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Crafting the Best Media Release

February 29, 2016 By Johanna Baker-Dowdell Leave a Comment
Image credit: https://unsplash.com/photos/wajusTqz_FI

Image credit: https://unsplash.com/photos/wajusTqz_FI

I’ve written and spoken about how to write media releases many times (I even give away a report to new subscribers to my newsletter). I thought it was about time to revisit the topic because it’s even harder to get noticed by the media now than ever before.

 

Journalists receive hundreds of emailed media releases every day so there must be something that makes yours climb to the top of this heap. I’ll share some ways to ensure this happens with you here.

 

Make is newsworthy

The opening of your store or book launch is newsworthy to you, but not necessarily to a journalist. The local media will most likely be interested in this story because their audience likes knowing what is happening in their area, but to appeal to national and industry media you’ll need to do some more work. Think about why you are opening the store in that location – are you responding to demand for a physical store in that suburb because people can’t find what they need online? Or is your book answering burning questions or providing information no other book does? Drill right down to what makes your news interesting to each segment of the media (Hint: each media outlet will have a slightly different idea of what newsworthy is.)

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Business PR Tagged With: crafting media releases, DIY PR, how to write a media release, media release, press release, small business pr, small business public relations

5 PR Hacks To Get Better Publicity for Your Business

April 30, 2015 By Johanna Baker-Dowdell 1 Comment
PR hacks for business

Image credit: Unsplash.com

Marketing your business can be hard work. When you’re not working in your business, you should be working on it, which means doing all things needed to make it tick along nicely and earn you a sustainable profit.

 

So in the interests of helping out fellow business owners who put their PR activity to the bottom of a very long to do list, I thought I might share some of my favourite PR hacks with you. These are a combination of tools websites and services I use to market client businesses, as well as my own, and I hope you pick up something that makes your life easier.

 

1. Social media – I’ve written extensively about using social media to promote your business here, here and here, to pick a few posts, because social media should always be part of your PR strategy. You don’t need to be across all platforms, in fact I actively dissuade clients from that approach, but picking two where your customers are and where you feel happy to share updates on a regular basis is enough.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Business PR Tagged With: business collaboration, business hacks, business marketing, DIY PR, Newswire, Photos, power of asking, PR hacks, PR Newswire, PR wire, public relations, small business pr, social media, SourceBottle, Unsplash

Using Video Marketing to Promote Your Business

September 26, 2013 By Johanna Baker-Dowdell Leave a Comment

I have been reading a lot about using video to promote small business recently so thought it was about time I got a bit more proactive with this medium. As you can see from my YouTube channel I have recorded video before, but not as much as I have written words to share information (the written word is my comfort zone after all).

 

So, here goes. I’ve recorded a 60-second clip on my phone for you about why video is good PR for your business.

 

And just to make sure you really got those tips, video works because:

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Business PR Tagged With: DIY PR, Johanna Baker-Dowdell, PR, publicity, Small Business Promotion, starwberry communications, video marketing

Put a rocket up your PR with the Make Me a Star program

November 4, 2012 By Johanna Baker-Dowdell Leave a Comment

Strawberry Communications founder and owner Johanna Baker-Dowdell has launched a six-week online group PR program to help business owners generate their own publicity.

 

When “…nearly 55% of stories analysed were driven by some form of public relations,” (Source: Crikey – Over half of your news is spin) business owners should be asking themselves if their stories fall into that category and, if not, what are they going to do about it, Johanna asked.

 

“If business owners aren’t selling their story to the media, their competition definitely is,” she explained.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Business PR, Latest News Tagged With: DIY PR, Johanna Baker-Dowdell, Make Me a Star, PR, publicity, put a rocket up your PR, small business pr, Strawberry Communications

Getting the Right Pitch

May 27, 2011 By Johanna Baker-Dowdell 8 Comments

I was a guest for an online chat with the savvy members of the AusMumpreneur Network on Wednesday night to speak about writing and pitching media releases. The questions posed by the business owners made me think about pitching to the media, so I wrote about it for this month’s newsletter.

Pitching a story to the media can be a nerve-wracking experience, especially if you hate making cold calls.

There are some techniques you can use to increase the chances of the media taking notice of what you have to say.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Business PR Tagged With: contacting journalists, contacting media, DIY PR, Media pitch, media release, pitching media releases, pitching to a journalist
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