Getting Free Pr

What Is Pr?

PR (short for Public Relations) is what you do to promote your business directly with the general public. You can do this through channels such as publishing articles on and off line, getting TV and Radio interviews, publishing press releases, giving talks, participating in charity events, getting involved with sponsorship and more. PR is about adding something to people’s lives and in return you get good publicity.

There are many ways in which you can develop your own PR machine and in doing so get a lot of FREE positive publicity for your business.

There are publications, broadcast media, newsletters, newswires and websites within your marketplace that are always hungry for information and ideas.

Getting free PR is much easier than you think.

Why Is Pr Important?

PR is a vital piece of the marketing mix and especially powerful as it provides a natural third party endorsement for you personally and your products and services. It is your opportunity to position yourself as the industry expert, and get your name in the public eye. There are so many good opportunities out there that becoming good at getting PR can save you a lot in advertising spend.

Your Challenge

You will need to be selective. It could be very easy to spend all your time at it. The best PR for you will be that which targets your potential customers and gives you the chance to promote your business alongside it. You will need to build strong relationships with the editors and journalists of all publications and media channels relevant to your industry and marketplace. You will need to sell your ideas just as you would your products and services to a customer. Editors and journalists are interested in their readers and what they might find interesting and of value. Your challenge will be to present your ideas in a way that will appeal to their interests, not yours. PR is non-commercial. It is a softer way of communicating the great value you have to offer.

How To Be Successful At Getting Free Pr

Articles

The first thing that you can do is find out what the editors of all the industry press and websites are looking for.

They all produce regular feature lists and article writing guidance notes that explain exactly what you need to write in order to fulfil their criteria. It is then just a matter of adhering to their deadlines and sending in your articles. It always helps to have built up a relationship with the editor beforehand, so have a conversation about the article and angle you are planning, if possible. Offering an article series is a good way to build a continuous relationship with both editors and readers. An article series will really give you the chance to build a strong profile over time.

Suggesting an idea that is not in a feature plan is also a good approach. Find out what is a hot topic at the moment and then check out the publication article archives to see what has already been written on the subject to date. You then need to come up with a unique angle or something that will inspire readers.

Many magazines are interested in information that is backed up by some solid research data. If you are interested in generating some PR about a subject that you want the market to pay attention to, running a research survey and then offering the results as an article of interest is a very good way of achieving your goal.

Tv

It is also possible to get opportunities to promote yourself on TV. Producers are always looking for new angles and ideas to boost audiences. Breakfast shows, national quizzes, central or local news, specialist shows and interviews could all be interested in your input and ideas. If you can provide something creative that would be of interest to the general public, and you can position yourself as the expert, then you would have a very good chance of getting an opportunity.

Think about the programmes on television recently where they have used an expert coach, consultant, trainer, or psychologist. The National Quiz shows, Life Laundry, Fame Academy, Ten Years Younger, a host of reality shows, The Apprentice, breakfast TV and more. Making contact with programme researchers will enable you to get inside information about the various shows which are being planned and, potentially, where the opportunities might be for you to help.