Chapter Nine

PUBLICITY:
Strategic Marketing Boosts 7 and 8

SUZE ORMAN turned her appearances on Oprah into a huge television and book career.

A large part of Donald Trump’s success is due to his masterful courting of the media.

Although most of us don’t want to be that famous, appearing on the radio, on TV, and in the print media on an occasional or even a regular basis can be a very good thing for your business.

Publicity offers three major benefits:

   1.  Your business is exposed to new audiences who may go to your website or contact you directly.

   2.  It gives you additional credibility, especially if you appear on national or regional media.

   3.  Links from high-traffic media sites to your website will increase your search engine ranking.

Getting on the right media can get you exposed to either millions of people or a highly targeted niche audience of prospective clients for free. Additionally, visibility in the media gives you a level of credibility that you simply can’t get from advertising.

The trick to getting publicity is to come up with story angles that attract the attention of producers and journalists. Unless you’re in a new and unusual field, they won’t just interview you about your business. We need to be creative to develop hooks that will be appealing to the audiences that the particular media outlet wants to reach.

I’ve separated this chapter into two different marketing boosts to give you plenty of time to create the kind of story angles that will get you media attention.

In Strategic Marketing Boost 7, after you learn about what story angles most appeal to the media, you’ll come up with several “hooks” to pitch the media. I’ll show you the websites where you can distribute your press release. We’ll also take a look at sites where you can advertise in publications that TV and radio producers read. This is a way to get them to invite you to appear on their shows.

You’ll also do research to find some of the best blogs on your topic. Finally, you’ll subscribe to email lists where reporters and producers look for people to interview for stories or shows they are working on.

In Strategic Marketing Boost 8, you’ll actually write your press release or hire someone to write it for you. To make the process easy, I’ll provide you with a template to use. Once that’s done, you’ll distribute your press release through one of the services you looked at previously. To ensure maximum exposure, you will also want to personally contact the media you most want to reach. Finally, since social media plays an increasingly larger role in publicity, you’ll want to email some bloggers who focus on your area of specialization.

Story Ideas That the Media Loves

It may seem ironic, but the biggest mistake most business owners make with a press release is that they focus it on what they want to communicate about their business and their products. However, when you’re pitching the media, the reality is that they don’t care about your book, business, or free report. The media wants story ideas that will get people to watch or listen to their show, buy their paper or magazine, or visit their website. Thus, the trick to getting lots of media attention is to position what your business does in a way that appeals to the specific audience that the media outlet is trying to reach. Creativity is key.

Here are eight types of story ideas that get the media’s attention:

    •  Stories that tie in to current events or have a specific local angle

    •  Stories that are related to holidays, annual events, and seasons

    •  Stories that tie to celebrities

    •  Trend pieces and surveys

    •  Numbered lists

    •  How-to pieces

    •  Stories that create controversy or debunk a myth

    •  Anniversaries of major events and smaller anniversaries with an interesting angle

This may seem complicated, but it’s not. You’ve already listened to and read hundreds of media hooks. Every time a news anchor says “Coming up” or a talk show announcer says “Next on Dr. Phil,” or Ellen, or The View, the phrase that follows is a hook.

A great way to test your story idea in terms of its newsworthiness is to actually say “Coming up” or “Next on” and then insert a summary of your idea afterward. If it sounds right, you’ve got a good hook.

For example, “Next on Dr. Phil: Seven signs your spouse is cheating” is a winner. It sounds just like something you would hear on the show. However, “Coming up: Local dentist offers anniversary special of half off on first visit” sounds more like an advertisement than a news or feature story. Yet it’s very common for press releases to be focused on these types of messages. The results are inevitably disappointing.

So how might our dentist reposition her offer? If she was to celebrate her anniversary by giving away free dental work to poor children, that could very well be a story that the media might run with. “Coming Up: Local Dentist Celebrates Anniversary by Giving Free Dental Work to Underprivileged Children” is a more interesting story. The media is always interested in charity work, particularly involving children.

Tying Your Story to the News

You know the old saying that if you’re a hammer, everything you see is a nail? That’s the approach you need to take when you try to tie your pitch to current events.

The question to ask is “How can I relate what I do to this current event?”

Sometimes it’s obvious, sometimes not. Not meaning to sound ghoulish, but when there’s a story about a tragedy, if you’re a psychologist, there are lots of ways you can approach the story. One very simple approach would be to create a release around “How to Talk to Your Children About (the tragic event).” One psychologist I know actually has a template created that she immediately modifies and sends out when (yet again) some tragedy occurs. In these instances, the media has a ravenous hunger for stories, and it’s quite possible for experts to gain national exposure simply by being prepared.

You don’t have to go after national media to tie into a news story. Especially when you’re starting out, focusing on local coverage should be your goal. When a big story hits, the local news channels want to find ways to cover the same story as the major networks, but with a different, often local, perspective. If you pitch the media and say that you have a local angle for the story, it’s likely you’ll find a positive ear.

I’ve seen restaurants get media coverage during elections by offering two versions of the same item, be it coffee or pizza, with a Republican vs. Democrat twist, as a kind of survey. The only difference in the product would be that the Republican food or beverage would be served with red paper goods and the Democrat version with blue. There are two press releases in this—one announcing the food-based survey, the other giving the results. It usually gets attention.

Tying Your Story to a Holiday, an Annual Event, or a Season

The nice thing about this approach is that you’ve got plenty of time to prepare. New Year’s Eve, the Oscars, the Super Bowl, and Back-To-School occur every year at pretty much the same time.

An added bonus is that with the right story idea, you can use the same pitch annually and even get the same national show to bring you back again and again.

You want to come up with something that’s both unique and also a comfortable fit for the event you’re targeting. Beware, though; everybody tries to get coverage around Christmas, so it’s much more difficult than any other holiday.

I used the annual event strategy to promote my book Unique Sales Stories, which focuses on how to use stories to differentiate yourself and get more referrals for your business.

I was struggling with how to get more mainstream media attention for what was a niche business book. The Super Bowl was coming up when Steve Harrison, from Bradley Communications, mentioned to me that a lot of people watch the big game just for the commercials.

His thought was that a good commercial tells a good story—so why not pitch me as the Super Bowl advertising expert? I could talk about which ads did well and which were complete wastes of money.

We developed a press release and ran an ad in RTIR, a publication that goes out to hundreds of radio and television producers who are looking for guests to book on their shows. The idea was to have me on their shows the week before the Super Bowl to talk about which ads worked in the past, then to have me back the week after to evaluate the most recent Super Bowl commercials.

I had no idea if this was going to fly.

It didn’t just fly. It soared. I was on 40 shows the week before the Super Bowl, ranging from small local affiliates to ESPN and ABC. I did another 15 shows after the game. It sold a lot of books, and I also got several client calls.

I also wound up with a lot of new subscribers to my mailing list. I used a trick that Steve taught me. I said that after the break, I’d share with viewers or listeners precisely how they could get a free chapter from my book, so they needed to get a pencil and paper. Then, when the commercials ended, I sent them to a website where they had to opt in to get the chapter. It was a PDF, so it didn’t cost me anything. It generated a lot of requests, which ultimately led to a lot of book sales.

That was my big home run. Plus I got to be on most of the media outlets the following year. That’s the wonderful thing about a holiday or event-based strategy. You can repeat it year after year.

Create Your Own Holiday

There are lots of holidays for you to tie in to that you’ve never heard of. As I’m writing this on May 11, it’s not just the day before Mother’s Day, but it’s also National Babysitters Day, Eat What You Want Day, and Stay Up All Night Night, which actually makes a pretty good combination, especially if you have kids.

You can find these little-known holidays at Chases.com.

If you can’t find your own holiday to tie in to, make up your own (with a creative way everyone can celebrate it) at Chases.com. Every year they publish Chase’s Calendar of Events, a book that’s chock full of unusual days, weeks, and months that people have created. Make sure you are committed to publicizing and celebrating it (even if it’s just at your office) because Chase is looking for real events, not imaginary ones.

Just go to their website and click on “Submit an Entry” on the left-hand side of the page, then fill out the form that shows up. Abracadabra! You’ve made your own holiday appear out of thin air.

One quick tip about timing: Their deadline for submissions to the next year’s calendar is April 15, so submit your holiday ASAP if you’re reading this book close to that date.

Celebrity Tie-Ins

The media knows that the mere mention of a celebrity attracts attention. Plus television producers are always looking for ways to add visual interest to an interview, and they know they can easily find photos and video clips of a celebrity to show while a guest is speaking. Finding a tie-in to a celebrity can increase your chances to get interviewed.

This strategy works best when a celebrity is already in the news. A retail store owner could pitch a story on “How to Create Sandra Bullock’s $2,000 Oscar Ensemble for under $100.” When a political candidate gives a particularly great speech, if you’re a public speaking coach, your hook could be “5 Speaking Tips You Can Learn from Governor Smith.” (You could also comment on the mistakes a candidate made.)

Watch the local news and the morning shows and you’ll see how often this strategy is used.

Trend Pieces and Surveys

The hard part about trend pieces is that you have to be one of the first people to notice the trend. You have to be aware of it before the media reports heavily on it, but not so early that no one knows the trend exists. Timing is crucial.

Sometimes the best way to pick up on trends is to simply pay attention to your customers.

In 2010, a little product called Silly Bandz and the companies doing knock-offs were selling huge numbers of animal and character-shaped silicone rubber bands each week. Kids were wearing dozens of these rubber bands on their arms and spending lunch periods trading them.

The first people to notice what was going on were the stores that were selling them. Whenever they put a new order on the shelves, it would sell out within a few hours. Silly Bandz started off as a regional story and eventually became a national one. Many store owners got into newspapers and on television as the first to spot this trend.

You didn’t have to be a retailer, however, to benefit from this trend. A number of doctors made it into the news on this story as well. How? They talked about the health risks to children of wearing too many tight rubber bands on their arms. (They didn’t have to make this story up, as there were kids coming into their offices with injuries due to wearing excessive numbers of these bands.) Several doctors made it onto national TV and major news magazines talking about this.

Sometimes a trend is noticeable in your industry and covered by your industry periodicals, but the general media hasn’t yet noticed it. That’s another item to pitch to the media. Use statistics to prove your point where possible.

Surveys, which are a good strategy to get media attention in and of themselves, can also be used to detect trends. The dating service It’s Just Lunch has done a number of surveys that indicate that men and women are beginning to reverse roles in terms of their attitudes about dating. This is a new trend, and they’ve gotten a lot of media coverage issuing press releases with headlines like “Men More Likely to Prioritize Dating Over Work Than Women.”

A survey doesn’t always have to show a trend in order to attract media attention. It only has to ask questions that show what people think about something that everyone might have some curiosity about. As mentioned previously, SurveyMonkey.com is a great resource if you want to conduct a survey online.

Numbered Lists

Numbered lists are a favorite of the media whether they’re about smart moves, stupid mistakes, or the biggest myths on any topic you can imagine.

You see numbered lists everywhere from the Internet to the newsstand. Here are just a few from a range of magazines I spied on a recent tour of the magazine stand at Barnes & Noble:

    •  7 Traits of True Leaders

    •  25 Life-Changing Road Trips

    •  6 Instant Weight Loss Tricks

    •  Fresh Corn 50 Ways

    •  The 4 Keys to Pulling Yourself Out of a Rut

You get the idea.

These are relatively easy to do. Just find a benefit that everyone wants or some kind of difficulty people want to avoid. It’s also a good way to share tips about one topic.

You can do the numbered list press release in two different ways, depending on the result you want. If you’d just like major websites to post your article as is, write a press release that includes the five or seven tips you want to share. But if you want to be interviewed on TV or the radio or by print publications, you want to write the tips as teasers that arouse curiosity. Instead of a bullet point saying “The simple solution to wrinkle-free skin is a crème containing the same antioxidants you find in the vitamins in your medicine cabinet,” you would write, “How to achieve wrinkle-free skin with a surprisingly simple vitamin formula.”

Make sure your list isn’t something everybody outside your profession already knows. (If it’s aimed at media for the general public, it’s perfectly fine if it’s things everyone in your field is already aware of.)

How-To Pieces

We’re all curious about how to do things we don’t know how to do. That’s the allure of how-to pieces.

The secret to these is to find a way to make them a little bit different. Sometimes you can add a modifier to the basic idea that will make it more appealing. For example, I recently saw a cover story with the subhead, “How to Stand Up for Yourself—In the Nicest Way Possible.” The second half, “In the Nicest Way Possible,” is what gives this piece a little extra flavor.

How-to pieces can give an extra boost to any of the other strategies. For example, suppose you are an acupuncturist who knows which herbs and pressure points can help you get over being drunk faster. You could pitch a piece for New Year’s Eve with the headline “How to Drink on New Year’s Eve Without Getting a Hangover.” If you have three or more tips, the same release could also be a numbered list.

Creating Controversy or Debunking a Myth

The basic premise under both of these concepts is the same: You have to say something that goes against the prevailing wisdom or standards.

This is a particularly good strategy for alternative health professionals and health food store owners, since there are lots of disagreements between these groups and traditional medical views.

One website that often has great headlines with either controversial positions or articles that debunk myths is mercola.com.

They got more than 182,000 views on the first day they posted “Statin Nation: The Great Cholesterol Cover-Up,” a piece about a documentary that says cholesterol is good for your health, not bad, and that the real culprit in heart disease is sugar. You can see it here: http://bit.ly/ZbVu1V.

The one thing you need to be careful about when using controversy in your press releases is making sure you don’t offend your customer base. Sometimes there’s a fine line that you need to walk between doing something to get media attention and staying professional.

Name-calling and character assassination tend to be over the line. The headline “All Western Medical Doctors Are Cholesterol Quacks” might get a lot of attention, but most people wouldn’t feel comfortable working with a doctor who is so undiplomatic.

Anniversaries

The media loves anniversaries. According to Tom Searcy of CBS Moneywatch, “Major news events are re-examined one, five, 10, 20, and 25 years later.” Major events, births, and cultural icons will also show up for fiftieth, seventy-fifth, and hundredth anniversaries. When The Wizard of Oz turns 75, as it will soon, there will be media coverage.

An anniversary can also be a personal one, if it has a human interest angle or even a canine interest angle to it.

Publicist Anthony Mora, author of Spin to Win, was having a difficult time pitching stories for a client who owned a long-term health care facility. They were getting a little bit of traction, but most of the media didn’t want to cover depressing stories about dementia and Alzheimer’s or the usual topics of long-term care and baby boomers getting older.

Mora discovered that there was a dog at the facility that was being used for pet therapy. He did a press release about the dog celebrating her first anniversary working for the center. “We had a picture of the dog and there was an anecdotal story of how the dog jumped on one of the patient’s laps and the patient talked for the first time in about a year,” he says. “We pitched the story nationally, not just locally, and we were able to get the L.A. Times, the New York Times, we got Time magazine, we got NPR, we got Discovery—a huge amount of media that really wasn’t listening to us before, because we were pitching them a story they couldn’t hear.”

A Sample Press Release

Before I give you my take on writing a press release, I thought I’d share a release that got a lot of media play after it was sent out. This one comes from It’s Just Lunch, the dating company. Their hook is that they finally discovered what singles mean when they talk about dating “chemistry,” and it’s not what you would expect. This is a terrific angle for a story because everybody talks about “chemistry” and no one had really defined it before this release.

Notice that although they’re announcing a free e-magazine, that’s not what the press release is about:

CONTACT: Irene LaCota FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Phone: (555) 555-5555

Email: [email protected]

SINGLES PROVIDE CHEMISTRY LESSON IN NEW DATING SURVEY

72% Define Chemistry as Comfort and Good Conversation Rather Than Physical Attraction

A new survey by It’s Just Lunch reveals that most singles believe in a different version of romantic chemistry than the one portrayed in the movies and on their iPod. The specialty dating service asked 5,000 singles, “When you think of chemistry on a first date, which of the following do you think is the most important component?” Though 20% were sparked by physical attractiveness and 7% by flirty or sexy banter, the clear winner was neither of those. Instead, it was “feeling comfortable together,” the answer selected by 44% of singles—and, surprisingly, 49% of men. “Great conversation” was the runner-up, selected by 28%.

The question was part of research conducted at ItsJustLunch.com for a new e-magazine, Twenty Years of First Dates: What Other Singles Want You to Know, that the dating company is giving away (at the same site) in honor of its twentieth anniversary.

“We all have certain people that we feel at ease with, from the moment we meet them,” says Irene LaCota, president of It’s Just Lunch. “Most singles find that rarer and more meaningful than just physical attraction.”

Comfort was also the number one factor in another area It’s Just Lunch surveyed. When singles were asked how they judge the success of a first date, 43% chose “I felt comfortable being myself.” Other top answers: 29% of singles chose “I walked away with a smile,” and 15% selected “There was never a lull in the conversation.”

“There are strategies you can use to be more relaxed on a date and make the conversation flow,” says LaCota. “But how comfortable two people are with each other still comes down to something indefinable that you can’t really plan—chemistry.”

It’s Just Lunch is a personalized dating service for busy professionals. The company has coordinated over two million dates for clients since opening in 1991. IJL minimizes the stress and maximizes the efficiency of dating by sending people on casual, no-pressure dates over lunch, brunch, or drinks after work. IJL’s team of dating specialists, not a computer, performs the matchmaking. The company has over 150 locations in the US, Canada, and internationally.

# # #

For more information about IJL on this and other story angles, please contact Irene LaCota at (555)555-5555 or [email protected]

Writing Your Press Release

Now that you’ve seen a successful release, let’s analyze the content. We’ll discuss the traditional press release format in a little bit. (I’ll also give you a template.)

Here are some things to pay attention to:

   1.  The headline is catchy and sums up the article in a way that creates curiosity. The “chemistry lesson” pun is a nice touch. Puns can be tricky, but if you can pull them off, they’re often quite effective. The headline tells enough of the story to make you want to keep reading. Remember, that’s the purpose of a great headline—to get the reader started down the slippery slope.

             That’s all you need to do with it. There’s no need to tell the whole story. You can’t possibly do that.

             The headline is the most important part of your press release. It’s how the media decides whether they want to read it or not.

   2.  The sub-headline gives more detail that makes the headline easier to understand. In this case, the headline tells readers that there’s a chemistry lesson, the subhead tells them what it is, including a statistic that 72% employ a particular definition of chemistry. Simple statistics are always welcome in a press release, and the subhead is a great place to use one. Again, the subhead needs to keep readers interested and justify their decision to keep reading.

   3.  The first sentence reiterates what the story is and why it’s news. This sentence can be general, like the one in the It’s Just Lunch release, or more specific. Start with the most important part of your story. There’s an old newsroom axiom, “Don’t bury the lead,” which refers to burying the most important parts deep in the article. The first sentence should give you a pretty good idea of what the story is about and make you want to keep reading.

             If you’re doing a soft story like the one above, make it clear why it’s news. “Most singles believe in a different version of romantic chemistry than the one in the movies” shows the media that they’re seeing something different. If most singles thought chemistry was physical attraction, that would be old hat, not news.

   4.  The first paragraph gives a detailed explanation of the “who” and the “what.” This release does a good job of getting right to the meat of the story. You should, too. Your first paragraph should tell the main story.

   5.  The second paragraph explains the “how, when, and where.” The second paragraph fills in the details. It’s useful information for the reader once they know what the story is about from the first paragraph.

   6.  The third paragraph is a quote that adds an explanation. Quotations make a story more interesting, and by the time a reader gets to the third paragraph, they’re ready for one. The idea is to make a comment on the story—maybe even explain why this story is happening, which is what the quote does in this release.

   7.  The fourth paragraph adds some additional related information. In this case, it’s another survey question that yielded similar results. In your case it could be a historical note or something else you want the reader to know. Think of this paragraph as what you would say in a conversation after the word “also.”

   8.  The fifth paragraph is a two-sentence quote by the same company representative that summarizes the whole piece. This is your chance to say either “This is what it all comes down to” or “This is what it all means.” This is the end of the actual story.

   9.  The final paragraph is a brief description of your company. It’s Just Lunch describes who they are, what they’ve done, the benefits of working with them, how long they’ve been in business, and in broad terms, where their offices are. Make sure you include all of these items in your company bio, too.

  10.  Contact information is provided at the end as well, so it’s easy for the producer, editor, or writer to quickly request more information. Right after the three number signs, there’s a sentence that says: “For more information about IJL or this and other story angles, please contact,” etc. Though this is a format item rather than a content item, I don’t want you to forget it, so I’m listing it here. Media people are busy, so it’s important to make this information easy to find without scrolling back up.

One other tip: If you want to use your release for SEO purposes, use the keyword phrases you want to optimize two times each in the release. Then, one time for each one, highlight them and create a hyperlink back to the website you want to optimize. You can do this by right-clicking on the phrase (after you highlight it) and selecting “hyperlink” at the bottom of the pulldown menu that appears. A form will show up called “Request Hyperlink.” It will ask for the website you want to link to. Just fill in the box at the top with the site address and click “OK.” Your hyperlink will instantly be created.

Formatting Your Release

The IJL sample is exactly what your release should look like. One page up to about one and a half pages is ideal. Here’s what to take note of:

    •  Your name, your phone number, and your email address make up the top three lines on the left-hand side

    •  The top line on the right-hand side of the page should say “FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE” in all capital letters

    •  At the end of the text of your press release, which should be your company description, type three number signs at the center of the page, with a space between each one, so they look like this, without the quotation marks: “# # #”

    •  After the number signs, include your contact information again

Here’s a template you can use:

That’s your press release template. The format at the top and the bottom (starting with the number signs) never changes.

According to a publicist friend of mine, using a template makes it much easier to write a one-page release. He says he always pulls out the last one he wrote and types over it using the exact same style, including the quote format, over and over again.

You can download a copy of this template to use on your computer at gentlerainmarketing.com/pr/press-release-template/.

Determining Where to Send Your Press Release

Once the release is completed, your focus naturally turns to which media you want to pitch it to. As one would guess, large mainstream media such as Good Morning America, CNN, the Wall Street Journal, or USA Today are the most competitive.

While being featured in a national publication can be helpful from a credibility perspective, they may not result in attracting as much new business as a local or industry-specific media campaign will. That said, if you do appear on national media, make sure you feature the media logos and the clips on your website.

For anyone starting a publicity campaign, it is far easier to appear on local TV and radio, as well as in your local newspaper. Producers and editors in your town are particularly interested in local success stories. The fact that it’s local is a primary criterion. (However, if you have a customer base that’s national and you find an angle that’s interesting to a wide audience, you can go puddle-jumping from one local morning show to the next. For example, Fox has many shows like Good Day Atlanta, with the same title but a different city name.)

In terms of print, an article about you in a Michigan health weekly is likely to bring you more patients than an article on the American Medical Association website. If you’re in the business-to-business space, you will be better off in a trade publication geared to your customers than appearing in an article aimed at the general public.

Even if you have a national customer base, it’s always worthwhile to start locally. Your local newspaper is designed to write about the people who live there, so they are the most likely to write about you. Many local business publications, such as the Atlanta Business Chronicle, are owned by larger companies (such as bizjournals.com), so if one paper writes a story about you, others may pick up the story. It’s quite possible for what was originally a local story to go national in this manner.

Finding Local Media Contact Info

There are lots of ways to find local media people:

    •  Many reporters and columnists include their email address in their byline, and don’t think they don’t read their email. I struck up a very pleasant email relationship with Craig Wilson of USA Today simply by sending him a note congratulating him on his marriage. Commenting or congratulating a writer before you pitch them something is always a smart move. Ultimately, getting a lot of press is about cultivating relationships. The Patch, which has news websites for most cities, also is a great resource to find lists of editors you can contact.

    •  Check with your local Chamber of Commerce. They may have a media list already developed for your city. (If you work in the arts, your local cultural council may have a list of media people who cover culture.)

    •  You can record local television shows, and there’s usually a list of producers at the end of the show.

    •  If that doesn’t work, do a search on LinkedIn under the name of the TV show. This will work for radio as well.

    •  You can get a list of radio stations in your area by selecting the appropriate state and then clicking your way to your city or county using this website: http://bit.ly/117VCA1. Check out each station’s website and the shows they broadcast. If they don’t list the producer for a show you’d like to appear on, call the station and ask who the producer is. You can also Google the show and the word “producer.”

    •  The Internet Public Library offers a great list of local newspapers as well as trade magazines here: http://bit.ly/142y4ui.

    •  You can buy a state-by-state guide to media at gebbieinc.com.

Finding National and Regional Media Contacts

For regional media, if you are willing to do your homework on a location-by-location basis, just follow the instructions above. With a bit of effort you should be able to find any producer’s name either through a LinkedIn search or by Googling the channel name or the show name and the word “producer.”

An inexpensive way to build a contact list of editors at popular and trade magazines is to get a weeklong pass to the database at Wooden Horse (woodenhorsepub.com). It’s geared to freelance writers, so it gives you a feel for what each magazine is looking for, which is extremely handy information to know.

If you can afford to spend some money to gain access to contacts across a full range of media, here are some resources you can use to find both regional and national media contacts:

    •  Gebbie’s (gebbieinc.com) offers a complete national list of contacts. Another good resource is Cision (cision.com), formerly known as Bacon’s. They are a big player in the field. Also check out Vocus (Vocus.com).

    •  Bradley’s Guide to the Top National TV Talk and Interview Shows is very comprehensive, with detailed information and articles about who national talk show producers are interested in and, equally important, who they’re not. If you’re serious about getting on national TV, this is a great resource. It’s at: rtir.com/reports/TopTVBk.pdf.

    •  Alex Carroll has put together a list of radio shows with more than 100,000 listeners. It’s available at radiopublicity.com.

News Release Services

The easiest way to get your release distributed is to use a press release service. Most highly reputable companies in this field will charge you per press release, which enables you to test an idea with a modest budget.

The granddaddy of these companies is PR Newswire (PRNews-wire.com). Everyone from the nation’s largest corporations to solo entrepreneurs uses this company. Prices range from $400 to $1,000 or more depending on how long your release is and where you want it to be sent to. Although they are not the least expensive service, they are highly reputable and you can rest assured that your release will actually be sent to the people you are trying to reach. PR Newswire also has a great analytical tool that tracks who picked up your release and used your story.

One of my personal favorites is PRWeb (PRWeb.com), which gives you a lot of bang for your buck. Their analytical tools are not quite as robust as PR Newswire, but you’ll still be able to track the results of your release. Many reporters and bloggers subscribe to this service, which is a testament to its effectiveness.

eReleases.com is similar to PRWeb. They offer discounted bundle packages if you intend to send several releases. (See screenshot on page 234.) As media is increasingly being consumed online, they’re a good resource to consider.

There are also less expensive services and even some free ones, but the old adage of “you get what you pay for” really does apply. Most only reach a small number of media contacts and they don’t permanently host your release. This means it disappears after a period of time. That said, if you’re on a tight budget, check out PR.com, which costs about $50 per release. Two free services that get generally good reviews are Newsvine.com and PRLog.com.

Also make sure to post your release on your website. Have your web designer add a page to your site that says “Press Room” and include them in chronological order. You never know when a journalist or producer may be doing a search for a piece they’re putting together about your topic. Although there’s no guarantee that the press will find you this way, it’s easy to do and you never know precisely what will get the media to call. Plus, it makes your website look even more professional and adds to your credibility as an expert in your field.

Earlier in my career I wrote a syndicated career and professional advice column for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Although I knew my deadline was Wednesday at 9:00 A.M., you would typically find me scrambling each Tuesday night seeking sources for the particular article I was writing. The press-room pages on sites were a great resource for me and for many other columnists I know.

Getting the Media to Call You

There are three resources I recommend that have the potential to get the media to book or interview you almost immediately.

    •  Twice a year in Manhattan, the National Publicity Summit (http://bit.ly/13jBD5x) gathers 100 TV and radio producers as well as editors and freelance writers over a few days. You get to meet with them one-on-one to pitch your stories. It’s like speed dating with the media. The cast of producers and editors changes from summit to summit, but among the shows and media that are often included are several big ones such as The View, Time, O, and USA Weekend. There is an investment to participate, but not only do you get in front of very hard-to-reach media, you also receive two days of comprehensive media training. If you’re serious about playing on the national stage, this is something worth considering.

    •  Radio-TV Interview Report (RTIR.com) is a newsletter and website that reaches 4,000 producers looking for guests for their shows. It’s published by the same company that puts on the Publicity Summit. You can either use your ad for the release you’ve written or let one of their copywriters write an ad for you. This publication has been a staple for bestselling authors like Robert Kiyosaki of the Rich Dad, Poor Dad series and the team behind Chicken Soup for the Soul, Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen. This was a valuable resource for me when I did the Super Bowl promotion I mentioned earlier.

    •  HARO (HelpAReporter.com) is a newsletter that goes out three times a day with requests by reporters who need quotes or interviews from experts on the topics they are covering. You sign up, get the listings, and then respond to the ones you are qualified for. It’s distributed to a large number of subscribers, so here are some tips on the best ways to get a reporter to choose you:

         Be one of the first responses

         Give the reporters answers that are exactly what they are asking for, not what you want to tell them

         Tell a short but colorful story that illustrates your point

         Since reporters need to tell two sides of every story, come up with an answer that’s likely to be less popular

         Reporters are always worried about finding an ending to their story, so come up with a quote that can be used as the last sentence for their article, using the ideas you utilized to create the last quote in your press release

Guest Blogging

You can also use your press release to get prominent bloggers in your field to let you submit a guest blog post or get them to write a post for yours. I recently did a guest post for Daftblogger.com, and when the article ran, we got 60 opt-ins, which is good for a niche business. More opt-ins continue to trickle in from that effort.

I found this blog by searching the keyword phrase “business development blog.” You can also go to Technorati.com to find the most influential blogs and blog posts in your category. Choose the category your business best fits into from the list at the top of the page, and then select the sub-category that makes the most sense. You’ll get a list of the top five blogs in your subject area, as well as five up-and-comers.

Pitching the Media

Once you have your press release written and you’ve decided which specific media you want to be in or on, it’s time to make your pitch.

Here’s how you do it:

If you’re pitching by email, the first part of your subject line should say “Story Idea” or “Show Pitch,” followed by a colon. There’s so much spam that you need to make it clear to the media that you are a live person sending them an email with an interesting idea. Next to the colon, put a condensed version of your headline. For example, in the It’s Just Lunch example, the subject line could be “Story Idea: Singles Provide Surprising Chemistry Lesson.”

Then just paste your release into the body of the email, since most people won’t open attachments from strangers. Hit “Send,” and your release will be on its way.

“Snail mail” may seem like an old-fashioned way to do things, but since producers and editors have crowded inboxes, it may be a better way to get your release read, especially if it’s not time sensitive. If there are particular media that you really want to land, send your release by email and snail mail. All you have to do is stick the press release in the envelope. If you want to give yourself an advantage, handwrite the address and your return address on a plain white envelope. Leave your name off your return address. This will make it seem more like a personal letter, so it’s more likely to be opened.

You can also call the media, either for your initial pitch or to follow up on your press release. There are three secrets here:

   1.  Never ask if they’ve received the press release you’ve sent. The media gets so many pitches they probably will not remember it, and asking this question will mark you as an amateur. If they remember your pitch, they’ll tell you.

   2.  Work on the assumption that they will not remember what you sent them. Be prepared to pitch the idea to what is likely to be a cold audience.

   3.  Be energetic. Every time you talk to the media, it’s an audition for their show. These days, even newspapers host videos and podcasts. Regardless of whether it’s print or broadcast, the media responds well to energy and enthusiasm.

Start off the phone call this way: “Hi, (reporter’s first name), this is (your name) from (your company). Is this an okay time for a 30-second pitch?” If he or she says no, ask if there’s a particular time of day that’s generally better. Don’t push.

If he or she says yes, go into your pitch. Do the highlights of your press release, without the quotes. (Make sure you rehearse it so that it can be delivered within the 30-second timeframe.) Finish off with a sentence as to why you’re an expert in this topic. Then wait for the reporter’s response.

You’ll get a “no” on the spot, but sometimes a “yes” takes time. He or she may have to run your idea by the executive producer. Or the reporter may ask for more materials, such as a press kit. Remember that the media is interested in interesting ideas just as long as your pitch is well delivered and concise. Don’t feel worried that you’re wasting the reporters’ time. They need great story ideas just as much as you want publicity.

Feel free to follow up every few days. Remember, you can keep going until someone tells you no. In that case, it’s time to stop and come up with another release idea.

Always be polite and friendly. Your current pitch may not work, but you’re building a relationship and you want to make a good impression.

If you do get booked, it’s a nice touch to send a handwritten thank-you note.