Competition and a hunger to succeed is driving small business to learn how to do their own Public Relations saving themselves thousands in advertising dollars.
Morning television, radio shows and newspapers used to rely heavily on big business or celebrities as a voice in their stories but that’s starting to change.
Small businesses are becoming PR savvy, however increasingly they’re not employing a Public Relations firm to get publicity for them, they are doing it themselves.
From my own personal experience I’ve seen a 200 per cent growth in the number of businesses learning how to generate their own publicity in the last four years, with around 240 business owners last financial year going through our training programs.
And it’s working for them. Pip Wynn Owen, a childbirth educator, needed to grow her new business, so to get the word out she started pitching stories to the media after learning the craft.
Pip appeared on morning television, in newspapers and on radio after sending out just one media release, connecting her with large audiences she would never have been able to afford to attract if she had to pay to advertise.
Tabitha Corser, a drug and alcohol rehabilitation counselor, is enjoying similar publicity success and it’s bringing customers to her Whitehaven Clinic in Perth.
Both are now the “go to” expert when media are chasing talent for a story that’s in their field of expertise.
And it took them both less than 6 months to become that “go to” person.
All businesses are time poor, but it takes just one press release a month to get attention in the media, creating new customer leads that you can turn into sales.
Not only can publicity in the media bring you new customers, it can open up new doors like speaking opportunities because of the credibility factor that media coverage delivers.
The key is to come up with a story idea that will get a journalists attention.
All business owners are on the frontline of what’s happening in their industry, solving client problems, and often dealing with the consequences of new Government policy – and this is all fodder for stories in the media.
For example Tabitha Corser sent a press release about wine o’clock addiction soaring amongst mothers and was called within two hours by three competing television shows for the story, plus radio and newspapers.
Her business name was front and centre to an audience of hundreds of thousands of people as the story was also picked up by popular blogs and on social media.
Every business, including yours, has a story to tell and getting your voice heard in front of mass audiences is simply a matter of taking the steps to learn to do your own PR.
About the author:
Sue Papadoulis founded Publicity for Profit http://publicityforprofit.com.au in 2011 to teach businesses how to get exposure in the media. The business was recently award Most Trusted Media Company in the Australian Trust Awards.
