Would you like to do press and dissemination to promote your business but have no idea what to do or where to start?
If you do PR correctly you can get the following results: Your phone rings, orders come flying in, you are asked to speak at seminars or meetings in your industry, other companies invite you to do business together. You are respected And you have money in your pocket.
But creating and running a press campaign seems like an impossible task when there is so much to learn and so much we don’t understand about the medium.
Perhaps we would all like a public relations firm to do this for us.
Someone who has all the media connections, someone who can write the press materials, make the calls to the media, keep an interview schedule to make sure everything runs smoothly and smoothly. . So you are in charge of running the business.
But working with thousands of clients, I’ve learned that most start by doing these tasks themselves and make so many mistakes trying to develop their own communication strategy , their own press releases, or hiring a low-priced publicist who wows them with their promises, who don’t get very far with their communications.
Here are the “six worst press and broadcast mistakes” most people make and what to do instead:
1. You Write A Press Release Communicating About The Benefits Of Your Business, Book, Product, Service Or Cause.
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Most people don’t care. The media and their audiences are not interested in you, your service, or your stuff. They are interested in a good story or something that will give them what they need, that will help them save time, energy or money.
The media are interested in serving their audiences, not what you can get from them.
Most people think of themselves first and talk about “me, me, me” or “The good thing about my new xx”.
But try to look at it from the point of view of the journalist or producer and you’ll see a different picture: A view of their audience and what might resonate most with them from the point of view of THEIR interests or needs. Your press release should paint that picture for them.
2. You Send A Big Release To A List Of “The Most Important” Media Outlets.
In the PR business this is called “spread and pray.” In order to have the desired effect in the media – that is, for your press release to be “lifted” – it has to reach the right people whose audiences are hungry for your information.
This means identifying the type of media that would be most suitable for your information, along with the best people who are interested in the topic.
To achieve this, you can hire a press service to help you segment your media list right, hire a publicist who understands your business and the media that is right for you, or attend a program and learn to decipher the best lists for your business.
3. You Are Not Ready For The Media.
Most people have never been media trained. This is its biggest disadvantage. It is often the weakest link in a press and outreach campaign that could be successful.
Many companies work hard for years creating and promoting a great business, service or product, but they forget the most crucial step in gaining the loyalty of the people they want to convert into customers: what they are going to say to attract them.
Marshall McLuhan said, “The medium is the message.” This is still true. And to go even deeper, Gandhi said: “My life is my message.”
In today’s environment, you and your story are sometimes more important than what you want to promote. And you have to be able to get it across in 10-30 seconds – sometimes less – to get people to buy what you’re promoting.
4. You Are Not Prepared For All The Previous Work Of A Press Conference.
Producers and journalists expect you to be ready/at their beck and call when they are putting together an event or story to publish. So you have to be willing to drop everything to give them what they need.
It’s a lot of work, but if you’re prepared beforehand, you can substantially reduce the “get ready right away” factor and stand out from all your competitors who are fighting to appear in the same media.
Once you understand the most common components of a press kit and how to create it to the media’s specifications, you’ll be halfway to becoming a great and trusted source for the media.
5. You Don’t Have A System Ready For When Success Comes.
“Luck favors the prepared” is still a valid saying. Having a system means that when you finally succeed and the orders start coming in, the media and people call you, you have a system in place that allows you to manage all this good fortune.
We recently worked with a client who almost couldn’t get their website up and running in time to handle all the orders generated from the huge press coverage they’ve gotten: over 50 of the top national magazines and TV shows, as well as coverage from the most influential bloggers.
Press and outreach jobs, when done right, can catapult a business from unknown entity to name brand almost overnight. But what most people don’t see is all the sweat under the glamorous exterior.
There’s a lot of preparation, behind-the-scenes work, to make it all go smoothly.
Conclusion
Press and Diffusion are similar to marketing activities, they demand know-how and practice.
If you think your business is in a position to grow, then you need to learn how to write a press release to reach customers directly and also the intricacies of writing a web 2.0 press release.
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