Publicity is an extremely powerful form of marketing. Not only is it free, but it gives you and your business great credibility. Specifically, when potential customers hear about you in the media sources they read/watch/listen to, it gives you incredible legitimacy in their eyes.
And perhaps most importantly, it gets customers to find you and purchase your products and/or services.
There are many ways of getting publicity. And when you do get it, there are several varieties. For example, a journalist may give you a simple quote in their article. Or, they may quote you several times or attribute the entire theme of their article to you. Or, in the best case, they write an article solely about you, your company and/or your products or services.
The key point to note, even though it may be obvious, is that the more the article talks about you, the more likely the reader will seek you out after reading it.
One concern many entrepreneurs and business owners have when first considering publicity is what the journalist will write about you. However, you really shouldn’t worry about this. The journalist will nearly always position your company in a positive light. But even if they don’t, the saying “there’s no such thing as bad publicity” is generally true.
Importantly, there’s one way to accomplish both the goals mentioned above: getting publicity (particularly articles) that fully discusses you and your company AND gaining 100% control of what the article says about you.
This way is to write the article yourself.
Why articles?
Articles are a great way to spread the word about your company. And there’s no advertising cost; just the cost of writing the article which is minimal.
What should you write about in your article?
The best articles are often short “how-to” articles teaching customers something they want or should know about.
Where should you send your article?
Send your articles to relevant newspapers, magazines, trade journals and bloggers.
Importantly, add a “bio box” at the end of your article. Your “bio box” includes your name and contact information (e.g., website address and possibly email address, phone number, etc.) so readers can easily contact you.
How to get started
The fastest way to get an article published is to submit it to an online article websites like GoArticles and EzineArticles. On these websites, online searchers will find your article, and many will click on the links in your bio box that link back to your website.
Here are two important notes for using article directories.
First, search through the sites to see the types of articles already written. Doing so will give you new ideas and show you topics that have already been covered too much.
Second, bigger media sources (e.g., magazines, newspapers) want original content. So, if you have a great idea for an article, pitch it to the more prominent media sources first. Since, once you publish it elsewhere, they won’t be interested (although you could then pitch them on another article).
Getting your articles printed in media sources is a simple and great way to get your company in front of lots of potential customers. And, you control the message, and build lots of credibility.
And here’s a tip to make this technique even more efficient – don’t start by writing the article. Instead, start by simply creating an interesting article title. Then pitch the title to the editors of relevant newspapers and magazines to see if they’re interested. You can call them and/or email them to find out. They may say your article title is right on, or they might suggest something a bit different. By following this advice, you’ll save time since you’ll only write articles you know they’ll publish.
One final tip: if you don’t like to write or aren’t a good writer, don’t worry. As long as you’re an expert on the subject matter, simple dictate the article. There are tons of apps which allow you to record voice memos directly on your mobile phone. Then, upload and send your audio file to a professional writer on a site like odesk.com or guru.com who can turn your dictation into a well written article for less than $20.
