As in any business, once you've been the publicity business for a while you start to discover those little insider secrets that make life so much easier. Those little tricks of the trade that typically give the old pros an unfair advantage.
That's what this article is about. We try to cover some of the little know facts of the publicity game that might make your life a bit easier.
I'm going to cover some of the little know facts of the publicity game that can make your life a lot easier.
One of the very powerful ways of getting completely free publicity is to somehow get associated with a non-profit organization.
By rule, all advertising venues are required to give away a percentage of their advertising to non-profit organizations. The twist here is that the stations have to give away the space, but they can decide who to give it to. If you can put together professional looking advertising and commercials, you're probably going to be high on the list of groups that get PSA's (public service announcements).
Of course, that presents a problem for organizations that aren't non-profit.
Let's say you own Tom's Hardware store. Obviously, Tom's Hardware store doesn't qualify for non-profit status, so how can you benefit from the PSA's?
You can do it by associating yourself with a non-profit. This can happen either by starting your own non-profit branch of your company or you can sponsor something for an existing non profit. Let's look at both.
First, you can establish your own non-profit branch.
Suppose Tom's Hardware put together a package where supplies and advice was available to families in medical need, similar to Ronald McDonald House. You start it up and then apply for government grants to help fund it.
You get local churches and philanthropists to make grants that translate into help for needy families.
You have some of your sales people on hand to help walk-ins deal with problems.
And you promote heavily for all the "good work" being done by the "Tom's Hardware Support Center" and the other individuals and groups helping you.
Yes, it'll help the cause a great deal, but every time you get the name of the non- profit and their work out, Tom's Hardware gets a plug.
The other alternative is to simply become a sponsor for a charity.
Call the Red Cross and offer to mount a major blood drive for them. You organize your employees but you also invite the Bloodmobile to be on hand near your shop on a certain weekend. You might even toss in a discount coupon for anybody that donates blood.
Now, suddenly you can officially send in press releases and clips to be used as PSA's (for free) promoting the "Tom's Hardware All City Blood Drive".
There are other ways to maximize this opportunity.
Suppose Tom's Hardware were to call the local paper and offer to write a column on home building, or maintenance, from a professional's point of view. You can hire a local writer to do the actual writing, but have them answer questions or address various themes that seem interesting to the general public (curtains, wallpaper, carpeting, etc).
Now the paper will feel great about the fact that it's offering a regular column that's drawing readers. Of course, the column can officially be headed "Tom's Hardware Answer Man" making you not only the authority, but also keeping your name out there for all to see.
A similar strategy can be done on local radio stations. You can call and discuss doing a radio program. Usually the station will ask newcomers to buy the time themselves. In essence, you're starting with an infomercial, although to the listening audience it sounds like any other talk show on the air.
Obviously, you could just pay for the time and plug your company at all the breaks, but that usually isn't necessary. In Tom's case, he has a long list of suppliers who all want their products to be advertised.
So now you can get on the air, complete with your own sponsors, and not have to pay anything to consistently have your name out there in the public's eye. During the various breaks you'll end up doing ads for "Delco Paint…the one to have", etc.
Every area of publicity had tons of these tiny areas where you can make things work more to your advantage. That's one of the things that makes publicity so exciting. My members are constantly coming up with new, exciting ways of getting lots of publicity.
One of the biggest thrills you'll have is coming up with a new way of getting publicity and being successful with it.
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Paul Hartunian is widely considered the world's leading authority on writing press releases and getting publicity for any product, service, cause or issue. Subscribe to Paul's free publicity ezine "Million Dollar Publicity Tactics". By going to http://www.Hartunian.com/ezine. Also be sure to check out all the great free publicity resources at his website http://www.Hartunian.com. Also be sure to read the story of how Paul used press releases and publicity to become the first person in history to really sell the world famous Brooklyn Bridge. You can read the story at http://www.Hartunian.com/bridge.html. You can reach Paul at (973) 857-4142 or by email at Paul@Hartunian.com.
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