Public Relations

How and When to Follow Up

A Leading expert Web Site

With most marketing strategies, you are an actor on someone else’s stage; a contributor to a magazine, a speaker at a conference, or a guest on a radio or television program.  But when you have a Web site, you are the writer, producer, director, and star of your own show, with the opportunity of becoming a mini-celebrity reaching a large number of people.

Study the Markets

Once you’ve compiled the names of potential media outlets, get to know at least a few of the most promising first hand.  If they’re available locally, buy a few on newsstands, or you can call the editorial offices and request a sample copy and an editorial calendar, which lists the themes of upcoming issues.  Create a file area for publications and related media materials, and keep it up to date.

Dear Dr. Jones:

We have a proposal that we believe would be very beneficial to all medical staff members.  Dore & Dore Legal Services will provide our expertise, time and materials free of charge. 

But the real reason this technique works so well isn’t readily apparent.  I see, what really makes it so successful is that no one else does this.  In fact, no one else even considers doing this.

Everyone else either does nothing at all or proposes some cheesy sales pitch that is far more beneficial to them than the union members they want to reach.  All this does is get their proposal a swift trip to the trash basket.

The Media Needs You

The world is a big place.  Because the scope of what constitutes news is so vast that no media outlet could possibly know about every topic worth covering, they rely on public relations efforts from all kinds of sources, including businesses, to help them spot interesting news stories.  People just like you help shape the news because editors and reporters need inside tips, specialized knowledge, and the unique story ideas that come from small businesspeople.

Analysis of the resident expert proposal letter

The letter starts with a simple proposition.  Then, Instead of directly listing a benefit, you refer to the information product we’ve included.

Why is the letter structured this way?  For a number of reasons.  First, It does convey a strong benefit – but it does so through the title of the report.

Competitive Intelligence

Before you expand your business, you better know what you’re up against.  You’ll need to thoroughly investigate your competitors to understand their services, and how they are being received by your prospects.

You -- The Leading Expert

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