Press Release Planning

If you want to make 2012 a year where you become the recognized expert in your field, you need to get your name out there. But how can you do that when you have limited resources to spend?

Think about using publicity.

And you CAN do it. It merely takes time – and a strategy. Review the seven steps to creating your own publicity plan:

1. Determine who your target market is. It may be more than one, but your audience is not everyone. A good way to find out is look at who presently buys your product or service and create a profile of them.

2. Select strategies you will use for each market. They can include::

* Speaking/workshops
* Press releases
* Articles
* Ezines or print newsletter
* Letters to the editor
* Postcards
* Networking events
* Blogging
* Podcasting/Videos
* Social Media

3. Create a measurable goal for each strategy. How many speaking engagements do you want each quarter? How many releases will you send out each month?

4. Write down several topics or themes. Create at least one for every goal you set. For example, if you are a parenting coach, themes could include: working from home with kids, toddler tantrums, and fun family ideas.

Cherry-picked tip: Focus on themes and relate them to what products and services you have to offer. Using the example of one of the parenting coach themes: fun family ideas, you could hook it into a class or product about how to get your child ready for summer vacation or for a trip.

5. Discover how to do each of the strategies by researching. There are hundreds of articles and tips on each PR strategy on the web, including at my site http://shannoncherry.com. All will assist you implement your plan better.

6. Arrange time each week to work on your goals and strategies. Research shows that a small business needs to spend about 20% of its time marketing. And if you’re a new business it’s more like 50%.

7. Check your progress every three months to evaluate and tweak if necessary. You may find that some strategies aren’t working well, and others are really paying off. This way you can discard what ineffective and change your focus, if you need to.

Publicity planning keeps businesses from going under when the economy is weak, and gets them ahead of their competitors when sales begin picking up.

Be doing this at the begining of each year, you’re more apt to get the visibility – and credibility you want, and as a result increase your sales.