LOW BUDGET PR: Why Pay Them When You Can Do It Yourself (DIY)

By: A.G. Fielder

Time and again I’ve run into entrepreneurs who are avidly seeking representation for publicity. These savvy entrepreneurs realize that exposure to the masses is a necessity for success in business but have convinced themselves that they require the services of a skilled professional -ergo a publicist, to get the job done effectively. Two publicity campaigns and thousands of dollars later a little light bulb goes off in their head bringing them to the realization, with all things considered (regarding the unsavory results of their pr campaigns), that they could’ve done the pr strong-arming on their own. And you know what -- they are absolutely right!
Which brings me to the question at hand - why pay someone to get publicity for you when you can get it on your own? Let me further add to the question, the following phrase : yielding similar or better results. So the publicity issue on the table now reads as follows - why should you hire a publicist when you can get similar or better results by putting together your own publicity campaign?

A publicist is a well paid middleman. I call ‘em as I see ‘em! Honestly speaking, I can make this assessment because I am a former publicist. Every client that I’d ever worked for in the past wanted the same thing - instant notoriety in the public eye. That kind of overnight, any-publicity-is-good-publicity crackerjack-fame-in-a-box campaign should be avoided at all costs because the first rule of thumb in publicity is that nothing is guaranteed. Additionally, the end result of a crackerjack pr campaign is damaged credibility for the publicity seeker. Ethically a publicist should never condone such a service but you’d be surprised what people will say or do when money is involved.

In a nutshell, the job of a publicist is to get you (the entrepreneur) exposure in the right places so that you can reach your niche consumer. They do this by going through their handy dandy rolodex of editors, journalists, photographers and ghost writers and draft up an enticing press kit in which they use to sell you, your product, service or company to editors of publications that reach your desired audience. You are charged a sizable fee up front to retain publicity services which never guarantee mass exposure to your niche. Throughout the pr campaign a la carte publicity services may be offered to you such as writing or editing (tweaking) your press materials. Your company profile, one page personal biography, and fact sheet will be refurbished, and you will be charged for that service. Additionally, as the client you will be highly encouraged to partake in media training (which is when your publicist preps you on how to present and handle yourself while being interviewed - this training also shows you how to maintain control over the scope of the interview.) You will be charged for this service as well. Mailing press kits, phone calls with editors, lunch meetings with journalists, sending emails and faxes, yes you will be charged for all of this as well - it comes out of your retainer and it’s done to ensure that a few articles - notice the word few - will be written about you, your product, company and/or service.

The volume of publicity is dependent upon two things: first, are you sellable. This simply means can the publicist pitch you effectively to the media and will they be interested in what you have to offer. Second is the network of editors, and journalists (which includes print, online, TV and radio mediums) that the publicist has access to. You can sell just about anything to anyone, the same goes with pitching a story idea, which is why you can do your own publicity. Additionally, your publicist may be able to get you into certain publications because of the relationship that they’ve built with an editor, but you can build your own relationships with the media based on your expertise in your field. If you decide to save a little money and do your own publicity, you could probably make more noise than a publicist because the passion that you have for your endeavors will shine through in your press materials and pitch letters/phone calls. As long as you handle your publicity campaign with tact and integrity everything will fall into place. So do yourself a favor and save your money because with all things considered initially you can handle publicity effectively on your own.

LOW BUDGET PR: TEAMING TO WIN AT THE PUBLICITY GAME

You are a marketing diplomat, problem-solver and die-hard detail person. You are a living, breathing publicity whiz kid and a nouveau dynamo at the PR game. So, why don’t you have any hip and happening articles floating around about your service or business yet? It may have a lot to do with your mindset about publicity and how to WORK IT and WIN at it!
To WORK IT and WIN at the publicity game requires all of the three Ps put into action: planning, persistence, and a positive attitude. Take a look at the four steps to winning active publicity.
1. Have a strategic publicity plan for every campaign: At the most basic level, you need to know who you are targeting (audience/consumer as well as publications). Are you going to target internet publications only, or are you going for community newspapers? Have you restricted yourself to domestic press or have you included international press as well (**Tip** International Press are also online so reach out to the editors).

2. Develop rapport with editors: This step is self explanatory. Publicity is like anything else, you’ll never know the outcome unless you try. This means you will have to be proactive and seek out editors of publications that reach your niche demographic consumer. It’s much easier than you think, and email can be a sure bet when it comes to securing a positive response from an editor. You will definitely need to write a query or pitch letter – which should be no more than three paragraphs. Get in there with the introduction about you, your company and/or service, and sell the editor on how interviewing you will benefit the readers of the publication. Keep it brief, yet witty and entertaining. Always thank the editor for their time and consideration when closing the letter and leave your contact information. This is where persistence kicks in, because you will definitely need to follow-up with the editor. Remember, you are not the only one out there pitching an editor!

3. Learn how to power talk and power write (speaking and writing with confidence): Whether you know it or not there is a writer and public speaker inside of everyone. It is your job to build the confidence in your writing and speaking skills needed to ensure a solid publicity campaign. After all, publicity includes persuading the masses that you are an expert at what you do. Take time out each day to write something positive about your company or service. Yes, you may want to consider purchasing a journal. If you jot down a paragraph a day, and follow-up by recording yourself reading each paragraph, you will notice a definite boost in your level of confidence within as little as 30 days. Publicity relies more on the art of persuasion than the art of manipulation.

4. “Know when to hold ‘em and know when to fold ‘em”: When it comes to editors of newspapers or magazines you are dealing with the dealer. Just like in poker where the dealer decides the rules of the hand being played, when it comes to the wonderful world of publicity, the editor decides the rules of play at his or her publication. So, play your cards right! Know when to compromise and when to hold your ground. Negotiation is key so you’ll definitely need to be open to it.

I hope these steps have helped you jumpstart your publicity campaign and team up to work it and win at the PR game. For more Low Budget PR tips and pointers stop by http://myhotprofits.com/ or check me out on the Low Budget PR Blog at http://www.lowbudgetpr.blogspot.com/. Until next time, cheers and here’s to your success!

Low Budget PR (Intro Article to the Low Budget Column)

Low Budget PR, that's what I call making marketing work for you. Many people don't have a clue as to what public relations (PR) stands for. In any business, whether internet based or otherwise, public relations (PR) encompasses three basic components: marketing, promotions, publicity. For the sake of illustration, marketing is the planning, advertising and branding of a product, business or service. Promotion includes the active distribution information about a product, company or service (sales falls under this component). Publicity, is how you sway (and i use the term sway broadly) the public's perception of your product, company or service. Publicity is most often associated with the press that you generate for your product, etc.
So when you have all three mechanisms (that is - marketing, promotions, and publicity) working together, then you have a public relations machine that is consistently working for you. However, the newbie entreprenuer does not always have everything running that smoothly. Not too mention that aggressive marketing and promotions takes a bit of time. What you can do if you're new to the eMarketing game is to generate your own publicity. In doing this you maximize your exposure (or the exposure of your product, company or service) while reaching your niche and developing instant credibililty. With the advent of ezines and blogtalk radio, the sky is the limit when it comes to publicity. Let's take something simple for the sake of illustration. In a country obsessed with beauty and youth preservation (i.e. USA) getting publicity for a beauty-based product or service is a cinch. You can easily assess who you're target audience is, and pitch your way to an interview on blogtalk radio. This interview alone will generate millions of hits to your website, and instant credibility for you. Having an audio interview from a radio station immediately tells your niche consumer that you are an expert.

For more tips on creating Low Budget Publicity stop by A. Fielder's website at http://www.myhotprofits.com.

The Functionality of Publicity When Funds are Tight

If your money is running low - and in this economy, who doesn't have a tight budget? - then Low Budget PR is always the way to go.

Picture this, you're sitting alone at your desk, reviewing the media kits of various publications all the while wondering if it's even worth your time to buy an over priced ad that you really don't have the money to support anyway. So what should you do? You should take the time out to do the three Ps: plan, position, positive thinking. With all of the hype surrounding the nouveau positive outlook movement, why not infuse your shoestring publicity plan with a positive outlook.

The three Ps work for virtually any business - from entertainment to entreprenuership, home-based, or e-commerce, you really can't go wrong. So let's start with a plan. Your problem is that you need to maximize your exposure but you do not have the budget to promote. If you plan out your publicity campaign effectively, you will reach your target goal of maximizing exposure while saving a ton of money. If your first instinct tells you that you need to hire a publicist to help you out, then you have another thought coming! The average 4-6 week publicity campaign can cost anywhere between $2000 - $5000 (at least that's what the rate was when I was a publicist in the entertainment industry not too long ago). Why spend that amount of money when you can do the legwork yourself - unless, of course, you have that kind of money to spend.

When you get into planning mode, you definitely need to assemble a media kit (which basically contains your biography - keep it brief though - and the basic products or services that your company offers.) Once you have your media kit on deck, then you can easily sift through the myraid of ezines, blogs and local press. There is always an eager-beaver journalist looking for great tips that you may have to offer. For the sake of illustration, let's say that you have a service that specializes in home improvements yet has a focal point of winter time pest control. You know first hand how vermon searches for a warm place to call home during the winter season. If you did a google search on home improvement/pest control ezines, you will find suitable publications that reach your niche consumer. From that point, all you have to do is contact the editor of the publication and send them your media kit. It's a cinch!

As a result of your planning efforts, you've managed to position yourself in the marketplace - which instantly boosts your credibility - and gets you a sizable amount of low budget publicity. If you think positively while continuing your publicity efforts, the sky is the limit!

Until next time...Here's to your success!