Press releases can be a free way to promote your business and to get press coverage. But that’s not the only reason to write a press release.

Actually the old practice of writing a press release and sending it out to EVERY reporter in America is quickly becoming the LEAST important reason to write one. Currently, most reporters public E-mail addresses could be better referred to as ‘spam ovens’- They direct the thousands of unsolicited press releases they get daily and search their E-mail box when they are looking for a release about a story they are writing anyway. So unless your release is particularly topical, don’t count on it ever being read.

So if you aren’t writing a press release for the media, who are you writing it for? You should be writing it for the ‘public’ in public relations. Increasingly, press releases you release online are picked up by Google, which aggregates the information and lets you talk about you- just do it in a reporter’s ‘factual’ manner, rather than a salesman’s elevator pitch.

A website with some great sample press releases to emulate is:

http://toolkit.prnewswire.com/publicityinsider/samplereleases.shtml

You will soon notice in reading the good and great press releases that great press releases almost never feature the story of the business, they feature the story that the business just happens to play a part in. So NEVER make the story only about your business. Talk more about how your business is changing your community, region, country or world, and less about how great your customer service is. For example: A good press release would talk about how your self-storage company is organizing a coat drive for underprivileged people, and spend less time (none is fine) about why people might want to store their coat at the self storage facility instead.

There is an established format for writing a press release, and a great tool for that is John Jantch’s Instant Press Release writer: It will get all the formatting and structure down for you automatically.

http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/InstantPress-Release.htm

Now that you have your press release written, we need folks who are looking for it to receive it.

If you think your press release is very topical and has broad importance, you might still want to release a mass press release to the media- PRWeb.com is a good premium solution for doing so. But I would only suggest doing so if you think that at least 50 reporters around the country are likely to search their in-boxes for your exact topic. Ergo, I don’t suggest this for economic reasons for most press releases.

In general, you are best off finding the local reporters who cover a beat similar to yours and Mailing (yes, no E- I mean old fashioned- postal) them an individualized pitch letter on why your news is ‘news-worthy.’ Try to make it as relevant to the reporter as possible, and a useful best practice is to ghost write the story for them. Make sure your letter has a link to the electronic version of your press release, and try to E-mail them the letter a day after you Postal mail the story pitch. In your pitch, do remember that most journalists don’t care one bit about your business, so do NOT make that your primary pitch.

As for releasing your ‘press release’ to Google:
www.Pitchengine.com
is a free site worth using, though there are many other free and nearly free sites that Google scans.

Want more great information?

Read David Meerman Scott’s
“The New Rules of Public Relations” E-Book: http://www.davidmeermanscott.com/documents/New_Rules_of_PR.pdf

The Key Links Again:
Good Examples:

http://toolkit.prnewswire.com/publicityinsider/samplereleases.shtml

Press Release Generator:
http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/InstantPress-Release.htm

To Release your Release:
www.pitchengine.com

http://blog.bplans.com/2010/01/18/are-you-a-small-business-owner-who-suffers-from-promotional-panic/

If you WANT to better understand how to be a person of value

If you ever wondered why the system of Good Grades -> Good College -> Good Company -> Good Life has nearly completely broken down

If you Have a ‘Job’ and are worried about loosing it

If you have a ‘Job’ and are worried about loosing it- mentally out of boredom with said job

I’ve enjoyed all of Seth’s previous books, and after reading lynchpin, I believe that this is the most significant book he’s written since permission marketing. Is what he talking about brand new? Not quite- but it IS explained and connected far better than I’ve yet to see the new economy and what the new ‘middle class’ is all about.

Social Media Pro

Wednesday, January 13th at 10  AM  Randy will be doing a webinar called “Social Media Pro”  How to Use Social Media to effectively and simply for business.

Please Login to: https://webmeeting.dimdim.com/portal/JoinForm.action?confKey=randyaimone

And call 702-473-3463;

Pass code: 726392#

7 Steps to Small Business Marketing Success

(Re-Scheduled from January 15th)

Friday, January 22nd at  Noon (EST)  Randy will be doing a webinar called “Social Media Pro”  How to Use Social Media to effectively and simply for business.

Please Login to: https://webmeeting.dimdim.com/portal/JoinForm.action?confKey=randyaimone

And call 702-473-3463;

Pass code: 726392#

Small Business Marketing Success

On Thursday, January 28th at Noon, Randy will be presenting Small Business Marketing Success at the Southern Dutchess Chamber of Commerce at 7:30.  Space for this seminar is going fast, so please register for this seminar by clicking here , or calling Maria at (845) 296-0001.

There is a $20 charge for non-members.

The holiday season is a time we all think more about giving: we spend much of our time and money shopping for our loved ones, make sure our business holiday card lists are all in order, donate money or items to charities, and tip any number of service and delivery people. The holiday parties and mixers are a good time to start thinking about giving more to create strategic alliances.  I want to make a case that one of the most valuable gifts YOU can give is the gift of trust.

Finding a natural peer group

Strategic alliances are about cooperation over competition, so finding the right peer group should be your first priority. What businesses serve the same customer base as yours, without necessarily competing for the same customer dollars? For example, an attorney whose practice focused on real estate transactions, wills and estates may find attorneys in complementary specialties (such as business and corporate law) at local bar association meetings. He or she may develop relationships through service organizations such as the Rotary, where the members come from different fields but share common interests. Holiday parties hosted by clients are another excellent place to make new business acquaintances who aren’t likely competitors.

In any networking situation, ask open-ended questions that encourage others to speak about themselves and their businesses- the more unusual the question, generally the better answers you will get, and the better conversations you will have. Try to listen more than you speak, and make a note to follow up with anyone of interest. Don’t let the conversation last much longer than ten minutes, and of course, be sure to have a clean hand free to shake with. If possible, make an introduction to someone else that your new acquaintance may find of interest.

Planting seeds of trust

Introductions to potential business allies are only the first step. The seeds of trust must be planted, and this is where a giving nature will shine. It’s not easy to develop trust without assuming some level of risk – why wait? Be the one to take those first steps. Take the risk by investing trust in your new strategic partner – chances are, he or she will appreciate it and work hard to deserve it. Pay it forward by recommending his or her services, making an introduction, or otherwise giving them a chance to prove themselves.

Being the person to start the process of trust puts you in a position to receive the most out of the relationship, as well. One way to make the overture is to talk about business processes – you probably won’t be sharing any deep, dark secrets – in fact, you may be surprised how similar your processes are to those of businesses in related industries. Exchange ideas that have worked for you, and identify areas that could benefit from sharing costs. You don’t necessarily need to be sharing costs with a strategic partner, but recognizing similar needs can make it easier to develop an even stronger business relationship over time.

Walking the walk

Aim One Marketing needs strategic partnerships just as any other business does, so I’ll use us as an example of building those types of relationships with a giving mindset. I’ve been searching for a sales trainer to do follow-up sales support and training for some of my students in my marketing classes. Sales and marketing are intertwined enough that I often have a lengthy discussion in class about the role of each in a business. I’ve given plenty of sales trainings myself, and I’m at least passingly familiar with all of the popular sales systems, but sales training isn’t my focus, nor real expertise, and having someone on my team that I trust to focus on that particular skill set would be a big value added for my clients.

So when I’m introduced to someone with these skills, are we more likely to benefit from fear or trust? I’ve been looking to add a strong, competent and trustworthy sales trainer to my ‘team’ for quite a while now, preferably locally. Many successful sales systems can be a great fit with the Duct Tape Marketing philosophies.  I also know there are many sales systems that are packed with information that’s contradictory to the philosophy that I share, causing unneeded confusion for everyone involved.  So here’s the question- if you are unwilling to trust a potential strategic partner enough to share an overview of your system, how can you ever hope to develop enough trust to form a mutually beneficial strategic alliance relationship?

This isn’t to say that one should always open one’s books and proprietary information to strangers – always use common sense. If you have a genuine “bad vibe” about someone, or you have reason to believe that he or she does not share your business ethics, then there is no reason to consider doing business together. Being willing to give doesn’t mean being blind to danger – but it does mean being willing to give up blind fear.  It is nearly impossible to be trusted for long unless you make the effort to trust others first.

So in the spirit of the holidays try giving the gift of trust, and see how much your business grows in return.

http://www.2checkout.com/community/blog/2checkout-blog/e-commerce/when-your-brand-overtakes-your-message

The investment if you are one of the first 4 people to  register is $399 and is $499 thereafter, and  the cost per seat will be $599 for the classes beginning after January 1st.  Registration is limited to 8 people.

Find out more about the Program here

The dates of this class are:

December 3rd – Creating a Social Media Strategy

December 10th- Optimizing Brand Assets

December 17th- Blogging for Business

January 7th- Social Networking and Networks

January 14th Managing the ‘Beast’

These Sessions will be held via webinar from your own comfy chair.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/ebusiness/webmetricscolumnist/article204100.html

The Class Schedule is:

January 5th: The 7 Steps to Small Business Marketing Success

January 12th : The Marketing Hourglass, what it is and how to use it to close more business consistently

January 19th  Your positioning statement

January 26th  “Branding- what it really is, and really isn’t/ Getting your unique message across

February 2  Marketing Kits- How and why to build and use them to help you close business

February 9 Marketing Kits part 2:

February 16  Advertising- How to create ads that generate qualified and interested prospects

February 23- Public Relations: How to get the public to see you as the expert you are.

March 2 Generating a Referral Flood

March 9  Harnessing the Internet

March 16 Getting your website found.

March 23- Snow Make up Date

And 2 One-on-One sessions during the class to help implement the lessons learned into your organization.

This is an intense version of the course designed for contractors who have very slow business during winter, and are looking to gear up and be ready for Spring.

The investment is $500 down, and  $250/month for 11 months.  And Satisfaction is completely guaranteed, or I’ll offer a 100% refund- No BS, no nonsense.