As in any business, once you've been the publicity business for
a while you start to discover those little insider secrets that
make life so much easier. Those little tricks of the trade that
typically give the old pros an unfair advantage. That's what this
article is about. We try to cover some of the little know facts
of the publicity game that might make your life a bit easier. I'm
going to cover some of the little know facts of the publicity
game that can make your life a lot easier.
One of the very powerful ways of getting completely free
publicity is to somehow get associated with a non-profit
organization. By rule, all advertising venues are required to
give away a percentage of their advertising to non-profit
organizations. The twist here is that the stations have to give
away the space, but they can decide who to give it to. If you can
put together professional looking advertising and commercials,
you're probably going to be high on the list of groups that get
PSA's (public service announcements). Of course, that presents a
problem for organizations that aren't non-profit.
Let's say you own Tom's Hardware store. Obviously, Tom's
Hardware store doesn't qualify for non-profit status, so how can
you benefit from the PSA's? You can do it by associating yourself
with a non-profit. This can happen either by starting your own
non-profit branch of your company or you can sponsor something
for an existing non profit.
Let's look at both. First, you can establish your own non-profit
branch.
Suppose Tom's Hardware put together a package where supplies and
advice was available to families in medical need, similar to
Ronald McDonald House. You start it up and then apply for
government grants to help fund it. You get local churches and
philanthropists to make grants that translate into help for needy
families. You have some of your sales people on hand to help
walk-ins deal with problems. And you promote heavily for all the
"good work" being done by the "Tom's Hardware Support Center" and
the other individuals and groups helping you. Yes, it'll help the
cause a great deal, but every time you get the name of the non-
profit and their work out, Tom's Hardware gets a plug.
The other alternative is to simply become a sponsor for a
charity. Call the Red Cross and offer to mount a major blood
drive for them. You organize your employees but you also invite
the Bloodmobile to be on hand near your shop on a certain
weekend. You might even toss in a discount coupon for anybody
that donates blood. Now, suddenly you can officially send in
press releases and clips to be used as PSA's (for free) promoting
the "Tom's Hardware All City Blood Drive".
There are other ways to maximize this opportunity. Suppose Tom's
Hardware were to call the local paper and offer to write a column
on home building, or maintenance, from a professional's point of
view. You can hire a local writer to do the actual writing, but
have them answer questions or address various themes that seem
interesting to the general public (curtains, wallpaper,
carpeting, etc).
Now the paper will feel great about the fact that it's offering a
regular column that's drawing readers. Of course, the column can
officially be headed "Tom's Hardware Answer Man" making you not
only the authority, but also keeping your name out there for all
to see.
A similar strategy can be done on local radio stations. You can
call and discuss doing a radio program. Usually the station will
ask newcomers to buy the time themselves. In essence, you're
starting with an infomercial, although to the listening audience
it sounds like any other talk show on the air.
Obviously, you could just pay for the time and plug your company
at all the breaks, but that usually isn't necessary. In Tom's
case, he has a long list of suppliers who all want their products
to be advertised.. So now you can get on the air, complete with
your own sponsors, and not have to pay anything to consistently
have your name out there in the public's eye.
During the various breaks you'll end up doing ads for "Delco
Paint---the one to have", etc. Every area of publicity had tons
of these tiny areas where you can make things work more to your
advantage. That's one of the things that makes publicity so
exciting. My members are constantly coming up with new, exciting
ways of getting lots of publicity. One of the biggest thrills
you'll have is coming up with a new way of getting publicity and
being successful with it.
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