The Secrets of Free Publicity

By: Peggy Sealfon

You don't have to discover a skunk-ape to get on the nightly news. A little time, effort and creativity can deliver amazing exposure for your business. And, yes, maybe you'll need a few dollars for stamps, but mostly publicity is free.

Your publicity target is the media. Newspapers, magazines, television and radio programs are hungry for exciting material to fill their pages or minutes. Their very product consists of captivating stories that inform people as to how things and services can make their lives easier, better, safer, more interesting, more entertaining. You can actually provide a valuable service by tipping the media off to great news or story ideas, and if the stories happen to reflect your business or service, so much the better for you.

But good publicity campaigns don't just accidentally happen. They require planning and nurturing, and there are no guarantees that your story will ever reach the light of day.

In fact, if you want to be certain that your idea goes direct from the assignment editor's desk to the circular file, be myopic and send in a "puff" piece that simply extols the virtues of your business. Then be sure to badger the editor with phone calls demanding to know why the piece hasn't been used. You may think I'm being awfully harsh, but years ago when I was editor of a major magazine in New York City, it happened all the time, and it still happens today again and again. Your upcoming event may be the most important thing to you, but the editor you've sent your release to may have 15 releases on 15 different events the same weekend. Most editors are juggling a million pieces of information to make deadlines. So be sensitive and try to develop a campaign that is an assist to the editor not an invasion. It also helps to develop a good rapport to keep the door open for future story opportunities in case the first attempt doesn't pan out.

The initial step in any publicity program is to develop an interesting and noteworthy press release. You need to "sell" the idea to the editor in the first few lines with a powerful message.

Analyze your product or service for unique elements rather than self-promoting features. Find a strong angle that incorporates some essential elements of news-making materials such as drama, human interest, trendiness, localness. Perhaps you've invented or are introducing a new product or service, or your company just sponsored an awards program or a fund-raiser, or your business is opening a new facility or relocating, or a new employee is outstanding or unusual in some way. Most importantly, keep the release short and to the point.

Next, the press release must be distributed to the appropriate media. Local libraries and bookstores can provide sources of media contacts for newspaper, magazines, radio and television locally and/or nationally (depending on the reach of your business). Add any specialized publications that pertain to the product or service you are promoting.

Always start with the local media to establish exposure and a track record that you can then present to the national media. Once a newspaper or magazine decides to act on your release, an editor may either reprint from the release itself or contact you for an interview to gather more information and possibly to arrange for a photograph. With television, if you're promoting an event, your release may be enough to get the event posted on an on-air community calendar of activities. If it's truly newsworthy, you'll get an interview on air, which may be live or taped. Radio stations may put you on-air from your office by phone. In either case with electronic media, the interview may be from one minute to 30 minutes, depending on the show's format and needs.

If you're hoping for publicity for a non-profit association, you may consider developing PSAs (public service announcements), which may be picked up by a variety of television and radio stations and run for free. You'll need to create a 15- to 30-second spot for television and a 30- to 60-second spot for radio and make copies or "dubs" that can then be distributed with a cover letter explaining your efforts. Sometimes businesses seeking publicity will tie in with a non-profit organization and become a sponsor of such spots and underwrite the cost of creating them...for some goodwill exposure, of course. Other times, if you develop a good relationship with a media person, the station might help out (and become recognized as a sponsor), especially if the cause is good and high profile in the community.

Ads are an important way to target your marketing, but publicity reaches the people who aren't listening or who don't know they need your product or service yet.

While you can't necessarily control the publicity you may get, the bottom line is that you simply can't buy the impact and credibility that editorial coverage can deliver for you. It's worth the effort for the remarkable returns. When publicity does work, the results can be dramatic and potentially overwhelming. As marketing strategist Jack Trout in his book The New Positioning quotes one grizzled PR veteran as saying, "Advertising is what you pay for. PR is what you pray for."

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Basics of a Press Release

1. Double-space all releases and type on standard 8½-x-11-paper on one side only.

2. Include a contact name and telephone number.

3. Check spelling and accuracy of facts, dates, etc.

4. Write in a news style. Include important information like who, what, when, where in the first couple of paragraphs and use quotes and sources of additional information.

5. Use a strong headline at the top.

6. Be timely and be aware of any media deadlines (if applicable).

7. Include a photograph and identify the photograph on back.

8. Make the release interesting and informative rather than self-promoting.

9. Keep it short and to the point-500-word maximum

10. Use "-30-" or "###" at the end.