Why Pr Matters City Of Chicago

© 2009 The Courage Group, Inc.

The Courage Group Story

• Story Begins/Ft. Worth

• E-Life Café

• Samsung

• Norm Bobins/LaSalle Bank

• Started Business in 2001

• 9/11

What Is Publicity?

• Free stories and news about you and your business in newspapers, magazines, radio, television etc.

• Getting attention without paying for it

• Most cost-effective way to get the word out

• Better than paid advertising

• Primary difference between advertising and publicity- advertising is paid, publicity is free

Get Free Publicity• Mandatory for new companies with no marketing

budget

• Helps build credibility and awareness of your service or product

• Start PR activities right from day one

• Helps close sales

• If you don’t “toot your own horn,” no one else will

Brand Building

• Advertising does not build a brand, publicity does

• Publicity first, then advertising

Key Publicity Benefits

• Boosts your company identity

• Boosts your company credibility

• Helps build strategic alliances

Boosts sales

• Low cost

Be The Very Best

• Regardless of what you sell or produce, be the absolute best at what you do

• Outstanding quality and exceptional service still matter

• Many successful companies will built on this principle- FedEx, Nordstrom, Virgin Airways etc

Devote Time For PR

• Mandatory for new companies with no marketing budget

• Helps build credibility and awareness of your service or product

• Start PR activities right from day one

• Helps close sales

• If you don’t “toot your own horn,” no one else will

Tip-Learn To Love Sales

• Don’t underestimate role of sales

• Business survival is based on signing up paying customers

• If you don’t have sales skills, either learn them or find someone who does

Big PR Successes

• Starbucks

• Amazon

• Yahoo

• PlayStation

• Red Bull

Microsoft

Blackberry

Body Shop

Donald Trump

Key Publicity Benefits

• Boosts your company identity

• Boosts your company credibility

• Boosts Sales

• Low cost

Best PR Strategy• Position yourself as expert in your

field

• Give talks, speeches/lectures

• Write articles

What Is The Media Looking For?

• A Good, newsworthy Story, period.

• Note-no personal relationship, no matter how strong, is going to get an editor to use your story that is not right for their publication etc.

Publicity Plan

Creating A Successful Release

• A good release may be used as a basis for a media report or to trigger a call from a reporter asking for more details, interviews, etc.

• Story has to be interesting, unusual, controversial, unique, unexpected or significant

Understanding News Releases

• Principal way to get on television, radio or in the press

• A news release is simply your news story, written in a journalistic style

• News editors only glance at headline-97% of rejections are made at this point

• National and major media are interested in one good thing-a good story

Covering The 5 W’s, 1 H

• Who will be doing the activity? It may be an individual, an organization or both

• What will they be doing? Activity or announcement?

• When will they be doing it?

• Where will event take place?

• Why are they doing it?

• How will they do it?

Issuing Your Release• Target appropriate media outlet

• National papers use national stories, or highly unusual local ones

• Local papers look for a strong angle

• Secure national coverage by stressing the scale or significance of your story

• For local press, look out for ways to identify and emphasize the local angle

Where Will Press Release Be

Sent?

• TV

• Radio

• Newspapers

• Magazines

• Internet

General Points

• Releases should be addressed to a specific person and/or news editor

• Editors don’t like company sales pitches or promotion, they like news only

• Faxes often go astray in big offices/use a dedicated fax number of the newsroom or relevant journalist

• No mumbo jumbo, jargon

• List your company’s experts, and areas of expertise for your target media

Feature Articles• Have a great headline

• Have a strong hook, story angle

• Write feature articles in:

• 3 Ways to…..

• Top 5 ways…..

• 6 Steps to….

• How to…in 4 steps

• Do’s and Don'ts….

Approaching The Media

• Phone calls are ineffective

• Email/fax is preferred method

• Goal is having media come to you

You Need Business Image

• Here is what you need before “pitching” the media:

• Website

• Logo

• Business cards

The Do’s & Don’ts

• Do be accessible

• Do return phone calls promptly

• Don’t let the pr firm do the talking for you and your company

• Do state name, name of the company upfront and at end of conversation

• Do be patient

• Don’t shop a story

• Do contact reporters/editors early in day, early in week, never on Friday (deadline day)

The Biggest Risk

• “The biggest risk that a entrepreneur has to face is internal. They have to decide that this is the one thing they want to do with their time and their life, more than any other thing.”

• Fred Smith/Founder, Chairman/CEO, Fed Ex Corp

Final Thoughts

• A final tip for business survival:be passionate, love what you do, be the very best at what you do

• Starting and building a great business, especially from scratch, is never easy

• Focus on marketing every day. Remember, nothing else matters unless you sign up customers/clients

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NeedEntrepreneurs need to be formally

organized EqualsOur Services

C & Subchapter S Incorporating Package

Entrepreneurs need to have a planBusiness Plan Writing

Packages/Reviews

Entrepreneurs need to have essential marketing materials

Business Image Package

Entrepreneurs need credibility, product/service awareness

Public Relations WritingPublic Relations Consulting

Entrepreneurs need to raise money Investor Presentation Writing

Entrepreneurs need sales/marketing help

Sales/Marketing Consulting