There's no doubt that at some point in your career you've
had a new product to sell, a new service you're offering or
some other piece of news that you knew would make a great
story in a magazine or newspaper which could provide some
great free marketing for you. The next thing that probably
crossed your mind- how could you make that happen?
For most people, the problem is that they stop right there,
at the "wondering" stage and just have no idea how to go
from having a great story to tell to getting written up in
a local or national publication. Well, not anymore! We're
going to take care of that problem right now by showing you
how to get noticed by writers so you can open the door to
free press.
Let's look at this issue with an example that you are
probably more familiar with first, then, we'll tie it back
into the subject at hand: getting free press. If you want
to do business with someone, you usually have to connect
with them several times and create a relationship of some
kind, right? There aren't many people left in this world
who hear a message for the first time and bite right into
it. There's simply too much clutter flying around to take
notice of everything, so most of us have to be reminded of
the same message 7-9 times before we take notice of it.
These writers are no different: so, what you have to do is
try to find a way to start a conversation with them and
build a relationship. It's no different than you would do
with any prospect in your business. So, let's look at how
you can introduce yourself and start a conversation.
Most publications publish the email address of the writers
at the bottom of each column and oftentimes they even
solicit a response. You will usually see a tagline that
reads something like:
Questions or comments about this article? We'd love to hear
from you! To let Jon know what you think of his article,
email him at jon@JonDoeNews.com
How many people do you think actually take the time to
email these authors? Right, not many. We even know some
authors who wonder if anyone ever reads their columns!
They're dying to have somebody give them some feedback or
correspond with them. They often just want someone to take
notice of them, so this is where you can score some major
points. Just take a few minutes to send the writer an email
letting them know what you thought of their article. Just
look at it as if they just started a conversation with you,
laying out their entire point of view, and now they have
paused and are waiting for you to give them an answer. It's
that simple. Even a short email that simply says, "hey,
great article! I can't wait to read some more of your
work!" is a great start.
Most authors of major publications also have blogs in
addition to their columns where they write on a more
regular basis. And most of these blogs allow readers to
post comments on the blog. So, run a Google® search for the
author's name or look in the publication to see if you can
find a web address for their blog. If you find one, go to
the blog address on your computer and bookmark it or
subscribe to it by email or RSS (Really Simple Syndication
- explaining this technology is beyond the scope of this
article, but it's a great technology that streams news and
articles directly to you without you having to ever go back
to the source to get it. Check it out, it's great!). Be
sure to check at least every few days to see what they are
blogging about. Whenever you have something to say about
their blog, you can post a comment. It's the same concept
as emailing them after you have read one of their columns,
but, you don't have to wait for the next publication to be
printed, you can keep up-to-date and keep "the
conversation" going whenever you like.
Once you have started some ongoing dialogue with a writer,
and have started to build a relationship, don't you think
they might pay attention to you when you have a story for
them? They sure will! Good luck and let us know about your
success from using this strategy.
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include this blurb with it: JW Dicks & Nick Nanton,
TheBusinessGrowthLawyers.com, publish the Business Growth
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