PRofiting
from Publicity:
Online Public Relations
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This
article was originally published in "Professional Speaker",
the magazine of the National Speakers Association.
Introduction
One
of the cheapest ways to market your business is to take advantage
of the many opportunities that exist for free or low cost
public relations. The exponential growth of the Internet provides
constantly expanding virtual public relations resources.
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So how can speakers capitalize on it? First, let's be clear.
This can make a tangible difference to your business. I recently
wrote to the excellent e-mail newsletter "SpeakerNet", asking
for experiences about the use of Web sites for marketing.
Here are some of the comments that I received about the public
relations aspect:
"My Web site has allowed my articles to be published in many
national magazines, such as Presentations, T&D,
numerous newspapers and industry publications. My free articles
have are downloaded by over 50,000 people each year from over
60 countries."
- Lenny
Laskowski,
http://www.ljlseminars.com
Richard Thieme's site, at:http://www.thiemeworks.com
has received numerous awards, including both a "Hot Site of
the Day," and a "Cool Site of the Day" from USA Today.
Readers forward Richard's weekly column, "Islands in the Clickstream,"
to numerous friends and other online discussion groups. Richard
receives frequent requests from many different countries to
republish the column, for which he charges a reprint fee.
So, although his original articles are available for free
via his Web site, they are highly leveraged into other media,
and speaking engagements.
Hopefully now you are inspired to look for free PR opportunities,
and ready for some practical tips.
Integrating
your PR message
One
key factor is that your total message and corporate image
should be consistent both in the real world and online. Used
effectively, public relations activities in the traditional
media can draw traffic to your Web site, and conversely, articles
on your Web site can generate business. Jesse Weeks told me:
"For each article I print, at least one inquiry for services
results, often many."
Therefore a cardinal rule is to keep the look and feel of
your Web site in line with your printed materials. Your Web
site is your online press kit. As David Arnold says: "I have
my company logo is prominently featured both on my Web site
and printed materials. As soon as my package arrives meeting
planners connect it with my site, and that in turn reminds
them of our phone conversation, reducing the common "Hmmm,
who's this from?" or "Gee, where have I heard this name before?"
Promote
your articles!
If
you have any published articles, (or even unpublished ones),
consider putting each one on a separate page of your Web site.
This has several advantages:
- it plays to the Web philosophy that "content is king",
and showcases your expertise and the breadth of your knowledge
- you can construct keywords and descriptions specifically
for each article, and promote them individually in the search
engines. This allows you to further differentiate yourself,
and significantly improves your chances of being found online.
For example, I recently discovered from my access logs that
my Web site was receiving many hits from Sweden. I checked
all the Web sites that currently link to mine (which I had
neglected to do for a while), and discovered that an article
I had written about effective online research techniques was
being cited as a resource for a course at the University of
Uppsala!
Searching
for Web links can be done in
Google
by entering link:yourdomain
in the search box, e.g. link:CyberSpeaker.com
I have noticed that a number of speaker's Web sites state
that visitors may request articles that are not immediately
available. For the reasons explained above, I am not sure
that this is the best tactic. It may be a great way to get
leads and build a mailing list, but it doesn't help your visibility.
And while we're on this subject, don't just put the plain
text into your site exactly as it is on paper. The article
should be formatted so that it reads well on the screen, and
has good navigation both within the page, and back to other
areas of your site.
Online
press releases
There
are ever expanding numbers of newspapers, newsletters, and
e-zines (electronic magazines) online, and also reporters
looking for stories. Since Web sites have to be constantly
updated (even more than in the real world), they are hungry
for your news!
A
great resource for finding appropriate places to send press
releases is Mediafinder.
This site can be searched under numerous different subject
areas, geographic locations, etc. It provides Web site addresses,
e-mail contacts and media kit details.
E-mail
releases
Remember
when sending an e-mail press release to follow some basic
rules:
- not all e-mail readers can display formatted text, so
stick with plain 10pt Courier, and keep your line lengths
to 65 characters
- be sure to include your contact e-mail address and Web
site URL in a prominent place, and make sure that you have
a great signature file (the piece of text that appears at
the end of every e-mail message). It should be brief, but
contain your name, company, one line about what you offer,
telephone, fax, e-mail and Web site address. Your e-mail
program should help you to create this, unless you are using
America Online (where you can cut and paste)
- use a "knock their socks off" subject / headline, such
as "Internet Benefits For Business Discussed On Web Site
Broadcast" - not just "Press release" to entice the editor
to read your message; and
- don't "spam" reporters (i.e. blitz your e-mails indiscriminately).
Send your release to targeted and appropriate places only.
Some real world rules also apply here. Don't bombard the
editor with e-mails asking why your piece was not accepted.
But if you do make it into "print", perhaps a real card to
thank the editor is a better marketing ploy than e-mail (and
I don't often say that!)
Caryn Amster picks up postcards on vacation and uses them
for media thank you notes. Why a postcard? Because everyone
in the newsroom sees it, wonders why someone is sending a
card from Disney World to the newsroom. One card gets a lot
of mileage.
Press
release Web pages
There
are some major advantages to using press releases on your
(or others') Web sites. You can include:
- hyperlinks to related stories, or further background information;
- sound and video clips to enhance your presentation; and
- buttons to access your release in different languages
(great for international speakers!)
You can also easily track where your press releases are published
and how many people read them. If they are included on your
site, you can find this information from your own access logs.
If you submit press releases for other publications, consider
using different e-mail contact addresses for each. Often your
Internet Service Provider will supply multiple e-mail boxes
as part of their Web hosting service, which is a great way
to quantify your responses.
There
are several Web sites that allow you to submit free press
releases under a number of different searchable categories.
Two such sites are: PRWeb
and Webwire.
Online
Radio Shows
As
speakers, we need to be heard! In addition to "print" publications,
there is an increasing number of "online radio shows". In
fact, Yahoo! has a whole
category devoted to them.
The shows are generally broadcast in "Real Audio", or a similar
program. This is software that is free to download and easy
to install on your computer. The "streaming audio" is heard
as it comes to your machine, so you don't have to wait for
the whole clip to download before you can hear it.
Again, these shows are looking for content and guests. The
Yahoo! listing often includes each one's subject matter
or focus, so you can identify appropriate targets for your
message. Gloria Petersen, a colleague of mine, was very pleased
with her appearance last year on Ann Online, a 15-minute
daily show hosted by Ann Devlin.
So
Do It!
Other
than an investment of time, and some research savvy, all of
the opportunities outlined in this article are free. You don't
need to have a Web site to pursue many of them (although I
believe that it enhances your visibility and credibility if
you do).
Public relations is an area that most of us can take better
advantage of. So venture into Cyberspace, and "PRofit from
Publicity!"
© 2002 Philippa Gamse. All rights reserved.
Byline
Philippa Gamse, "CyberSpeakerSM",
is an internationally recognized e-business strategist. Check
out her free tipsheet for 23 great ideas to promote your Website:
http://www.CyberSpeaker.com/tipsheet.html Philippa can be
reached at (831) 465-0317 or mailto:pgamse@CyberSpeaker.com
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