The most important thing once you have created your own business is to get the word out to people. Marketing and public relations are two of the keys to growing your business. There are many ways to do this but for those on a limited budget, the cheaper the better right?
How Do You Get Free PR?
- Write Articles: Articles do not have to be long, but the do have to be informative. The more helpful information you provide, the more credibility you get.
- Newsletters: Start with an opt-in form on your website or a sign up sheet offline. Once you build your email list, start sending your subscribers weekly or monthly newsletters.
- Free Reports: Offering a free report is an excellent way to get people interested in your service or product. It won’t hurt you to give them valuable information for free every once in a while because if they find value in your information, they will become clients.
- Public Speaking: When you speak in a public setting, people perceive you as an expert, and people like to buy from experts. You can try your local Chamber of Commerce or service club luncheons.
- Radio: If you can get interviewed on the radio, it is usually free and a great source of publicity.
- Letters To The Editor: This is a great little known secret. Many people read the letters to the editor section and if you write good material, you can befriend the editor and he may look to you for further stories.
In today’s world, marketing and publicity are everything. If you put forth a lot of your time into these 6 free PR methods, it will pay off for your business. Did I miss any other free PR strategies that have worked for you? Please post them in the comments if you have good stories to share!
Post Sponsored by: ByWild
Be sure to sign up for our Free Career Newsletter on the top right sidebar for valuable, new information!
I like the idea of sending out free reports. I have a stock research company and my best conversions have come from sending a free report every few months to my opt-in list and other contacts. It works great!
Great points on marketing your business!!!
I have used 2 of your points with great success in the past.
Firstly, writing articles is the easiest way to ‘get out there’. Magazines and newspapers are always looking for fresh new articles. I have had heaps published, and it takes no effort at all. You just have to call the editor and say you have something that they need. It’s like getting a full page advert, but for free!!!
The second way is public speaking. I do a fair bit of public speaking to generate business (being a public speaking coach it is kind of part of the game :)). You can also try out your Rotary clubs as well. These clubs are good as they generally have “decision makers” at them that can generate new business.
the trick with both of these tactics is to offer some real value to the audience, and not just give an ad. Infact, it is better if you don’t mention your business name except for the “by line” at the end of the article.
Have a look at my website http://www.executivespeaking.com.au I haev a few of the articles up there that I have had published. 1 is for pages loing – this was a great ad!
Cheers
Darren Fleming
Australias Public speaking Coach
Hi Again,
here is a copy of my recent ezine that explains how you can get a heap of free publicity for your business through articles for business.
Cheers
How to get 50,000 in free publicity for your business by understanding your audience;
At a recent course I held in Adelaide, I asked a number of business owners if they wanted to get some free publicity for their business. The answer came back, ‘who wouldn’t!’ so I thought that I would share the trick with you. I’ve used these tricks to get $50,000 in publicity for Executive Speaking, and you can use it too. It is easier than you think, and will also work for any worthwhile cause – not just businesses.
The trick is to understand your audience and what they want.
What did I do, and how did I do it?
When I started Executive Speaking I wanted to generate some publicity as well as set myself up as an expert in my field. I decided that the easiest way to do this was to get some advertising in national magazines that my audience reads. However, being a new small business I did not have the capital to place ads in the magazines, and I was skeptical that they would work anyway.
I decided that the best (and cheapest) way to get into these magazines was to write something for them that they needed. The logic behind the thinking was this:
1. Most people ‘out there’ need to improve their public speaking and communication skills. Public speaking is not something that most people like, but they know they have to get better at it. Therefore an article on public speaking would probably be appreciated as there are very few ‘How to’ articles in the media about it.
1. Editors are always looking for something new that they can give to their readers. They need this to keep their publications fresh and their readers interested. As there are virtually no public speaking articles about, I thought I could write some.
2. So I called the editors and said, “Hi. My name is Darren and I have something that your readers need.” I then explained what I could offer their’ readers’ and how it would benefit them.
3. I then submitted the article.
I have used this technique a number of times with many different publications. This has resulted in me getting articles in BRW, MyBusiness, The Advertiser, Marketing magazine and others. I have been able to include contact details and information about what I can offer my clients and how I can meet their needs. The article works better than an advertisement as it offers real value to the reader that they can take away and use. This helps build a relationship with the readers as well.
So how can you use this? Ask yourself: “Who are the people I want to reach, and what do they need?” Then work out what they read and approach the editors of the magazine, newspaper, or radio. Remember, the first audience you have to get to listen is the editor. So work out what they want and how you can provide it. What do they want? Is it something fresh and new, or an article that looks at a topic from a different angle?
Once you have this worked out, write and submit your article. If it is well written it will be run.
A few points to remember with this:
1. Don’t just write an ad disguised as an article; the editors won’t run it.
2. Offer value in the article; &
3. Finally, swallow your pride and get someone good to read and edit it. Get them to be ruthless. This will help it get published
The whole process from initial contact to a published article can take a few months, so get started now!
It really is that simple!
Cheers
Darren Fleming
Australias Public speaking coach
another way is to do revenue sharing with larger companies…
I write articles about DotNetNuke and it will become more popular in my country. Its good when writing articles about some applications, vendors and firms.
The free articles and the radio could be the best ones, I think that maybe newsletter could be taken as spam in today world (too many filters around)
Premium cPanel Hosting…
I couldn’t understand some parts of this article, but it sounds interesting…
mlm compensation…
That was so sweet…gave me goose bumps..Glad that God has been good to you :)…