I love to watch movies and this summer I noticed a lot of highly anticipated films. I find it amazing whenever a “summer blockbuster” not only breaks box office records, but also generates a huge buzz that gets people talking- sometimes months before the movie’s opening!

There are definitely more than a few PR and marketing lessons to be learned from the movies, but when it comes to writing your next media pitch, take special note of these ones:

Timing

Releasing a movie during the summer almost always guarantees more box office sales for that movie than any other time of year. Why? Because people have more free time during the summer to watch movies.

Tie your pitch into what’s happening around you. There are 5 things you should know about the media and one of them is that if you can answer the questions “why you?” and “why now?” you’ll get their attention.

Entertainment Factor

Audiences watch movies in order to be entertained. The media want to tell a story that will not just inform, but entertain their audiences and keep them coming back for more.

Don’t just write a pitch for the journalist or outlet you have in mind. Think about what matters to their audience and tailor your pitch to speak to their audience’s wants and needs first.

The First Ten

A summer blockbuster has to grab you from the first ten minutes or you may quickly lose interest. Likewise, you want to hook a journalist in from the first sentence of your pitch in order to keep them reading.

One of my favorite ways to get inspired to write a pitch is to ask myself: What’s the boldest, most outrageous or provocative statement you’re willing to make? It’s a fun question that will definitely get your creative juices flowing and help you write that compelling hook.

How do movies inspire your pitch writing? Your PR and/or marketing efforts? Share your tips in the comments below or send me a message via Twitter or Facebook.

Photo Credit: Bang It Out

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A question that entrepreneurs often ask me is “What should I focus on to make my business more successful: PR, Marketing or Sales?”

You probably think that I’d say PR without question, right? But the reality is a business would thrive better with all three elements working closely together.

Marketing works to communicate the value of your offerings to your customers, potential clients, employees and investors, through your own advertising, newsletters and website. It’s you talking about yourself.

Public Relations can be simply defined as activities that build awareness and credibility for your company, product or service through third-party influencers – such as the media and bloggers. It’s others talking about you.

Sales is essentially the act of closing the leads brought in by your marketing and public relations efforts.

• Even though there are at least 50 great things about it, PR can’t always guarantee you’ll get a good review or media article (or even an article at all) within the timeline you need it by. With other marketing efforts, you have control over your message and how often it runs in your chosen channels.

• On the other hand, traditional and online marketing can often require more money to do and don’t have the same power of persuasion as a third-party endorsement- like a positive article or blog post from a key influencer in your niche.

• Without marketing and PR, sales can pretty much cease to exist as you need these activities to help “pre-sell” your leads and bring them to your business.

It’s definitely worth it to take the time to figure out how you can better integrate marketing, PR and sales into your communications and business development plan. And if you already utilize all three, I suggest doing a regular check to see if they are still working in harmony together.

How is your company integrating your Marketing, PR and Sales efforts? What works or doesn’t work for you? I’d love to know your thoughts- leave a comment below or send me a message on Twitter or Facebook.

Photo Credit: Scott Maxwell

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I’ve been thinking about my business a lot lately. So far, I’m really happy with the way things have been going. Business is growing faster than I can sometimes handle — and that’s a good thing.

However, it’s clear I need to prune some areas of my biz in order to let the other areas grow even more.

And so, I have decided to retire two of my products: How to Do Your Own PR: A Guide for Small Businesses and Social Media for Beginners: Generating Online Buzz.

Before I take them off the shelves, I’d like to give you the opportunity to buy them — at a huge discount.

From today until Friday, July 15, 2011, you can purchase How to Do Your Own PR and Social Media for Beginners for only $47 each.

That’s $150 off the regular price!

If you’re interested, grab these today, because after July 15, they will no longer be available — at any price.

Click here to check out this massive sale.

Or click on the ecovers below:

Remember, these products will disappear after midnight this Friday, July 15. So don’t wait!

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Yes, we all have them.

A professional crush is someone who is brilliant and you admire a lot (sometimes from afar). You want to follow in their footsteps. You’d love to pick their brains all day. You will do anything to work on a project with them.

For years now, one of my professional crushes has been Guy Kawasaki, Silicon Valley venture capitalist, Apple evangelist and marketing guru. I first met and wrote about Guy in 2007 when he was speaking about his book The Art of the Start – a start-up bootstrapper’s bible that I still refer my clients to.

Like real-life crushes, throughout the years, my path would cross with Guy’s – close, but not quite close enough:

• My friend Ria Sharon hosted a “virtual pajama party” as a fundraiser and I was on the same “virtual stage” as Guy and Lewis Howes.
• When I started my blog two years ago with just four posts and a Twitter following of maybe a hundred, Guy tweeted about me and one of his followers contacted me to work for his company.  Talk about social media power.
• And more recently, Guy was interviewed by Maruxa Murphy and she mentioned to him that she first heard about him from me.

Like real-life crushes, I’m sure Guy still didn’t know me from the 365,000 followers he currently has on Twitter.

When I found out he was coming to Vancouver for an event, I thought about buying a ticket, but that wouldn’t differentiate me from the hundreds of people there. I wanted to stand out.

So I set out to enchant my professional crush from what I’ve learned from his books and speeches. Here’s what Guy says about Enchantment and how I, in turn, implemented it:

Remove Barriers to Entry

This is about making it easy for people to get started with your product or service. “Don’t ask people to fill out 10 fields of personal information to open an account. Don’t require an appointment for a consultation,” says Guy. “Instead, create a slippery slope that gets people to work with you as quickly as possible.

Since I knew Guy was promoting his new book and it seemed the event wasn’t doing any PR, I reached out to him to see if he wanted to do a media interview with local press. I showed that I understood his needs, and by helping him out, empower him with more exposure as well as allow him to “try” out our PR service with no risk and no obligation.

I’m thrilled when Guy responds to me with a “Yes, let’s do this.”

Deliver Bad News Early

As Guy says: “Shiitake happens: products have problems, deliveries get delayed, employees get sick. Be proactive and tell your customers about the problem before they discover the hiccup for themselves. And to get on top of your game, let them know how you’ll solve the problem at the same time.”

Guy had time for only one interview and it had to be with a national outlet. We managed to secure the interview two weeks in advance of the event, no problem.

But, shiitake happens. Less than 48 hours before the event, the reporter cancelled on us. I was really embarrassed, especially since Guy gave me two tickets worth $800 to the event as a thank you. I offered to return them.

Guy being Guy, he responds: “It’s okay. Attend the event anyway. I’ll just play hockey that morning!”

Enchanting, for sure.

And I have to say, I work with an equally enchanting colleague, Jackie Peterson. She placed numerous calls and emails, trying to get a national publication at short notice. Together, we also played the six degrees of separation game: “Who do we know, that would know so and so….”

With a little bit of persistence and creativity (all the while sweating bullets about our reputation with Guy), we managed to secure a national media outlet with a reach of over 1 million. And because we reached out to multiple people, more interviews are in the works.

Phew. Reputation with professional crush, rescued.

Allow People to Reciprocate

Guy says: “People you help, want to give back. Let them.”

Reciprocating doesn’t have to mean cash for your services. In our case, Guy gave us passes to the event, and is sending over signed copies of his book.

In other cases where you have demonstrated your product or service on a trial basis, you could ask for a testimonial that would help give you credibility. You could ask for feedback or mentorship. You could ask for an introduction to a company or a contact of theirs that you would like to meet. You might just get what you asked for!

Be A Yes-Man (or Woman)

Finally, Guy says “The single most powerful way to enchant is with a “yes” attitude. It means that you believe the customer is right and reasonable until proven wrong and unreasonable. Custom order? No problem. Early delivery? No problem. Return for full credit? No problem. The math might show that if you did this for everyone, you’d go broke, but not everyone will ask for such treatment. In fact, very few will, and those that do will become your greatest evangelists, so they’re worth the exception.”

Go forth and enchant your customers.

Enchant your influencers too. Often the goodwill you create will go further, and feel much better, than cold, hard, cash.

How do you enchant people with your business? Let me know by posting a comment below, or by sending me a message on Twitter or Facebook.

Reach Guy on Twitter.

Order his latest book, Enchantment, and take up Guy’s special offer.

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This post was first published in Copyblogger.com. My friend Patrick Garmoe, a former reporter, wrote this piece and received permission for us to reprint it here. Enjoy!

Ever wonder why some businesses get press and some don’t? Getting a mainstream media outlet to pay attention to your business seems like an impossible-to-solve mystery.

You might see your competitors spouting a diatribe that you know for a fact is wrong, or that you could explain better.

“Why did they interview that guy instead of me?” you wonder.

Actually, it’s not you. 99 times out of 100, it’s not your qualifications, your knowledge, or your ability.

It’s your approach.

After 10 years as a journalist, I’ve seen just about every bad pitch you can imagine. And I’ve also come up with 109 foolproof ways to entice the media in your city to highlight your business — approaches that make the mainstream media unable to resist you.

(And lots of them work just as well with bloggers and social media influencers.)

Build Relationships Months in Advance of Pitching

1. Connect on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, or in real life more than six months in advance of pitching a reporter.

2. Monitor the Twitter hashtags of your community. Often reporters chat with the public on Twitter, and you can respond to comments they make.

3. Compliment a reporter via Twitter, Facebook, or e-mail on a story he or she did.

4. Introduce yourself to reporters at big public or chamber of commerce events. Pass along your card, but don’t try and sell them the idea on the spot. Just be helpful.

5. Invite reporters out for coffee, and ask a lot of questions about them.

6. Leave a comment at the end of the online version of a story a reporter did, which you genuinely liked.

7. Congratulate them on their birthdays, or other personal news they post.

8. Comb through Muck Rack to find regional or national reporters on Twitter who cover your industry.

9. Write a positive blog post on your blog highlighting a story of theirs, and e-mail them the link.

10. Respond regularly to posts they’ve written either on their blog, or on a local community blog you’ve noticed they post on.

11. Visit city council meetings in your town. Typically there’s a reporter sitting around bored, that you can build a relationship with.

12. Sign up on helpareporter.com. Several e-mail lists are sent out daily, full of reporters needing experts for stories. Jump on those that fall within your expertise.

13. Scout publications with smaller and more targeted readerships, such as a local business weekly publication. These media outlets are often run by just two or three people, and they’ll jump at a guest column or article by you because it’ll save them the time of tracking down a story on their own.

14. Listen to AM radio stations, especially on weekday mornings or on Saturdays. Befriend one of the regular show hosts. Often they’ll highlight any business that is doing something interesting the public might find interesting.

15. Nix spending money on an online press release site early on. Those online press release systems are more useful for building inbound links, or if you’re already a recognized expert with a track record, and there’s a major news event breaking that you could discuss.

16. Ask them if they’d mind if you added them to your email list. Then provide them with education-based content marketing to sell them on doing a story about your business.

Once You’ve Met, Make The Pitch Transition Smooth

17. Say “yes” without fail if a reporter wants to interview you that day, even if it has to be over the phone or while you’re on vacation.

18. Offer occasional suggestions of angles you think would make great follow-up stories, especially that don’t have anything to do with your business. Nearly all stories are parts of a long-running issues, so reporters always need additional story follow-up ideas.

19. Offer to connect reporters to experts you know. If the reporter sounds interested, follow through with the offer.

20. Be a source for stories that fall within your expertise by letting reporters in your industry know you’re available when they need a source. This can lead to regular spots on the news.

21. Point reporters to blog posts you genuinely think they’d be interested in – whether on your blog or others. It validates you as an expert.

22. Treat journalists with respect. You’ll set yourself apart just by being friendly.

23. Keep a camera handy for “spot news” photo opportunities, and then pass along to the media outlet. This can be anything from a deer crashing into a department store while you happened to be there to a good shot of an event or store opening.

24. Offer to write a column on your specialty for the online website of a media site, or for a print publication in your area.

Ponder These Issues Prior to Pitching

25. Define the story in just one sentence, so you can easily explain it to the media in 10 seconds.

26. Include people in your story pitch. Many owners try to pitch their company’s achievements, but stories that sell normally have people involved, not just the company.

27. Focus on selling the benefits to viewers, listeners or readers first. It’s about their perspective of what you’re selling, not about how wonderful it would be for you to sell your product or service.

28. Think visually. When can a media station shoot video and pictures? If that’s not possible, are there video or pictures you can provide?

29. Avoid offering a posed or fake event or picture. They are typically frowned on by the media.

30. Hold an event where you’re actually doing what you’re talking about, and invite them to come, whether it’s to write a story, or just take a picture or video.

31. Post your video online for easy download, or put it on DVDs.

32. Seek permission from the individuals in a potential photo shoot ahead of time.

33. Highlight trends in which your business is just one of several examples. Nearly every trend can be turned into a story pitch, and it has the added advantage of letting you not hog the limelight, which reporters often don’t find appealing.

34. Provide actual users of your service or product for the media to interview. Their testimonials will boost your credibility.

35. Offer to review the facts or your quotes if you feel nervous the journalist misunderstood you. Don’t try to pressure the journalist into letting you review the entire article before publication, though, because media stations normally don’t allow this.

36. Provide a journalist with an expert to interview who has used and can vouch for your product. If you sell skin cream, for example, ask a dermatologist who likes your product to be available for an interview.

37. Copy relevant documents for the reporter, to provide at the interview, or prior to it.

38. Create a list of key dates and facts relevant to the story, along with potential quotes.

39. Write a couple paragraphs describing the process in simple terms, ideally with a drawing if the story is complex.

40. Write a killer press release in the form of a ready-made story, if submitting a story to a weekly or a daily in regions of fewer than 50,000 people. You’d be surprised how often a newspaper will print almost exactly what you sent.

41. Give reporters two weeks’ notice for an upcoming story or event.

42. Remain flexible. Reporters have days that are jam-packed with breaking news, and other days that are slower and more open to a less-urgent story like yours.

43. Choose to meet in person if an option, because the journalist will then get to know you better, and you’ll have more time with him or her.

44. Travel to where the story actually happens for the interview – whether in your office or an hour away at a gravel pit.

45. Muzzle the natural urge to provide stacks of background research. Most reporters don’t have the time or interest in looking through it.

46. Leap on breaking news relevant to your industry as a chance to put yourself in the local news. The shootings in Arizona presented an opportunity for anyone who deals with mental health to be interviewed on local radio, television and in the newspaper.

47. Pitch local stories to local reporters. National attention typically springs from local attention first.

48. Call ahead and pitch a story, if you’re showcasing your products at a local convention or other major event typically covered by the news. Otherwise reporters just walk the aisles and randomly choose businesses to speak with.

49. Watch the calendar, and pitch a story that would ideally run around major holidays, when things are often really slow in newsrooms.

50. Act enthusiastic. If you don’t seem excited about the idea, neither will they.

51. Express why this story is of value to your community. If it’s a story you wouldn’t bother watching or reading, don’t pitch it.

52. Show an image that encapsulates the story you’re trying to tell. When Google held a national competition, our video shot on a Flip Camera received national attention from a variety of media outlets because it easily showed in one image how wild the competition became.

53. Forget about giving up. Don’t be a pest, but keep trying every few weeks to pitch an idea, until a reporter gives a straight yes-or-no answer to your idea.

54. Write very short e-mails to reporters. Three or four sentences total. Your e-mail is much more likely to get read by busy reporters if it’s short and to the point.

55. Devote lots of time on e-mail subject lines to reporters. You can apply the same techniques for writing magnetic headlines for blog posts – they make both readers and reporters want to know more about what you have to say.

21 Kinds of Reporter Bait

56. Hold a fundraising drive.

57. Do X for the 10th, 20th, 50th year.

58. Launch a brand new product.

59. Sell product X locally for the first time.

60. Provide an environmentally friendly version of a product everyone uses – and be the only local place to purchase it.

61. Link your underlying story pitch with some basic human emotion, like love, fear or hope. Start a knitting story in memory of your late aunt, who taught you about knitting.

62. Frame your story as a local example of a national or international issue currently in the news. If Congress is debating health care, and your clinic has developed a unique program for handling people without insurance, you’ve got a pitch.

63. Time a pitch about your company for a few weeks before your company’s anniversary.

64. Buck a trend. It’s Christmas Eve, and you’ve seen an uptick in your toy store sales, while everyone else has noticed a downturn.

65. Launch a product or service in your community no one locally has ever sold.

66. Highlight that you’re doing something most people are afraid to attempt, such as starting a business during a recession.

67. Brag. If you’ve been interviewed by a local media outlet, a larger one, or a major publication, play it up. It shows you’re desirable as a media interview.

68. Spotlight unique ties to major events. Show how your business has doubled through word of mouth marketing after volunteering for two weeks during Hurricane Katrina.

69. Share how you just hit X,000 regular subscribers on your blog, and show how that translates to online sales. This process remains foreign and therefore fascinating to most reporters.

70. Reveal how you’ve transitioned a primarily brick-and-mortar store into doing a healthy amount of online sales.

71. Announce that your business for the first time employs four generations of the same family.

72. Embrace anything that makes you unique. A local jewelry store owner in Northern Wisconsin received media coverage across all of Minnesota and Wisconsin simply because the owner felt the end of the world was coming soon, and incorporated it into his commercial.

73. Compile fascinating data. OkCupid.com mined its customer data to show which smartphone users have the most sex. What kind of irresistible statistic could you compile from your business?

74. Run a weird contest. Be the beauty parlor giving a makeover to the husband of the women who makes the best case that he looks like a slob.

75. Write an e-book. Just being able to say you’ve written a recently released “book” can be enough of a news hook for a story.

76. Look for sections in the newspaper that highlight interesting businesses, often under headlines like “What’s That Business.” Normally a simple phone call with a pitch will secure a feature on your business.

How To Become A Favorite Source for Reporters

77. Explain things chronologically if possible.

78. Speak slowly, so the reporter has time to take notes and mentally process what you’re saying.

79. Tell the story twice. The first time give the sweeping overview, and then return to the start of the story, and fill in all the details. The second time around you’ll remember more and fill in gaps in the narrative, and the reporter will ask better questions.

80. Respond to a reporter’s phone call or e-mail immediately, or as soon as humanly possible. Reporters love dependable, helpful people.

81. Provide information from most to least important if time is irrelevant to the topic.

82. Allow the reporter to lead the interview if he or she comes with questions.

83. Wear a company logo, and dark, solid colors on camera. Clothes with stripes or checkered patterns look bad on television.

84. Don’t waste time. Assume you won’t have more than half an hour to speak to the reporter.

85. Answer the obvious questions: Who, What, Where, When, Why, How and So What.

86. Ponder how you will answer every potential question, and don’t assume there won’t be any difficult ones.

87. Stay on topic.

88. Offer to return as a regular guest either weekly, monthly, or as needed, once your first interview concludes.

89. Send an e-mail or note a day after the interview talking about how you appreciated the reporter’s time, or how great the story was.

90. Provide a clear call to action, if there is one.

91. Ask the reporter to summarize what you said every few minutes during an interview. This typically gives you a better chance to clarify and reiterate key points.

92. Repeat your key couple of messages, so it’s more likely to make it in the story.

93. Refrain from saying “no comment” if you can’t answer a question. Explain why you’d prefer not to answer.

94. Remain flexible with the reporter, even if he or she decides to take the story in a direction that isn’t ideal in your eyes.

95. Assume anything you say will be printed or stated by the journalist. Avoid saying “off the record” unless the reporter verbally agrees to keep what you’re about to say out of the story.

96. Work with one news outlet at a time on a story.

97. Talk in short sentences, using simple English.

98. Avoid slang, industry vernacular or abbreviations.

99. Provide a business card with your name, title, and what numbers to reach you at both during and after business hours.

100. Contact the reporter every few weeks, to remain top of mind, and find out when the publication or air date will be.

101. Post on your website and other online outlets footage of you on television. Have someone record or videotape the segment while on television, just in case the station can’t or won’t provide you with a copy.

102. Propose being on a local Sunday show or early morning show, which often gives you 20 minutes to highlight your business.

103. Pre-write tweets and a blog post, so you can quickly tell friends, family, clients and supporters when the story runs without losing time.

A Few Important Don’ts

104. Don’t cold call. Warm up the reporter by sending an e-mail first, with a paragraph spelling out the bottom line of the story idea, then follow up with a call a few hours or a day later, depending on the urgency of the story.

105. If you must cold call due to time constraints, never call after 3 p.m.

106. Don’t neglect your headline. Without a good one, you’re dead.

107. Don’t try to get an editor. Their mentality is often to help reporters eliminate mediocre story ideas. Reach out for reporters instead – they’re looking for material.

108. Don’t show up in the newsroom unannounced.

109. Don’t mail information in unsolicited.

The list might seem insanely a bit daunting. But if all you do is take one step in each category (and respect all of the Don’ts), you’re likely to gain more coverage than any of your competitors. The bottom line is: reach out, be helpful, and get busy.

I’ll hang out in the comments section to help out anyone who has questions. But quite frankly, I’d rather see you out there, connecting with reporters, selling stories about you and your fantastic business successes.

The publicity is there for the taking. All you have to do is ask.

Patrick Garmoe serves as social media strategist for PureDriven, a Minnesota digital marketing agency that specializes in helping businesses spread great ideas both online and offline, and offers a free, four-part online seminar to teach you how to garner online and offline attention for your business. You can reach Patrick on Twitter @Garmoe.

Top image from Yuri Arcurs Website

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When you’re not getting any media coverage, whose fault is it ?

Is it media’s? They’re preoccupied with other things, especially politics and show business — topics that probably don’t have anything to do with your product.

Is it the fault of your business? It’s just not interesting enough, or compelling enough to warrant media attention.

Or is it your fault? Are you doing something wrong?

To answer these questions, here are…

5 Reasons You’re Not Getting Any Media Attention

1. You never reach out

If you think journalists are preoccupied, you’re right. They’re always under pressure to meet deadlines, and a hundred different things are vying for their attention every day.

So if you never attempt to get some of their attention to you, then you have little chance for media coverage. A well thought out press release or media pitch, given to the right journalists or editors, will go a long way to keeping you on top of their minds — or at least pretty close to it.

2. You’re unprepared

The “luckiest” people are those who are always prepared enough to grab opportunities when they appear. If you don’t have a media kit and media page to provide information to interested journalists, if you don’t know what’s happening around you that might be relevant to your business, if you take forever to return calls or set up interviews, then you’re out of luck. Always be ready with some of the basic PR tools you need to get free publicity.

3. You don’t create your own news

If your business is interesting enough to attract customers, then it’s interesting enough for the media. But often, you have to package it that way. Regularly mine your business for media-sexy stories, and pitch these to the media.

Sometimes, you have to create your own news. Organize events, participate in fundraisers, conduct a study, or partner with more prominent businesses and organizations.

4. You’re not connecting with the right journalists

If you’re pitching to the wrong reporters and editors, then your story will never get told. Don’t send your media pitch to the business editor, for example, if your product is more suitable for the lifestyle section of a newspaper.

Also, don’t send out a template pitch to everyone on your media list. Take the time to personalize and customize each one, so you’re addressing what each reporter or editor is most interested in.

Know which media outlets and journalists reach your target audience and connect with them. With social media, it’s now easier than ever to get direct access to journalists.

5. You’re out of touch with what’s newsworthy

Any sort of media work is difficult if you don’t have your finger on the pulse of the media. That is, if you don’t know what media are publishing and broadcasting, how will you know what they’re looking for? Consume media and observe which stories get publicity. You’ll be surprised at how many opportunities you can spot this way.

Whose Fault Is It?

After reading the list above, I hope you now realize how much there is you can do to get more media attention. You don’t have to wait until journalists discover your awesome products. Go out there and shine a light on your business!

How can you do better? What can you start doing, or do more of, to gain more media exposure?

Share your thoughts in the comments below. Or send me a message on Twitter or Facebook. I’m looking forward to it!

Image from Crestock Stock Photo

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One of the first things we do with new clients is look at their website to see if they have an online media center.

An online media center is a page on your website with all the important background information on your company or business. It should give an interested journalist the answers to the basic questions running in his or her head:

Who?

What?

Why?

How?

When?

So what?

Why you need an online media center

You may be wondering, “Why do I need a separate online press center or press page, when all the information about my business is already on my website?”

Even though you website may already explain what you do clearly and cohesively, a lot of times a business site is very deep. That means a lot of the important information a reporter needs are buried in separate pages throughout your site.

The reporter has to figure out what exactly your company does and why they and their audience should care about you. If reporters have a hard time finding the answers, then they’re simply going to leave your site. They’re not going to spend 10 minutes clicking around to find the answers.

What this means is, a good press page can rescue a good story!

And a bad one — or not having a press page at all — can kill a potential story about you and your business.

With a good media center, a reporter landing on your site will be able to quickly go to the tab marked “Press” or “Media Center” and know that all the information is there for them to learn about your business and make a decision about whether to write about you or not.

Unfortunately, not all business websites are properly organized and written to provide the information media need quickly and easily.

A dedicated press page or media center is the answer. It will make a journalist’s job much easier, which means more media coverage for you.

What should be in your online media center

Think of your media center as a press kit in digital format. It contains essentially the same elements a physical press kit would have, such as:

• Company Background. A brief background of your company: how did it begin, what is its vision and mission, what milestones has it reached?

• Photos. Photos of you and other essential personnel, as well as beauty shots of each of your products. You may also include photos of special events, if they are newsworthy.

• Bios. Short biographies of the company owners and founders, as well as top management.

• Products. Include a list of your products or services, with a brief description of each. Mention why each product or service is significant in the marketplace. You can link out to detailed descriptions.

• FAQs. Provide answers to the most commonly asked questions you get from media. Or what you anticipate reporters would want to ask. This can be a useful place to “plant” a question, such as one that reveals a unique or little-known fact about your product/service.

• Possible Interview Topics. Go ahead and provide a list of topics best suited to your products/services and business. Dig deep to uncover all the media-sexy stories your business can tell.

• Press Releases and Media Coverage. Include a list of previous press releases you have written as well as any media coverage your business has received. If possible, link to where the articles are published online.

• Contact Information. Prominently display how a reporter can contact you and do make sure the telephone number and email address you provide are where someone can reach you immediately!  With tight deadlines and breaking news, if you’re not available the reporter will move on to their next source.

How to organize your online press page

All this information can be difficult to organize on a single web page, especially if you have a number of products/services. Here are some ideas to consider:

• Tabs

To keep everything within a single page, you can use tabs. Each element will have its own tab, and all the tabs are visible at the top of the page. This makes it easy for the reporter to go from one tab to the next without leaving the press page.

• Within-page Links

You can have all the elements on one long page, but at the top of the page, have a hyperlinked list of all the contents. That way, the reporter stays on one page while accessing all the information he or she needs. However, this can get unwieldy for very long pages. Make sure you have plenty of “return to top” links throughout the page, so the reporter can return to the list of contents easily.

• Links to Other Pages

Another way is to populate your press page with links out to separate pages for photos, products, etc. This will require the reporter to leave the press page, but with proper navigation links, it doesn’t have to be difficult to move around.

Work with your web master or designer to decide on the best structure for your press page.

How are you doing?

Do you currently have an online press center? If so, what does it look like? How can you improve it?

If you don’t have an online press page yet — what are you waiting for?

I’d love to hear your thoughts. Post them in the comments below. Or connect with me on Twitter or Facebook and let me know what you think!

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One of the best ways to get free publicity is to give samples of your product to the media. Sometimes, the media themselves will approach you, requesting a sample for them to photograph or review.

However, even if you don’t get such requests, you can be proactive in sending out samples.

Doing so demonstrates your confidence in your product. The media themselves –or someone they know and trust–can try your product first-hand and give an unbiased opinion on it.

Plus, it’s much easier and more compelling to write about a product that’s already in your hands, especially if it’s relevant to your beat (a topic assigned to reporters). For example, a beauty editor may be more likely to write about a new moisturizer if they receive a sample bottle to try.

That said, there are right and wrong ways of giving product samples. Below are some useful tips to remember:

1. Be selective.

Even if your product costs less than $20, it doesn’t mean you should go ahead and send it to any journalist, willy nilly.

You’ll want to make sure to get your product in the hands of journalists and bloggers who reach your target market. If you’ve been regularly consuming your local media and have been building up your media list, then you’ll have a good idea of who these journalists are.

Also keep an eye out for writer or editors who are in charge of compiling gift-idea or shopping-list type of stories. Examples of this include, “Best Christmas Gifts of 2011,” or “Top Software for the Geek You Love.”

2. Ask first.

If your product is expensive, you’ll want to ask first if a particular media person is interested in receiving a sample. Otherwise, you could easily waste plenty of dollars giving away samples… without any media coverage to show for it.

3. Provide your best.

Don’t skimp on your samples; provide only the best of what you have to offer. This may seem obvious, but sometimes entrepreneurs try to cut corners to save on dollars. This isn’t the occasion for that.

4. Include complete information with your sample.

Don’t just send your sample without any background information. Include:

• the list of items you’ve provided
• instructions for how to use your product
• additional items a person may need when testing your product (e.g., a microfiber cloth to test your all-natural, all-purpose cleanser)
• product information
• precautions to take when using your product, if any
• photos of the product
• testimonials
• your contact information

5. Be clear about returning the product.

You may wish for the reporter to keep your product sample. However, he or she may not be allowed to do so by their company policy.

It also depends on the nature of your product. Perishable items, of course, can’t be returned anymore. Neither can products that are more personal in nature. When we gave out samples from our socks company, for example, I didn’t expect–or want–them back!

Or, your product may be too expensive to give away, such as a technology gadget. My PR agency works mostly with these types of clients, and sometimes the product is worth several hundred dollars or more. In this case, we make it clear that we are merely loaning the item for testing and review, and we have clear guidelines on how long the journalist can review the hardware or software.

If you want or expect your sample back, make it easy for the tester to return it. For example, include a prepaid postage envelope or packaging along with the sample.

6. Ship properly.

Pack your product properly to make sure it arrives in good condition. If it’s a food item, make sure it’s properly cooled and insulated during transit so the reporter doesn’t receive something spoiled. If your product is fragile, pack it securely.

7. Send samples on time.

Certain occasions are perfect for sending product samples, such as before Christmas, depending on the nature of your product. Remember that most media outlets plan their content months in advance, so keep that in mind when inquiring about sending samples.

Also be on the look out for little-known celebrations, which could be relevant to your product.

8. Keep track.

Finally, keep track of the samples you send, to whom, and with what results. Don’t be dismayed if you don’t get media exposure with each sample you send out. That’s just not realistic.

However, by monitoring your efforts and results, you’ll get a better idea of which journalists are receptive to your pitches, which approaches work, and which are the best times for sending samples.

If you do it right, sending samples of your product can be a very effective way of getting free PR, both in traditional media and social media. Follow the tips above and you’re bound to get better results.

Have you ever sent samples of your product before? What results did you get? What did you do right? What could you have done better?

Share your experience in the comments below, so we can all learn from each other. You can also share them with me on Twitter or Facebook.

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You may not realize it, but having a live event is an excellent PR opportunity. The event itself is usually newsworthy. If you think it isn’t, then make it so!

Make the most of this opportunity by planning your PR efforts for every stage of your event, as you can see below:

Pre-Event

• Send out a press release announcing the event. Focus on what results your event will have, and how the public will benefit.

• Send media pitches to offer interviews with your event’s speakers or presenters. This is especially effective if you have a renowned author, personality or some other kind of celebrity coming to the event.

• Invite journalists to cover your event. This may be most appropriate for journalists in magazines or journals that reach the same audience as your event participants. Don’t expect the media to stay for your whole event, however. Identify key points in your event that would be most interesting, such as keynote speeches.

During the Event

• Open sessions to the media. Depending on your topic and event design, you can accommodate journalists in certain sessions of your event. These should be the most interesting ones, such as when a notable speaker will make a presentation, or when there will be panel discussion on a hot topic.

• Set up a media center. Make your event media-friendly by having a place exclusively for them. Provide a computer, WiFi, fax machine, and coffee to journalists who may need them.

• Organize a press conference. If you have a very important speaker at your event, or newsworthy data to present, consider organizing a press conference.

Post-event

• Interview participants before they leave. Videotape them and get their testimonials on what they liked about the event, how it has benefited them, and what they will do differently as a result of the event.

• Send out a press release summarizing the outcomes of the event. Quote important speakers, and include testimonials and photographs.

As you can see, you have many ways to get publicity from an event. From the time leading up to the event, to immediately afterwards, you can find opportunities to get PR.

The key is to include PR when planning and executing your event. Don’t make it an after-thought. Hire a photographer and videographer to document the event, so you can provide audio-visual materials to journalists. Sometimes journalists plan to cover your event, but through circumstances beyond their control, they miss it. In this case, be ready to provide what they need so they can still report on your event.

And as you plan your event, make a list of all the newsworthy angles of your event. This could include your event speakers, the topics, the participants, and, of course, the outcomes. And, knowing you want media coverage, you’re also more likely to include newsworthy activities in your event.

How do you get publicity for your event? Share your experiences or questions in the comments below.

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With the rise of social media, many “experts” have predicted the demise of traditional media, whether for information dissemination, advertising, marketing or PR.

In fact, one of our readers recently commented, “I am not so sure I need access to a traditional reporter anymore!”

While I encourage my clients and students to include social media in their PR strategy, I would not advise anybody to drop traditional media.

It may seem that traditional media is losing its usefulness. Many newspapers and magazines have folded up. More and more people are turning to social networks first to get the news. And popular bloggers are reaching incredible numbers of people.

All this is true.

However, we still need traditional media for PR. Here are five reasons why:

1. Traditional media are instantly recognizable.

Chances are, the average person can recognize your city’s newspaper rather than the most popular blog in your area. Traditional media have been around longer than social media, and many have built recognizable and credible brands.

2. Traditional media give you instant status.

Because traditional media are recognizable and often seen as credible, getting exposure through them gives you instant status and credibility as well. On the other hand, being interviewed on a blog or web TV may not have the same effect.

3. Traditional media still reach vast audiences.

As long as a traditional media outlet is still publishing or airing, chances are, it continues to reach a large enough audience to keep it viable. This is why many online stories take off only after traditional media talk about them.

4. Social media feed on traditional media.

Bloggers often write about what’s going on in traditional media, whether it’s a new TV ad or a story that ran recently in the news. If you land an interview in traditional media, you’re likely to catch the attention of social media as well. Furthermore, appearing in traditional media gives you something to post about in your own blog and in social networks.

5. Traditional media have huge social media presence.

Traditional media outlets often also have an Internet presence, such as blogs and social networking profiles. Those with websites usually get more traffic than even the most popular blogs.

So if you were ready to ditch traditional media for social media — don’t! You still need traditional media to reach an audience and establish your credibility.

The most important thing is to target those media outlets that YOUR target market is consuming, whether it’s a digital medium or a non-digital one. Chances are, you’ll do best to have a mix of both.

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