadoulis is the owner of the company and previously a journalist and news editor.  She explained that Journalists are always looking for good stories and if you can write a good story or media release for them it can save them a heap of time.  She explains that journalists ‘actually PREFER to do stories about real life people living their passion.’

‘ When I was a journalist I was so bored by press releases sent from faceless, nameless big businesses or worse, government departments who were trying to manipulate a message.

All I wanted were stories from passionate and motivated people who could connect with my audience.  That’s why getting publicity is going to be easy for you!’

It turns out that the process is relatively simple.

• Define your target market clearly

There have been a number of times that I have referred to the importance of having a clearly defined target market.  In order to cost effectively get into the media it is also very important to be very clear about exactly who you will be targeting.  This will enable you to narrow down the writers and presenters that you need to approach.

• What media are they connecting with?

Once you are clear on your target market you need to know what they are reading, what events they are attending, what they are watching on TV, what blogs they are reading, what social media they are likely to connect with.

• Find writers or presenters in these areas

There will be journalists, bloggers, presenters or copywriters who are looking for stories to feed to their audiences.  The important thing to remember is that you have a story and they are looking for stories to present so done correctly it is a win for you, for the journalist and of course for the audience.

• Research the type of stories that the audiences are reading

Stories that the audience are interested in are not advertising.  They are more likely to be interesting, inspiring or educational.  When you know where to present and who you are presenting to, you will need to find out what they are interested in.  Write stories in that style.

• Create and send the ‘Media Release’

Creating a media release is relatively straight forward now.  You will need a good headline and specific short grabs from the main story that will catch the attention of the journalists or presenters and now send it to them.  They are busy and so you will need to send it to a number of journalists and keep following up.  It may take time and persistence, however once you start getting publicity, it will grow.

One of the quickest and most cost effective ways to shortcut this process is to do the training day with the team from Publicity for Profit which will cost around $100.