Just Go Write Blog

One of the quickest ways to generate publicity about your business is to tie-in to something topical that’s already being covered in the news. Reporters are continually seeking new angles on which to cover a topic.

That’s exactly what Barbara Corcoran did in order to get publicity rolling for her real-estate business. When the news began covering Madonna’s eventual move to New York City, Barbara quickly sent out a news release with a professional’s perspective on what Maddie would be looking for in a new home - the amenities, what part of town she would like, etc – all the while using properties that her real-estate business was listing, thereby promoting not only herself, but also her real estate inventory.

It got some great coverage – so much so that within the week Barbara received a call from Richard Gere’s agent asking her to act as Gere’s realtor. So what’s in the news right now that you could leverage for your business?

Josh Duhamel and Fergie relationship troubles - Relationship experts can weigh in on what they, or any couple, can do when faced with a challenging time in their marriage.

Treasurer Wayne Swan on education being the engine room behind Australia’s economic recovery – a workplace trainer could comment on best-practices companies need to adopt to attract and retain skilled staff.

Home-owners in NSW warned after a spate of fires sparked by shoddily installed ceiling insulation – a licensed tradesman could offer a column on what homeowners should look for when choosing ceiling insulation.

Want to learn more about media hooks for your business? Join me on my December call for my PR and Publicity Protégé Club.

TELESEMINARS

Join me on the December call for my new PR and Publicity Protégé Club. This call will cover:

· Your unique selling point to pitch to the media

· Targeting the right journalist

· Where to start, who to call, and exactly what you need to say!

Not a member? Register for membership of the PR and Publicity Protégé Club for only $12.95 a month.

UP IN LIGHTS

PR & Publicity Protégé Club

The Publicity and PR Protégé Club is dedicated to helping you boost your business profile to new heights, enabling you to benefit from powerful, consolidated publicity that will

- make you appear bigger than you are

- enable you to compete more easily against larger businesses with bigger budgets

- allow you to shift from selling one-to-one to one to thousands, even millions

Life is too short to waste time figuring out everything the hard way. Invest in yourself, your business and your publicity for only $12.95 a month.

What you get:

1) Monthly teleseminars: Every month, I’ll lead a “how-to” seminar on a publicity, PR and marketing topic like marketing strategies, e-marketing, media pitching, planning, writing eZines, how to think like a journalist; and more

Each teleseminar is designed to provide publicity ideas that can be implemented immediately.

There will also be guest speakers - hand-picked professionals of the highest quality - plus accompanying workbooks as necessary.

All teleseminars will be available via audio download, so members can listen when it suits their schedule.

2) A subscription to the Publicity Train e-newsletter: my weekly e-newsletter of quick tips and practical advice to keep everyone thinking about ways to publicise and boost their business profile.

3) Discounts and offers: members will also be rewarded with exclusive early bird offers on all of my publicity products, programs and workshops.

“Awesome advice Philippa! Your tips and tools - and presenting it in such a simple format - has really helped me see how I can get out there and be seen.”

Lauren Chandler, Shine Wellbeing.

Anything that appears on radio, television or in print does so because a journalist or editor has deemed it newsworthy. But what is news? There are eight elements:

Immediacy: Reporting something that has just happened or is about to happen. Time is a strong ingredient, “today, yesterday, early this morning, tomorrow.”

Proximity: Facts and occurrences that are important to you personally: interest rates, impact of the drought. The question most asked by journalists is: “If this happened outside my immediate area, my city, my state, would I be interested in reading about it?”

Prominence: The public figure, holders of public office, people in positions of influence all enjoy news prominence. If you host an event with a guest speaker and wish to try for publicity, then for your speaker to qualify for news prominence, he or she must be well enough known to command attention by reputation or by the nature of the topic to be discussed.

Oddity: The bizarre, the unusual, the unexpected often make news. Generally those people who perform striking feats in emergency situations are news, such as a woman lifting an automobile off her child.

Conflict:
 Conflict is one element most observed in today’s news with the clash of ideologies making headlines worldwide.

Suspense:
 Suspense creates and expands news appeal. For the most part, businesses rarely experience this type of circumstance.

Emotions:
 Emotions are a news element commonly called “human interest” stories that stir our recognition of the basic needs both psychological and physical.

Consequence:
 The last element of news, consequence, is more difficult to explain, but generally for a story to have consequence it must be important to a great number of readers. It must have some impact for the reader.

Have these news guidelines in mind when you’re deciding if your message is news or an announcement; whether it’s a feature or an item of limited public interest. From this you can decide which format to use for distributing the information and the medium that is most likely to use your information.

TELESEMINARS

Join me on the December call for my new PR and Publicity Protégé Club. This call will cover:

· Your unique selling point to pitch to the media

· Targeting the right journalist

· Where to start, who to call, and exactly what you need to say!

Not a member? Register for membership of the PR and Publicity Protégé Club at for only $12.95 a month.

UP IN LIGHTS

PR & Publicity Protégé Club

The Publicity and PR Protégé Club is dedicated to helping you boost your business profile to new heights, enabling you to benefit from powerful, consolidated publicity that will

- make you appear bigger than you are

- enable you to compete more easily against larger businesses with bigger budgets

- allow you to shift from selling one-to-one to one to thousands, even millions

Life is too short to waste time figuring out everything the hard way. Invest in yourself, your business and your publicity for only $12.95 a month.

What you get:

1) Monthly teleseminars: Every month, I’ll lead a “how-to” seminar on a publicity, PR and marketing topic like marketing strategies, e-marketing, media pitching, planning, writing eZines, how to think like a journalist; and more

Each teleseminar is designed to provide publicity ideas that can be implemented immediately.

There will also be guest speakers - hand-picked professionals of the highest quality - plus accompanying workbooks as necessary.

All teleseminars will be available via audio download, so members can listen when it suits their schedule.

2) A subscription to the Publicity Train e-newsletter: my weekly e-newsletter of quick tips and practical advice to keep everyone thinking about ways to publicise and boost their business profile.

3) Discounts and offers: members will also be rewarded with exclusive early bird offers on all of my publicity products, programs and workshops.

“Being a small business, I always thought PR was something I could never do myself or it was going to be way too expensive. Philippa, you have given me a whole new outlook on how easy and cost effective PR can be. Thanks!

Flora Strahl, Centrifugal Solutions