Make Up Your Mind to Make Some News
June 23, 2008 by Brad Shorr
Filed under General, Online Marketing
Here’s a guest post from my blogger friend Barbara Rozgonyi. We met recently at a suburban Chicago Tweetup, and found out we have a lot in common, including a conviction that press releases and public relations should be part of every company’s marketing mix. I’m so glad Barbara is here to explain why that’s the case!
Make Up Your Mind to Make Some News
It’s time to make some news, about you and your business. And, if you’re like most businesses you have a problem with that. Sure, you’re okay with spending money on advertising. Yes – of course! – you have a website and maybe even a blog. You can send out brochures, mail postcards and have a sales rep call. But . . . you don’t distribute many or any news releases.
Why not? Check all that apply:
___ no time to write up a release and distribute it
___ need a media contact list, but don’t have one
___ don’t know who to contact for help with publicity
___ no news to report
___ PR is an exotic marketing tactic that defies measurement
That’s okay. Really, it is. By the time you finish reading this post, you’ll be on your way to making news. But first, you have to make up your mind to make some.
“Ever wished you could get your name in the news, but didn’t think you had a news-worthy story to tell?” – that’s the headline I used once on a postcard. People called to tell me they loved the headline. It was like reading their minds. Yes, they wanted their name in the news. And, yes they had no clue how to get started.
The good news? While writing a press release is not rocket science, the effects you get from releasing one can propel your visibility from obscurity to getting noticed almost overnight – especially when you distribute your news online.
Reasons to Distribute Online Press Releases
Yes, this is the list of objections, now turned into features and benefits.
• Saves staff time – the optimal length for a press release is around 400 words
• Augments or replaces a media contact list with an automated delivery system
• Fill-in-the-box forms make it easy to enter content and upload images or videos
• Enables diverse reporting options within one basic format that can be targeted by industry or interest
• Measures results in a variety of ways, including SEO, page reads and responses to call to action
Ready to get going? You’ll need this . . .
How to Make News Checklist
Who is the story about?
Hint: your clients or your market first, then you.
What is the issue or problem that needs to be solved?
Make a list of how you save the world, stop pain, cut costs or add value.
When – is there an event, an anniversary, a national observance?
Tie into something bigger than you.
Where is the story taking place?
Locally – let your local reporters know you’re an expert
Industry-wide – talk to your association publication about writing a feature story
Nationally – release your story via an online distribution service like PR Web
Why does this story matter – to reporters, consumers, the public?
You have to be able to explain your answer this question. If you can’t, your story isn’t newsworthy.
How will you call for action?
You need a call to action to measure results and inspire movement. Offer a free white paper, a complimentary analysis or subscription to an information source.
Set a Date – Make that Date
Set a date to write your news, get it approved and then release it. For best results, repeat at least once monthly. Once you get going and start seeing results, you’ll wonder why it took so long to make up your mind to make some news.
Adding in Social Media
SHIFT’s SMPR format [social media press release] elevates the 100 year old press release to an advanced communication platform. Services like PRWeb let you take full advantage of the SMPR’s interactive features with built-in social media tools.
__________
About Barbara Rozgonyi . . .
An in-demand publicist, professional speaker and marketing communications consultant since 1990, Barbara Rozgonyi is grounded, edgy and prophetic. “Panoramic PR,” Barbara’s latest project, compresses everything she knows into an affordable, manageable course that teaches small business owners and anyone else who wants more free publicity how to get completely covered by being fully exposed. Wired PR Works, Barbara’s blog, ranks in the top 50 PR blogs in the world and houses over 400 social media, marketing and PR articles – all free for your viewing pleasure. Follow Barbara @wiredprworks on twitter.com.
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If PR, as you say, defies measurement, why would anyone want to do it. Would you spend money on a sales person that didn’t produce numbers. I’ve been measuring PR for 22 years, showing clear progress against hard objectives. I wouldn’t be in business if PR wasn’t measureable
Brad, thanks for the guest spot!
Katie, totally agree with you on that.
“PR defies measurement” is listed as an objection or reason not to use PR that’s answered like this in the post:
Measures results in a variety of ways, including SEO, page reads and responses to call to action
I would add . . .for additional ways to measure PR, read Katie’s book http://tinyurl.com/2xuk96 or subscribe to her blog: http://kdpaine.blogs.com/.
Hi Brad and Barbara! Great post indeed. Part of PR results can be measured, the rest are harder to put into numbers, as the effects spread out on months and months. But if nothing else works, you can track the number of visits to your site, the number of views on published press releases and articles you’ve posted online, number of articles on your business and so on.
On the other hand, you might face a year long effort of engaging a certain industry magazine editor with press releases, announcements and press kits, to only get a reply to your Christmas card
And then, a year later, you get an email asking for a screenshot for an article that the magazine will publish on their site in a week 
You cannot say if your latest press release of the ongoing effort paid off, you can only guess which action led to what result.
Working for a company where the PR effort is significantly greater than anything else in Marketing (yes, the budget plays a part in this decision), I can’t imagine how anyone could overlook it! The short and long term results are simply amazing. And if that can happen for a high end tech products that most people don’t really understand or care about, I can’t imagine how much better it can be for a different type of business.
Katie, Alina, thanks for visiting Word Sell and commenting. I agree that PR is really underutilized by small and medium sized businesses. Is part of the reason is that owners and leaders don’t realize PR can be measured, at least partially measured?