Getting local newspaper or TV station coverage about your business can generate profitable leads and punch up the bottom line.
Press coverage is free, is viewed by potential customers without their anti-salesman armor on and can help establish you as an expert in your field. So how do you get the local press interested in your story?
Like a salesman, you can take the direct approach: “I sell this widget that does X.” Great, but reporters get “sliced bread” pitches all the time. So unless you have a completely novel product that will improve the whole of mankind tomorrow, a more oblique approach might work better.
Reporters cover people doing things. People helping people or animals works well.
So be a do-gooder. What community event can you organize to showcase your product or service? How can you paint your company as a compassionate organization that gives back to the community?
Are you the local taco shop owner who sponsors a Little League team and shows up after the game with a big bag of burritos? Are you the cleaning service that volunteers to wash windows at the Boys and Girls Club? Are you the biomedical company that organizes a lagoon clean-up day, encouraging employees to take part?
Think in terms of numbers; 50 volunteers is a photo opp. Two is not. Partner up. Create a coalition of concerned activist business owners. As the organizer, you set yourself up as the reporter's source.
Once you have an idea, how do you get that pitch across the plate? With the elevator pitch, 20 seconds of “here's how we're helping and here's what you'll see.” Create a mental picture that screams community. Have a brief written pitch that your e-mail and cell phone are ready to send.
Now, target your audience. Do some homework. Read the paper's circulation notes to see who does what. Get names and phone numbers.
If you are a bio-med company and the paper writes locally about science, target the science reporter. If you are the local community theater, call the entertainment reporter.
Call the city editor too. Be brief and visual. Help that editor see how he or she can fill a news hole. If your pitch really sings, they'll assign a reporter to write an accompanying story.
Think timing. Call first thing in the morning early in the week. The reporter may be searching for the day's story or laying out his or her week. You could be a savior, helping the reporter, the community and yourself along the way.
For more information, call Philip Ireland at (760) 481-9245 or visit www.emotionwebvideo.com.
Press coverage is free, is viewed by potential customers without their anti-salesman armor on and can help establish you as an expert in your field. So how do you get the local press interested in your story?
Like a salesman, you can take the direct approach: “I sell this widget that does X.” Great, but reporters get “sliced bread” pitches all the time. So unless you have a completely novel product that will improve the whole of mankind tomorrow, a more oblique approach might work better.
Reporters cover people doing things. People helping people or animals works well.
So be a do-gooder. What community event can you organize to showcase your product or service? How can you paint your company as a compassionate organization that gives back to the community?
Are you the local taco shop owner who sponsors a Little League team and shows up after the game with a big bag of burritos? Are you the cleaning service that volunteers to wash windows at the Boys and Girls Club? Are you the biomedical company that organizes a lagoon clean-up day, encouraging employees to take part?
Think in terms of numbers; 50 volunteers is a photo opp. Two is not. Partner up. Create a coalition of concerned activist business owners. As the organizer, you set yourself up as the reporter's source.
Once you have an idea, how do you get that pitch across the plate? With the elevator pitch, 20 seconds of “here's how we're helping and here's what you'll see.” Create a mental picture that screams community. Have a brief written pitch that your e-mail and cell phone are ready to send.
Now, target your audience. Do some homework. Read the paper's circulation notes to see who does what. Get names and phone numbers.
If you are a bio-med company and the paper writes locally about science, target the science reporter. If you are the local community theater, call the entertainment reporter.
Call the city editor too. Be brief and visual. Help that editor see how he or she can fill a news hole. If your pitch really sings, they'll assign a reporter to write an accompanying story.
Think timing. Call first thing in the morning early in the week. The reporter may be searching for the day's story or laying out his or her week. You could be a savior, helping the reporter, the community and yourself along the way.
For more information, call Philip Ireland at (760) 481-9245 or visit www.emotionwebvideo.com.