The most successful businesses in any community often have near-celebrity status achieved through free media visibility. Otherwise known as publicity, this visibility in the local or national press generates greater awareness for a company’s services and products; and that exposure leads to business success.

Interestingly, the people who are frequently quoted in the news may not be the best at what they do. But being the best isn’t necessary; instead, you have to be the most aggressive. Local “experts” get their name in the news by working at it. They learn who covers the types of stories or articles they can contribute to, and they develop relationships with these reporters, editors or producers. Perhaps, they call or write to suggest article ideas. Or maybe they just return calls from reporters promptly. They do what it takes because they know the resulting media exposure offers a huge career boost.

Here are the four simple concepts you need to know to support your career goals with publicity.

1. The press won’t know how great you are unless you tell them. Stop being modest. Share your news. Are you speaking at an industry conference? Can you comment on a national story? Let the appropriate editor or reporter at local or trade media outlets know. If you don’t tell them, who will?
2. You must do something newsworthy or offer information that is useful. It’s not enough to be good at what you do. You have to do something that is of interest to others in the community to get free media attention. What are you doing that’s unique, the first-ever, significant, unusual, or trendsetting? Another way to stay in the limelight is to offer the media useful information in the form of “how-to” tips or advice. What “tricks of the trade” do you know that others would like to learn? Share them!
3. You must package your news in the proper format. Often a press release, a tip sheet, or a pitch letter is the method used. Press releases and tip sheets are announcements offering information; a pitch letter is a sales letter designed to interest an editor, reporter or producer in a story idea. In-house public relations specialists at large corporations are familiar with these tools and concepts; so if you work for a large corporation recruit their assistance and gain their approval with these documents.
   
   When developing these materials, don’t worry about your writing skills. If you’ve got a good story and have presented the key facts in the order of most to least important, your story will be used even if you don’t know whether to use “that” or “which.” Work hard on the headline: many editors and reporters won’t read beyond a headline that doesn’t grab them. For example, “Madison’s Largest Accounting Firm Reveals the Top Seven Mistakes People Make at Tax Time” is more compelling than “Joe Smith, CPA, Has Tax Tips.”
   
   Work to get the five Ws and one H – who, what, when, where, why and how – into the first two paragraphs. Concentrate on writing simply, as if you’re talking to a friend or relative. If it’s a tip sheet, use numbers or bullets to identify the tips. With all press materials, include a contact name and telephone number so a reporter or producer knows who to call for more information.
   
   Use a pitch letter to sell a reporter or editor on your feature article idea or to convince a TV assignment editor or radio talk show producer to interview you on a particular topic. A pitch letter should be no longer than one page and should state your idea in an interesting way in the first paragraph. Support that idea with facts or statistics, suggestions for other interview sources familiar with your topic, and provide a summary of your credentials.
4. Your information has to reach the right editors, reporters and producers. The reporter may be at the daily newspaper and writes about your industry or the industry in which most of your clients operate. The reporter can also be at the weekly newspaper assigned to your community; or the editor of a monthly trade magazine. You may also be able to connect with an assignment editor at the television station; a news director at a radio station for news or a producer for a talk show. Assemble your media contact list by monitoring media outlets and their websites or by calling them for appropriate contact names.

It takes only a small effort to get publicity that generates new customers, credibility for your business or status for yourself as an expert in your community. Remember, the media won’t know about your success unless you tell them. So get the word out; you’ll be glad you did.

About the author
Sandra Beckwith heads Beckwith Communications and is the author of Streetwise Complete Publicity Plans: How to Create Publicity That Will Spark Media Exposure and Excitement, a how-to guide for small businesses. Sandra can be reached at sb@sandrabeckwith.com. Readers may also visit her Web site at www.sandrabeckwith.com for more publicity tips.