If you’re trying to promote your store, but you don’t have a big advertising budget, relax. There are lots of ways to get in front of the audience you want to reach by using free publicity. Here are tips that will boost your publicity efforts and help you finally get noticed.

1. Tie your story ideas to the holidays. Here are some examples: Gourmet gift baskets that make the best Christmas gifts. Bookstores that are doing special programs that tie into Mother’s Day. Health food stores that can explain how to create a vegetarian meal for Thanksgiving.

2. Call the advertising department of every newspaper and magazine you want to get into and ask for a copy of their editorial calendar. It’s a free listing of all the special topics and special sections coming up during the calendar year. It will tip you off to sections where your story idea would be a good fit, so you can query the editor weeks and even months ahead.

3. Invite a reporter from your local newspaper or magazine for coffee or lunch. Instead of asking, “Will you write about me?” a better question is “How can I help you?” Offer yourself as a resource in your area of expertise. Talk about trends you are seeing in your store.

4. Consider starting your own television show on your cable TV station’s community access channel. A floral shop can do a program on how to create dried flower arrangements. The station can rent you the camera equipment for a nominal fee. Air time is free. Produce one show or an entire series of programs. Call your cable company for details.

5. Build a network of other retailers in your area. Agree informally that you will refer reporters to each other whenever they call and want your views on a topic on which you all could comment, such as a new sales tax increase.

6. Write how-to articles such as this one for newsletters published by groups in your community, or for newsletters read by audiences who buy your products or services. Be sure the last paragraph tells readers how to contact you.

7. Don’t forget newspaper and magazine columnists. They’re always hungry for fresh ideas. Keep in touch with them and feed them ideas regularly.

8. Get on your local TV news and the morning TV news feature shows. Tie your product, service, cause or issue to a breaking news event. Pitch yourself as the local angle to a national story. Or suggest a feature story with great visuals.

9. Write articles for electronic magazines and include a paragraph of information at the end that leads readers to your web site.

10. Contact your trade association and ask them to refer reporters to you. Many reporters who don’t know where to find sources on a particular topic start by calling trade associations.

11. Always refer to yourself as an “expert” in your marketing materials, at your web site, in information that explains your workshops, in your introductions during public speaking engagements, and in your media kit. The media always seek out experts and interview them.

12. Pitch stories about your product, service, cause or issue that tie into the weather. Weather stories are mandatory at most media outlets, and newspapers and TV stations, in particular, are always looking for fresh angles that tie into today’s and tomorrow’s forecast.

13. Pitch story ideas about your business to the reporter who covers the retail beat for your local business journal or business magazine.

Joan Stewart, a.k.a. The Publicity Hound, shows you how to use the media to establish your credibility, enhance your reputation, sell more products and services, promote a favorite cause or issue, and position yourself as an employer of choice. She publishes “The Publicity Hound’s Tips of the Week,” a free ezine on how to generate thousands of dollars in free publicity. Subscribe at http://www.PublicityHound.com and receive by email the free checklist “89 Reasons to Send a News Release.”

Publicity is an important and often overlooked tool of creative selling; and a more cost-effective way of reaching your target audience than advertising. With the inherent third-party endorsement of the media implied in every editorial story, a news or feature article in a newspaper, magazine, or on television or radio, is an infinitely more credibly-perceived communications message than an ad or commercial. Publicists less frequently are favored with hard news stories. They are more often tasked with getting “softer” news and feature stories on-air or in print. Here are some techniques involving creative conceptualization and application – what I call CREATIVE FORMATTING – and they work very effectively when carefully thought-through and constructed.

1 - Use News to Make News.

When you prepare a press release or pitch letter, keep the following editorial criteria in mind:
* Relevance (how valid and appropriate is this story?)
* Impact (does this story affect a large number of people?)
* Timeliness (is the story current?)
* Novelty (does the story have an unusual or unique twist to it?)

Your topic should tie in with current news issues and/or subjects that concern the public. In my earlier p.r. days, I promoted one product by showing how it could be used to the advantage of a specific news item of the day. In this case, the issue was government waste. Revelations were surfacing that various federal agencies were buying products at absurd prices above retail: you may remember $500 toilet seats and $75 rulers. The American taxpayer was being seriously abused by bureaucratic waste. Our client was a publishing house that had just come out with a directory for buyers at government agencies. The directory listed major manufacturers all over the country who were not in the business of ripping off Uncle Sam. The directory was distributed to the agencies free of charge. The publishing house made its money by selling ad pages to companies who wanted to attract the attention of these buying officials. We attracted a significant amount of publicity by telling editors that the publishing company had come up with a partial solution to the problem of wasteful government spending. The story was picked up by the wire services and nationally syndicated TV newscasts.

2 - Seasonal Tie-ins

News editors are always looking for feature stories that tie in with holiday or seasonal happenings. I remember a very successful campaign for a manufacturer of postage meter equipment. Eight weeks before Christmas, we convinced the manufacturer to designate a Holiday Consumer Affairs Specialist who could talk about "everything you wanted to know about mailing gifts for the holidays."

Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, we arranged dozens of phone interviews with reporters at large radio stations in major markets. The company was plugged in every interview and the entire campaign tied-in with a major catalogue and in-store p.o.p. merchandising campaign. Sometimes, a creative p.r. idea can pave the way for a strategic marketing campaign.

Another successful campaign tied in with the advent of winter and escalating fuel prices due to an international oil crisis. One of our clients manufactured a draft sealer, a simple rubber plug that fit into electrical wall outlets. The sealer kept cold outside air from coming into the home and kept warm air inside from leaking out. Consumers could save money on their fuel bills. We convinced the Today Show to do a live five minute segment on a new energy-saving device for the home.

3 - Products Are Newsworthy When They Are Evolutionary or Revolutionary

On Sunday, May 29, 1994, we generated a story in the Business Section of the New York Times on a new kind of paper that changed color upon the touch of the hand. We knew the story had merit, because the product represents a revolutionary leap forward in paper goods. Several years ago, a new product created by a camera manufacturer, an instant slide processor that develops slides in seconds, represented an evolutionary step up in instant photography. We offered Good Morning, America a first exclusive on the announcement, and we convinced the show’s producers to have host Joan Lunden demonstrate the product live in a five minute segment. The product sold out nationally.

4 - Anniversaries

If the product is vital to the American way of life, the media might click with a suggestion for a story on a major anniversary of the product. This includes biggies like television, radio, refrigerators and cars all the way to such mundane indispensables as zippers and toothpaste.

Other kinds of anniversaries work too. During the centennial celebrations for the Statue of Liberty, we convinced Kelloggs to sponsor a campaign that publicized the closest living relative to the man who designed and built Lady Liberty. This included the scripting and shooting of a video news feature story for television newscasts around the country, and our pickup was enormous–including some very nice positive image reinforcement for Kelloggs.

5 - Controlled Messages

A controlled message is a message that you prepare in advance and place with various media as a finished product. When we promoted a book that turned into a major bestseller called Swim With the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive by Harvey Mackay, we employed a number of techniques that come under this category.

Three examples of this technique are the video news feature, matted columns for suburban newspapers, and by-lined articles for specialized trade publications.

A video news feature is simply a 90-second to two-minute news piece that gets scripted, shot and distributed to newscasts around the country. The local newscast incorporates the piece as part of its news coverage, and the average viewer has no idea these stories are supplied by outside sources.

A matted column is simply a one-column or two-column story that is sent to suburban news weeklies as camera-ready copy. They don’t have to edit it or prepare it for print. The column usually offers some kind of consumer advice, with a discreet yet effective plug within the story. Vertical trade publications are magazines that are published for a specific audience or industry. Hundreds of them are published each month. Years ago, we ghosted by-lined articles for the president of a company that analyzed utility rates for other companies, showing them how to save thousands of dollars every year. These articles were placed with dozens of magazines that catered to a variety of industries. This campaign was the company’s sole marketing vehicle for many years.

6 - Trends

When one of our clients, a major photography magazine, needed to increase its exposure, we designed a segment on The Today Show in which one of the magazine’s editors brought the very latest camera equipment to the program. For seven minutes, he demonstrated the most current camera technology to millions of viewers. He also achieved some substantial awareness for his magazine.

Another client, the Magazine Publishers Association, was interested in increasing recognition. They wanted to establish the fact that magazines are at the leading edge of creative advertising communication. We designed a segment on The Today Show that displayed the latest in pop-up ads in various magazines.

In another situation, a German beer company wanted to increase sales in the USA. The company turned to us, asking us to increase their name recognition with a publicity program instead of advertising. The built-in challenge was that very little can be done editorially for alcoholic beverages. The solution was to look for secondary uses which would nonetheless position the beer in a meaningful and positive way. We convinced a well-known German restaurant to develop dishes prepared with beer as an ingredient. We invited the entire national food press to a Cooking With Beer Festival. The food writers for every major magazine and newspaper attended. Media coverage was staggering. Many products can be used in special publicity events. By promoting indirectly, sponsors can reap media coverage.

POSITIVE PUBLICITY SELLS. A creative publicity program can be a powerful tool for selling your product or service. Publicity efforts can be more cost-effective than traditional advertising. Plus, they pack more power because the publicity comes from recognized media sources instead of from your company. This increases consumer confidence and promotes a positive public image. The end result of creative publicity is an increased awareness that attracts potential customers.

Mike Schwager is President of Worldlink Media Consultants, Inc., based in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. He is an accomplished veteran of media interview training, and has conducted successful trainings for scores of CEO’s and other senior executives, politicians, celebrities and authors. Website: http://www.mediamavens.com. E-mail: moschwager@aol.com.

Although I still believe there is a place for advertising as a brand maintenance or brand affirmation tool, I am convinced that to build a brand today, you need PR. At one time advertising did build brands. But this was in a simpler America. That America, sadly, is no more.

I’ve been re-reading The Fall Of Advertising & The Rise Of PR, by Al and Laura Ries, and it is their book that has moved me from suspicion of advertising’s demise as a brand-builder to conviction.

As the Ries’ say, “Publicity is the nail, advertising is the hammer.” What does this mean? It means that your PR effort helps make your message believable so that your advertising will have credibility when it hits.

Typically, companies want to hit the market hard and make a lot of noise. Advertising allows you to launch quickly, control the message, and have your message in as many media as you have the money for. However, that does not mean your message will be believed. The louder advertisers yell, the less likely I am to believe them. How about you?

PR takes time and does not necessarily work on your schedule. Planting new ideas or changing minds is a slow process. When your PR program rolls out over a longer period of time, prospects have time to adjust their attitudes. Brands that take this approach are longer lasting, too.

Chevrolet, for years the number one auto brand, was still number one in ad spending in 2001. It spent $819 million dollars – 39 percent more than Ford spent. That year, Ford outsoldevrolet by 33 percent. Since 1997, Chevrolet has outspent and undersold Ford. Chevrolet spends $314 per vehicle and Ford spends $170 per vehicle. Do you think advertising is working for Chevrolet?

Kmart, embroiled in financial difficulty for years, had revenues of $37 billion and spent $542 million on US advertising in 2001. Wal-Mart spent $498 million and garnered four times the revenue: $159 billion split between its Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club stores. The average Wal-Mart store does $46 million in sales each year while its Sam’s Club average store sells $56 million. Sam’s Club does almost no advertising.

Those are old brands, you’re saying. What about some newer brands, Harry?

OK, let’s look at Pets.com. Remember the dog sock puppet that starred in their commercials? It won awards, but not sales. In six months Pets.com had $22 million in revenues and spent four times that much on advertising. Off-base advertising creativity at work.

The Body Shop was built totally by publicity. No advertising at all. Starbucks, until recently, did virtually no advertising. It has built a brand through good PR efforts. Starbucks’ annual sales are around $1.3 billion, while advertising expenditures over 10 years, have totaled less than $10 million.

Finally, what advertising agency do you know that has built its brand with ads? Things that make you go “hmm.”

Harry Hoover is managing principal of Hoover ink PR, http://www.hoover-ink.com. He has 26 years of experience in crafting and delivering bottom line messages that ensure success for serious businesses like Brent Dees Financial Planning, Duke Energy, Levolor, New World Mortgage, North Carolina Tourism, VELUX and Verbatim.

Southern grandmothers have often said, “there are only three times a respectable person’s name should be in the paper: when you are born, when you are married, and when you die.”

This is the one area in which I part company with my grandmothers. Publicity is more critical today for the success of a business than it has ever been.

Why do I believe it’s critical? Let’s review what publicity – particularly publicity in business and trade publications - can do for your business.

Provides Neutral Third-party Endorsement. Even though many think the media are biased, consumers still cling to the belief that people who are quoted by the media have something worthwhile to say.

Boosts Your Competitive Advantage. Positive publicity confirms for your customers that they made the smart choice when they elected to use your products or services.

Enables Referrals. Your “smart” customers become evangelists by handing out articles about you to their business contacts.

Shortens Your Sales Cycle. Media coverage often does a better job of explaining what you do than an ad can. So, readers will have a level of knowledge about you before you meet.

Builds Your Marketing Library. Print and web-based articles can become excellent marketing material that costs little to develop.

Positions You. Publish or perish is the academic motto. Experts from outside the world of academia also know that by being quoted by the media they can improve their position as industry experts.

Builds Value. For every speaker like Tom Peters earning thousands of dollars for appearances, there are hundreds who are paid a pittance for speaking engagements. Can you guess the difference?

As you can see, there are a wide variety of reasons for you to be publicizing yourself and your business. Just this once, don’t listen to Grandma. Go get your name in the paper.

Harry Hoover is managing principal of Hoover ink PR, http://www.hoover-ink.com. He has 26 years of experience in crafting and delivering bottom line messages that ensure success for serious businesses like Brent Dees Financial Planning, Duke Energy, Levolor, North Carolina Tourism, Ty Boyd Executive Learning Systems, VELUX and Verbatim.

Only two media in Spanish speaking countries offer RSS: the Spanish newspaper El Mundo and the Argentine Clarín. Although the blogs are becoming more visible in the media and are becoming a research topic, still they are something of small “evangelist groups”, who promote its use… but this can change in little time.

To face this great challenge, Spanish-speaking PR professionals have to identify the enormous opportunities that other colleagues, fundamentally those whose native language is English, use for their clients, their businesses and, even for themselves.

Perhaps it would be easier for Anglo-saxons, with a different culture, to accept that in order to enter the blogosphere they must take themselves off the pedestal on which they think leaders should be placed, and be closer to thousands of people in a direct way, without any obstacles.

It is hard for me to believe that a politician, a high-ranking official or an executive in Mexico, Spain, Peru or Argentina, would agree to write a blog. Furthermore, except for some industries (i.e. IT), the use of blogs to maintain direct communication with their audiences continues to be limited to political parties, governments and even successful businesses.

In recent years, there has been a great advance, in which leaders have taken into account the advantages of having a web page and have included it in their communication campaign.

Nevertheless, for some industries of the Spanish-speaking countries, the Internet still is a foreign, difficult and expensive tool, and because of this they disregard its use to communicate with their audiences. The blogosphere offers the exact opposite of this: it is a communication tool close to the people, easy-to-use and with such a reduced price that, with so many resources available on the Internet, it can be practically free of charge.

It is easy to say that blogs could become a “democratizing” element with real possibilities to change the traditional relationship between sources and the media with the public.

Blogs will make possible the “participative journalism”, through which it will be possible to connect the problems of real people to other individuals with the same difficulties and worries. The possibilities are endless in societies that are used to the lack of transparency in government activities and large businesses, and even with media that lack credibility.

In fact, what is already happening in a lot of Spanish-speaking countries, as in the Anglo-saxon world, is an explosion of blogs that offer alternative information to the traditional media. Thousands of blogs are appearing to reflect, qualify and denounce, not only the governmental actions or those of political parties, but products, services or even plans that many businesses are carrying out.

Also, it is possible that the blogs can be seen as the real possibility for the small and medium-size businesses to access the Internet, without needing to provide a large quantity of resources or having to depend on IT people that don’t necessarily understand the business or communication strategies.

Perhaps here is the heart of the matter. These reasons make me think that there are many possibilities for the public relations industry in the Spanish-speaking countries to explore blogs. It is possible that very soon the blogs in Spanish may reach the same importance that other blogs are gradually but firmly gaining, in countries such as United States, United Kingdom, Canada or Australia.

Right now, I don’t believe that really independent blogs -that is to say, those that are not part of important communication groups or that are not written by professional journalists that update their blogs parallelly to their main activity- may be accredited like mainstream media in important events such as political campaigns, as is already happening in the US, and soon in the United Kingdom.

The public relations industry in Spanish-speaking countries should be prepared to obtain the maximum profit of this phenomenon.

How? I will tackle this through some proposed plans of action.

* Identify those blogs that have a good level of hits and organize them in categories: technology, political, media, etc. There are some directories that do this like Bitácoras.net, Blogdir.com, Blogsmexico.com, Blogalia.com, to mention a few. We should be open to see all kinds of blogs, keeping in mind that there will be occasions in which we won’t share the authors’ points of view, but that is important that we take them into consideration.

Let’s take the the case of the videogames web pages. There are occasions in which children with barely 12 years become true opinion leaders, who are capable of destroying the launch of a new game in which thousands or even millions of euros were invested.

* Enter into the blogosphere with the objective of understanding the new medium, its tools, its possibilities and limitations, as well as the best-known authors, although they not be Spanish-speaking.

It may seem obvious, but there are many people that have never heard about RSS, feeds, posts, blogs, syndicated content, links or anything along these lines.
A public relations consultant can’t suggest that his or her clients launch a blog without having previously informed the client about what it takes to be successful and, above all, he or she can’t afford not to know an answer to an issue that may be presented in the blogosphere.

* Before launching a corporate or institutional blog, one should have a clear strategy of what he or she hopes to be communicate and should understand that the blogosphere has its own “net-etiquette”, that is to say, its own codes, that have implications regarding updating, information sources, the form, the tone of the communication… and, of course, the feedback of the public.

We can find that a good idea may produce mediocre results if inadequate tactics are chosen. In this sense, a blog is one more tool among the many available for public relations. And, yes, it offers some unique possibilities that other don’t have.

* Make the blog relevant, but take into account that it is a blog. There are people that keep thinking that the blogs are newspapers for teen-agers, in part because it is true. However this is not something bad at all since this shows how flexible blogs are.

Therefore, at the moment of launching a blog, one must find an equilibrium among the characteristics of the blogosphere with the objectives of the organization. One cannot do is to create irrelevant posts or wait too long to update the blog.

If a business does not have the capacity to maintain a continuous communication with its audience, whether for strategic reasons or legal limitations of another type, perhaps a web page is better for its objectives.

* Note that results can’t be immediate. It is one of the main challenges to all public relations professionals that should be faced, not only with the blogs, but when using any other tool.

Perhaps in the case of the blogs the challenge is greater because of the novelty of the medium and, in the case of some Latin American countries, by the low penetration of Internet.

* Be “blog evangelists”. One must know not only the blogosphere, one must be part of it. This is the only way in which a consultant will be able to offer his or her clients an adequate consultancy. It is not a matter of being a guru with thousands of visits a day, but it is necessary to be comfortable with the blogosphere and knowing who-is-who. The only way to persuade someone is being convinced of that which is preached.

The best business card of a consultant that uses the advantages of a blog for an organization should include, apart from its email, his or her blog addresss.

There will be many of things to do, but this could be a good beginning for the Spanish-speaking PR industry, that has yet to see blogs as a tool with a huge potential.

We must wait to see if the “blog phenomenon”, that is taking place in a number of countries, will spread to the rest of the world. The low internet penetration in Latin American countries, an incipient culture of the use of IT and a different way of understanding the social relations, will be the main obstacles that will determine if this phenomenon spreads as it has in the Anglo-Saxon countries, or maybe it will be possible that a different movement arises with local particularities that haven’t been exploited yet. We will wait and see… and we better be prepared.

Octavio Isaac Rojas Orduña is Senior Account Executive in Weber Shandwick Ibérica, in Madrid, Spain. An award-winning radio scriptwriter in Latin America and Germany, he joined Weber Shandwick in 1997. He has offered strategy consultation for both multinational companies, such as BBC, McDonald’s, Siemens, Unilever, Kodak, LEGO, and Spanish companies, and industry associations.

To survive in business, you’ve got to focus your attention on the areas that will guarantee you success. Your clients are your greatest asset. Taking the time to educate them and connect with them will pay big dividends over the long haul. There are lots of ways to spend your marketing dollars. But I’ve found that the number one most effective marketing tool around is a newsletter. This is the perfect time of year to fine tune - or develop - yours.

Hey! It’s good news! What sets your newsletter apart from all the other stuff that comes across your clients threshold everyday is that a newsletter is perceived as good news. Think about it, the stuff in the newspaper is general pretty dismal. The rest of the stuff in the mail is either advertisements or bills. Take advantage of that perception of your newsletter being something good.

Please don’t insult your clients’ intelligence by cloaking a hard sell as a newsletter. Marketing surveys across the country have shown that newsletters are very well-received and the best way to stay in touch with your clientele. Make your message, and your practice, stand above the rest by making each issue interesting and informative.

More education equals more work for you Your clients probably have very little idea what all you do. Your newsletter is the perfect forum to raise their understanding and appreciation of the advantages of your services. By just elevating their awareness of the scope of your expertise, your laying the ground work for future business.

There’s another added benefit that bares mentioning. When your clients know more about what you do, they talk about it to their friends. A personal referral is ten times more valuable than someone that responds to an ad. They’re already prescreened and warmed up for you.The other plus of this educational approach to your newsletter is that it reminds your clients that they need your services. With so many distractions in our world today, things that are important tend to slip into the background. Each issue you send gently reminds them of the importance of your services

.Just because I said that you shouldn’t use your newsletter for a hard sell doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t use it for promoting gift certificates or special offers or rewards for referring new business. It’s the perfect place to unveil new services.

Above all else - reflect professionalism Never forget that your newsletter acts as your representative to all that see it. People who may have never met you personally will make judgments about your services solely by what they think of your newsletter.

Each issue may get saved and passed onto friends and associates. These are introductions to you services. They must make a high-quality presentation. Take some time to get the look and feel right. If you’re using a word processing program, for example, to produce your newsletter, you’re really selling yourself short. That may have worked all right 15 years ago, but in today’s reality it’s just not going to give you a professional looking piece. Of course, since I run a newsletter design service, I’m going to tell you to seek out the services of a professional - but that would be a sort of hard sell. At least, collect some examples of newsletters that you like and use them as guides.

The number one problem most people have when doing their own newsletter is to stress over content and then put too much into each issue. A good rule of thumb for a standard 4-page newsletter is three articles of 500 - 700 words. Be sure to work in some higher quality graphics to break up the text. Never, never, never use graphics that you’ve down loaded from the web. Their resolution is much too low to be of any worth in print. They’ll just make your newsletter look tacky and low end.

Make the commitment When you send your newsletter consistently, it communicates to your clients that you’re professional. You’re establishing a presence and it says that you plan on being there for them in the future. This is guaranteed to help you build a stronger business that’s not overly affected by outside economic factors.

This article was written by Barbara Saunders, owner of Newsletter Associates, a complete newsletter service helping companies and organizations build their relationships to fuel their business. For more information, visit www.newsletters-inc.com. (c) 2004 Barbara Saunders. All right reserved.

Newsletter Associates is run by Barbara Saunders, a leader in the newsletter marketing industry. Years of experience creating marketing materials and newsletters for large corporations have honed the expertise that will guide a company in creating, developing, and maintaining relationships. And relationships are the fuel that drives business. People do business with people they know, like, and trust. There is no more effective marketing tool than a newsletter.

Media kits include a combination of information whether created for electronic delivery or print. The number of components depends on the kit’s focus and intention. For instance, an author’s kit would include a different combination of information than a service business, or a multifaceted company or speaker.

Here is a list of component elements to pull from and tips to bring a media kit together. No single kit will need all components. Choose the components that match your or the receiver’s needs.

1. Table of Contents (TOC). Kit receivers always appreciate this feature, it respects their time. I recommend this rule: five or less pages, include the TOC in a personalized letter, using design elements such as bold, larger font or centering to set itself off from the rest of the letter. Six and more, use a single sheet. And place the page before all other pages, including the letter. For electronic delivery, use color, to help gain attention.

2. Company Information. An "About Us" page includes contact information. It is also an accumulation of other aspects about that company, however, in summary format. When founded but not how founded, vision and mission, simple list of services or product or just an overall view.

3. About Our Departments. If you have several different departments in your company, you can include a page with a summary of each departments responsibility.

4. About You. Similar to number 2 with the focus on a single individual. You will want to focus the language and information to exactly what the media needs to know. For example, solopreneurs the particulars would be about you, credentials, and information with a single focus. Similar to a resume but not quite.

5. Founder Page. Do you have a company founder with an interesting story of how they started the company? It doesn’t matter if they are deceased or retired. Honor their tenacity and creativity with their picture.

6. Upper Management. It is important to stress any special skills or background in the company that is an asset. Use one page per management level or several on a single page. Several pages are okay for this section if it supports the media request.

7. Services. One per page or several to a page. If you don’t have enough material for a whole page, create enough. If more than one service, add a list of the other services at the end of the page to indicate what else is available.

8. Products. Use service tips above. You will want to include whatever pictures need to depict the product.

9. Employee. This component is seldom included, yet it is a significant way to demonstrate how the company’s differences. This information is about the staff as a whole. Presentation depends on what the intention of the media kit. Statistics, number of employees, tenure, company events, or community projects, work well here. If the statistics don’t shine, don’t include.

10. Company History. Adding a history can make or break media attraction. If a young company you might think it’s could be a negative element, not true. Depends on what side you are presenting in the kit. For a season company, it is a must. What prevails or whether to include or not, is how interesting is the story. If it is interesting or creates curiosity, include it.

11. Awards. Include any awards or special interests of employees. Do you have published authors in your company, an Olympic participant, or something else? Consider including. Sometimes a backdoor interest can bring media coverage in. If there is only one award you can add it on another page. To create a whole page from short information, list past winners or describe the selection process. Ceremonial pictures add interest.

12. Distinction Page. This page needs to show how the company is different. Comparison charts, like those found in most software product sales information pages, are easy for readers to scan and comprehend. Graphs also work well.

13. Client List. List clients whether they are well-known or not. If your client list is extremely confidential, mention this in lieu of the list. You can expand the information by providing some brief background information about the client.

14. Company Affiliates. If you have a formal affiliate program, add this information. If you use top quality vendors, add their information as well. Connection add flavor to being attractive.

15. Press Releases. Use releases with dates less than 90- days.

16. Publication List. If an author, where published. If short, expand by adding details about the publication. A few summarized paragraphs will do. If you are or where a columnist or write your own electronic or printed newsletter add this information as well. Add copies only if relevant and current.

17. Speaking List. Have you spoken at events or to groups? List, if old, don’t include when. Instead group by categories. Include panel participations.

18. Radio/television appearances. Guest or host, doesn’t matter. Tell them where they can listen to any audio or video clips. I don’t recommend including. They are too expensive to send and for receivers to store. You want to set the availability information off in some sort of design element to make sure it isn’t missed. To expand an appearance I like to suggest adding elements about how you got on the show, what you did and didn’t like, or other details about the experience. Human interest stories always spark interest to the media. Give enough to peak their curiosity.

19. Personal Story. What is your personal story about starting the business, creating a product or service? Is it a rags to riches story? Usually people don’t think they have a good enough story to include, however, that normally turns out to be fiction. Look for the buried treasure, dust and polish to see the shine. Someone that can write from a charge neutral standpoint is best for these.

20. Testimonials. You can spread testimonials throughout the components using pull quote design effects. And also have their own page. To expand, enlarge font size or reduce margins.

21. Endorsements are personal acknowledgements. For media kits, credibility stands higher. They include more detail than testimonials. Add copies of special endorsement letters or just mention them in other components. Only add with the endorsers permission. Products and book authors frequently include these. Be creative with this in your kit.

22. Reviews. Product or book reviews are not endorsements. Reviews give an overview charge neutral opinion. Reviews have their own language. To learn that language, read movie or book reviews.

23. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). This component is a must in every media kit. Normally, media reads these pages first or second. Formulate questions by asking media personnel. Don’t guess what they want.

24. Photos. For trainers, speakers, or other professional services, color photos are too expensive to include and aren’t necessary. A small 6×9 black and white is appropriate.

25. Community. Add volunteer projects you have worked on or positions you have held. To expand, add additional details about the organization.

Note: Two-side pages count as one page.

When you are ready to send out a media kit, pull together the pieces that fit, create a personalized letter, slip in the contact person’s business card, usually the same person signing the letter, and its ready to mail or e-mail.

A beautifully designed media kit is nice but not necessary. Visual impact is important, yet, you can do this with a matching color theme and quality paper. Content needs to be the first and foremost focus. Fancy-looking media kits but if it doesn’t say anything to the receiver, it’s trashed. Value is in the information and news worthiness.

Catherine Franz, a Business Coach, specialized in writing, marketing and product development.  Newsletters and additional articles:  http://www.abundancecenter.comblog: http://abundance.blogs.com

Looking to get your name into a magazine? You need to be thinking ahead–way ahead. Magazines start planning their issues as much as six months before their publication date.

In January, when you are muttering about the expensive heating bill, magazine writers are penning tips about staying cool. In June, while you lie on the beach, they are researching the hot new Christmas toys.

If you call a magazine reporter in March with tax tips for April 15th, they will be more than a little bit annoyed. They finished their tax articles months ago and are working on back-to-school pieces.

When you have a story pegged for a specific date, contact magazine folks as far ahead of time as possible. They will respect your understanding of the magazine game.

Even daily newspapers and weekly magazines work well in advance. Though the facts of their stories may change as their deadline nears, the basic structure of most newspaper articles is established well in advance.

This is especially true of financial and business columnists who are your main target. They often write their pieces weeks or even months in advance.

If you come up with a story that is time-sensitive, don’t sit on it. Contact a media person right away. It’s hardly ever too early to plant a seed in their mind.

Ned Steele works with people in professional services who want to build their practice and accelerate their growth. The president of Ned Steele’s MediaImpact, he is the author of 102 Publicity Tips To Grow a Business or Practice. To learn more visit http://www.MediaImpact.biz or call 212-243-8383.

Public relations is the art, as one of my colleagues put it, of "offering people reasons to persuade themselves." In other words, we are not Madison Avenue; we don’t tell people what we want them to think. Rather, we give them evidence, facts, and opinions that help them reach a conclusion. If we’re good at what we do, they will reach the conclusion we’ve been hired to promote.

The differences between traditional public relations and Guerrilla P.R. are relatively simple. First of all, public relations firms like mine are available to people with a lot of money, because we charge what we consider to be reasonable fees, which are out of reach of many small or one-person businesses. So entrepreneurs and small business owners need to learn and apply the same skills I use every day in service of their larger, more well- heeled rivals. But these skills can’t be used the same way, since they require more money than most small businesses can afford. Not everyone can buy a minute of time on network TV to get the message across.

That’s where Guerrilla P.R. comes in. This down-and-dirty offspring of the traditional method is based on an idea I developed called the Tiffany Theory. The Tiffany Theory is an idea that sounds simple but, like most such theories, is so basic it contains numerous truths.

My Tiffany Theory states that a gift delivered in a box from Tiffany’s will have a higher perceived value than one in no box or a plain box. That’s not because the recipient is a fool; it’s because in our society, we gift-wrap everything: our politicians, our corporate heads, our movie and TV stars, and even our toilet paper. Tiffany paper places a higher perceived value on things.

In effect, what I do each day is gift-wrapping. I take a message and wrap it in the finest paper from Tiffany’s. No matter what the message may be, I try to make it sound more appealing, more interesting, and more useful. If I do my job correctly, the consumer (who gets the message through television, newspapers, radio, or the Inter net) will get the message. But first, that message has to go through editors, producers, reporters, and website managers. The Tiffany paper adds perceived value and cachet.

Notice, now, I said, perceived value. In public relations and publicity, perception is truth. It isn’t what happened that counts, it’s what people think happened. This is the absolute day-to-day currency of politics, entertainment, and most other industries. In our case, we’re looking at how the public-that is, the segment of the public you believe is your customer base-perceives your company. Not what your company actually might be.

Does that mean you should lie? Never. Lying, besides being morally wrong, is quite literally indefensible. That means, at some point, you’re going to be found out. And even if you weren’t, you would have to start living the lie- remembering what you told the people interested in your business, and hearing people call you what you said you are. It’s too hard, and it’s not worth it. Besides, it’s plain bad business.

When I say that the perception of the truth-rather than the truth itself-is the stuff of great publicity campaigns, I mean that the truth will take care of itself. But you have to make sure that the image you project, the perception you offer to potential customers, is what you want it to be.

For example, a man named Dave Schwartz decided he’d start a car rental company that would lower rates to the consumer by featuring cars that weren’t 100 percent new off the showroom floor. He had a choice to make in terms of the perception of his new company, and he chose to beat critics to the punch with a strong sense of humor and a catchy company name: Rent-A-Wreck. Now, Dave didn’t lie (his cars weren’t wrecks, they drove just fine, so maybe he exaggerated a little), and he didn’t fall into the trap of emphasizing price. After all, his competitors already had names like Thrifty and Budget. He hit you in the funny-bone, made his impression of a fun car rental company-with the implied promise that the cars would cost less because they weren’t brand new- and launched a very successful business.

It’s all in the perception. But is this a contradiction of the Tiffany Theory? Did Dave actually wrap his cars in Kmart paper to make his point?

Not really. Dave still wrapped his message in Tiffany paper. He made sure local news outlets, publications, and media companies knew about his company, and he emphasized exactly how reliable and economical the rental cars at Rent-A-Wreck would be. By downplaying the appearance of the cars-calling them "wrecks" he allowed the media to expect dented, scratched, beat-up cars. When they toured his facility and saw cars that were only slightly used, Dave didn’t have to say a word. The message got out that the "wrecks" in question were very reliable, attractive cars that would be available for a lower rental rate because they were used. A brilliant, subtle piece of Tiffany wrapping.

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The Tiffany Theory applies to the Internet in ways it never could with traditional media. Keep in mind that more information is available on the World Wide Web than you can possibly track, let alone control. So it’s always important to keep your information true. But unlike information in newspapers or magazines, the data you provide on a website is yours, and you provide the Tiffany paper. Use photographs, charts, quizzes, and prizes, if you can, to keep surfers’ interest alive on your site. And remember to wrap every fact in a nice neat piece of Tiffany wrap.

GuerrillaPR Insights is a, weekly newsletter that does 2 things: First, it provides readers with a weekly, actionable "insights" on how you can work more effectively with the media.

Secondly, it provides NAPES: Names, Addresses, and Phone numbers of key media producers and editors. For example, in a recent issue, we gave specific contact information on how to contact the producers of the Oprah Winfrey Show.

To check out the archives, go to: http://www.guerrillapr.net/Guerrilla_PR_Insights-backissues.html

The media live by the calendar. Your story pitch might miss the mark with them the first time out, solely because it’s out of whack with the seasonal cycle (obvious examples: just try pitching another tax story on April 16, or offering the media your 10 tips on backyard barbecue safety the morning after Labor Day).

But come back when the time’s right, and you just might be golden: Personal finance and the holiday season… Record keeping techniques for tax time… Saving for college at back-to-school time.

In fact, for just about any topic, with a little thought and creativity, you can work your way through the calendar and fill out a whole year’s worth of media stories based on seasonal tie-ins. You probably won’t land every story, but you will increase your results dramatically simply because you are stepping up to the plate – and getting to contact reporters – more often.

Following the seasons is one of the best – and easiest – ways to slice your topic.

Here’s one example. Let’s say our topic – we consult, write, and speak about it for a living – is time management. A yearlong spin through the calendar might start with this:

January: Keeping that New Year’s Resolution to get yourself organized.

March: Don’t let income tax season throw a wrench into your busy life.

June: School’s out! How to remain productive at work when the kids are at home and leisure activities beckon.

September: Fall’s here, time to get serious again! How to make the most out of your time.

December: Holiday season – how to get it all done.

And before you know it, another year has arrived, and now your media plan is to …. start all over again! For two reasons: not every media outlet you’re targeting did the story last year, and (this is the part I love!) many of the reporters who turned you down last year have since left their jobs and moved on. That frees you to call their replacements, who will be hearing your story for the first time.

Creativity exercise:

Try this right now. List the months of the year on a blank sheet of paper. Fill in one of your topics where it is appropriate for a particular month. See if you can find 6, 8, or even 12 reasons a year why the media should do your story.

Ned Steele works with people in professional services who want to build their practice and accelerate their growth. The president of Ned Steele’s MediaImpact, he is the author of 102 Publicity Tips To Grow a Business or Practice. To learn more visit http://www.MediaImpact.biz or call 212-243-8383.