Welcome to the April Newsletter

Tips and news to help you get better publicity

This month:
The difference images make - our Hidden Jewel winner
What to say when you call a journalist
How advertising gets you better publicity
A useful resource for tourism businesses
PublicityShip welcomes Steff
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The Difference Images Make

We have recently announced the winners of the OM4Tourism Hidden Jewel Awards, and you can read all about them here.

The national winner, RiverFly Tasmania, was chosen for many reasons, including their potential to benefit from media exposure.

Along with a great story, RiverFly has that extra ingredient that many small businesses don’t have - visual appeal.

Imagine you are a magazine editor. What do you need in order to make your magazine sing as far as your target audience is concerned?

Well, you need great content of course. But a magazine that has words and no pictures - as Alice herself testified - is enough to send anyone to sleep.

You need images. Not just OK images, or even good images - you need great images.

Once you see it from the editor’s perspective, it’s easy to see why great images are just as important to a press release campaign as the story itself.

By working with a professional photographer, RiverFly’s Daniel Hackett has ensured that a source of top quality images is on hand. Take a look at the website promoting his new book, and you’ll see what I mean.

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What to Say When You Call a Journalist

After sending out your press release, you need to follow it up. But what do you say when you call your media contacts?

Think in terms of adding value to your press release.

So calling a journalist to check whether they received your release isn’t enough. This doesn’t add value for the journalist.

You need to have a good reason to call them, otherwise you are likely to be viewed as an irritation, which will work against you.

Here are some suggestions for ways to add value:

• Offer to send a sample or review copy of your product.
• Invite them to the event your are publicising.
• Enable them to experience the services you provide.
• Ask if they are interested in receiving a selection of quality images (see above).
• Suggest an alternative angle on the story that might have appeal to their particular audience.
• If you are talking to a broadcast journalist, suggest a way to bring the story into the studio if they are hesitant about creating a costly hook-up.

Your reason for calling will depend on the story and your business, but whatever you do, don’t waste the journalist’s time.

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How Advertising Gets You Better Publicity

As a small business, you will know that advertising is expensive and doesn’t always give you a good return on investment.

Publicity is much more effective in building trust and getting attention - and it’s generally free.

In reality, the two things work together. The media rely on advertising dollars for their own revenue and there is inevitably a link between ad content and editorial content.

As a magazine editor, I would often be faced with a decision: 2 equally strong stories, one provided by a great business that had chosen not to buy advertising space - the other provided by one of our loyal advertisers.

The decision about which to run is a pragmatic one. The advertiser wins every time.

So if you are interested in getting publicity in a publication, talk to your media contacts and find out about advertising options. What would it cost to become one of their advertisers?

It may improve you chances of getting editorial coverage in a relevant issue.

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A Useful Resource for Tourism Businesses

If you’re in tourism and you want to get publicity, Tourism Australia has a new document that I recommend downloading.

Making a Splash: Generating Publicity for Australia explains how to work with the media.

My only reservation is that it breaks the rule I have explained above. It recommends calling journalists to find out if they have received your press release.

You can read more about this and find a link to the document in my blog post.
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PublicityShip Welcomes Steff

We have just welcomed Stephanie Schupp to PublicityShip as campaign manager.

Steff has lots of experience in print media liaison and is a budding blogger!

Incidentally, our name comes from an acronym that applies to all of us, and Steff in particular.

SHIP stands for ‘Seriously Helpful Intelligent Person’ - and it’s what every small business needs.

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About PublicityShip
PublicityShip helps small business get publicity and market online. Publicity can be more effective than advertising and give an excellent return on investment. PublicityShip helps you uncover the most newsworthy aspects of your business and get your message to the right media contacts. And PublicityShip online marketers help you attract and convert potential clients online.