(By Guest Blogger Kate Engler)
So often when people think of publicity and getting their names in the media, they think of national TV, major daily newspapers or high rating radio. And all these outlets are great – no question. But there is an often overlooked ‘poor cousin’ in the media world which can yield HUGE results for speaking businesses.
What is this ‘hidden’ poor cousin? It’s your local paper. (ok, so it doesn’t have the ego factor of national TV – but this isn’t about ego – it’s about results!)
Recently I worked with one speaker in my community Dr Maura McGill. (She’s also one of Joanna’s students so you’ll probably recognize her name. Anyway- she used publicity in a local paper where she was holding her event and DOUBLED THE AMOUNT OF PEOPLE IN HER ROOM! So it’s not just local papers in terms of where you LIVE, it’s local papers in terms of where YOU ARE SPEAKING TOO!
Businesses everywhere are sitting on an absolute gold mine of publicity when it comes to their local paper, and many people don’t realize just how powerful it is.
Firstly, the local paper is ALWAYS interested in stories about local people and local businesses. They don’t tend to cover the big national events and there’s a couple of reasons for this:
- Most local papers come out weekly and their deadlines are usually 3-5 days prior to publication. This means that they may have already printed this week’s edition when a big national story ‘breaks’. They simply are not nimble enough to cover it.
- They also realize that the major daily papers, radio and TV will be all over BIG stories, and they don’t want to be seen as an ‘also ran’. Local papers understand it’s their job is to cover what’s going on locally –either from people who live locally or people who are coming to the local area like my speaker client I mentioned.
And this is where YOU can benefit.
Simply tell a story that is interesting about something which is going on in YOUR local area and you will almost certainly get a run in the local paper. The same rules apply about making sure your media release is a news story and not an ad for your business – that goes without saying. But local papers are ALWAYS keen to cover what’s new and different in their local area.
Let me give you another real-life case study in more detail….
In preparation for a seminar I was speaking at, the event organizer asked if I would do a ‘preview’ interview with him which he could send to his database so they had an understanding of the types of material the seminar would cover. Sure, no problems.
We conducted the interview and it was sent out to his database. One person who heard this interview latched on to a suggestion that I offered and immediately prepared a media release and sent it to his local paper. The result was a great story with a pic that appeared in his local paper.
The man’s name is Rob Castro. Rob took one of the headlines I mentioned in the interview and adapted it to HIS industry and his local area and BANG!! The result was immediate! His local paper was on the phone straight away and sent out a photographer within 2 days. How easy was that.
The one key thing about publicity (and about anything to grow your business for that matter) is to take action. No one is going to write a story on you if you don’t get your message out there. So start local and who knows, tomorrow, you could be on national TV!
With more than a twenty years hard-core publicity experience, Kate Engler AKA The Publicity Princess, knows what it takes to get your name in the newspaper quickly and easily. Kate can take your story and turn it into a gold mine of free publicity. She’s done it for the little guys, as well as some of the big guns including Mal Emery, Sean Roach, Roberta Faddoul, P&O Cruises, World Vision, Starlight Children’s Foundation, Bedshed and Dilmah Tea just to name a few. Kate helps her clients fast track their fame and fortune, skyrocket their credibility so customers come searching for THEM, quickly and easily get their names in the paper and STOP being an ‘advertising victim’.
And as a special SHIFT SPEAKER TRAINING bonus, Kate is offering $200 off her upcoming workshops – especially for the Shift Community – thanks Kate! Simply visit www.freemediaworkshop.com and use the code JM200 to save your $200. Kate has events planned for all around the country, kicking off in Ballarat, Sydney and Bendigo throughout March. This is a one day workshop that can add $$ to your business and mega credibility to your reputation.
