What is the Secret to Getting Good Publicity?

posted by Melanie Rembrandt on Nov 9, 2009 | Comments (4) | Permalink | Trackback URL

Does this sound familiar? You sit down in your favorite chair ready to bite into your nice, fresh bagel and read the newspaper…. Drat! There is a headline featuring your competition with a big photo of the CEO. The first thing you ask yourself is, “Why him and not me?”

Well, don’t get too upset. That CEO may be:

• A good friend of the reporter;
• Advertise in the publication;
• Spend a fortune on a big PR firm; or
• Know the one secret to publicity success.

And if it’s the last point above, you’re in luck. Well, here’s the big secret so you can start 2010 off on the right foot:

Create a unique story angle for a specific reporter and contact that media member directly.

I’m not kidding. There is so much hype about building buzz that is really comes down to this factor. You just need to be willing to conduct the appropriate research and develop a unique and newsworthy story angle that a reporter will really care about.

And even if the reporter doesn’t like your pitch, at least you will start to establish yourself as a reputable source and create a working relationship with this media member for future stories.

Sure. Many business owners are lucky enough to get big, media stories right away. But don’t let this get to you. For true publicity success, you need to work hard, be creative and have some patience. And if you keep going, eventually you’ll be the one with the front-page feature!

FILED IN: Advertising, Blog, Communication, Entrepreneurship, Management, News & Events, Networking, Marketing, Public Relations, Productivity, Sales, Search Engine Optimization (SEO)