First Step Marketing

The 8″ x 10″ glossy, black-and-white photograph

If you are going to submit a photo with your news release, you can have a good professional photographer take it for you or you can put a roll of black-and-white film in your camera and do it yourself. Photograph only the images that support your news release and take many shots to ensure at least one good photo will result.

Try to adjust your major points of interest so they will appear everywhere except in the centre of the photo. Position these focal points about one-third in from the edges, approximately on the Golden Line.

Have small prints made and examine them for good impact, clarity, interest and relevance. Then the best of them should beblown up to form an 8″ x 10″ (postcard-sized) glossy. Get several copies made if you are sending your release to more than one news organisation.

On the back of the photograph place a label containing words that could be used as a caption for the photo. Thus, if your storyand picture become separated at the newspaper office, they can be matched up again.

Do not write on the back of the photo; tape your message on instead. Type out your statement on an adhesive-backed label or along the width of a sheet of white paper that is nearly the size of your photo. Cut it out with a small margin top and bottom and paste or tape it on. Never spoil your photograph by writing on the back.

Typing your news release professionally

Head a blank sheet of typing paper ‘News Release‘ and date it. Use wide margins, double spacing and two double-line spaces between paragraphs. Keep the press release to one page in length if you possibly can.

If it is longer than a page, make the reader turn to the next page by ending the first page in mid-sentence (but not mid-word). Be sure to include full details of your name, address, phone and faxnumbers on every sheet so the editor of the paper/magazine/ radio/TV station can contact you easily.

Use everything you have learned about promoting new business to keep in touch regularly, relentlessly and caringly. Thank people as you go along. You will be pleased by the attention youare likely to receive if your releases are thoughtful, correct and relevant to the readers and viewers of your local media.

You may feel encouraged enough to write longer pieces, for example, articles of around 1 000 words on items of local interest.

Again, be sure to do your research well as to the kind of articles accepted by the various forms of media.

What is an article?

An article is usually longer than a press release — say 1 000 words or longer — and allows for a fuller development of the subject.

An article about a local merchant, for instance, would not cover a particular sale as in the previous example of a press release.

Instead, it would be a researched piece on the entrepreneur’s early beginnings in a small, family business, the success and growth of her businesses around the world, followed by her decision to leave the running of her empire to her nieces while she _researched natural silk dyes in Asia.

The article would end by revealing that her present intent is to bring the colours and feel of antique silk to today’s easy, relaxed fashions.

Make good public relations happen for you

‘As scarce as truth is, the supply has always been in excess of the demand.’

Become addicted to the media that serves your immediate business catchment area. Analyse where your best clients come from, then ask them what newspapers, magazines and trade journals they read, as well as what radio and TV stations they like. When you visit their offices, check their tables for the journals they subscribe to and ask if you can borrow some.

Then read, read, read until you understand the style of writing that these newsprint media use. Listen to your clients’ preferred radio stations to discover their special kind of sound. Is it noisy, brash and urgent, or soft, gentle and undemanding? Or are they more businesslike? Similarly, what type of programmes do the prospects’ preferred TV channel specialise in?

Practise, practise, practise those styles. And do pay attention to detail. For instance, check the type of photograph the media are interested in, such as action, people, scenic or product shots.

Practise, practise, practise until you get it right and get free publicity in just the media you should be seen in. I heard of one businessman who regularly receives free publicity in his church magazine and good business results from that exposure.

Has it ever happened to you that, just when prospects were about to buy, they wandered off, murmuring something about coming back later? We can never really know what goes on inside their heads, but if you find the reason why they are interested in the product, you can make a relevant special offer which may close the deal.

Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)
Getting your story into the media continue…

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 20th, 2008 at 6:46 pm and is filed under Advertising, Business Management, Business Plans, Home Based Business, Marketing, Promotion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.