Public Relations for Small Businesses

As a small business owner, you may feel that you don't have the opportunity to compete with the big names when it comes to getting media attention, or you may feel that the media simply aren't listening to you - despite the fact that you have something the world simply can't live without.

I love working with small and mid-sized businesses, helping them become masters of the media and showing them that even small businesses can benefit from creating and executing an effective public relations strategy.

What Makes a Newsworthy Press Release?

Determining what is newsworthy and what isn't is the most important part of any public relations campaign. If you send high-quality newsworthy content to members of the media (including bloggers, as well as your local newspaper) they will come to trust you and appreciate your communication. If instead you send junk that isn't newsworthy then they will probably delete your mail before they even read its contents.

In general, you should send information to media that looks like something that they would cover, and frame it in the context that they are comfortable with. For instance, if you are promoting a bicycle shop or a custom bike maker, you might send the business editor information about how sales are ncreasing and your business is benefiting from people using tax rebate checks to buy bikes and ride to work instead of paying for gas. If you are sending info to the fitness editor you might focus on people riding bikes to lose weight.

What are Good Press Release Topics:

While you can always send an email to a member of the media about a subject of interest to you or your business, sometimes you just want to send a blast out to a wide list of media related to your businesses.

Good press release topics include the following:

• New Hires
• Promotions
• Product Launches
• Events & Sponsorships
• Awards

How to Promote Your News in the Media:

The first step is to determine if you have something newsworthy that fits in the categories above. Once you have determined that you have a good piece of news to tell the media about, there are several opportunities available for you.

• Free Online Newswire
• Commercial Newswire (PR Web, PR Newswire, and Business Wire)
• Post the news on your company blog, or website
• Email the news directly to reporters
• Mail the press release
• Fax the press release

What Results Can You See from Public Relations?

The tough part about any PR campaign is that you don't always see results immediately. Think of it like baseball - even the best hitters strikeout sometimes, and a "good" hitter hits 30% of the time. PR is similar.

Because of this, it is important to look at your public relations campaign as an ongoing effort over many months with multiple pieces of news.

Over time, as you build a relationship with media your name and story will become familiar to reporters and they will think of you if an upcoming story might be a good fit for your company or organization.

When you do get covered, it can benefit your company in a number of ways, including:

• Improved brand awareness
• Traffic to your website

Also, reporters often use the internet to research topics, so your press release may survive and be useful even months later. Because of this, it is important to archive them on your website, or use online newswires that will do it for you.