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4 Tips For Entrepreneurs Who Want To Do Their Own PR

When you work for yourself and you're just starting out, it is often up to you to market your business and get it "out there".

Photo: Dina Behrman, London-based PR Coach; Source: Courtesy Photo
Photo: Dina Behrman, London-based PR Coach; Source: Courtesy Photo

When you work for yourself and you’re just starting out, it is often up to you to market your business and get it “out there”. One really effective way of doing this is to do your own PR, and get your business featured in newspapers, magazines and blogs.

But how do you go about doing that, without spending a fortune, or tearing your hair out? Here are my four secrets to doing your own PR when you work for yourself.

 

  1. Start with a plan.

    Before you do anything, spend some time planning your PR strategy. Think about what you want to achieve with your PR campaign, and the best way to get there. If you want to get in front of more of your ideal clients, you need to think about where they’re hanging out.

    Which newspapers do they read? Which magazines do they love? Which blogs do they subscribe to? Which TV and radio shows do they tune in to? Put together a list of your target media outlets, and look at the kinds of articles they’re running, and how you and your business could fit in with their content strategy.

  2. Work on your story.

    If you want to get the attention of journalists, you need to have a good story. Think about what your story is – is there something unique about you and your business? Do you have an inspiring tale to tell? Your story needs to be something newsworthy, that will make journalists want to feature you. Once you’ve hit on a story idea, put together a press release that gives journalists an overview of it.

  3. Connect with journalists or editors.

    When you’ve got your press release ready, you can send it out to journalists or editors. Never use a generic email address, instead you can find individual journalist details by looking through the publication, searching online or calling up the publication itself. Send the release via email, making sure you include your contact details so the journalist can easily get in touch with you if they want to write about your story.

  4. Capitalize on your coverage.

    You need to maximize every media opportunity, so when you get that media coverage, you should tell people about it. Post links to the article on social media, blog about it, and send a link to your email list. You can also put a link to it on your website, so that anyone visiting your site can see your media credentials.

 

This article has been edited and condensed.

If you’d like to get started doing your own PR, download your free Ultimate Press Release Kit.

Dina Behrman is a PR coach living in London, UK. A former journalist, she works with female entrepreneurs to help them make their businesses famous so they can reach more of their ideal clients, become the ‘go to’ expert, confidently raise their prices, and make more sales. Connect with @DinaBehrman on Twitter and Facebook.

 

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