Author of Pimp My Site, Paula Wynne, shares her top tips for getting free publicity for your business.
Free publicity, either at a local or national level, is the perfect way to promote your business and drive traffic to your website. The media look for news stories not marketing messages from a company, so it is vitally important for you to create a news story and make sure it is newsworthy. In this article I will show start ups and small business owners how to get free publicity with three key PR tools:
- Press Releases
- Free Publicity
- Media Expert
As I explain in my book, Pimp My Site, your PR toolkit consists of distribution techniques for ensuring your release lands under the right editor’s nose. In the book I go into greater detail about photo calls, media interviews, press kits and which media databases to use. But first, let’s start with the first PR tool – a press release. This is a key tool in getting your story, PR angle or publicity event in front of a journalist or editor.
Press release
What is a press release? A press release is a notice or story sent to the media with the aim of attracting their interest and gaining valuable editorial space in their publication. Your press release should be well-written before you submit it to the media. Take a look at this template: http://ihubbub.com/press-release-template
This set of articles will help guide you with a Press Release example template and show you the necessary steps to prepare your press release. Before you get started on writing your press release, take a few minutes or more to think about what you want to achieve. Here are some things to consider with this Press Release preparation checklist, when you start up your own home business. Look at these tips to be sure your story is newsworthy and you can submit your news to iHubbub for free to get promoted to the media.
Free publicity
Find ways to get your business or book or business profile free publicity. As a publicist for your site, your key responsibility is to construct publicity campaigns for your product or service. Download my eBook, which has more than 30 low cost or free publicity angles for your site: www.ihubbub.com/ebooks.
Media experts
Another effective PR Tool is being a media expert. The Media are constantly on the hunt for anyone who can help, give advice and supply expert knowledge on specialist subjects. They need a wide spectrum of experts from qualified professional, experts in the medical field, business personalities, financial advisors, business entrepreneurs, consultants, musicians, entertainers, actors, writers and authors. For examples of the kind of experts I am referring to, see www.ihubbub.com/experts. More than likely you have something good to offer with lots of valuable information and knowledge between your ears that you may not consider as expertise. You will have the opportunity to gain media coverage for you and your business – you may get national media exposure which will cost you nothing other than time. While building news stories for your business or website, you will increase credibility and boost your PR campaigns.
Media requests
Bring the media right into your inbox when journalists request specific information and ask for people like you and I to provide material for their articles. Each enquiry is potential media coverage and will help to generate publicity and raise the profile of your business. Check out chapter 11 in my book and take a peek at www.ihubbub.com/get-media to see the kind of information journalists and editors ask for every day.
Enjoy finding free publicity for your site!
Paula Wynne
Biog:
Award-winning entrepreneur of social networking site, iHubbub, and author of ‘Create A Successful Website’ and Pimp My Site, Paula Wynne offers practical advice to succeed online.
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