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Publicity, public relations, and advertising

Publicity is free media exposure for your product or service. Public relations (PR) is the overall planning and strategy for dealing with the media. Advertising is paying to promote your product or service. Say, for example, you have a lemonade stand. Your PR strategy is to use word of mouth to promote your product. With the little extra money you have, you hire your brother to post flyers (advertising). In the mean time, a thirsty runner with no money jogs by and you give her a cool drink on the house. Because she’s the editor of your local paper, the next day your lemonade stand is prominently displayed on the front page. Business booms. That’s publicity.

Publicity is the art of convincing others to sing your praises for you at the same time you’re singing your own praises. You and others team up to tell the world who you are, what you do, and why it is so important. If the public doesn’t hear about you or your product or service, as Barnum pointed out, nothing will happen.

With advertising, those who purchase your service or product are your target customers. In publicity, the media is your target customer. One customer sold on your service or product equals one sale. One media representative sold can result in thousands of sales.

Jill Lublin is an internationally acclaimed speaker and best selling author of the books, Guerrilla Publicity and Networking Magic. She is the CEO of the strategic consulting firm Promising Promotion and founder of GoodNews Media, Inc. Jill hosts the nationally syndicated radio show Do the Dream, has a TV show called The Connecting Minute, and is working on her third book to be published by McGraw-Hill in 2008. She can be reached by phone at 415-883-5455 or by email at info@promisingpromotion.com.

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When you’re clear about your goals, you can explain them to others. If others understand what you need, they will be better able to help. The clearer you are about your goals the more likely you will be to create a plan that will accomplish them.

Before I attend meetings or events, I set goals. I decide what I would like to accomplish. Since meetings usually have specific agendas, I identify what I would like to achieve. Defining my goals helps me when I finally meet with people; it helps my focus by subconsciously keeping on track.

For events, my goals usually break down into three broad categories. In most cases, I want to either:

• Meet new people.
• Deepen existing relationships.
• Accomplish specific tasks.

Then, I set more specific goals, which I call my intentions. For example, if I go to a two-hour event, one of my intentions will be to meet three new people. If I plan to go to an event, where I know a lot of people, my intention may be to deepen my relationships with three people. Frequently, I have a number of intentions. They may be to meet new people, deepen relationships, accomplish specific tasks, or to generate a certain amount of business. In an hour and a half meeting connecting with three people is a realistic goal.

When you set goals to get referrals and build relationships, it’s easy to be diverted. Other opportunities frequently come up that look more promising. I find that I’m more successful when I create a plan, develop a strategy, and stick with it. For example:

Step 1: Define my targets. Identify who are the most likely people to buy my services.

Step 2: Select an approach. Send a post card to 50 potential customers informing them about may availability and the wonders my services can provide. I try to link my services to particular events of interest to them.

Step 3: Set targets. Try to connect with a specific number of people. If I attend an event, I make it my goal to meet and schedule meetings with 5 new prospects to discuss my services.

Step 4: Follow through. When they show interest, I promptly follow up because as time passes, they may not remember me. If I make and confirm appointments when I am still fresh in their minds, they are usually more responsive.

Creating strategy

When you attend a networking meeting or event, devise a clear strategy? whatever it is. Know exactly what you want to accomplish and create a plan to see it through.

In devising your strategy:

Reaffirm your objectives. Identify what you want to achieve in both the short and long term.

Set financial targets. Decide how much business you hope to generate from each meeting or event. If you don’t make financial projections, you can’t judge whether attending the meeting or event was successful.

Select your targets. Decide how many people you want to meet and what connections you wish to make. Then identify who they are. What you have in common with them?

Plan how you will approach them. Practice exactly what you plan to say until you can rattle it off in 10 to 15 seconds. Be direct, clear, and brief.

Have brochures, handouts, business cards, and other supporting materials to distribute. People are busy. Show concern for their time by giving them your card and materials as asking if you can call them to follow up.

Be able to expand on your 10 to 15 second opening if asked and to answer all questions.

Prepare specific questions that you can ask to start conversations. For example, “Why are you here? Is this the first time you have attended? Do you need or know of people who need a strategic business consultant? What other good networking events have you enjoyed?” To get specific referrals, be specific.

During events, look at name tags. Find out what kind of business is he or she in? Would this person be a good connection for you, your customers, clients, or people in your network? Besides looking for yourself, think who could help your customers, clients, and network members. Networking is a reciprocal arrangement: if you help others, they will usually help you. Frequently, you have to start the ball rolling by referring business to them. Usually, when you do it often enough, it pays dividends.

You never know what connections exist, how far people’s networks extend. So if, at an event, you see that someone who is a painting contractor, don’t automatically disqualify her. If you can’t connect directly through her business, you may fit with a member of her network. At an event, I actually met a painting contractor who was involved with an organization that was looking for speakers. We spoke, hit it off, and I was invited to speak to his group. So don’t make too many assumptions.

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2. Avoid BIG letterheads. They take up space on the page and can shout, “my message is weak, but look at my credentials.”

3. Type the press release on your stationery.

4. Name the contact. Skip a few lines below the letterhead and list the person to call for more information. Listing a home phone (or cell phone / beeper) in addition to the business number indicates your willingness to be helpful. It is best to have the contact someone else other than the President or owner of the business.

5. Provide release instructions. Either FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE or FOR RELEASE MONDAY JUNE 8TH. Do not leave too long a time, though, or your release will likely be buried or forgotten. If possible, leave off the date so you don’t become dated.

6. The headline should catch their attention, snappy without giving away the whole picture.

7. The first two words are the place where the story originates (city, state)…put it in parentheses and put three dots after.

8. Write concisely. The first paragraph should answer the 4W’s: who, what, where, and why.

9. The mechanics: Keep the release to one single page, if possible. If you need more than one page to complete the release put – “more” – at the bottom center of the page and be sure the pages are numbered. The succeeding pages should be “slugged” that is, tagged with an identifying headline or subject reference, for example: “ANOTHER GREAT SEMINAR – 2″.

10. When you reach the end of your press release, use either four # signs centered in the page or – END – centered in the page.

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To create solid connections, follow these suggestions:

Perfect your art. Deliver top quality. Do what you do excellently, as well as it can be done. “There is no substitute for quality,” T. Harv Eker states. If the quality you provide is outstanding, you don’t have to do lots of networking. People will network for you. They will tell others about you and recommend you. People love to refer others to those who provide the top quality.” It makes them look good.

Stick to the facts. It’s easy to exaggerate and promise more than you can deliver, but it doesn’t pay. Be honest. Connect with potential customers by telling them the results your goods and services have achieved. Better yet, document the results, put on demonstrations, and show them proof. Provide them with endorsements from satisfied customers; take them to sites to your goods or services in operation with other customers. Then explain to your prospects exactly how you can help them.

Don’t promise too much — especially if you may not be able deliver. Be completely honest. It’s better to lose a sale and stay on good terms with the prospect than to land the sale and subsequently alienate the customer. If your honesty costs you a deal, think of it this way: the customer may remember your truthfulness and call on you again. However, if you over-inflate or fail to deliver, your future with that prospect will be doomed, over, kaput. Plus, aggrieved customers tend to tell their friends about their dissatisfaction — especially when they feel they were intentionally deceived.

When you’re looking for business, offer your goods or services at an attractive price. Be fair and don’t gouge; build trust. Give potential customers a price incentive for giving you their business. When you have performed well for them, you can use them showcase to sell future customers. You will also have forged connections with satisfied customers who will give you repeat business and recommend you to others.

Ask satisfied customers to give you endorsements or letters of commendation. Have them write on their letterheads how excellently you performed. Post the commendations on your Web site, hang copies in your office, and keep them in a scrapbook that you can show potential customers. Insert them in your brochures and sales materials.

Jill Lublin is the author of two national best selling books, Guerrilla Publicity (which is considered the PR bible and is used in university marketing courses), and Networking Magic (which went to #1 at Barnes and Noble).  She is a renowned strategist and international speaker.  As the CEO of the strategic consulting firm, Promising Promotion, Jill has created successful techniques that implement bottom line results.

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Here’s a few ways you can make the numbers game work for you:

Press releases: the best part about free publicity.

The media wants and expects press releases. Send them hot relevant stories and they’ll love you. They can publish your press release in part or whole. Radio and TV producers are reached through your headline, while print publishers may actually read your press release. Compose lively, one-line headlines that will make them continue reading. Use subheadings or bulleted items to provide snapshot information at a glance.

Media lists: your gateway to the stars.

Media lists are databases containing information about the people and organizations that can help promote you. Start your own media list manually including the names of every person who is even remotely associated with the media. Gather media information from online services (more reliable than print) and keep them up-to-date.

Follow up, follow up, follow up.

Contact your media list — often and consistently. Take initiative by striking early and often. Be a persistent- but in a warm, friendly way. The key is to always follow up and capitalize on any news developments, keeping your name on top.

Media kits: when less is more.

Media kits are ideal as a way to follow a press release. Once you’ve generated some interest have a kit ready to go. Include everything they want to know: your company history, personal biography, a list of suggested questions, articles, brochures, a quality photo, endorsements and testimonials, and even a few giveaways.

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Your relationships are your most valuable asset. Because you’re in business for the long haul, your best business will come from your best relationships. When building relationships, think in terms of:

Campaigns, not ads
Careers, instead of jobs
Decades, rather than days, months, or years

You do business with the people who have taken the time to get to know you, understand your needs, and provide you what you need even before you think you need it! Remembering that the media is your customer, take the “concierge approach” to building relationships with them. Offer information, sources, access to your contacts, and fresh stories and ideas. Thank them more than they thank you and always give them more than they expect. Your appreciation will always be welcome and will pay you big dividends.

Take every opportunity to say who you are, what you do, and how what you do can help others. Don’t be shy about making yourself highly visible. In fact, you’d be well served by building your entire marketing plan around publicity. Begin your campaign months in advance of the introduction of your product or service and blitz the media with persistence.

All your relationships are built on trust.

Say what you mean and mean what you say. You must truly believe in whatever you publicize. Believe with all your heart that:

What you’re promoting will change the world
Your promoting it will make a difference
You know more about it than virtually anyone else

Jill Lublin is an internationally acclaimed speaker and best selling author of the books, Guerrilla Publicity, Networking Magic and Get Noticed…Get Referrals (McGraw-Hill, June 2008) . She is the CEO of the strategic consulting firm Promising Promotion and founder of GoodNews Media, Inc. Jill hosts the nationally syndicated radio show Do the Dream and hosts the TV program called Messages of Home. She can be reached by phone at 415-883-5455 or by email at info (at) promisingpromotion.com.

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Your starting point to build guerrilla publicity is to know who you are, know what you want & sing your praises often.

Know who you are.

You are the product regardless of what product or service you provide. People trust the familiar and if they are familiar with you, they will be more likely to purchase your product or service. For this to happen, you must know and believe in yourself, your products, or your services.

Position yourself as an expert by persistently selling yourself. This is most easily accomplished with a ten to fifteen second sound bite that proclaims precisely who you are, what you do, and why you make a difference. Succinct statements make a powerful impression and gets people’s attention. Be ready to explain exactly how your product or service will benefit your listener.

Know what you want.

Opportunities won’t just come knocking on your door; you have to make them happen! Luck is made by having a clear purpose, achievable goals, and by taking consistent and persistent action. Publicity starts from within. Clearly identify your purpose and objectives and lay out a precise plan on how you will achieve those objectives. Capitalize on your strengths to meet precisely the right people at the right time.

Sing your praises often

The most obvious signs of your expertise are that your customers keep coming back, pay what you charge, and recommend you to others. Ask for a written or verbal testimonials then broadcast that testimonial everywhere you can. If you’re doing a seminar or workshop, ask people who’ve heard you before to share their experiences publicly. If you’re good, you’ll get good publicity.

However, that’s where self-promotion can be tricky. One bad experience can ruin your reputation, so you’d better consistently deliver on your promises. Self-promotion based on assumptions, exaggerations, or lies will bury you at the speed of the Internet.

How do you position yourself as an expert?

Jill Lublin is an internationally acclaimed speaker and best selling author of the books, Guerrilla Publicity, Networking Magic and Get Noticed…Get Referrals (McGraw-Hill, June 2008) . She is the CEO of the strategic consulting firm Promising Promotion and founder of GoodNews Media, Inc. Jill hosts the nationally syndicated radio show Do the Dream and hosts the TV program called Messages of Home. She can be reached by phone at 415-883-5455 or by email at info (at) promisingpromotion.com.

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The problem today is the level of anxiety, fear, and uncertainty. It seems that society and individuals as a whole are feeling less hope. Messages of Hope is a full-day conference, Saturday February 5^th in Los Angeles at the Radisson Hotel,  6225 W. Century Blvd. This event features four inspirational speakers as well as in-depth interviews conducted by Jill Lublin with extraordinary people who’ve overcome challenges, inspired others, and have Messages of Hope to share. 

Be elevated by the profound and healing perspectives of inspirational leaders such as Bill Bauman, PhD, noted psychologist, speaker and best-selling author of Soul Vision.

Be encouraged by the challenges and triumphs of such self-made individuals as Loral Langemeier, known as ‘the millionaire maker’ and the founder of Live Out Loud.

Become energized about the future through the contagious optimism of inspirational dynamos such as Peggy O’Neill, life-coach, diversity trainer, and certified psychotherapist, or Cynthia Kersey, author of the best-selling book Unstoppable.

(Note: this is only a partial list. For the complete list of speakers and their biographical sketches, visit http://messagesofhope.biz/)

“It’s an important time to give people inspiration and hope. This is my purpose for doing the conference, to touch people’s hearts and uplift their spirits,” says Jill Lublin, conference promoter/presenter. Jill is the author of three best-selling books including Guerrilla Publicity (Adams Media), Networking Magic (Adams Media), and Get Noticed…Get Referrals (Mcgraw-Hill). Jill has helped thousands of people get their messages heard, and is an international speaker on how to be influential.

This event provides a forum where conversations of hope and possibility are shared and expressed, and people engage with new focus on the ability to see and co-create a new future with confidence and joy. It will be a full day of laughing, singing, learning, and connecting.

Early-bird registration is $67 per person, or two for $97.

For more information or to register: http://messagesofhope.biz/

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