Many small businesses, obviously, don’t have the budgets to hire PR agency. But that is not the only way to build some good positive buzz about yourself or your business. A lot of the stories in the media are seeded directly by the business owners. What’s more, generating such publicity is not difficult or scary as many fear.
Good editorial coverage for your product, service or brand can make a great difference to your bottom line and it’s definitely worth a shot. Small business owners need to give it a red hot go. Here’s how and why:
1. Who knows your business better than you? That’s right, nobody else. You alone have the knowledge and passion that will best communicate your business to the media. Often the media prefer to deal with the person direct, rather than have to arrange interviews via a PR person, because they’re usually on tight deadlines. If you make yourself directly available for interviews and photo shoots, you will be doing a big favour to yourself.
2. It doesn’t cost a thing. You never pay the media to write or broadcast about you or your business. It’s their job to cover newsworthy events in their magazine, newspaper or program. You’re only helping them by being part of their story. It’s a win-win situation.
3. What advertising will never buy. Think about it. In an advertisement you’re telling the world how great your product is but when an editor or host says how great it is, people actually believe it. Imagine a person telling you how great they are in bed. Now imagine a friend telling you how great that person is in bed. Who are you more likely to believe?
4. Wide exposure. Think about what a story in large metro newspaper can do for your brand. It could raise awareness and increase traffic to your website/store/phone line. Ultimately it could help you make more money. Now a large advert in a major metro newspaper is not something small businesses can afford to buy. But what if you get that sort of exposure for free – in their editorial pages? It would be like winning Business Lotto. The odds of that are not as high as you think it might be.
5. Magnify your presence. Finally, when you are heard or seen being interviewed, or your product gets lots of editorial hits, your presence will be instantly inflated in the eyes of your clients. You will begin to appear as an established, professional business and your competitors will start to get a little worried, if not jealous.
Simone Heydon has been in the PR game for more years than she’d like to count. Besides providing self-help PR, she works at Handle Communications.
