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Archive for June, 2009

As I’ve mentioned before, appearing on radio talk shows is a great way to promote  yourself.

If you’ve never tried getting on these shows before, the process is fairly easy, but it does take some time, effort and persistence. Here’s how to do it:

Contact the show’s producer.  Once you have a particular show in mind, call the general business number for the station, not the line into the studio, and ask for the name of the producer, with proper spelling, and their email address.  If the person who answers the phone doesn’t know, which often happens at radio stations,  ask to speak to someone in the programming department.

People in that department either know who produces each show, or they know how to find out.  If they can’t help you, ask to speak to the programming director.  This person is often hard to reach, especially if he or she also doubles as on-air talent.  But keep trying, it’s well worth the effort.

You can then decide to either call the show’s producer or send an email.

When David Barron and I were pitching our book, Power Persuasion, we set up about 20 interviews for a six-week period for just a few hours effort each.

I made phone calls to some shows while David emailed others.  Both methods were effective, however, all of the show producers I talked to wanted a more complete pitch by email.  The phone calls broke the ice and I sent the producers the written pitch right after the call, while the conversation was still fresh in their minds.

If you contact the stations with a written pitch and you get call from a producer, be aware that she interested in the topic and that you are being auditioned, though she will probably never say that. 

So prepare yourself for the call.  Practice answering a few basic questions about yourself and your topic ahead of time on tape.  Think high energy.  Producers are looking for lively guests who are informative and entertaining.  If your topic is a serious one, let  your voice reflect it, without being too somber or stiff.  If you are passionate about a topic, such as a cause, let it show.  But don’t be obnoxious or overbearing, regardless of the subject.  The key is to strike a balance between being a hyper music DJ and an undertaker, while still being yourself.

Listen to a variety of radio talk shows, paying attention to how the guests perform.  Think about what you like and dislike about each of them, then compare it with a practice tape of  yourself.  Should you speak faster or slower?  Louder or softer?  Raise your voice tone or lower it?

Only pitch one show in each market.  If you get turned down, then contact the next person on your list in that market.  If you are approaching national shows, it’s okay to contact them all at the same time, but don’t mention it unless asked.            

It’s usually best to answer questions from the media honestly, but there is no rule that says you have to volunteer information.

So there you have it.  Follow the steps above, and if you have a good topic and can present yourself well, you too can be on the radio.

Thanks for reading,

Danek

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The headline is the most important part of your press release.  It’s purpose is to entice the journalist into wanting to read more.

A great headline can also be a guide to help you write the release.

Here are some templates you can use, there are many more, to help you craft eye-catching, publicity generating releases. Some of them use the number 10, but  you could also use 5,7 etc. Whatever works.

So here they are:

The Top 10 __________

The Best __________

The Worst __________

The 10 Best Ways to __________

The Easiest Ways to __________

Why You Should Always __________

Why You Should Never __________

Why You Should Always __________ When You __________

Why You Should Never __________ When You __________

10 Reasons to __________

10 Reasons Not to __________

10 Questions You Should Ask Before Choosing a __________ (doctor, lawyer, mechanic, school, charity, etc.)

You may notice that there are actually 12 headlines above. You may wonder why, when the title of this post says there are 10. I’m using one of the principles of business success: Always under promise and over deliver.

Thanks for reading.

Want to create the publicity and fame you deserve? Read You Can Be Famous! Insider Secrets to Getting Free Publicity.

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7 Myths About Getting  Free Publicity

There is a lot of misunderstanding about the nature of publicity and how to go about getting it.  Here  are 7 myths that may keep you from getting the free publicity you deserve.

Myth 1.  Publicity and advertising are the same.  Advertising is exposure that you pay for.  You control the exact message and, if you’re willing to pay extra, the placement of the ad.

Publicity is free, unless you are working with a publicist.  Even so, the cost of hiring one is much less than the cost of advertising, yet it has more value because it is treated as news.

It has much more credibility than advertising.  The downside is, you don’t control the placement or size of a story.

Also, you don’t have control over the exact spin that a journalist will give the story.  But if you initiated the process, by contacting the media with a news release, the story will usually be favorable.

Myth 2.  You have to know someone.  Like anything else in life, it helps if you have contacts on the inside.  But they are not necessary.  Every day thousands of people without contacts get free publicity in the media.

They are able to do it because they have a real story to tell, not a bunch of  hype or disguised advertising, and they sent the media a well-crafted release.

Myth 3.  You have to be one of the big guys to get any media attention.  Wrong.  See Myth 2 above.

Myth 4.  You should send your release everywhere.  Doing this is counterproductive.  You should target your release to the right outlets and the right journalists.

For example, say your company has just released new customer relations software.

Don’t buy a giant media list and send it to everyone on it.  Select the business publications and talk shows and the editors of the business sections of newspapers and magazines, as well as business websites, and send your release to them only.

If you have a list that is detailed enough to give you the contact info for individual business reporters, select those who write about software or high tech, not real estate.

Warning:  only send the release to one person at a media outlet at a time.  If that person turns you down, then it is okay to contact another one.

Myth 5.  You should send out lots of press releases.  Don’t pester journalists with releases about every little thing that happens at  your business or organization.

They find it annoying and time consuming.  It’s like the boy who cried wolf.  Send them too many trivial releases and they will stop paying attention.  Wait until you have something reasonably important to share with the public.

Myth 6.  Bigger is better.  Don’t write long press releases.  Journalists  have too many to read.  The ideal length is 400 – 600 words.

If you have more to say, you can provide additional items such as a bio (biography), company history or fact sheet.  If the release interests journalists, they will then read your supporting material for more information.

Myth 7.  You can get publicity if you buy an ad.  Except with smaller media outlets and some trade publications, buying an ad will not influence the decision  to do a story on you.

With most journalists, telling them that you will buy an ad if they do a story is a turn off and it may make them decide not to do anything at all.  Don’t drop your advertising if it is working, but don’t try to tie it to getting free publicity.

Want to know more? Read  You Can Be Famous! Insider Secrets to Getting Free Publicity

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As a business reporter living in Silicon Valley, I use to get a lot of press releases from tech companies announcing their latest product.

All too often, the releases were written to appeal to other techies, using language that my editors and I sometimes didn’t understand.  And if we didn’t understand it, how could we communicate the message to  the businesses that the company hoped to reach as customers? How would they know if they wanted one?

These releases often focused on the processes and the  technology involved, rather than what the product actually did, which is what mattered most to the potential end users.

Now, writing in geek is fine when you’re pitching a tech reporter or blogger, but you still want lead with what the benefit of the product is and who will benefit from it. Then follow up with all the tech speak.

When approaching a non-tech outlet, such as a business newspaper or the TV news, try to write your release in everyday language, using tech talk sparingly.

And if you feel compelled to focus on the technology involved, put it in the lower part of your release or write a supporting fact sheet as an addition to the release.

Your press release is not about showing off,  it’s about communicating and meeting the needs of the journalists and their audience.

Always remember, people don’t buy technology, they buy what the technology can do for them.

Do this, and you’ll get much more free publicity and you’ll sell more of your latest widgets.

One of the keys to getting free publicity is to make the journalist’s job easier. Not because they are lazy, but because they are almost always overworked and on deadline.

This means streamlining the communication process as much as you can.

In my work as a journalist, I’ve had several people pitch me stories who then told me I could find out the background information I needed by reading several pages of their web site, they weren’t sure just where, but if I hunted around, I could find it.

More than one got testy when I told them I didn’t have time.

Think about this situation from the standpoint of human nature. Forget about journalism for a moment. Imagine that someone asks you to do them a favor. When you agree, they put all kinds of conditions on you as to how the favor must be performed and when, so that they are not inconvenienced.

How would you feel, especially if you had several things of your own that you had to accomplish before the end of the day?

Now, journalists are not doing you a favor. They are looking for good stories, but they have a lot to choose from. Who is more likely to get their story in the paper, the person who is helpful, or the person who puts up roadblocks?

One time I asked the spokesperson for a nonprofit a question and she told me to go read her 96 page white paper. There was no way I was going to do that, not to find one simple piece of information that she could have told me over the phone. Guess whose story didn’t appear in the paper.

So do whatever you can to make the journalist’s life easier and you’ll find yourself getting more and more free publicity.

Adapted from the book, You Can Be Famous! Insider Secrets to Getting Free Publicity