Ho Ho Ho – Santa May Be Delivering Extra Sales To You This Year

Wait. Isn’t it only September? Santa Claus in September?

Nope, the holidays aren’t sneaking up on you this year. But your potential for bringing in extra money for the holidays is. If you don’t start your planning now, you won’t be ready to take advantage of bringing in extra sales for the holidays.

Each year, many businesses do something special to give back to the community. From toy drives, to food donations, to community outreach projects, November and December are prime times to do something special for those that use your services. And with a little planning now, you can also gain a little recognition for it as well.

Have you ever noticed those human interest stories in your local newspaper about Christmas time promotions? Those stories weren’t planned overnight. Instead, companies approached media sources before the holidays begin and start planting the seeds for story ideas early.

And if you end up with a story in your local news early enough, it can have a big impact on your 2012 bottom line. Ready to get started?

1. Create a promotion

Keep in mind that a sale or a new service is not newsworthy unless it truly sets your business apart from the competition. What can you do a bit differently that adds to your community? Santa promotions are always great. But how about stepping it up a notch and offering a Victorian Santa in a beautiful classic scene for the children to have their portrait taken? Combine it with a toys for tots charity drive, or donate a portion of your sales to a local charity, and you’re one step closer to being newsworthy. You can also work together with other businesses for even more opportunity – how about a breakfast with Santa at a local hotel? Be creative. [Read more…]

8 DIY Publicity Tasks You Must Do Now

If you are in business for yourself, you must do every task necessary for your business. That includes everything from photographing your clients to taking out the trash. You don’t get to pick and choose what you want to do; instead everything is equally important when it comes to building a success business.

Which means every business owner must be a self promoter too – unless you have the ability to pay someone else to do it. If that’s not you, spreading the word is your task. Not to be confused with marketing, publicity gets others talking about you. And while many people think publicity comes with age – only the more established, more profitable companies need to worry about publicity – in fact its great to build your PR plan as early as possible.

Here are some ideas to help you develop a strong publicity program.

1. Choose what media outlets you would like to be featured in

What do you want out of your publicity? Are you trying to prove your expertise? Or are you trying to attract new clients? People look to articles in magazines as more authoritative than those that place ads. If you’re in an article, you must have something to say. Find a few sources where you would like to be featured and start gathering contact information. In order to pitch an article, you’ll need either a writer/reporter or the editor, depending on the size of the publication. Make sure you get contact information: names, email, addresses, web addresses. In many cases if you head online, you’ll find specific information for submitting ideas. I keep an excel file filled with this information, so its easy to create things and get them into the appropriate hands immediately.

2. Use resources like HARO

Want a great way to get to reporters looking for you? Try out a service like HARO – Help A Reporter Out. Sign up for their free service and you’ll be put on the mailing list in which you’ll receive emails three times a day listing opportunities. Follow up on the ones that you connect with and will bring you in potential exposure to your client base. While you can start with their free service – I’ve been using it for years – they also have pay models in which you can build profiles, filter your alert and even get a head start on responding. [Read more…]

The Perfect Press Release For Photographers

If you are new to owning your own business, you may not have discovered the magic of press releases yet.

Every single day, media outlets around the globe are in search of news. And because news shows seem to be increasing at a significant rate, they need that much more content to fill in the time slots.

While you probably won’t get top billing on a top broadcast, there are still many other ways to gain a little exposure for your business. A 30 second mention on a morning show, or a quarter page article in the living section of your local paper can bring in a ton of business.

But before you get excited about possibilities, you have to master the creation of the perfect press release first.

How To Write Your Press Release

In general, your press release (media release) should include:

  • Your business name
  • Your contact information
  • The date
  • An attention grabbing headline
  • Your news story outlined in short paragraphs, with the most interesting up front
  • Background information about you and your company

Your press release should be about one page in length, and should summarize the overall story you are pitching to media sources. Why should the media care about what you do? You can’t go with the simple or the boring here; journalists are looking for exciting, human interest stories that will be of interest to their readers or viewers.

Journalists receive dozens of press releases a day, and as you might guess, most of them end up in the trash. Their time is short, and they are looking for something to stand out above the rest, and motivate them to take the next step. So with that in mind, frame your story around something that you would find interesting.

A new photography business starting up isn’t interesting. But a new photography business who’s main client is a local rising rock band, and the photographer has followed them to several concerts creating the perfect look for their promotional pieces may be a great human interest story.

You have to put a twist on things, and get the journalist to care about what you do, and to get them to think their readers/viewers will care about it too.

As you are writing the release, write in simple language. Read the paper, magazine, or watch the show you are pitching to. Match your release to the language they use. For instance, a business journal is going to use different language than a local, hometown paper. Give them what they use. To help you write, remember to include:

[Read more…]