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By Joan Stewart
The Publicity Hound
Even if your firm doesn’t have a big
marketing budget, there are dozen of tips, tricks and tools you can use
to let people know who you are and how you can help them.
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Write articles for newspapers and
magazines explaining how people can solve an accounting problem, save
money on taxes, or run their businesses more efficiently. See
How to Write How-to Articles for Newspapers, Magazines and Trade
Journals.
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Reprint articles in which you are
quoted and include them with proposals you are submitting to clients.
Also take the articles to seminars and conferences you attend.
See Special Report #13: How to Recycle Your Publicity
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Frame newspaper articles about you
and hang them in your lobby for visitors to see.
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Ask your employees to submit ideas
for media articles about your firm. Turn it into a contest. The
employee who comes up with the most creative story idea wins a pair of
movie passes. If the media use the idea, throw in dinner for two.
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Write a tip sheet ("10 Ways to
Save Money on Taxes") and submit it to newspapers and magazines. See
Special Report #16: How to Write Tip Sheets That Catch the Media's
Attention.
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When someone gets a front-page
story in the local newspaper, and you’re wondering how they did it,
call them and ask. Then do what they did.
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Set a goal of meeting one new
media contact in your community each month. See
Secrets of Perfect Pitching to Reporters
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If you do public speaking, offer
to write a short article summarizing the speech for the group’s
newsletter. See
Special Report #21: 67 Great Publicity Tips for Professional Speakers
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Give an annual “media award” to
the media outlet that does the best job covering the accounting
industry.
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Post favorable media stories
written about you at your web site. See
Special Report #17: Powerful Ways to Promote Your Website to Draw
Traffic & Boost Sales
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Use a signature file at the end of
your e-mail messages to let people know what you do for a living and
how you can help them. Most e-mail software programs allow you to
create a signature file that includes information such as your
address, phone and fax numbers and a motto or tagline.
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If your Rotary Club or local
chamber of commerce is inviting someone from the media to speak to
your group, be sure to sit at their table and get to know them better.
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Compile an “experts list” for the
media. The list should include names and phone numbers of people in
your firm and their topics of expertise. Send copies to local and
national media and post it at your web site.
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Visit the web site of the
newspaper or magazine where you want coverage. You might find
contests, special offers, guest books or other features designed to
let them find out more about you.
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Post your web site address
everywhere—in brochures and on business cards, on bumper stickers, on
promotional products such as mugs and towels, in print ads, in
business directories and in other people’s newsletters.
See Special Report #17: Powerful Ways to Promote Your Website to Draw
Traffic & Boost Sales.
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When a reporter interviews you for
a story or you are a guest on a local radio shows ask “Who else do
you know who might be interested in knowing about me?” Reporters and
radio talk show hosts often have valuable contacts in other markets.
See Special Report #27: How to Get Booked on Radio Talk Shows, Give a
Great Interview and Get Invited Back
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Every time you get publicity in a
statewide or national publication, send a news release to your local
newspaper or magazine. See
The Do-it-Yourself Press Release Makeover: How to Turn a So-so Release
Into a Wildly Successful One.
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Consider hosting your own TV show
on your cable TV station’s public access channel.
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Donate your time and services for
local charitable groups and let the media know.
Need More Publicity Help?
If you like all those ideas but
would rather hire a publicist to help you implement them, see
How to Hire
the Perfect Publicist, an 85-page ebook that walks you step-by-step
through the entire process. Includes 307 tips on where to find the
perfect publicist, questions to ask during the interview, the advantages
and disadvantages of the four types of billing methods, how to help your
publicist help you, and a handy chart that will help you rank your final
candidates. Read this ebook before you waste thousands of dollars on the
Publicist from Hell who will take your money and ruin your reputation.
Downloadable, so you can be reading it in minutes.
Direct comments or questions
about this article, including requests for reprint rights, to:
Joan Stewart
The Publicity Hound
3930 Highway O
Saukville, WI 53080-1330
Phone: 262-284-7451
JStewart@PublicityHound.com
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