Photo Credit: Nya Harris
by Yvette N. Harris – President and CEO of Harris Public Relations
SOUTH FLORIDA – Your company just received an award that you want everyone to know about. Congrats! Maybe you are launching a new community initiative that you want exposure for. Great!
However, you don’t have a PR budget to hire someone to help you get the word out. What do you do next? Here are a few quick and easy PR tips to help you navigate press on a budget!
1. Utilize National Commemorative Months, Weeks and Days
There’s a national day, week, and month for just about everything. I have become a commemorative month-aholic. (Is that even a word?) Of course, it isn’t. However, it sounds good to me. From National Art Day to National Wine Day, National Youth Arts Month to National Dental Hygiene Month, National Architecture Week to National Midwifery Week. The list goes on. National commemorative days are a great way to gain exposure for your business in its niche industry.
For instance, October is National Small Women’s Month, and we are pitching success stories of our women entrepreneurs and small business clients in the community who are making a difference, how they navigate running a company and balance family and personal life.
Does your story or company’s initiative fit into a commemorative day or month? You can pitch that to an appropriate media outlet. In turn, you can also get a mention about your company with your website or social media. What a win for you that becomes!
2. Position Yourself as a Thought Leader/Expert
Keep up with current events in the news. There might be something you can speak about or a topic you lend your expert advice. As a business owner, you know the ins and outs of your business and industry. Why not capitalize on your expertise? Maybe, there is a trend in social media, health, law, community outreach, or even business that you can talk about for days.
I represent a young entrepreneur who owns a funeral home. When a particular young celebrity overdosed, I called the local tv station and pitched a story estate planning and preplanning your final wishes no matter how young or old you are. Of course, I added my client to the mix to be available to come on and speak about it. He was able to offer tips and at the same time garner some excellent exposure on his funeral home.
3. Q&A’s
Hate interviews? Offer a prepackaged article that is ready to go to your local media outlets. This is a great way to not only share your story with the media but define your business and/or company. You can also curate a Q&A for each outlet, so it’s exclusive for them. How do you do that? You draft up a Q&A on what is unique about your business narrative, the launch, your initiative, how you give back. Include a short bio, company profile, and how people can contact you for more. Remember to include your website and photos.
4. Track Your Coverage
Track your success and sign up for Google Alerts so you can see when your company is featured in the news, and your set articles are published. Don’t forget to share the article on your social media platforms for more exposure and reach!
For more PR tips and resources, follow Yvette on Twitter @YvetteHarrisPR
