Smaller companies don’t always have
budget - or inclination - to retain a PR hotshot to tell world about their business success, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t a ready source of news.The problem is it’s often dull news which is ignored by all except industry press and quite rightly so in most cases. If you land a contract, you issue a press release. If you take on a new senior sales rep, you issue a press release. Attending an exhibition? Press release, natch. These are simply announcements that you are doing what you do, that it’s business as usual.
With a little lateral thinking, however, you could be issuing press releases throughout year which present topics and subjects that’ll have editors from all disciplines chasing you for full story. Below I’ve presented just five brainstormers to get creative juices flowing.
• Your Survey Says...
Even though I know nothing about your company, odds are that you have time and resources to carry out a survey which could get you some coverage if it’s implemented and reported properly.
Concentrate on your niche, whether that’s your industry or expertise. Keep it relatively simple, but ensure final results have potential to grab headlines. For example, if you’re a butcher, you could ask 100 people if they would give up bacon if their partner issued an ultimatum. ‘4 Out of 10 Choose Bacon Over Marriage’ is going to get an editor’s attention!
But be honest about your methodology. If you’ve simply polled a handful of your colleagues, don’t try to pass it off as a six-month research project.
Some journalists won’t touch a survey story with a barge poll unless it’s been carried out with kind of planning that goes into a Nasa shuttle launch, but others might find it useful, particularly if it’s a fun subject and doesn’t take itself too seriously.
• Your Opinion Counts
Surf major news sites - try Google News for starters:
http://news.google.com/nwshp?hl=en&gl=us
Ask yourself what you or your boss would have to say about main news stories of day. Or perhaps a current event impacts directly on your industry. Pretty soon you’re going to have a story to tell.
A property solicitor in Scotland did this and resulting story is great - here’s intro:
“Scottish property solicitor criticises Gordon Brown's tax U-turn.
A leading Scottish property solicitor has criticised Chancellor of Exchequer Gordon Brown’s decision to abolish without notice exemption for deprived areas from Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT), saying that measure would have an adverse impact upon commercial property market in Scotland.”
Full story: http://www.clickpress.com/releases/Detailed/542005cp.shtml
• Your Opinion Counts 2 - Straight to Editor’s Desk
While serving as editor of business magazines in past, there have been times when PR companies have contacted me following publication with some kind of gripe regarding coverage of their company or client.
