Had a chuckle when I read the Sydney Morning Herald’s article Survivor saved by jacket and fishermen.

What an incredible and dramatic rescue! But the line that made me laugh was this one:

The Herald was unable to reach Mr Tsimnadis yesterday. A male relative said he would not be conducting any interviews “for free”.

Well, Michael Tsimnadis is hardly alone is he. There are very few media outlets that publish a story ‘for free’, and the SMH isn’t one of them. The online edition I was reading was littered with ads, as well as links to paid classifieds. In this case it seems Nine had the story (and the quotes around ‘for free’ suggest the SMH is a little annoyed about that).

Media froth about ‘cheque book journalism’ is always amusing (reminds me of the classic Frontline). ‘Man sells story’ is somehow a story? What about ‘Media sells ad’?

The media is a business. If your story will help sell newspapers or magazines, or help persuade people to watch TV or listen to the radio, then perhaps it will run. If not, why should it run? Do you expect the media to help publicise your business for free? There are wages to pay, presses to run - publishing and broadcasting isn’t free. And the media is a business, just like yours.

So think about your story and how make it good enough for someone to have to pay to publish it. That is reality, after all.

To pay its way, your story has to be able to get attention. How can you create a story that helps publishers get attention?

Or even better, how can you create a story good enough for someone to be prepared to pay you for an interview!

Michael Tsimnadis is a survivor, and clearly grateful. Sam Oweck and Nassar Farache were the heroes who saved him. Congratulations Sam, Nassar. There was a moment out on the ocean when something really was done for free.

One of our tourism clients, Live History, has achieved some valuable media coverage lately - with absolutely no help from us!

These guys are excellent at working their contacts - identifying and taking opportunities as they arise - and not giving up.

There’s good advice here for all small businesses. Here’s what happened in their own words:

“It was one of those serendipitous things. We were outside the Cascade Brewery [in Hobart] a year or two ago, when the editor of Forty Degrees South appeared with his camera doing a shoot for an advert. He took one look at us in our costumes and asked us if we’d like to be in the ad. Well, we normally get paid to be in ads but we thought why not? Good exposure.

“He then gave us his card and told us to contact him about an article in his publication. I had to work him like mad and keep onto him, but we eventually got the article.

“He wanted to take his own photos but always seemed unable to come when we had a tour group going out. Eventually I sent him my CD of top quality photos (taken as a favour by a photographer friend of ours), which he went with for the article.

“It has already brought us several clients - and it’s the sort of publication that is around for many months (unlike a daily paper).

“We were also in an edition of The Wanderer (a publication produced by the Campervan & Motorhome Club of Australia), which has brought us many clients. This happened because we took the director and his wife out on a tour the summer before last.

“We always have a debrief after a tour to find out where our guests heard about us etc. When I discovered that he was the director of a motorhome club that had a magazine, I suggested an article. He said he had no writing skills, but I said that I had! I ghost-wrote the article for him and again sent photos. The result was a great article in their magazine.

“I guess it’s about being inquisitive, confident and proactive - always on the lookout for opportunities to self-promote creatively.”

Now it isn’t every business that happens to have journalists bumping into them in the street or walking into their store - but the message is to remain open to possibility. You can invite journalists to experience what your business has to offer, and then work with them to create opportunities.

You will also often find that organisations connected to your business have publications, newsletters or websites that publish articles and news - if you’re not sure, ask them.

And finally, don’t underestimate the power of photographs. It was the photos that got Live History the first article, and no doubt they were a deciding factor in the second. Providing good quality images saves journalists’ time and outlay, and helps to ensure you project the image you want.

RiverFly Tasmania is the national winner in the OM4Tourism Hidden Jewel Awards 2008.

The Awards are for small tourism businesses, each state winner receiving an OM4Tourism website with graphic design and keyword analysis.

As the national winner, RiverFly’s Daniel Hackett gets this plus a Publicity Campaign from PublicityShip.

Among the judges were Getaway executive producer, John Walsh, and Australian Traveller publisher, Quentin Long. These guys know what they’re talking about when it comes to potential media material.

RiverFly has the chance to attract attention for three reasons:

Imagery

Visual imagery is vital to the media, and Daniel has access to some amazing images through photographer and fellow angler Brad Harris.

Daniel and Brad have produced a coffee table book, bringing together Daniel’s river guiding experience with Brad’s photos - not only will these inspire the media to see the potential in the story, but Brad has agreed to supply some of his images to run alongside editorial. This can seal the decision to run with a story.

Expertise

Expertise is valuable to the media too. Daniel has experience and knowledge that few others possess, and this is an opportunity for the media to tap into this resource and offer their readers and viewers something unique.

Angle

RiverFly has also come up with a different angle on fishing and adventure tourism - bringing the two together to create a brand new experience that taps into what the target audience - stressed out professionals and executives - is looking for. They want to escape - not just for a bit of fishing, but for a wilderness adventure that takes them completely out of themselves and their demanding lives.

Daniel has capitalised on this demand and the World Heritage wilderness of Tasmania’s northern riverlands, using his expertise as the catalyst. The result is a cleverly designed product that is nevertheless infused with integrity.

We are looking forward to working with RiverFly on their Publicity Campaign.

Getting publicity depends on having something to offer that’s different and can’t be had anywhere else. This in turn relies on a unique blend of personality, innovation and expertise. In fact all the qualities that form the foundation of a successful enterprise.

So what are you waiting for?

Many businesses find it hard to go past first base when it comes to publicity for many reasons. Planning and running a press release campaign takes time, creative energy, and lots of perseverance.

Knowing what you want to achieve with a campaign is the easy part. Even defining your target audience isn’t too much of a challenge for businesses who understand their clientele. But brainstorming to come up with a newsworthy message that the media will want to run is a big hurdle.

Here’s a publicity planning model that will work for any small business.

Instead of getting stuck at the hurdle, try removing it - at least for the time being.

What if you didn’t have to get the media hooked at all?
What if you could put your messages out directly to your audience?
What if you could harness your enthusiasm and expertise - and that of your staff - to communicate directly to each prospective client one-on-one?

This is the kind of publicity that is now possible through blogging on a search-optimised site. Commenting on Undara.com.au, a blog-enabled website set up by OM4Tourism, Undara’s Marcus Brady said:

What we love about it is the ability to have a two-way conversation with our target audience. We can talk to them whenever we need to communicate anything.

How do you know they’re listening? Because you can measure sign-ups to your blog, and you can use integrated analytics to see how many visitors come to which pages on your site and how long they stay - this includes your blog posts. Marcus reported:

Last week we broke our daily visitor record with 174 in one day, and over 70 per cent of our visitors are finding us for the first time, which is great. The more visitors we get, the more opportunities we have to sell.

Yet this isn’t marketing - this is telling your story, in the same way that an editorial or broadcast tells a story. Marcus again:

Instead of talking like a marketer, I’m appreciating the value of presenting authentic personalities, which reflect what we do so much more effectively.

The long-term effect is to build your authority in your niche area, so not only are you more likely to convert visitors to clients, but when a journalist is researching a story, or a relevant news issue arises, they are more likely to turn to you for additional story content.

Business blogging is therefore an excellent publicity strategy in its own right. But this is only part of the publicity model.

Your blog is a new source of publicity ideas.

Once you get into the swing of blogging about your news, new products and services, industry issues, innovations and the story behind your business, media messages will begin to jump out of the screen at you. Your blog becomes a natural springboard for media campaigns.

When you realise you’ve blogged a message that the media will want to hear, turn it into a press release and shoot it out to your media contacts. Do this regularly and they’ll start to sit up, take notice and come to your site to find out more.

So take some of the creative energy you’ve been expending on brainstorming publicity ideas, and channel it into blogging about your business in your own voice conveying your contagious passion for what you do.

Not only will you attract attention online, but creating media messages will become much easier, and the hurdle won’t seem insurmountable after all.

Media exposure is great - but not if it’s achieved for its own sake.

When you put together your media contact list, think carefully about your target audience. Who are they, where are they, what are they likely to be reading or listening to when they are most open to your products / services, and who do they trust?

Getting a spot in The Age is fantastic - but not if you’re target audience is overseas. Being seen on morning TV is a real buzz - but only if your audience is at home in the mornings.

This is obvious - but it’s only the first step in narrowing down your list. Not only should you stick to the media most likely to be accessed by your audience, but you can also seek out less ‘public’ media with a more direct reach.

For example, one of our contacts was trying to reach a particular retail segment, so he placed a flier in their industry newsletter for just $200. OK it’s not free editorial, but he had reached his audience for a fraction of the cost of more general consumer advertising.

We have also achieved free publicity in regional newsletters because the content was directly relevant to - and genuinely useful for - the readership. In this case, the newsletter editors didn’t see our request as a plea for free promotion, but a helpful piece of information.

What’s great about this kind of publicity is that you’re going directly into media that is already trusted by your niche audience, and you’re getting to them directly via their physical or online mailbox.

No 15 minutes of fame on national TV or newspapers, but potentially much more effective.

The 2007 PublicityShip Hidden Jewel Awards for small tourism operators were a resounding success, with almost 300 businesses from across Australia registering.

Each state winner achieved between 2 and 4 media stories in their target travel and lifestyle publications, including some fantastic features. The national winner, Ningaloo Blue, received a website, which came in at an amazing Google PageRank 4 after just two months of going live.

For 2008, we have renamed the Awards the OM4Tourism Hidden Jewel Awards in honour of our new business .

OM4Tourism is dedicated solely to helping small tourism operators get the word out about their services and destinations.

Each state winner will receive a blog-enabled website from OM4Tourism, plus free hosting, a design package and keyword analysis to kickstart their online marketing. The overall winner will also get a publicity campaign from PublicityShip, targeting national print and broadcast media, plus global online distribution.

And all entrants will benefit from coming to the attention of our prestigious panel of judges.

For 2008, we’re thrilled to be welcoming the Executive Producer of Channel 9’s Getaway travel show, John Walsh, to the panel, along with, Quentin Long, Publisher of Australian Traveller, and Les Cox, CEO of AAT Kings.

The entry procedure is straightforward and quick. Register your interest now and you’ll receive information shortly on how to enter. To register, go to our Hidden Jewel page and scroll down to fill out the form.

Getting the media interested in products is hard, because editors and producers are looking for stories, and generating a story around a product can be quite a challenge.

Even when you have a great story, there’s a good chance your press release will be passed to the advertising department who will try to sell you ad space or advertorial.

Look at it from their point of view: why would a publication or program devote valuable space or airtime to promoting a product for free?

So what are the alternatives?

Think laterally

• Send free samples to journalists and offer more for readers - editors find it hard to resist giving their readers something for free.
• Generate quirky or appealing photo opportunities - animals and children always go down well.
• Run a competition with your products as prizes - surf magazine SurfWest achieved great results by running a photographic competition just before launching their first issue.
• If your product solves a problem, address this as an issue and ask the journo to print your web address at the end so that readers will then be led to your product online.

A great example of a product getting publicity by raising an issue is the Dove promotions that challenge our view of real beauty as a backlash against anorexic models.

Blog about it

In our experience, publicising products online is more effective than traditional press release campaigns. Here’s your chance to get the word out by blogging about your product.

Beware though - simply using your blog to promote your product will switch readers off almost instantly.

Tell stories and engage readers in a genuine conversation. Reckon you don’t have much to say about your product? Take a look at the AusPen site: these guys have been live for just a few months and have a Google PageRank of 3 thanks mainly to their regular posting of authoritative content about … whiteboard markers.

And guess what happens when you do a Google search for whiteboard markers in Australia - Auspen comes in just below Faber-Castell. Pretty good going.

As well as telling stories, encourage your readers to contribute ideas that you then take on board and run with, such as a label design or a product name (think McDonald’s Backyard Burger). Ask for genuine feedback - both positive and negative - and respond with genuine solutions.

There are huge opportunities here for businesses working with social (interactive) media.

User-generated reviews

It’s also vital for businesses to understand how peer reviews are becoming the most powerful marketing tool.

Computer World published this article about user-generated product reviews, showing the power of peer reviews in the marketing process.

Encourage satisfied customers to post reviews on user-generated product review sites such as ProductReview and CNET Reviews. To find the sites most relevant to your products, simply go to Google and search. Choose the sites that are easy to navigate and have a high PageRank.

There’s no trickery in this. If a customer genuinely likes your product enough to write you a testimonial, they’ll be happy to tap their review into a product forum.

Ads and advertorial will get you print coverage, but peer reviews are likely to knock these into a cocked hat in terms of results.

One of the hardest parts of publicity is finding a good strong message that leads to your story getting published.

We can spend hours banging our fists against our foreheads trying to find a good story about our business. And if the journos don’t run with it, the disappointment is hard to recover from.

Here’s a better way to find your media messages, and get journalists interested in you.

1. Allow stories about your business to emerge naturally from your day-to-day online marketing.

We know that one of the most effective ways for a small business to build trust is by continually publishing content. This means regarding your website as a magazine and you as the editor.

Along with new product or service launches, there are so many things you can talk about on your site - draw on your experience and expertise and offer advice, comment on issues that relate to your business, talk about trends, tell stories about clients who have succeeded (with their permission).

Once you get into the habit of doing this, media stories will begin to jump off the screen.

You’ll find yourself saying, that’s a damn good story I just published. I know my audience will love it, so it makes sense to give the media a chance to publish it.

2. As well as putting out the story as a press release, send journalists links to your blog or newsroom, so that they can pick up the stories that interest them.

Include high-resolution images (upload them in hi-res, insert a thumbnail on the page or post, and link it to the hi-res version for download), and they’ll love you even more.

This kind of resource is invaluable to journalists, and bringing them to your site enables them to see that you are an authority in your niche. Chances are they’ll come back for more.

Anna Pollock of Desticorp recently highlighted the changes in the way consumers are making choices.

She quoted statistics from FutureLab that reveal the soaring mistrust of brands and advertising, and pointing to peer reviews as being the most trusted influence in the decision to buy:

“Peer reviews are preferred over expert reviews by a 6 to 1 margin,” she told us.

She also pointed to the change in what makes a successful brand. No longer are we looking to brands that express an identity or image. It seems we’re now looking for those that appeal to our aspirations: “how does this brand make the world a better place?” (Think IBM’s ‘You can innovate to make a difference’ and BP’s ‘green’ logo.)

This is reflected in the world of online marketing, where a business is more likely to succeed if it:

• convinces us of its credibility through customer reviews, testimonials or stories, and
• regularly publishes useful content that addresses our problems and aspirations (a flashy website dedicated purely to image is less likely to convert).

As consumers, we no longer rely on a one-way flow of information via static websites, ads, brochures etc. We look for peer reviews and someone who understands our problems or desires, and who is willing to help us by providing information and resources.

A conversation is taking place.

Underneath the conversation lies a series of supportive ‘resources’ - or products and services that bring the business its revenue. Trust in the business leads to acquisition of the customer - or sales.

This set me thinking about what this all means for PR, and publicity in particular.

Publicity has always been a way to create a story and inspire a conversation around a product or service, and this is why it’s becoming an increasingly important part of the marketing mix. It’s the closest form of marketing to word-of-mouth, which is the most trusted.

My advice is to give your audience what they’re looking for - a conversation around the relevant issues, with engaging stories from satisfied customers.

Here are my five ways to build trust through publicity:

1. Steer clear of promotional messages. The journey is from conversation to conversion. Trying to sell during the conversation is similar to interruption advertising, and is less likely to succeed.
2. Start a conversation by putting out interesting, newsworthy, issues-based messages.
3. Find satisfied customers who are willing to be profiled or tell their aspirational and inspirational story.
4. Put more stories and articles on your site and make them freely available to the media and your prospects.
5. Be genuine and responsive in your intention to offer free advice and support through all your media channels (including your own site) - readers and listeners are becoming very good at sniffing out a fake, and will expect a conversation, not a pitch.

Many PR firms or news distribution services will attempt to win your business by boasting a database of hundreds or thousands of media contacts. Impressed? You shouldn’t be.

Long Tail author, Chris Anderson, recently declared that he was fed up with being spammed by PR people, and had decided to block all but those who contact him for the right reasons:

“I only want two kinds of email: those from people I know, and those from people who have taken the time to find out what I’m interested in and composed a note meant to appeal to that,” says Anderson.

Here are responses from marketing gurus Seth Godin and David Meerman Scott, both of whom explain the value of keeping media contact lists small but targeted.

Some of the comments on Anderson’s post complained about the difficulty of tracking down media contacts and creating a tailored database. Much easier to buy a list and spam it. But Anderson’s response is a good example of why this is a bad idea.

As a former magazine editor, I can sympathise with the spammed, and this is one of the reasons we have established a policy of creating shorter, more targeted media lists and take the trouble to find out who to send our releases to.

Sometimes this is all but impossible and publications insist on all press releases being filtered through a ‘newsdesk’, and that’s their prerogative.

But when a PR agency takes the trouble to research publications and channels that match a press release with the audience demographic, build a targeted list, include a personalised email message to the top contacts showing how the release is relevant to the target audience, and encourage a dialogue, the results are much more impressive.