7 Tips to Get More Mileage Out of Your Publicity

7 Tips to Get More Mileage Out of Your Online or Offline Publicity

by Bill Stoller, Publisher
Free Publicity, The Newsletter for PR-Hungry Businesses
http://www.PublicityInsider.com/freepub.asp

You worked hard to get a story on your business in a popular
website or your local paper. Don't let your efforts ends there --
here are seven tips to help you maximize your online and offline
publicity:

1) Reprint, Reprint, Reprint!

A favorable article on your company or products is marketing gold
- it implies that the publication or website has given its
endorsement. The best part is that you can enjoy the benefits of
this "third party endorsement" long after the article has
appeared.

If you want to re-print an article from an offline publication in
its entirety, you must get permission from the publication. Most
publications have special re-print departments to help you.

The same rules apply for stories appearing on websites. To re-
print, take a screenshot - make sure to include the logo of the
media outlet.

If there is a particularly juicy section of the article that
you'd like to highlight, make sure to use a "blow-up" quote to
enlarge and separate it from the rest of the article.

2) Add it to Your Website

What better place to drumbeat your newly acquired media placement
than your website. If you get a lot of publicity, set up a
special area (for example, "As Seen In") to display your
placements. For a great story, highlight it on your homepage.
Susan Blair does a nice job of displaying her publicity successes
in her "Articles" section at http://www.blairenterprises.net

Note: if a publication displays your article on its website, make
sure to link to it. Remember to check your link often - media
websites constantly change. Better yet, take a screenshot of
your article including the publication's logo, and place it
permanently in your "As Seen In" area.

3) Stop the (Electronic) Presses - Mention Your Placement in Your Ezine

If your business has a regular ezine, by all means let your
subscribers in on your publicity success. It's human nature to
be attracted to a popular, successful business or a famous
person. "Celebrity" status is very valuable in and of itself.

4) Email Existing or Potential Clients

Impress your existing or potential clients by tooting your own
horn with an email alerting them that you've been published or
seen on TV!

Use the power of PR to your advantage. Advertising is clearly
understood as coming directly from the sponsoring business
and, as a result, is usually taken with a grain of salt. An
article initiated (or "placed") by publicity efforts is viewed as
the product of the reporter who wrote it - an objective, third
party observer whose positive comments about your business will
carry great weight. For more information on PR versus
advertising, go to http://www.publicityinsider.com/questions.asp

5) Pitch it Again, Sam!

Take your story angle to a different publication or website -
make sure to bend the angle to match the publication's editorial
slant or specific reporter's column. DO NOT mention that the
story appeared in another publication. Why let a reporter know
your angle has already been reported? If it's newsworthy, the
story will stand on its own. To learn how to make a story
newsworthy, go to: http://www.publicityinsider.com/freesecret.asp

6) "Internal" PR

Place your article in a handsome frame and hang it in a visible
area of your office's waiting area. The story adds legitimacy to
your business and provides entertainment for your waiting customers.
If you don't have a waiting area, put the article behind your
desk facing your visitors or in your meeting room.

Make sure to distribute the story to your employees and suppliers
to build loyalty and company pride.

7) Other Suggestions

* Sales Brochures, Direct Marketing Materials & Trade Show
Handouts - Like advertising, claims in self-produced brochures &
mailings are taken with a grain of salt. But, if a credible
publication makes those same claims on your behalf, make sure it
gets "front page" placement in your sales materials.

* Speech handout: - One way to keep your speech working for you
long after the chairs are folded up is to distribute your article
with your business card and company information to all attendees.

* Business card: - Place an important quote from your article on
your business card.

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About The Author:

Bill Stoller, the "Publicity Insider", has spent two decades as
one of America's top publicists. Now, through his website, eZine
and subscription newsletter, Free Publicity: The Newsletter for
PR-Hungry Businesses http://www.PublicityInsider.com/freepub.asp
he's sharing -- for the very first time -- his secrets of scoring
big publicity. For free articles, killer publicity tips and
much, much more, visit Bill's exclusive new site:
http://www.PublicityInsider.com