To recap this series on the ins and outs of public relations and publicity, the most important thing to remember is to do it. Getting your name out there usually doesn’t happen by itself.

It all starts with a plan. Take the time you need to think things through. P.R. doesn’t need to cost much in the way of money for an independent designer or small shop. But, it does require an investment in time.

Once you have your plan in place, start building your media list. While you’re doing that, you can also start putting your press kit together. Begin to think like a reporter. What’s happening with your business that can have a newsy spin? Fire up your favorite word processor and draft some news releases.

After a while writing starts to get a little easier. You may even find you have a natural talent for it. If so, great. Write some articles about your design specialty, working with a designer, the design process, etc. Get them submitted online and also to print publications. Those should include relevant industry trade publications where you want to get work.

The next thing you know, your name starts showing up all over the place. You might even land some interviews. Then you’ll have something for yet another news release. And so the cycle begins …

Until the next
Marketing Minute
all the best,
nt

Okay, so now you’ve got a press kit and maybe a press release or three. What the heck do you do with them? Well, it’s probably a good idea to get them into the hands of the media. That means you’ll need to build your media list. It’s a cousin to your prospects and contacts list.

The first place to look is your own backyard. What local and regional publications are out there? Check for newspapers, business magazines and newspapers. A trip to your local bookseller can help you find media along with editor and reporter names and contact info. Grab some pubs, score a cuppa joe and start writing things down (or into your laptop).

Don’t stop there. You want widespread fame. Look into national publications, too. What the heck. They may not print your stuff right away, but you’re not out too much postage dough. If they see your a good source of information that’s relevant to their readers, you just might find yourself in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Business Week, Inc. or USA Today (or top pubs of your country du jour).

Also, look for industry publications within your niche. You do have one of those, right? Trade associations are also a good source. Many produce magazines and newsletters.

When building your list, don’t forget radio and TV. These folks need people to interview. You want them to interview you. So, send them your kit and releases and then keep in touch.

Online syndication services are another key ingredient in your media mix. My Creative Latitude and About.com graphic design forum bud, Calvin Lee, of Mayhem Studios, posted several in his recent e-newsletter. By the by, if you don’t receive Cal’s newsletter, you should. It’s a quick, albeit great, read. There’s a spot to sign up on his home page.

So, without further ado, bookmark these sites, courtesy of Mr. Lee.

Fast Pitch Networking

PR Compass

Free Press Release

PR Leap

Press Arrivenet

24/7 Press Release

PR Log

1888 Press Release

Click Press

Free News Release

I-Newswire

PR

PR 9

Press Base

Keeping in touch is important. Work to build a relationship with editors, reporters and writers. These are the folks that can get your name in front of Mr. or Ms. Deep-Pockets. You want to treat your media contacts with kid gloves and become a resource for them. Think of them as a treasured prospect, worth their weight in publicity gold, because they’re the ones who can put you in touch with scores of other prospects.

Until the next
Marketing Minute
all the best,
nt

In my last post, I wrote about the importance of having a press kit to help immortalize your moniker in print. In this post, I’ll share the tasty ingredients for your kit.

The Cover Letter
This is a brief intro letter, typically one page, that tells the editor or reporter what the press kit is all about and that you’d be just pleased as punch to be interviewed or contacted for a quote when the right story come by.

It’s important to do your homework beforehand. Address your cover letter to a specific person and make sure to spell their name correctly. Check the publication for the right folks to send your material. It’s always a good idea to pick up the phone and call the publication for verification of the name, title and such.

Backgrounder
Here’s where you’ll be detailing what you and your business are all about. Some of the things you’ll be addressing are your company’s history, services/product offerings highlights, why the company exists and what it’s mission and goals are all about.

For independent professionals, you want to position yourself as an expert in your field. That means addressing your background along with your relevant education and experience. It might also contain your key topics such as branding, web design, corporate identity, etc.

Fact Sheet
This is a listing of key facts about the business. Reporters love facts, so make it easy for them. This may contain office locations, number of employees, number of awards won, etc. Some folks prefer to incorporate the facts sheet within the backgrounder.

Press Releases
Press releases are the anchor of your publicity efforts, so you’ll want to include a few of your most recent/most important releases. Be sure when writing releases that they conform to accepted format standards. I’ll be cover press release format standards in a future post.

Key Personnel Bios
In some instances, you can cover key bio in the backgrounder. In other cases, it makes more sense to create a “Bios” page. This is a couple of paragraphs about each key player in the business and may also include a photo. The bio should list the person’s title, key responsibilities, relevant education and experience.

Services/Products
This is a page or pages that outline your key services and/or products. Some companies will substitute this with a brochure. The main thing to remember here is focusing on benefits, not features. Lots of people get hung up with their offering’s bells and whistles, but that’s not usually what’s important to clients and readers. They want to know how what you offer will solve their problem, make their life easier, make them look good and such.

Press Reprints
Got press? Great! Make copies or order reprints from the publication. Editors are more likely to cover you and your business if another publication has already taken a chance on you. Reprints are also a good source of inspiration for writers to develop a story idea all about you. Give them all the ammo they need.

Photos
These can be key personnel photos, product images, and such. Perhaps you do speaking gigs. An in-action shot might be perfect to punctuate an article about you. Images can be hard copies or digital on a CD or DVD, but the latter is preferred since most publications are produced electronically now days. Make sure your images have enough resolution for print reproduction. The rule of thumb is 2x the line screen of the publication. For most magazines that means at least 300 dpi. Newspapers use a coarser screen so they can be 120 - 200 dpi. When in doubt, go higher. Images can go down in resolution, but not up.

And there you have it. Piece of cake. Yes? Putting together your press kits isn’t rocket science. It simply takes some time, diligence and planning.

Until the next
Marketing Minute
all the best,
nt

If you don’t already have one (and I’m betting you don’t), you should have a press kit in your marketing arsenal. They can be created on the relative cheap, but they can be worth way more than their weight in publicity gold. They can be your ticket to fame and fortune. A well-crafted press kit will decrease your waistline and increase your desirability toward the opposite sex (or the same sex, as the case may be). It will end world hunger and bring about a lasting, universal peace. The planets will align and Utopia will permeate the Universe.

Okay … that’s a bit more than a stretch. But, a quality kit will help to position you as the one who’s in the know, offers excellent services and smarts and might even get you an interview here and there.

Consider this. I did a press kit a while ago for a business-to-business client. It was simple and distributed on CDs that we burned. The client was in a small market. Small, to the point of me only finding a whopping six publications for their media list. I sent out a release to the list, followed by our handy dandy press kit. The release was printed in three pubs. But, the press kit resulted in two feature stories about my client and the rest of the pubs printing the original release. Nifty? You bet. But, the best part is that the feature stories resulted in the client cracking a new offshore market and picking up a customer on the other side of the planet. Now they’re “global.”

Think of a press kit as something akin to your business’ resume. It provides one-stop shopping for editors, reporters and writers who are on the hunt for an expert to quote or maybe a story idea. A well-conceived and produced kit helps you stand out from the pack and also helps to get you noticed by those folks who can forever immortalize your name in print. Plus, a correctly structured press kit can be easily adapted for other audiences as well, like those deep-pocket folks such as investors and prospects.

To create your brilliant publicity package, you’ll probably want to enlist the services of a writer and maybe a photographer. Sure, you can do it yourself. You can also handle your bookkeeping and tax returns, install that new electrical outlet you’ve been needing and hoist your car up on a couple of jacks and toss in a new engine. Let me share my thoughts on that. Well … actually they’re not my thoughts. They’re the sage advice from one of my profs at the art school I attended back in the old days. Odds are she got it from some mentor along the way, too –

“Never do for yourself what somebody else can do better.”

Read it. Know it. Live it.

You want your press kit to stand out from the crowd, be impressive and tell your story in a memorable way. A good creative team can be worth their weight in gold toward helping you reach that goal.

You can put a kit together without sinking a load of dough into it. It simply takes some thought and planning. You can pick up some nice two pocket folders at your local office supply store. Apply a well-designed, ink-jet printed, crack ‘n peel label and volia! Pop your business card in the pre-cut slits and you’re good to go.

Odds are the office supply or a decent copy shop can also make copies for you. Have your writer’s glowing prose copied instead of having pages offset printed. Have your photographer shoot some dazzling images of you and some of your work. Maybe your office, too, if it’s a neat space. Format the writer’s text so each page is consistent with your branding in terms of typography, colors, etc. Burn the sucker and whip up some great CD labels. The next thing you know, you have a slick and informative press kit.

Up next, we’ll talk about what to put into your kit … and how to do it.

Until the next
Marketing Minute
all the best,
nt