PITCHING YOUR NEWS STORY: Newspapers still first place to startWritten by Barry Forward
The Internet has quickly become default launch point for many media pitch campaigns. Business owners have quickly grasped ease at which they can blast their news out through online newsletters, email campaigns and online wire services. Essentially Internet has made getting your name in media seem a whole lot easier. BUT just because your news release happens to appear on a website somewhere, does that mean it's actually being read?A new survey has found that news consumption, our daily helpings of local, national and international news, still comes predominantly from daily newspaper. Yes, despite obvious increase in Internet use, most of us still look to daily printed tabloids and broadsheets for our news fixes. 52 percent of us say newspaper is still number one and something that we are not going to part with easily, despite prognostications of many a digital futurist. So just what does this mean if you are in business and trying to generate some publicity for your company - start with newspaper first. Or that very least when you are developing your priority list make sure local newspaper is at top of your hit list and that you write a version of your news release specifically for traditional print press.
| | Getting Ready for a Media InterviewWritten by June Campbell
If you're in business, especially if you are doing business on Internet, day will come when you are invited to do a media interview. Perhaps someone has read your online articles and is impressed, or perhaps your local newspaper or television station is profiling interesting Internet entrepreneurs in their community. Whatever reason, you are being given an excellent opportunity to promote your business. To get most mileage from your interview, consider following tips:1. Before interview, practice your answers to typical questions of Who, What, Where, When, Why and How. That is, be prepared to state your name, your business, where you are located, what you do, when you started, why you started your business, and how you do things. Prepare and practice so your statements will flow smoothly. 2. Before interview takes place, consider main message that you want audience to receive. Make a list of three major points, and practice saying these three points to yourself until you can speak them smoothly and confidently, without stumbling. 3. During interview, try to include these three main points as much as possible. Your interview is likely to be edited prior to publishing or broadcasting. By repeating your main points, you reduce possibility that your preferred message will be edited out. 4. Be prepared to tell brief anecdotes and short stories. Think of a time when you solved a problem for a customer, or relate a success story or two. Find a way to mix one or more of your three main marketing messages into each anecdote. 5. Use humor with caution. If you are telling a humorous anecdote, be sure that "the joke is on yourself" and explain what you learned from experience. Avoid giving people idea that you laugh at your customers behind their backs.
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