Your 2010 marketing tool box: Press Releases

If you don’t currently utilize press releases as a marketing tool for your business, you might be missing out on an easy tool that could increase your exposure and bottom line.

Over several years, I’ve learned there are some specific, quick truths about press releases.

You can never be 100% sure your press release will be printed (if submitted to a print publication) or picked up by other sites (if submitted online).
There are no guarantees that a press release will bring you new business (much like there is no guarantee that if you make outbound calls for a client you will get a live person on the phone and book an appointment…you just can’t guarantee that).
It takes consistency and quality to produce a good press release and visible results. (You may have to submit several press releases before one even gets printed and you may not get any bites after just one, two or three press releases).
Press releases are just one tool from your marketing tool box. Don’t expect that solely submitting press releases once a quarter or once a month will generate all the interest and business you desire.

With any marketing tool, you have to be consistent, clear and target your communications to your desired clientele. In order to develop a sound, consistent and clear press release, follow these steps.

Speak to Your Target Market – don’t develop press releases with sophisticated technical speak imbedded in it unless you are 100% sure your target market will comprehend and value that language. Speak their language; appeal to their vocabulary.
Keep it Simple – Typically a press release should be one page and highlight your news in the headline and summary at top. If it’s too wordy, people won’t read it…just think of how busy we all are. Everyone is so inundated with news, tips, etc. that often we have to be very selective of what we choose to read. Remember, simplified public relations is best…don’t over-think it.
Hook Them at hello – The headline is the first thing readers and journalists will see. If they don’t have interest in your headline, they likely won’t read your summary or click the link (if your press release was submitted online). Make your headline stand out and identify your business name or yourself in the headline.
Consistency is Key – You won’t grow your exposure or gain new clients after just one press release. It’s wise to have a plan and schedule consistent press releases geared toward the time of year, product launches, or specific events throughout the year you will be participating in.

Develop a press release for volunteer events or activities you participate in (as long as it is okay with that organization for you to share your relationship with them).

Did you help Habitat for Humanity this year?

Did you donate money in your business name to a worthy cause?

Are you an active volunteer in your local chamber of commerce?

This type of press release would illustrate your commitment to community. If you are launching a product in January, schedule a press release marketing that product launch once a month until product launch. You can always change the copy within the releases each time providing updated or new information. That will help build interest in your product and maybe even motivate you to complete work on the development of that product sooner!

When in doubt, get help – If you are at a standstill with how to develop a quality press release, what to write about and which industries or publications to target; get help. Ask a colleague or person in your networking group if they or someone they know can brainstorm with you. Or hire a VA that specializes in writing and press release development to help you throughout the process.

It takes a small effort to develop a good, one page press release to submit online and to your local print publications. And if you know someone affiliated with or working for one of the local publications, try to build a relationship with them. Journalists are inundated with press releases and submissions on a daily basis. Building and maintaining relationships with key journalists would benefit you in your marketing efforts and show your commitment to your business. Finally, who hasn’t heard the saying, “you have to spend money to make money”? To build your business, increase your exposure and get noticed, you will have to make an investment of time and money.

January 1, 2010 | Filed Under Professional Virtual Assistant, Public Relations, Public Relations Tips, entrepreneurship | Leave a Comment

Simplified public relations and the small business.

As an entrepreneur and founder of two small businesses, I know the challenges that come hand-in-hand with the entrepreneurs life.

Massive to-do lists, not enough time to accomplish all that we desire to, marketing and promoting ourselves and our businesses often taking a back seat to the simple day-to-day monotony that we so badly need to outsource. In my decade plus experience in corporate and entrepreneurial marketing and PR I’ve seen small businesses all too often eliminate marketing from their priorities.

This is a huge mistake. But it can be avoided with strategically and cost-effectively planning ahead to simplify marketing and public relations tasks so that they are virtually on auto-pilot. Using simplified public relations strategies, you can make lasting connections with complementary organizations without spending a great deal of time or money.

What is simplified public relations? In the manner of getting back to the basics, my belief is that at the core of every successful small business are relationships. Relationship building and public relations go hand-in-hand. Public relations strategies don’t have to be complex and scary for the entrepreneur. You simply need to take a look at your desired end result and work backward. From there you can simply plan out your public relations activities on one sheet and schedule them out on your calendar for the year. The hardest part is coming up with the appropriate outlets to contact and researching what news they want to hear.

If you come from a place of service, offering them your expertise and remain genuine, you’ll have an easy time developing lasting relationships with media outlets. They’ll value you as a source and maybe even seek you out for a newly developed story. Just remember to remain professional, appreciative and put yourself in the contacts shoes…they likely get inundated with queries and press releases on a daily basis.

In small business and the entrepreneurial world, positive public relations = relationship building + service + strategic partnerships + informing others. Done right, it can be an invaluable source for business growth.

September 17, 2009 | Filed Under Public Relations, Public Relations Tips, entrepreneurship | Leave a Comment

What do smores have to do with public relations?

I went camping recently and the yummy smores my family and I made by the camp fire are still on my mind. The fact that I’m a chocoholic doesn’t help either.

What do smores have to do with public relations? This may be a stretch but here goes:

1. Patience. Smores take patience to make because you have to first roast the marshmallows to the exact temperature of your preference. Some people like their marshmallows golden brown while others like them crispy on the outside and melted on the inside. Public relations, done properly, takes patience as well. Patience in crafting your message the right way to reach the right people. Patience in getting a response to your first attempt or follow up. Patience in the amount of time and frequency required to spend on generating buzz. You may not create positive buzz after that first or fifth press release or story pitch, but have faith it will come!

2. Organization. Crafting the perfect smore takes organization. You have to have your supplies ready at hand – the marshmallows, the graham crackers, the chocolate and of course a napkin or paper towel to keep the gooiness at bay. Crafting a simplified, yet effective public relations plan takes organization as well. Whether you’re developing an editorial calendar for your ezine or blog, or crafting a quarters worth of story pitches or press releases, your information must be organized. You should have the Who, What, When, Where and Why clearly mapped out and your contact information must be organized and easy to find as well. It’s also notable to have your follow-up plan and strategy for what happens once you generate buzz organized.

3. Slice of heaven. Smores (if you like them as much as I do) can be a slice of heaven. They can help you be in the moment, having fun with family and friends, and can remind you of fun times as a child. Generating positive buzz around you, your business, your events, products or services can be a slice of heaven. When you get noticed for the hard work that you do, or your community involvement you can be in the moment, relish it, be giddy like a kid and do your happy dance. It’s amazing when we get noticed after a lot of effort. It’s what life is all about. Being appreciated, being in the moment, appreciating others, and paying it forward.

Who knew smores and PR had so much in common!?

August 13, 2009 | Filed Under Professional Virtual Assistant, Public Relations, Public Relations Tips, entrepreneurship | Leave a Comment

Creating Positive Buzz: Simplified Public Relations & Marketing Support

People are often visually driven…images motivate and communicate.

Innovate Services partners with virtual assistants, fitpreneurs, mompreneurs, and solopreneurs to help them get their message out authentically; creating positive buzz for their businesses. Our passion is helping spread the word; through avenues like press releases, story pitches, ghostwritten articles, social media, philanthropy and more.

Does our video below help communicate that or are we missing the mark?

Feel free to let us know…business and life is an ever-lasting opportunity to learn and grow. And I’m always up for enlightenment and growth!

July 9, 2009 | Filed Under Motivational, Professional Virtual Assistant, Public Relations, entrepreneurship | Leave a Comment

Professional Virtual Assistants – Does PR Have a Role in Your Business?

bigstockphoto_dictionary_series_-_marketing__small2 Recently I’ve been toying with the idea of developing something (product…book…seminar) that would help promote the use of authentic, simplified Public Relations in business; especially for the virtual assistant / virtual professional industry.

Over the years, I’ve seen many a company (large and small) throw money into fruitless advertising campaigns that didn’t fully communicate the voice and philosophy behind the company. Sure there is a time and place for advertising, but you cannot put all your eggs in one basket and expect the leads to flow in. And it is so easy to choose advertising over developing a sound public relations and grass roots plan because it can be less time consuming.

With public relations you have to answer at minimum the “who, what, why, when, where” questions readers, editors and other media contacts will be asking. But that is not enough. You have to delve into what your ideal clientele or target market want to hear. What is their interest these days? How does your news tie into their needs or wants? What does your philanthropic act have to do with them? Why would someone want to read about your new joint venture, e-book, certification, etc. It takes a lot of thought, creativity and putting yourself in others shoes to develop a strong PR plan.

So virtual assistants / virtual professionals inquiring minds want to know…

Does PR have a role in your business?

If you are willing to take 1-2 minutes of your time and help us out, please take our survey.
Click Here to take survey

July 7, 2009 | Filed Under Professional Virtual Assistant, Public Relations | Leave a Comment

K.I.S.S. Tip – Do I need to be a writer to write a Press Release?

You absolutely, positively do not need to be a writer to write a press release. Press release writing is much simpler than the average entrepreneur or solopreneur makes it out to be.

However, you do need to have a clear understanding of what makes you and your products or services buzz worthy. You can’t send out a boring, ho-hum press release to editors and media contacts and expect it to get noticed among the hundreds of others they see each week.

Put simply you need to be able to clearly communicate in the headline and first two lines of your press release why the person receiving it should keep reading. And don’t go for shock value by stretching the truth or making false statements. Be honest, and write your press releases in line with the way in which you run your business; hopefully ethically.

K.I.S.S. (Keep It Super Simple) Keys To Writing Your Next Press Release:

Include the who, what, when, where and why
Be creative, but honest
Don’t stretch the truth of provide false statements
Keep it to one page
Always include your contact information at the top or bottom
Stick to the point; if you find you’re switching to a different angle, use it for another press release

Here is a good press release sample.

June 23, 2009 | Filed Under Professional Virtual Assistant, Public Relations, Public Relations Tips | Leave a Comment

K.I.S.S. Tip – What Information is Best For a Press Release

One of my readers recently asked what information is best to include in a press release?

There are key components to press releases that should never be skipped when writing a press release:

Your name.
Your company name.
Your contact information.
Your product or service name if you’re announcing it for the first time.
A link to your website (or better yet, an interior page of your website specific to this press release).
A captivating or at least informational headline that tells people who and what the press release is about.
A quote from you or a client explaining the problem you’re solving, why you received the recognition you’re telling us about, what your role in the community event you’re writing about was…something that helps the reader understand better your message and business.
A closing line directing readers to the appropriate site for more information on you and your business.

If you are stumped for topic ideas for your next press release, take a look at our free topic ideas for generating buzz. Up next…case studies — great press release examples.

simplified, consistent public relations | copywriting | copyediting

June 12, 2009 | Filed Under Copywriting / Editing Tips, Professional Virtual Assistant, Public Relations | Leave a Comment

K.I.S.S. Tip – Organizing your PR Efforts

I was recently asked this question…a question many entre/solo/fit/mom preneurs may have.

“How do you keep your PR (public relations) efforts organized?”

My rule of thumb is to Keep It Super Simple (K.I.S.S.).

Anything can be over thought or over complicated but as an entrepreneur what is the point in complicating your public relations efforts by coming up with an elaborate plan?

Here’s where you should start when developing your PR efforts for your small biz:

Think about your niche / ideal client / target market…whatever you call who it is you DREAM of working with.
- Where do they “hang out”?
- What do they read?
- What are their habits?
Determine your objective…more than likely it’s to gain BUZZ for your business, product or service.
Research your on and off line options.
Come up with a targeted list of publications and media outlets you know are in line with your business, your target market, and those that feature stories related to what it is you offer.
Get editorial calendars if available.
Write up your annual plan…Keep It Super Simple…1 page (the same length as a standard press release)!
Plan and write ahead.
Incorporate social media.
Follow your plan!

Hope that helps shed some light on how to keep PR efforts for your small business organized and simple. If you have more suggestions or other public relations questions for an entrepreneurial business, please share them here or sign up for our FREE K.I.S.S. PR & Editorial Tips.

May 16, 2009 | Filed Under InnoVAtions, Mompreneur Tips, Professional Virtual Assistant, Public Relations | Leave a Comment

4 Essential K.I.S.S. (Keep It SUPER Simple) Tips Before Submitting Your Next Press Release

These are essential tips any entrepreneur should consider before hitting the send button for your next press release.

Know the publication. What does the content typically cover?; are the articles lengthy or quick one page articles?; is the pub hyper local or covering a wider area?
Know the Editor/Writer. Whether you’re sending to an Editor or Writer for a publication, you should have at least done a quick search for them online and skimmed some of their most recent work.
Know your story inside and out. Be prepared for a phone interview or further questions about your press release topic. Know how to convey your story in an interesting manner.
Know that there are no guarantees your story will get printed. Many things in life are a guessing game, and PR is too. Sure if you write a compelling headline and have an amazing, one of a kind story you might get some bites. But with many small businesses it takes a lot of brainstorming and thought to develop a truly newsworthy press release. And it’s not devaluing you or your business…it’s just that Editors and Writers for publications are inundated with pitches and releases daily. They can’t possibly read and print each one.

So before you send your next press release, consider these tips and if you run into writer’s block consider getting input from peers or a professional public relations expert.

simplified, consistent public relations | copy editing

April 28, 2009 | Filed Under Professional Virtual Assistant, Public Relations | Leave a Comment