Welcome to the PR Guru blog, an amalgam of fellow PR Guru’s commentary, musings, tips and resources specifically designed to demystify the publicity process so that you can generate your own media coverage.
PR Guru is the brainchild of Julie Morgan who established JMM Communications, a PRIA award winning agency in Melbourne some 25 years ago. Having worked with many industry associations in the tourism, food, health, arts and lifestyle areas she saw that many small businesses were missing out on getting valuable publicity for their business because outsourcing to a PR agency was beyond their reach.
www.prguru.com.au offers the same publicity tools that we use daily in our agency so that you can “DIY” and generate media coverage to build your brand, increase sales, bookings or attendance. We know many small business owners that have tread the DIY path and done it very successfully. Delia Timms, former owner of www.findababysitter.com.au says if she were to start out on her PR journey again, she’d have a Top 10 PR Steps with simple do’s and don’ts. For those like Delia who would like some simple tips on getting started read on:
If you’ve got a great story to tell chances are, the media will think so too. Here are six tips to ensure you are well prepared:
- Decide on what makes news in your business - for 39 ideas on what makes news in your business get our free tip sheet on our website
- Confirm your target audience - who do you want to attend your event, buy your product or use your services? Consider what secondary target audience you want to reach. Are there other stakeholders that you’d also like to make aware of your news to help spread the word?
- Who is your spokesperson? Every story needs a spokesperson that can be quoted in your press release and who is available 24/7 for media interviews. Who is your subject matter expert who is confident to present to the media? Consider also a third party that could also add strength to your story.
- Select your key messages - you’ve identified your news, now it’s time to think about the key messages that you want to get across to your target audience. Prepare a key message sheet with simple dot points starting with the: who, what, when where, how and why of your news. Secondary key messages may include general information about your business, achievements and operating hours. You only need a sentence for each.
- Prepare your story angles - think of 2-4 story angles that you can tailor for each media outlet as that’s when you’ll have most success when approaching a journalist or producer.
- Prepare your toolkit including “hero” photos. Accompany your press release with high quality photos that encapsulate your news. Having a selection of photos available increases the chances of your story being picked up. However, if it’s a service you’re offering consider a photo of the key people involved. Whilst it may not be picked up by the general media, it will be considered by your industry media.
If you want regular insights and updates on the Australian media scene, subscribe to Taboo our monthly newsletter which includes interviews with journalists and DIY PR Guru’s like Delia. Follow us on Twitter or Facebook for more immediate updates and resources, as it may be the first time that many of you are tapping into the power of social media.
* the tips above are taken from PR Guru’s DIY Publicity Guide: how to get priceless publicity to grow your business
Related Posts:
Tags: business, DIY PR, DIY Publicity Guide, media coverage, news, PR, publicity, publicity tools, target audience