Archive for the ‘Awards/wins’ Category

Get ready for your Brownlow swansong! How to make the most out of a coveted award…

Wednesday, September 28th, 2011

Twelve months after he was favourite to win the Brownlow medal, Collingwood midfielder Dane Swan finally has. This time however, he hadn’t prepared his speech!

The stilettos were taken off and ties loosened as other football players and their WAGs continued on to the after-party while Swan readied himself for his media commitments. 

What do YOU do if you win a coveted award?

Whether it’s a small business, sporting or community leadership accolade, you need to maximise it through some DIY PR. Afterall you’ve put in the effort, now you need some reward.

Here are PR Guru’s 9 tips on what to do:

  1. Have a speech ready. Write down the important things that you want to say, including who you want to thank for their support (sponsors, family, colleagues, the organisers etc). You don’t want to be a deer caught in the headlights.
  2. Master the skill of brevity. Don’t lose your audiences attention with a 30 minute speech or speak in jargon. Everyone (and in some cases those watching at home) needs to be able to understand what you’re saying.
  3. Be mindful of how you look. If the event is black tie, don’t turn up under-dressed. The way you present yourself says a lot about you and your image.
  4. Make sure you have a photograph taken with your award. If there are influential people relevant to you or your business, get a photograph taken with them too.
  5. Have a press release (and a list of relevant media contacts) about your win prepared just in case. This way you can distribute it while the news is fresh.  
  6. Be ready for media interviews.  Make sure you are still on song after the victory celebrations and keep in mind the key messages and achievements that you want to get across.
  7. To maximize your success organise your own media interviews within your industry and local press if they haven’t been teed up by event organisers.
  8. Tweet and update your status on Facebook about your win to let all of your followers and supporters know of your success.
  9. Upload photos and your press release onto your website and other social media platforms.

Need a press release in a hurry?  PR Guru has a press release writing or review service that turns around releases in 4 days or 24 hours if its urgent.

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Tags:award preparation, Brownlow awards, DIY PR, marketing, media interviews, press release, press release review, public speaking, social media, Winning an award, write a press release
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The main event – your publicity showpiece

Wednesday, March 9th, 2011

Events can be a great way to generate free publicity for your business.

 They offer a number of PR opportunities from event listings in ‘What’s On’ sections of publications beforehand, to various types of post event coverage from news to social pages. On top of the publicity, you get to engage directly with your target audience – another great bonus.

 You can run events for: product launches, awards, information sessions, exhibits, announcements, community programs, festivals, sporting competitions, and tourism. The list goes on. Events follow a range of formats, and quite often, media like them.

 If you’re planning an event for your business, you’ll need to think about:

 -         The purpose of your event and what you are trying to achieve.

-         Who your target audience is. Think about all of your stakeholders; who is this event for? Which media do you want to target?

-         Who your spokesperson or speakers will be – this is important. Do you have a ‘drawcard’ speaker that will attract people and media attention? The more high profile the speaker, the better

-         What will happen at the event? Will you stick to speeches or will there be some colour and movement such as performances that will make for great pictorial opportunities?

-         What are your key messages? – what is the information that you would like people to know when they leave your event

-         Where to have your event and when and make sure you take media into consideration if you want journalists to attend – for some it may be normal to attend out of hours events, while others will prefer either morning tea or lunchtime events so they have plenty of time in the day to file a story afterward

-         What happens after the event? Follow-up is a key step in media relations. After your event is over, make sure you proactively send photos and press releases to your target media. And remember, media remember the little things. Always thank them for attending your events.

Timing is everything when working with the media. So make sure you plan your event at least three to six months out – especially if you want to aim for TV program or magazine coverage. Send event notifications early and then contact media again closer to the date.

 Need help writing an event notification? PR Guru can help!

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Tags:business, DIY PR, evaluation, events, festivals, key messages, planning and event, product launches, publicity, social pages, spokersperson, sporting competitions, staging an event, stakeholders, target audience, timing, what's on
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Elections, competitions and awards… when ‘winning’ makes news

Wednesday, August 11th, 2010

With the Federal election days away, political campaigns are ramping up with each candidate doing their best to win our vote. All this campaigning and talk about who’s ahead in the polls got the PR Guru team thinking about the concept of “winning” and how important it is, not just in politics, but in PR.

Remember being told that winning isn’t everything? Well, in most cases it isn’t. But in business, it’s certainly worth talking about and sharing the news. It’s great for your brand.

Whether you’ve won an award or a significant contract, your win can help you to generate media interest and get priceless publicity.

Looking for an example? Take inspiration from the great businesses promoting their recent successes at the Connect2mums AusMumpreneur Awards.

Over nine categories from Best Eco-Friendly Business to Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year, the winners have gained exposure at the awards night, through press releases and by promoting their wins on their own websites.

Once you start searching, you’ll find there are a lot of awards to enter. Of course, the most established the award is, the higher profile you are likely to receive. Here is a list of just a few awards you might want to add to your ‘hit-list’:

- Australian Tourism Awards

- Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards

- Telstra Business Award

- Australian Business Awards

However, there are dozens of others that may be run by your local council, newspaper, and your industry. If you’re thinking of entering, give yourself plenty of time to prepare your submission so that it best reflects your business.

Do your homework and make sure you put the key dates into your diary planner, so you’re not caught out filling out forms at the last minute.

Aside from awards, business wins are also great for getting publicity in trade magazines and business sections of newspapers. Whether you have secured a new supplier, stockist, partnership, export or major sale, make sure you capitalise on the opportunity to tell your story.

 Here are four quick tips on how to make the most of your win PR wise:

  1. Write a media release about your win – make sure you use a catchy heading, short sentences and include the key facts – what, why, how, when and where
  2. Pitch a story to your local paper – ­ local newspapers love community success stories, particularly if you have reached a wide audience.
  3. Promote your win by running a special event that re-enforces your business strength – for example if you have just won most €œeco-friendly business award€ think about staging a local recycling day or community tree planting initiative
  4. Promote your win on your website – whether you add a banner image on the homepage or a line to your ‘About Us’ section, or press clipping in your newsroom, promoting your win on your site adds to your business credibility.

Good luck!

PR Guru

PR Guru congratulates the winners of the 2010 AusMumpreneur Awards: Little Innoscents, Ems’ 4 Kids, Babyjo Bamboo, Koolaman Designs, b.box, Merendi Health & Wellness, Beautiful You, La Torianan and Tiny Tutus.

For more PR tips, press release writing, media database lists and more, visit www.prguru.com.au

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Tags:Australian business award, Australian Tourism Awards, awards, b.box, Babyjo Bamboo, Beautiful You, Best Eco-friendly business, business wins, Connect2mums, DIY PR, Emerging Entrepreneur, Ems' 4 Kids, Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the year award, event, Federal election, Koolaman Designs, La Torianan, Little Innoscents, media interest, media release, Merendi Health & Wellness, PR Guru, priceless publicity, Telstra Business award, Tiny Tutus, website, winning
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