The Increasing Power of PublicityMedia Exposure -- And How It Can Benefit Your Business. Business Articles | June 5 Cheap Jared Dudley Jersey , 2007
The call came into my office and the voice on the other end was veryenergetic, almost giddy: "I have finalized my marketing budget andneed your help launching an advertising campaign for my new produc...


The call came into my office and the voice on the other end was veryenergetic, almost giddy: "I have finalized my marketing budget andneed your help launching an advertising campaign for my new product,"he breathed. "Congratulations Cheap Eric Bledsoe Jersey ," I replied, "but before we implement anad campaign, I want to make sure you have explored potential PUBLICITYopportunities that could generate some cost-efficient media exposurefirst." Then, silence. "I never thought about that Cheap Devin Booker Jersey ," he sighed."Frankly, I don't know much about it."He is not alone. It's a common conversation. Although manyentrepreneurs or business people know a bit about publicity or mediaexposure, the majority of them simply don't understand the fullbenefits of "publicity placements" or how to go about generating themsuccessfully. Publicity placements have always been a cost-efficientway to market a productbusiness and generate clients or customers,but because of lack of knowledge or a misunderstanding of whatpublicity is and does Cheap Marquese Chriss Jersey , many entrepreneurs don't take full advantage ofpublicity opportunities -- and that can lead to missed marketingchances.I recently surveyed a few dozen business owners and entrepreneurs insome newsgroups and business chat rooms about their knowledge of"publicity placements" in the media. I found out that only 37% knewthat a simple "product profile" in a magazine was generated as aresult of publicity efforts. Most thought the company had paid themedia outlet to run the feature, much like an ad. And of that 37%,less than half of them knew HOW to generate a similar placement.Another interesting fact, because of the recent slowdown in theeconomy Cheap Charles Barkley Jersey , expensive advertising budgets have been slashed. As a result,many businesses, like your competitors, are turning to publicityPRcampaigns as a more affordable means of marketing to compete withother companies. Here are some ways to use publicity placements tohelp your business:Editorial PlacementsMedia NotificationWhat some entrepreneurs might not realize is that we see editorialplacements from publicity efforts everyday in the media: productprofiles Cheap Grant Hill Jersey , feature articles and contributed by-lined articles inmagazines, newspapers, trade industry newsletters or on TVradiocablenewscasts & shows. This is not advertising, this is "EDITORIALPlacement" or "Media Notification" of a product Cheap Jason Kidd Jersey , business or industryexpert. Notify the appropriate media that your newsworthy product ison the market or your business is offering a unique new service andlet them run a feature placement that will spread that message to yourconsumer market. These placements can detail your product or businessvery effectively, giving consumers some objective, pertinentinformation that may well entice them to become future customers.These editorial placements are looked upon much more credibly than adplacements. That is not a slam on advertising. Paying for advertisingplacements is indeed an effective way to market your product. But thefact is, a positive editorial placement such as a product profile in amagazine or a newspaper can be much more persuasive than a glossy Cheap Shaquille O’Neal Jersey ,over-hyped advertisement - and a fraction of the cost. My point isthat editorial placements are an often time overlooked marketingvehicle for a business, and that entrepreneurs should understand thefull benefits of these placements to make the most of their marketingefforts.Editorial placements are a wonderfully reciprocal way for you and themedia to work together for the betterment of your business. The medianeeds to fill its pages and airtime with interesting information -- and you need to get the word out to your market. Research the mediamarket to find those media outlets and editorial contacts with whichyou can forge that mutually beneficial relationship. But you have todo your part and do it right - or the media will forge thatrelationship with your competitor. Make sure your media message issolid, contains newsworthy angles and isn't disguised as overlycommercialized ad copy. Have high-quality photos and media samplesavailable and do all you can to make the media's job of featuring yourproduct as simple as possible. It also helps to have some sort ofclipping service in place to track your placements and get you copiesso you can use them in your secondary marketing programs.Expert BrandingThis type of publicity placement generating takes advantage of theexpert knowledge within a particular business. It is an effective toolfor entrepreneurs whose businesses are more service related, likeconsultants or specialists. Expert branding basically treats theexpert like a product. Alert the media as to your expertise on aspecific topic and avail yourself to serve as an expert interviewresource for future articles or news feature segments. Additionally Cheap Steve Nash Jersey ,the expert should write a few brief articles on a specialized topicand make them available to editors for review and possiblepublication. The challenge of this type of publicity placement is thetedious task of finding out which outlets accept "expert editorialcontributions" or contributed by-lined articles in their publications.Again, it comes down to meticulously researching your media market tofind those media outlets that may be in need of the editorial contentthat you can provide them.With some creativity, expert branding can be effective forproduct-based businesses as well. One client of mine runs a fresh wildsalmon distribution business in the Pacific Northwest and was lookingto increase consumer awareness of his products. Based on his more than20 years of experience in the wild salmon h