How can a business get press coverage without hiring a PR firm?

To find out, we called a handful of magazine publishers around the country. We asked what criteria they use, and how they like to be “pitched.” Of course, the editor is charged with selecting topics and writing and assigning articles. Here are those we contacted:

ABA Bank Marketing Magazine

Walt Albro, Editor

Tulsa People Magazine

Kendall Barrow, Managing Editor

Aspen Sojourner

Michael Miracle, Managing Editor

Machinery Lubrication Magazine

Paul Arnold, Editor-in-Chief

Idaho Golf Magazine

Laurie Sammis, Editor

Park City Magazine

Kristen Case, Editor

What did we learn? Refreshingly, they’re real people! Pretty nice at that. We talked to five of the six in short order. They’re not so concerned about whether you or your organization might get publicity, or want publicity, or how bad you might want or need it. It’s more like my father always says — people are concerned mostly with themselves. Editors are concerned with finding interesting story ideas for their readers. So your job, as a business owner, is simply to help the editors of the publications you target get what they need and want — good, interesting information and stories for their readers. Here’s how:

Step 1: Get to know the target publication. How else will you give the editor what he or she wants? Pick up a handful of copies or order a subscription. Peruse the website. What types of things do they cover? Find their mission statement; even call their office and inquire if you must, but it should be pretty obvious. Park City Magazine, for example, is about people, places, history and happenings in Park City, Utah. Machinery Lubrication Magazine covers issues, trends, products and people impacting — or soon to impact — the world of machinery lubrication (a subset of machinery and plant maintenance).

Step 2: Find a story idea that fits into the publishing scope of the publication. If the publication you target issues an editorial calendar, look there. It’ll be on their website. It’s a list of the topics they’ll cover in future issues. Can you provide content that fits, that helps them cover the topic in an interesting way? Remember, the editor’s job is to serve his or her audience with interesting, helpful information. Your job is to help them identify content that fits the bill. Give them some article fodder and they’ll appreciate it.

Virtually all publications today have online editions that, by their nature, are beasts requiring constant feeding. The editors’ need for content never ends. Do them a favor; give ‘em some. Just be sure your articles serve the AUDIENCE first.

Step 3: Make the pitch in the manner desired by the editor. To determine this, just call and ask the editor. Almost all editors we talked to seemed to prefer a short email summary.

If your idea does not resonate, don’t worry about it, just ask how or where it missed the target and then go back to the drawing board.

To get your story told, keep in mind that editors are very busy people. Be respectful of their time, do your homework, and pitch them story ideas that will be of value and interest to their target audience, and you’ll find success. Unfortunately, if your product or service just does not have any tie-in with the focus of the publication and its target audience, you’re out of luck. All the effort and creativity in the world aren’t going to get your square peg into their round hole. You’re not locked out, just relegated to the ranks of paid advertisers.

Examples of Good and Bad Pitches

Michael Miracle, Managing Editor

Aspen Sojourner

Good Pitch: Over the course of the last year, I have received several pitches for Bolle and Serengeti eyewear from a PR agency in New York. The agency was pitching Bolle glasses and goggles, both of which are used with great frequency in Aspen, a ski and sports town. I emailed back and forth with the account rep, asking her which were the more “up-market” products that might appeal to our readers. She sent me a pair of goggles, which I tried for much of last ski season. She also sent me a pair of tennis-specific sports glasses. Upon my request, she also determined which retailers in Aspen carried the products, which gave me the local hook I was looking for. Both the goggles and tennis glasses will appear either in our print publication or on our website in the near future.

Bad Pitch: I recently received an email and follow-up phone call from a PR agency repping “Socks Appeal.” It was similar to the Bolle pitch in that it was coming from a national agency who had identified our market as a good one for the client. Socks Appeal are knee-length socks with a faux-fur trim at the top. The fur embellishment hangs over the edge of a pair of tall boots, giving them the appearance of being fur-lined themselves, though at a fraction of the cost. The pitch had a strong “recession cost-saver” angle and made the case that our ski-town readers would likely be intrigued by the product on a fashion angle as well. I asked for a local retailer and was told there was none. For me that was the end of it, and the PR rep understood. Our magazine has “Aspen” in its title, and we only consider stories with a strong Aspen hook. Our readers pick up the magazine either because they are in Aspen or they have a strong affinity for Aspen wherever else they might be.And since Aspen has an abundance of stories and retailers with which we can fill our pages, we simply don’t need stories that have no clear connection to Aspen.

Kendall Barrow, Editor

Tulsa People Magazine

Good Pitch: A local trapeze instructing school pitched a story about their business. They were honest — they needed business and feared few Tulsans knew they were under new ownership and offering new services. New services = news, not to mention it’s the only business of its kind in Tulsa (more news), and it fits our goal (local news).

Bad Pitch #1: A recent pitch from a New York company about a product that was not even sold in Tulsa stores! We are a COMMUNITY magazine. We don’t care about a product made in NYC that’s not available in Tulsa. Our readers can’t benefit from this news unless they have a trip planned to New York.

Bad Pitch #2: We recently received a pitch to cover a company being named in Tulsa’s Top 25 something-or-other. Without being too specific, being in the top 25 means there are 24 other LOCAL companies who received this honor, too. We’d have to cover all 25 to be fair. If they were #1, well, that might be news to us, or top 10 in the country — that’s possibly worthy of something. Nowadays, however, there are more and more awards, so it gets harder and harder to justify including them. Those have their place in newspapers alongside community hires and promotions, not in a monthly magazine.

Paul Arnold, Editor-in-Chief

Machinery Lubrication Magazine

Good Pitch #1: An industrial consulting firm by the name of Life Cycle Engineering emailed an article they had written titled “Finding the Root Cause of Energy Consumption.” It was well written, cited numerous other studies that supported the points being made in the article, and focused on the information (not on the fact that this company has services to offer in this area). Click here for the pitch. Click here for the article that we did from it.

Good Pitch #2: The organizers of the PartsToClean trade fair sent a short, well-written, straight-to-the-point article about the critical role that proper in-process cleaning techniques and technologies play in the successful production of contaminant-free products. The article then explained that many of the world’s leaders would be presenting best practices at the PartsToClean 2009 trade fair. This was right in line with the scope of the content for Machinery Lubrication Magazine.

Bad Pitch #1: An industrial company sent a pitch via email that seemed to describe the results of a comprehensive case study on lubrication challenges in the beverage packaging industry. We responded positively and they then sent an article that was basically an advertisement for the company. No real case study.

Bad Pitch #2: An industrial consultant emailed a pitch that was just a forward of an email string between him and a client. The message read “The exchange of correspondence, below, relates to Machinery Lubrication. Please let me know, by 2 September 2009, if you are interested in publishing this material.”

McGraw-Hill Research analyzed 600 firms in 16 different industries from 1980 to 1985. It found that business-to-business firms that maintained or increased their advertising expenditures during the 1981-1982 recession averaged significantly higher revenue growth – both during and after the recession – than those that did otherwise. In fact, “aggressive advertisers” during the recession saw their revenue rise 256 percent during the five-year period over firms that let their advertising expenditures slip.

In analyzing the 1970, 1974-75 and 1979 recessions, research firm Meldrum & Fewsmith discovered that firms keeping an aggressive advertising campaign maintained and increased their sales and profits. In January 1982, the Cambridge-based Strategy Planning Institute released a study showing that businesses increasing their advertising efforts during a recession gained an average of 1.5 points of market share.

Ad Cutbacks Convey Weakness
A recent study by Ad-ology Research found that advertising appears to play a key role in consumers’ views of how a business is doing. In fact, it found that 48 percent of U.S. adults believe that a lack of advertising by a retail store, bank or auto dealership during a recession indicates the business must be struggling.

Don’t Kill the Message, Change It
If any industry knows the importance of consistent advertising, it’s the auto industry. Despite its terrible predicament of late, it’s still advertising. It knows that if it stops advertising, it’ll find itself in even worse shape. But it IS responding to the changing economic climate. It’s rolling out campaigns such as “Lose your job and we’ll make your payments for six months.”

Other types of businesses are doing the same. Restaurants are promoting economical selections and health clubs are urging you to “bring a friend.”

Savvy Business Owners, Advance!
To be sure, now is not the time to retreat. In fact, it’s prime time to advance. Your competitors are almost certainly attempting to save a buck by pulling back their ad spending. Don’t fall for similar, faulty logic. Instead, it presents a prime opportunity for you.

Think of it as a long-term investment. Yes, it may hurt, but you’re in it for the long haul – to win. Find a way to continue advertising, and trust that you’ll get a handsome return on your investment.

Consistent, continuous advertising, marketing and sales are essential to building and growing a successful venture. You should not allow gaps or lapses. If you’re lucky, some of your competitors will become unwilling or unable to continue to invest in these important ways during challenging economic times and thereby provide you the opportunity to gain on them – if you stay the course.

Your business is what people see, hear and read about it; nothing more and nothing less. Yes, to your customers, you’re about the experience they personally have with your products and services, but your growth will come from the great universe of potential customers and referral sources. To them, you’re just one of two things: nonexistent or an impression.

Nonexistent doesn’t get you any business. The people who don’t know you exist at all can’t call you and won’t refer business to you.

But if your prior activities or efforts to create awareness bore fruit, you’ve made an impression on some people. You’ve placed (intentionally or serendipitously) in their minds an image or “feel” for who you are, what you offer and what you stand for. An image derived from their interpretation of their encounters with you, your logo, your story, your website, your storefront, etc.

Is the impression people have of you one that will serve you well? Fuel your growth? Cause talented people to want to work for you or with you?

Every time you meet someone, hand out a business card, mail a letter, answer the phone or present yourself on the Web, people are judging you and your firm. They’re deciding whether you’re “really sharp” or just showing up. Of course, they don’t really know because they have not worked with you before, but they’ll use their impressions to decide whether they’ll ever give you a try.

To be sure, image matters. In a world where image matters, Ryan Rex says you need to at least get the basics right:

1.      Establish your unique brand message and brand identity

2.      Get a good, professionally created logo and tag line

3.      Develop a top-notch business card, stationery and website*

4.      Constantly develop and execute strategies for building awareness

Does this seem like a lot? It’s really not.

Yes, it will cost some money, but rest assured, it’s an investment that will pay big dividends.

Public Relations (PR) Firm vs. Creative Agency

The work of a PR firm and creative agency overlap quite a bit, but the PR firm focuses more on getting your message out. The PR firm also will help you with crafting your brand and your message, but the heavy-duty branding work is done by the creative agency.

So look at it like this. The creative agency helps you define your brand, your logo, your look, your business cards, letterhead and website. The PR firm then helps you get your message out. So you get mentioned in the media, get articles written about you or your firm, design a competent direct mail campaign, or develop a smart trade show strategy.

Working with Creative Agencies and PR Firms

Here, quality definitely matters. To find the right firm for you, share what you think you want with people you respect. Get their suggestions, then meet with some of the agencies they recommend. Ask for samples of their work and check references. Do you see passion? Do you see quality?

If you want the job done right, don’t be afraid to spend a little extra money. You don’t want to pinch pennies today and have to redo it all again in a few years.

Engaging a Creative Agency or PR Firm

Creative agencies and PR firms are paid in one of three ways: by the hour, by the project, or on a monthly retainer.

Hourly rates range from $20 to $250. You would be wise not to pay by the hour unless you know exactly what you want and are skilled at directing the agency or firm. That’s typically not you or me.

Project billing is appropriate for clearly defined projects that have a beginning and an end, e.g., $8,000 for a website that has a set number of pages and a particular functionality.

Monthly retainers are fine but should not be open-ended. They should be similar to project-based jobs but with an understanding that you will pay for the project in regular monthly installments. Or, if the work is more open-ended, the agency should keep track of everything it does for you (i.e., the time it spends working for you and what it does). In this manner, the agency will simply “fill up the limit” each month.

Is It Wrong to Pursue Publicity? Is It an Ego Thing?

A lot of people confuse publicity with ego. They think that if you cooperate in any way with the media and the result is a favorable story about you or your company, then you’re on an ego trip. Is this true?

What about the need to spread awareness of your firm? Are you committed to building a successful business? Are you someone who helps others ? Are you passionate about what you do and excited to spread the word? If so, then what you’re doing is not about ego – it’s about building a successful business.

To be sure, there are plenty of egomaniacs around, and you certainly could be one of them. So could I. But don’t let fear of what people might think dissuade you from using the media as a powerful and often inexpensive tool for creating awareness.

PR and creative agencies aren’t cheap. If you can’t afford the help now, plan to make the investment at your earliest opportunity. It may be hard to see it as an investment because it uses no bricks and no mortar, but it will still play a major role in helping you build your business.

Note: Ryan Rex of Rex PR provided his expertise for this article. You can reach him at www.RexPR.com.

• Employee hires and promotions
• Location change, addition or expansion
• New products, services or capabilities
• Ownership change
• BIG new order, expenditure or transaction
• Certification earned or capability attained
• Award or recognition received
• Owner or employee takes leadership position in industry, trade or civic organization
• Exemplary deeds for the common good of society

Beyond The Basics:

• What now or will soon impact the audience of the media outlet you target?
• What industry trends might be of interest to the audience of your targeted media outlet?
• Can you find a unique take on an old story?
• Any radically new or interesting happenings in your company that reflect or impact broad groups of people or businesses?
• Unique ways you’ve found to address or overcome problems or challenges faced by a sizeable group of others?

Direct Mail: Send copies or transcripts to customers and prospects. Reprints mailed in a tube can be very effective.

Email: Link them to email signatures, blast them in bulk emails or include them in your e-newsletter.

Hard Copy Newsletters: Reprint articles in their entirety or summarize recent press coverage.

Press Kits: Include samples of press coverage when sending information to customers and prospects. Don’t include samples in press kits going to media contacts in an attempt to get coverage. Sell your story as “fresh” and sell it on its own newsworthiness.

Product Shipments: Give copies of favorable press a “free ride” in your product shipments. Reinforce that your clients have made the right choice.

Press Releases: Favorable press coverage can garner additional favorable coverage! Okay, this might work well for your local newspaper or your trade association journal, but the fact that the New York Times covered your story might not help you with the Washington Post. In fact, it might hurt you.

Employees and Shareholders: Your employees need to get “sold” on the quality of your products and services, and they need to know what is being said. Shareholders might also be interested, so include them in employee newsletters, company intranet, annual reports, etc.

The good news is tracking media “mentions” has never been easier or cheaper. Credit, once again, the Internet – and Google.

At www.google.com click “more >>” and then Google Alerts. Fill out the forms and Google will send you, via email, as frequently as you desire, alerts of news articles (and some blog commentary) that contain terms you request to be monitored. For example, request that Google send you anything that mentions your company name. Yes, it’s that simple, and it’s FREE.

What about hard copy publications like daily newspapers? Almost every hard copy publication today has a parallel web or electronic version. As such, Google Alerts finds them too.

Google is far from perfect, however. Google doesn’t search every publication and it doesn’t specialize in locating and providing you with the media mentions you desire. If you want or need a more thorough job, more services and/or more handholding, there are “clipping services” that specialize in these areas. They tend to search farther, wider, more thoroughly and help you organize, analyze and maintain the results.

Here are some helpful links:

www.clippingservice.com: A wealth of information on various print, broadcast and web clipping services and links to scores of service providers. Be aware, however, that this is a “pay to play” site so the data does not necessarily include all suppliers.

www.cyberalert.com: A fully automated, internet-based, worldwide press clipping, broadcast monitoring and Web clipping service. It targets smaller firms. Founded in 1999.

www.intelliseek.com: Offers technologies that create real-time marketing and business intelligence from structured and unstructured data. Primarily monitors consumer discussion for mentions of companies and brands. Founded in 1996.

www.bacons.com: A worldwide leader in public relations, investor relations, marketing, corporate communications and business intelligence. Founded in 1932.

www.burrellesluce.com: One of the oldest and largest of the media monitoring services. Primarily a print clipping service, but also offers an electronic web clipping service.

For more information, search the Internet for Internet Monitoring and Clipping: Strategies for Public Relations, Marketing and Competitive Intelligence by Anelia Kassel.

Let’s face it – publicity is a beautiful thing. Okay, free and favorable publicity is a beautiful thing. It creates awareness, the first step in getting the phone to ring. It also builds credibility – a key for getting orders.

What is PR? It’s a term generally used to describe efforts aimed at utilizing the free press – newspapers, trade journals, radio, television – to create awareness and influence what people think. It is one of the four essential components of marketing. The other three are advertising (paid exposure), sales promotion (incentives to purchase) and selling (person-to-person).

Your marketing stool needs all four legs – each sound and strong. If you’re like most small businesses, your PR effort is weak at best, largely ignored as an important and effective means for driving growth. Can you afford to continue this way?

Read this article, give copies to your staff, and get your PR effort in gear. It’s neither hard nor costly – compared to advertising, promotion and direct sales.

Again, you should employ PR to do the following:

Introduce your company, executives, products, services, concepts and ideas.

Influence what the public and media think about you, your company and products and how they interpret developments at your company.

Most small and mid-size companies suffer from a lack of coverage and, therefore, limited awareness. PR efforts, then, focus on getting attention – and mention. Other companies have enjoyed prior coverage but wish to modify impressions. Every company, however, should stand ready to proactively influence how the media might cover events such as layoffs, relocations, ownership changes, lawsuits, fines or arrests. Bad press can kill a business and career.

To be sure, PR is more than a press release. By all means, the press release is an integral part of a PR campaign. But a press release alone does not a PR campaign make. A successful publicity campaign should include the following:

The Story: An interesting story or newsworthy event that is of interest to a meaningful portion of the audience of the media outlet you target. For more on this see the accompanying article titled “You Can Get Press Coverage …”

Press Release: A concise and articulate descriptive summary of the story; a summary of supporting information; where additional information may be found; and relevant and credible interview sources. For more, see “How to Write a Press Release” herein.

The Verbal Pitch: A script of what you will say when you talk to a writer or reporter. A concise summary of the story and three reasons the media outlet’s audience will be interested.

Supporting Material: Corroborative and supporting data (third-party) such as photos (digital and hard copy), samples, related articles, additional interview sources, references, etc.

List of Media Targets: Should include all media outlets with editorial profiles that match your target audience. The list should contain the name of the organization, name of the appropriate individual, circulation, website address, phone number, fax number, email address, mailing address and preferred communication method. A lot of work may be necessary to compile this data, but once you have, it will be a valuable asset.

Distribution Method: A dependable and accountable means for getting your press release directly into the hands of each target. As with any direct marketing effort, it’s essential that the effort be addressed to a specific individual, not just the organization or department. Beware of press release distribution services that indiscriminately spew your release to hundreds of untargeted media outlets with little or no results.

Follow-up and Follow-through: Sending the initial press release is just the start. First, you must confirm that the target successfully received it. This may take some doing. Keep in mind that media persons are very busy and inundated with stories and deadlines. Also, just because they don’t initially respond or run a story doesn’t mean your pitch has no interest. Don’t be afraid to resend, remind, re-introduce and sell the story – all while being respectful of their time and who they serve (their audience, not you!).

Track Success: You want to know the effect of your PR campaign. You also want to use “mentions” in your marketing efforts. Media placements are a validation of your business/product. For more information see the accompanying article titled “How to Monitor What the Press Says …”

If you’re committed to growth, get committed to a consistent and effective PR effort. Few small and mid-size companies have one. It’s an essential leg to your marketing stool and a powerful and low-cost way for you to set your company apart.

These experts generously contributed their expertise to this and all the PR-related articles in this issue:

Peggy Striegel, Striegel & Associates, Broken Arrow, OK

www.striegela.com

Sarah E. Flynn, Willcaro Communications, Delray Beach, FL

willcarocomm@bellsouth.net

William J. Comcowich, President/CEO, CyberAlert, Inc., Stratford, CT

www.cyberalert.com

Todd Brabender, Spread The News Public Relations, Inc., Lawrence, KS

www.spreadthenewspr.com

Your first PR task is pretty easy – get mentioned in the stuff at every opportunity. Over time, it’ll add up and create awareness. It will also provide a base from which to build relationships with members of the media.

So, in the publications that have the audience you target, study the stuff they include and give them your stuff. Typically it’s employee hires and promotions, product launches, relocations, industry awards, certifications and recognition. Many times, if you attempt to write your own stuff to fit their format, they’ll print it verbatim.

Getting written-up in stories is a different challenge altogether. But have no doubt – the media needs story ideas. They need to write about something and, as any human, they’d love a little help. So your task is pretty darn simple – give them some easy-to-write stories their audience will find interesting. Of course, make sure the stories have some connection to you, your company or its products or services. Surely there’s something that fits the bill.

Wow. You have a blank look on your face. Fear not. Here are some suggestions. But first, get clear that media contacts, when it comes to stories, aren’t interested in giving you free publicity. They don’t care about you, your business or what you’re selling. Editors care only about finding stories that are interesting to their readers. Stories that make their readers want to subscribe again next year. Generally, they want news, not marketing. There is a difference.

Marketing is about products and services. It’s about things that can be bought. News, on the other hand, is … news! It’s about an interesting topic, trend or development. It’s “Hey, did you hear we’re all gonna die from the fluoride in our water?” It’s timely information that was not known before, and it’s free.

Brainstorm about the following:

• What is impacting, or soon will, the audience of the media outlet you target?
• What industry trends might be of interest to the audience of your targeted media outlet?
• Can you find a unique take on an old story?

Once you’ve identified some stories, consider:

a.    Does this story have a tie-in to you, your company, products or services?

b.    Does anyone, outside your company and family, really give a darn about this?

If your story passes these tests, you’re in business. Now the work begins. Put the story together. Research the facts and gather source material. List people with in-depth knowledge of the issue whom will share their knowledge, experience and opinions with the media. Get it all in a press release.

Next, to whom are you going to send it? You can either compile the list yourself or outsource it. The major press release “blast” services include prnewswire.com and businesswire.com. They cost money but they’re quick, easy and have a very broad distribution. They’re not targeted and not as good at helping you build personal relationships with editors.

Finally, once the press release is distributed, follow up thoroughly. Be advised, however, that although PR is not conceptually difficult, it is a profession. If you and your staff lack PR experience and/or professional writing skills, consider hiring a professional – if not an agency, maybe a freelance writer or journalist who could work part-time on your project. To find one, try www.guru.com.

Note: Just before going to press, William J. Comcowich of CyberAlert informed us that a firm called PRWeb (www.prweb.com) will distribute press releases for free. For what it’s worth!

General Audience Media Desire …

General populous stories

Big-picture and broader concepts

Less interested in “follow-up” stories

Quick stories

Sound bites

Targeted Audience Media Desire …

Niche stories

More depth and detail

In-depth “follow-up” stories

Deep and thorough stories

Insights and observations

First, get one thing straight – editors write articles. Their articles contain ideas, events, people and perspectives. From where do they come? From people they know or can easily find. You can become one of their go-to people.

Second, let’s find out if you can qualify as an expert. Take the following test. Raise your left hand to eye level. Make a fist. Now raise your pinky finger. Look at it, and answer this question: On what subject do you possess more knowledge in your little pinky finger than most persons on the planet? By most, we mean the 99% of the population that does not do what you do? If you have an answer, you’re an expert.

Third, can you be interesting and opinionated? Writers don’t want wallflowers that take middle-of-the-road positions. They want opinions and passion. They want comments that are insightful, interesting and arouse emotion. If you can’t fit the bill, find someone that can represent your company.

Fourth, write a summary of your special expertise. What makes you unique? What makes you an expert? On what topics are you capable of providing insight? List them.

Fifth, prepare and maintain an attractive, interesting and informative bio.

Sixth, identify the media outlets (print, radio, television, web, etc.) that serve your target audience.

Seventh, begin regularly writing “letters to the editor” regarding topics covered by each outlet that relates in some way to your unique expertise. Include your bio and contact information in each submittal. Make sure they can reach you on impulse (i.e., cell phone).

Eighth, regularly provide good story ideas to writers at the media outlets you target.

Do these things and writers will get to know you. If, when they call, you have the right stuff you will become a go-to expert.