Build Solid Relationships
When I found out that PR Expert Elena Verlee built a sock distribution company (yes, her million dollar company distributed socks…) with only PR, I became intrigued and bought her book: “PR for Newbies”.
One of the first steps in the book is to build solid contacts (read relationships) with those in the media who are likely to write about your product or service.
When a company is marketing in the 21st century the first bit of advice they receive is to start a blog. Why should they start a blog? The blog itself isn’t important – but the relationships that the blog cultivates are the lifeblood of your business.
For the longest time, PR has been like magic to me. I had no idea how to acquire it. But then I started to break it down:
With PR, you are selling your business/product/service to the press or bloggers.
With Marketing, you are selling your business/product/service to your potential customers.
Either way, you are selling your business. The difference amounts to who you are selling your business to.
Enter HARO
Helpareporter.com (HARO) is a PR service that connects reporters to sources. You, yes you, can be a source or expert for someone’s story. I highly recommend signing up TODAY.
My new “friend” David Siteman Garland did a video about how to get your businesses story to the sources in Helpareporter.com. He emphasizes relevance and brevity. Make sure your story is what the source is looking for, and make sure that the source can read it in a few seconds.
In Conclusion:
By leveraging powerful relationships with relevant members of the media, and becoming a trusted source on HARO, your business will be able to generate publicity without the help of an expensive PR firm.
Your turn
What are some tips that you have to help entrepreneurs get exposure to the press that they deserve?
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for including me Greg Keep up the great work. Your blog is going to be huge.
Thanks Greg! I hope you enjoyed the book!
Love how you clarified PR is selling to the press and Marketing sells to the customer.
As for HARO, it’s so useful. Two other similar companies are http://www.journalistsource.ca (for your Canadian friends) and http://www.reporterssource.com I haven’t tried either but it’s always good to have more options.
Elena
PS
I want to clarify the sock business was a six-figure biz, my PR agency was the one with seven figure billings
Thanks for commenting Elena. It’s a great book!
Thanks for the references to other sites similar to HARO. that’s a big help!
Greg