Reach Thousands of Your Prospects, Absolutely Free

by Debbie LaChusa

I'm big on getting maximum marketing exposure at the lowest cost possible. After all, most small business owners don't have huge marketing budgets, so finding inexpensive ways to market is a necessity.  Recently I was able to get free marketing exposure to nearly 100,000 people.  It was something that took an hour or two of my time and the payoff was huge. And you can do it for your business, too.

It's called Public Relations

And it's simpler than you might think. If you follow a few basic rules, you can get great exposure for your business, product or service without having to pay for it.  Here's all I did.  See if this might apply to your business.

I sent out a press release announcing the launch of my 10stepmarketing System to two local business publications.  While it did not take a lot of time to write and send the release, there were a few key steps I took that you also must take to be successful with your PR efforts.

A few key steps

First, I found several publications that were targeted to the same type of people I am targeting with 10stepmarketing: small business owners. Once I had identified these publications, I did some research to find out the names of the staff writers who cover marketing. I identified a "hook" to make the story relevant to the publications and I made sure the content of my release provided clear benefits to their readers.

I emailed the release with a note saying I would follow up in a day or two to answer any questions. I followed up with a phone call, speaking directly to one writer and leaving a voice message for the other. A few days later, I received a phone call from the writer I had left the message for, and spent 20 minutes on the phone answering her questions and helping her understand more clearly how my system could help her readers. I even arranged for her to receive a copy of my system for review.

A few days later, both stories hit. One publication ran my press release verbatim and the other covered all the content in my release and added quotes and information from her phone interview with me.

PR isn't hard when you follow these 6 basic rules:

1. Identify news outlets that reach YOUR target audience

2. Send news that is important to, and includes a clear BENEFIT for the publication's audience

3. Send your release to the APPROPRIATE writer or editor

4. Include a "HOOK" or something that makes it more interesting or relevant to the publication and their audience (in my case, since the writers cover the local advertising community, I led with the fact that I am a local ad agency veteran)

5. Follow up

6. Make yourself available to do an interview, answer questions or provide additional information

While I didn't expect a whole lot to happen as a result of this release being published (my objective was simply to announce the launch of 10stepmarketing and to pave the way for future news. I know it usually takes multiple message exposures to generate significant results), the short-term results were amazing. Not only did it generate sales, I also received an invitation to speak as a result of the stories.

What news could you share about your business? What news outlets reach your prospects? What "hook" could you use?  I challenge you to consider how you could use PR to market your business.

P.S. Don't forget to post your press releases online on PR Web. For $80-$120 your release will be distributed to all the major search engines and picked up my a multitude of media outlets. This is a great way to generate links back to your website and drive traffic!

© Copyright 2005 Debbie LaChusa

Learn over 100 more small business marketing tips and techniques you can use to market your own business on a shoestring budget with The 10stepmarketing System. Click here to learn more about this unique, step-by-step, question-and-answer program that makes it easy to successfully market your own business.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Debbie LaChusa created The 10stepmarketing System to make marketing your own business as simple as answering 10 questions. Learn more about this unique, step-by-step system and get a free Marketing Mini-Course when you subscribe to the free, weekly 10stepmarketing Ezine at http://www.10stepmarketing.com

NOTE: You're welcome to "reprint" this article as long as you make no changes and you include the "About the Author" information at the end.  Please let me know if and where you use this article by emailing me.

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