Publicity Hounds usually want to know how to graduate from local publicity to national publicity.
But sometimes, if you generate national publicity right out of the gate and you’re fairly new to self-promotion and DIY PR, you might not be able to figure out how to turn that big hit into local media coverage.
Easy. Write a press release and send it to your local media. (Subscribe to my free course on how to write and distribute press releases.)
TV stations probably won’t do anything with it unless you actually call the station and pitch a story that ties into the reason you got national coverage in the first place. Example: You’ve created a product that won a national award in your industry because it helps your target market solve a problem that, so far, no other product has solved.
Let’s say a big trade magazine publishes a story about you and your product. Simply write a press release stating that, and include a link to the article if it’s online. Send the article to local newspapers, your local business journals and business magazines, editors of newsletters for groups you belong to, and your alumni magazine.
Also send it to Patch.com, the luber-local site that covers 22 states in the United States, and the District of Columbia. See 6 tips for pitching Patch.com.
Then call your local TV stations and tell them about the award, and the product. If the product is unusual enough, they might cover it, even though business news isn’t a high priority for the local TV news.
Share the link on the social media sites, particularly on LinkedIn as a status update and within your industry groups.
Don’t forget to mention the article and link to it from your online press room at your website.
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