Great PR for free

Public relations helps your company spread the word about who you are. PR allows you to book interviews with the press, host large parties and events, and it can lead to a big sales increase if you do it correctly. Some people will hire a PR firm, which is a great way to handle PR but small businesses don't have the extra money to pay a PR firm to do everything for them. Instead you can do your own PR for free, even if you haven't received formal training, we have a few tips you can use that will help:

Tip # 1 - Sell your story
Since you are a small business owner, you already have a juicy story for the press. You may not be a millionaire, but if you are doing pretty well for yourself and you have gained the respect of your customers and competitors, the press will be interested. Make sure you stick to the facts and the truth, but provide the press with an interesting story. Start with your local newspaper as they are usually inclined to run these type of stories first then you can branch out to a statewide paper and potentially a national paper. Keep in mind that the media loves to hear stories about new inventions and how a simple person has made something out of nothing.

Tip # 2 - Target your specific audience
When you are writing up a press release, you need to target your specific audience. Make the press release compelling and hook the media in the first sentence in or paragraph. You want to write the press release the same way a reporter would if you really want to get a story run about your small business. Your goal is to get your press release on the desk of the reporter that covers that particular genre so a good title and a great opening paragraph will make it past the screening process and to their desk.

Tip # 3 - Write when you have interesting news
If you are sending press releases out every time you have a product launch or for every little event, the media will quit paying attention to you. Press releases are used to generate PR for free, but you don't want to become annoying to the media by sending them out all the time.

Tip # 4 - Media outlet
Always know the type of media professionals you are working with. Newspaper reporters may keep to the facts and they want a press release that is written in the same format. A magazine reporter on the other hand may like a press release that is a little more intimate and conversational. Always research the company you are sending the press release to along with that particular reporter so you can find out their reporting style so you can make the press release look interesting to them.

Tip # 5 - Make it seem urgent
When you send out a press release, you need to put a timeline on it or else it's not really considered news. You should add a timeline to increase your chance for media coverage. Add a few elements to it like why it needs to be covered now because it relates to a recent news story they covered or it relates to that particular time of year.

As you can see writing compelling press releases are just one simple way to brand your business and get your name out there. If you have a good story to tell, make sure it gets heard by the media and by your target audience so it can help to boost your sales.