Here are three ways YOU can start promoting your company TODAY!

The key to any successful PR campaign revolves around creating interest in your company - both with your customers and with the media. In this article, we reveal tips for putting your business in the spotlight.

There's a famous saying that goes like this, "If the circus is coming to town and you paint a sign saying 'Circus Coming to the Fairground Saturday,' that's advertising. If you put the sign on the back of an elephant and walk him into town, that's promotion. If the elephant walks through the mayor's flowerbed, that's publicity. If you can get the mayor to laugh about it, that's public relations. And if you planned the elephant's walk, that's marketing."

While this may seem like just a cute anecdote, there is an important lesson to be learned from it: A well-timed public relations campaign can increase your businesses' chances of reaching your target market with exactly what they want to hear, when they are ready to hear it. Good strategic PR IS an art."

The art of building a successful PR campaign revolves around creating strong relationships with the media and your customers, planning special events and building an image - elements that, when combined, gain publicity, or "buzz," for your company. You need not spend thousands of dollars creating buzz about your company, however. Innovative methods, such as identifying a media niche, creating a theme, and using trade shows and celebrity spokespersons are all publicity-generating vehicles for budget-minded businesses.

#1  Can You Hear the Buzz?

You can garner attention for your company using a variety of creative techniques, from basic media relations to outrageous stunts.  Small business and entrepreneurs who seek to generate excitement about their businesses should start by establishing local media contacts and building long-lasting relationships with them. "On the other end of the spectrum, staging a larger media event or stunt related to a specific product or announcement may help generate buzz about a company,".

Mary Ann Butcher helped create buzz for Southwest Airlines with an out-of-the-box idea that complemented the company's offbeat attitude. When Southwest acquired Morris Air in 1994, they were thrust into the cold corporate spotlight. To reinforce Southwest's fun-loving company culture, GHI arranged a quickie mock marriage in Las Vegas between costumed characters "Southwest Spirit" and "Morris Magic."

An engagement announcement was distributed to the media, and on the special day, an Elvis impersonator "married" the blissful couple in front of well-wishers from both airlines, with flight attendants and pilots acting as the wedding party. GHI then distributed a "marriage announcement" to key media outlets nationwide. As a result of the event, Cook says Southwest Airlines gained extensive media coverage from the likes of CNN, CBS Radio Network, Associated Press Wire, Bloomberg Business News and more.

#2  Staging Your Own Media Event

Trade shows can provide an excellent, cost-effective arena for creating buzz about your company and introducing new products or services to a captive audience. My suggestion is to  turn trade shows into your own media events. Send engraved invitations to the media that will be attending and have a special time set aside for them, then dazzle them while you are there.

#3  Finding Your Media Niche

When it comes to approaching the media to attract buzz, customizing your message is the only way to get their attention. After all, you don't carry on the exact same conversation with everyone you know, so why would you send every newspaper the same press release?

Each media outlet has different story needs and a different audience. Before attempting to pitch your story to an editor, ask yourself what would make a disinterested party want to read an article about YOUR company. Once you hit on the 'hook, you have a story."

An explosion of both new companies and new media is generating stiff competition in the marketplace of public awareness, It's also creating a gold mine of opportunities to reach the audiences that matter to you when you find a media niche for your business, you engage in your industry's dialogue, establish a company presence, create an awareness and build credibility.

Entrepreneurs can also generate a buzz by identifying their own media niche. The beautiful part for entrepreneurs is that most everyone and every business has a story to tell, a distinctive voice than can make a space for itself amid the noise. As we continue into the new millennium, good entrepreneurial media relations is primarily about identifying your story and determining who cares about it. It can be time-consuming, he warns, but this kind of work is inexpensive and can give the business owner a greater understanding of his industry.

If you truly know something about marketing and public relations, you can try these tactics.  If you would like a FREE one-hour consultation at your office to discuss the needs of YOUR company, please contact me at MaryAnnButcher@LVRedCarpet.com and mention promo code:  VCO  

Next week: Celebrity Buzz and Media Kit Pointers

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