Your Business, Your Story - Getting to the Decision Makers

Send your press release to the online and traditional offline media who cover news stories in your industry. If the news angle you have chosen has wider appeal, feel free to send it to other media who cover that news area. Avoid sending your release to media who would have no interest in your story.

While everyone imagines their story in the big city daily newspapers or on national television, they are only the tip of the iceberg. Don’t overlook small weekly newspapers, locally produced television and radio shows, and blogs. Their market is local, and their readers and electronic audiences are your potential customers. Often pressed for time and staff resources, yet with air time and print space to fill, they may contact you immediately to be interviewed.

Trade and industry publications, both online and offline, publish news stories in your industry and value interviews with industry leaders like yourself.  These highly specialized and targeted publications are widely read by those people in your business area.
Conclusion

By sending out targeted press releases to online and offline media outlets who cover your industry, you can receive valuable free publicity. By being the focus of an interview about business in general, and your business area in particular, you and your company gain immediate stature as leaders in the field.

By forming and maintaining available, reliable, and honest media contacts, you can also be interviewed and quoted as an industry expert in other news stories. Bloggers will often gladly interview business and community leaders who are involved with their blogging area of interest.

Whatever you do, and wherever you have an interview, don’t use the time for blatant self promotion. Think of the audience first, and you will become a sought after business spokesperson.

(This article originally appeared in the August issue of Plug-In)