No time for dilly-dally today.
Let’s jump right into Tightwad Marketing Secret #2:
PR is, IMHO, the ultimate marketing strategy.
Nothing else even comes close.
Why?
Because media publicity (when done right) will inoculate you — like a vaccine — against the rising tide of consumer skepticism and competing advertising.
And literally make you a “celebrity” overnight.
It’s true.
Once you get on the radio, on the TV or in the newspapers, you automatically become an instant celebrity — with the implied endorsement of the media.
And like it or not… in today’s “celebrity-obsessed” culture, people shower celebrities with WAY more attention, respect and money than they do “experts.”
Plus, here’s another biggie:
Media publicity gives you some extremely powerful “ready made” marketing pieces prepared for you — free.
These take the form of newspaper (or magazine) articles, radio interviews and TV interviews.
And make no mistake about it:
Copies of these articles and interviews are FAR more effective than any “advertising” you can write yourself or hire some hotshot copywriter to do for ya.
Instead of being easily-ignored “sales pitches” — they are informational articles (which happen to sell your products and services if you know how the “game” is played when you talk to reporters).
Plus, think of the power your ad will have when you put media quotes in it.
It’s one thing to read a testimonial from Joe Blow in Jerkwater Heights, IL.
It’s quite another to read a quote from a New York Times reporter.
More:
When you know how to use them, these media pieces are “timeless.”
You can use them forever — and for ANYTHING you sell.
Frankly, it doesn’t even matter if what you’re selling is directly related to your media stories.
Just saying you’ve been featured in USA Today or been on dozens of talk shows gives you an air of credibility and “star power” your competition can’t touch with a 10 foot pole.
Finally… media publicity is cheap.
It only costs a “whopping” 6 cents per fax if you use a service like JBlast.com.
You can send 1,000 press releases for $60!
All it takes is ONE of those 1,000 to give you that coveted “celebrity positioning” in your market.
And (of course) you’ll get lots of sales, traffic and leads, too.
Happens all the time.
And hey, if you’re REALLY a tightwad, and 6 cents is too much, you can use a website like RadioGuestList.com to find online talk shows and contact them by email.
I just did this recently for my dog book, and will soon be on an Internet talk show heard by some 10,000 people.
Think I’ll be able to sell a few books to an audience that big?
Anyway, so that’s Tightwad Marketing Secret #2: Media publicity.
I can’t recommend it enough.
Ben Settle
P.S. There is one little “snag” about publicity:
In order to use it, you MUST know how to write a press release. Trying to get the media to interview you without a press release is like trying to get a job interview without a resume.
It just ain’t gonna happen.
In Appendix 11 of my upcoming Copywriting Grab Bag book, I walk you step by step through writing a press release using an extremely successful press release I wrote as an example — complete with the actual press release itself for you to model.
Anyway, it should be ready within the next 30 days (hopefully).
If you want to be notified when it’s released, go to:
