I have secured TV appearances, national newspaper articles, radio interviews and local media attention for my clients via SourceBottle call outs – and you can do the same.

Starting in Australia and now operating nationally, SourceBottle is an introduction service for journalists, bloggers, PR companies and businesses. By this, I mean journalists and bloggers post call outs for sources on a particular topic and business owners (or their PR agents) respond, offering their stories.

It really is that easy to use. Go to www.sourcebottle.com.au and sign up for an account, register the areas your business operates in that you are likely to be able to provide good comment on and then wait for the call outs to drop into your inbox. SourceBottle Drink Up alerts are sent out at around 10am and 2pm every week day, but you can also log on to the site, or check the SourceBottle Twitter feed and Facebook page and respond directly if you don’t want to wait.

Once you find a call out you think you’d be right for, use these tips for a great SourceBottle response:

• Read Drink Up and reply as soon as you can, as journalists and bloggers often don’t wait for other responses once they have what they need

• Ensure you read the call out carefully so you know what you are responding to. You don’t want to start your relationship with the journalist or blogger badly by wasting their time

• Address the journalist or blogger by name if they have included it in the call out

• Outline why you would be suitable, addressing each of the points mentioned in the call out. You don’t need to write a novel, dot points covering the topic are often preferred

• Respond even if you’re not exactly the right fit, because you still may be the best option, or the journalist or blogger might change their story idea if they like what you send. However, keep in mind if your response is not relevant in any way it will not help your bid for publicity

• Include your website in the body of your response so the journalist or blogger can find out more about your business if they need to

• Add contact details at the bottom of your response, making it easy to get back to you

• Attach a photo or media release if it adds to your response

• Check your spelling and facts before pressing send

• Remember if you get no response, there’s always tomorrow’s SourceBottle alerts

Good luck uncovering some great opportunities for yourself and your business. Let me know how you go.

Advertising works better for some businesses than others, but as a public relations practitioner I tend to advise my clients to use advertising sparingly.

Using PR to get your message across can be much more effective in terms of cost, but also as a branding tool. Think about this question: what do you believe more – an ad you see or hear, magazine, or the bylined article or news piece next to the ad written or spoken by one a journalist?

Sending the information to key journalists in the media sector your customers read, watch and view adds legitimacy to your product or service.

Consumers will usually believe a third party’s endorsement of your product or service, before an ad. The down side of this relationship is that the journalist can choose to use as much or as little of the information as you send, and in whichever way they want.

You might be one of several similar businesses profiled in the same article, or you might hit the jackpot and have the whole article or piece devoted to your business.

If you don’t want to leave your marketing message to chance you can always book an advertisement and ask for editorial space in return – an advertorial. Most media outlets have an advertorial policy. They support advertisers with newsworthy information, such as a new company or new product information.