That big story the media pursue each day is what I call Topic A. And even if it doesn't seem to have anything to do with financial planning, it often lead to huge media visibility for you. Often, Topic A has a controversial element, such as when tax cuts or Social Security is being discussed. The last thing that you want to do is pick sides on a controversial issue--unless you want to cut your prospect base in half by offending 50% of the audience. But as an independent expert providing objec More..

Financial Planners Publicity - Dont Wait, Media Folks Want Your Free Publicity

Looking to get your name into a magazine? You need to be thinking ahead--way ahead. Magazines start planning their issues as much as six months before their publication date. In January, when you are muttering about the expensive heating bill, magazine writers are penning tips about staying cool. In June, while you lie on the beach, they are researching the hot new Christmas toys. If you call a magazine reporter in March with tax tips for April 15th, they will be more than a little bit annoyed More..

Two Donts for Financial Planners Seeking Free Publicity

Many of my clients have had the misguided perception that they won't be able to get media coverage from a publication that their larger competitors advertise in. Nothing could be further from the truth. Most respectable publications erect a wall separating advertising and editorial (news/feature) coverage. Reporters and editors are specifically instructed to not give preferential treatment to advertisers. It's one of the first things you learn in Journalism 101. Many larger publications are so More..

Publicity - How to Write a Headline That Will Garner Free Publicity

Taking your ad and turning it into paragraph-style prose is not a press release - chances are it will only lead the publisher to call and invite you to run it as a paid ad. A press release is for news or for information about a topic the audience needs to know. Any press release that reads too much like an ad will likely lead a media person to forward it to the advertising department. For example, here's a headline that sounds too much like an ad: "Financial Planner Chet Thompson Saved Famili More..

Publicity - Tips on Dealing With the Media

You thought of it, you researched it, you wrote it. So you own your story. At least you do until you send it to the media. At that point, they are free to do whatever they want with the information you gave them. Your job from then on: control and communicate it to the maximum. Offer new information if you find it. Steer them to resources that may help them flesh out the story. Assure them that you will be available for follow-ups, day or night. But they own the media outlet. Their job: creat More..

Publicity - How To Get Your Story on Television

A press release telling about "Stevie, the Water-Skiing Squirrel" will never get that talented mammal on the TV news. But that same press release, accompanied by video of Stevie jumping over mini-ramps in an inflatable pool, will make the news 99 days out of 100. Words on paper or screen alone do not make a TV story. If you want to crack the TV news or the talk shows, you must demonstrate that you have a "visual." A visual is the images or video that accompanies the words. TV needs something More..

Marketing-Minded Financial Planners: Get Free Publicity by Choosing the Right Outlets

Sure, any publicity is good. But don't invest time and effort to be in "Lucky: The Magazine for Shopping" if your major topic is planning for college. Go where your market is! Which media outlets are the best for you? Easy answers - and the Home Run of publicity - include national giants like CNN and The Wall Street Journal. These outlets reach millions of people...and they also have thousands of publicity-hungry folks constantly badgering them for coverage. Your prospects can also be found th More..

Publicity: Polls and Surveys Are a Great Path Free Publicity

When I search Google News for "surveys," I get nearly 50,000 results. When I search for "stocks," I get about 54,000. The media love polls and surveys. Here are just a few headlines in the news as I write this, generated directly from surveys: Survey: CEOs cut expectations of economy Survey: Israelis more depressed, anxious than Western Europeans Survey shows farmers aware of soybean rust As you can see, surveys are used for just about any industry. Why not yours? If you're the expert on ban More..

Three Publicity Tips for Marketing-Minded Financial Planners

Financial planners, the first thing to know about reporters is this: they are busy. Often, they are too busy to read a press release, too busy to wait for you to call back, too busy to find the "best" resource. This leads to three tips for marketing-minded financial planners. When a reporter calls - move quickly A reporter calls you. Great! Now what? Just remember this tip: media people rate you as a resource on strange criteria, such as - how fast you call them back. If you don't call swiftl More..

Go Ahead, Marketing-Minded Financial Planners, Call a Reporter

Yes, you can call a reporter. I've said it before, in dozens of articles and presentations to financial planners looking for free publicity. Hopefully now you're getting comfortable with the idea. Go on. Pick up the phone. Reporters and newspeople are human beings like the rest of us. They can, and do, take phone calls. Just be ready with a couple of useful story ideas - about your topic and expertise, not about you - and chances are they'll listen. A great phone opening to use with busy rep More..

Publicity - What to Say to a Reporter

You can have dozens of marvelous ideas to get free publicity, but nothing will happen unless you pick up the phone and call a reporter. Here's where the publicity game gets interesting for marketing-minded financial planners. You've been tracking reporters - you know who covers your topics. You've been tracking Topic A's and trends affecting your market. You're ready! When you call a reporter, you're going to say something like: "Hi, Bob. I'm Stephanie Smart, and I am a financial planning con More..

Financial Planners Get Free Publicity With Email

In previous articles for marketing-minded financial planners, I've discussed what to say to a reporter over the telephone. However, if you are phone-shy or time-challenged, it's better to send an email than to do nothing. Many reporters favor e-mail anyway, so use it. Call the media outlet or check its staff listing to get the reporter's email address. Sometimes reporters email addresses are at the bottom of their article in the newspaper-or linked to in the online version of the outlet. It's More..

Publicity - The Right Media Person to Call for Free Publicity

You won't accomplish much if you call the gas company to ask about your cable bill. Make sure that when you call about your story that the reporter you are contacting is the right person. Don't call a business reporter who covers the pharmaceutical industry with ten tips on getting kids to take their medicine. Find the writer who handles parenting or consumer medical stories for that. There is one exception to the previous tip: if you personally know a reporter, or you have a mutual friend, it More..

Free Radio Publicity for Marketing-Minded Financial Planners

Radio is a powerful publicity tool. Most stations offer news and talk programming. Those shows are put together not necessarily by the voice you hear on air, but by people called producers. Getting to know producers, and giving them reasons to showcase you on air, is a very doable for most people in most towns. How? The same way you'd contact a print reporter, which I discuss in my other articles for financial planners. Getting on the radio is possible in huge markets like New York and L.A. to More..

For Marketing-Minded Financial Planners, Small Publications Can Have Great Publicity Impact

Just because a publication is small doesn't mean that getting your name in it won't have great impact. Trade on the reputation of the trades Some of the trade publications have very loyal audiences who are much more likely to trust someone they see there than someone on the local news or in The Wall Street Journal. Now I'm not talking about the trade publication for your profession - the only people you'll reach are your competitors. Get yourself in the publications your prospects and clients More..

Publicity - Use This System to Track Publicity Progress

Tracking your correspondence with reporters, via phone or email, is important for two reasons. First of all, promises to follow-up can slip between the cracks of daily business and cost you a change at free publicity. Second, you don't ever want to contact a reporter twice about the same story. You will immediately destroy your credibility. In my years as a public relations professional, I've developed a good system that financial planners can use to track contacts with the media. It's simple. More..

Publicity: When Calling a Reporter, Keep it Short

When you are planning to call a reporter for the first time, it can help to imagine that you are a phone solicitor (albeit one with terrific, useful ideas). When phone solicitors call you, you don't want to hear a long explanation of their product. You just want to know the basics so you can make a quick decision and get back to work. That's why, in a first call or contact with a reporter, keep it short and sweet. Have one or two story ideas - no more - ready to convey. Don't try what I call More..

Publicity: Marketing-Minded Financial Planners, Take a Reporter to Lunch

Sometimes a phone call isn't intimate or long enough to convey all the information you have for a reporter. Two examples would be: if you have a dozen or so story ideas, or if you'd like to explain an extremely complex financial concept or strategy to a reporter. If this is the case, you should consider offering to meet the reporter over coffee or for a quick lunch, for a "backgrounder" on your topic. It's a relatively common event in the media world. Many reporters jump at the chance to pick More..

Publicity: Five Tips for Calling a Reporter

Always ask, "Is now a good time?" Deadlines in journalism are unrelenting and unforgiving. Using these as your first words after "hello" shows the reporter you're sympathetic to her needs. It also ensures your pitch gets heard when the reporter is devoting proper attention. Your goal: attract In your first contact with a reporter, don't come off like a talking encyclopedia. Your job now is to attract and interest them - not to deliver the whole story yet. Keep it short and enticing. Offer th More..

Publicity: Marketing-Minded Financial Planners, Never Say These Words to a Reporter

Everyone has something that drives them up a wall. You may be surprised at what aggravates reporters. They deal with horrors like jargon-filled press releases, poorly-written news advisories, and gimmicky pens and mousepads, but reporters consistently and overwhelmingly name one habit of publicity-seekers as their number one peeve. What is it? It's when someone calls after a press release has been sent and asks "Did you get my press release?" This is the single worst way to follow up after se More..

Financial Planning Publicity: When Talking to the Media, Dont Fake What You Dont Know

Relationships are based on trust-not just romantic relationships, or doctor/patient relationships, but practically any relationship, even the one with your auto mechanic. That's why the absolute worst thing a financial planner can do in their relationship with a reporter-especially a new relationship-is to give them false information. Remember, they think of you as a subject matter expert. Someone they can turn to again and again for concise, intelligent and accurate explanations for financial More..

Publicity: The Right Way for Marketing-Minded Financial Planners to Follow Up with a Reporter

Let's say you've called a reporter with some ideas for stories about financial planning, and they seemed interested. Congratulations! First, pat yourself on the back. It takes intelligence and gumption to come up with ideas that reporters like. Next, consider how you are going to follow up. Reporters are usually working on several stories at once, and unless they are coming to meet you today, there's still a considerable chance that it will fall through the cracks. You need to try, without bein More..

Marketing-Minded Financial Planners, Join Your Professional Organization to Get Free Publicity

Unlike some professionals like lawyers and doctors, financial planners aren't required to be members of a professional association. However, if you want to take advantage of a great way to get free publicity, you marketing-minding financial professionals will join an association like the Financial Planning Association or the Society of Financial Service Professionals. Get active first in your local chapter, then nationally. Being active in a professional association is the number one way for a More..

Publicity: Write a Letter to the Editor for Free Publicity

Ever wonder why papers devote a page or more to letters to the editor? Because subscribers love to read them! Letters to the editor are among a paper's most popular features, so getting your name underneath a letter can be even more valuable that being quoted in a news article. Letters to the editor can't just be about anything-they have to be related to the news. The ones most likely to get published bring a personal perspective to a topic of national or intense local interest. Anytime one of More..

Writing a Press Release: The Medias Dirty Secret

There's a dirty little secret about press releases that the media doesn't want you to know. The fact is, most of them travel directly from the sender's computer to the reporter's trash box. Or from out of the envelope into the "round file." That's part of the reason reporters don't like to be asked "did you see my press release." They probably did, but they threw it in the trash so they don't remember yours specificially. But you do still need press releases sometimes. (Like, when you have new More..

Writing a Press Release: Inverted Pyramid Style

A term you'll hear in newsrooms, in editing meetings, in Journalism 101, but almost nowhere else, is "inverted pyramid." The "inverted pyramid" style is the goal of every newspaper reporter, and, if you want free publicity, it should be the goal of your press release as well. What is an inverted pyramid? It is the structure of the press release. It simply means that you should put the most important or enticing information in the first few sentences of your press release, and then unfold the r More..

Publicity: Three Tips on Writing a Press Release

Use journalistic style Reporters are busy. Just like you. So when you write anything for the media, be concise and tight. Short, simple, sentences. Lively. Ridiculously short. Even if they seem to violate those fourth-grade grammar rules about complete sentences. Save big, sophisticated words for impressing old English teachers at school reunions. To get free publicity from the media, use common words. It's OK. Trust me. It's how they write. It's what they want. Shows 'em you understand the More..

Writing a Press Release: How to Write Quotes

Ideally, you will have two types of quotes in your press release. A quote from yourself is mandatory. To give your release extra impact, get a quote from a third-party. Quoting yourself may seem unnatural to you at first, but it's what every reporter expects. Your quote should be about the information in the press release, not about how great you are. As I always say, the key to getting publicity is to build your story around information, not around yourself. A good quote: "This tip is the sin More..

Writing a Press Release: The Design Basics

Big corporations like General Motors and Coca-Cola spend thousands of dollars on press kits with specially-designed folders, full-color stationery, digital photos and lots of other goodies. Does this make a reporter more likely to do their story? In my experience, the answer is no. Regardless of the appearance of the information, there are two basic things in a press release that lead to free publicity. Useful information, and several different contact methods. A reporter almost expects a big More..

Publicity Wont Thrive on Press Releases Alone

Press releases are a useful tool for announcing news and for keeping your name in the mind of the news media. But you can't build a successful publicity campaign on press releases alone, for the simple reason that very few press releases ever make it into the paper. You may think that your press release contains terrific, useful news, but you share that belief with the other three hundred people that sent their press release to the newspaper that day. If newspapers used every press release the More..

Marketing-Minded Financial Planners, Focus on Main Points During an Interview

You never want to inundate a reporter with information, but you don't want to be branded a one-trick pony either. That's why I recommend coming up with three key points for every interview you do. In advance of every media call or interview, think carefully about - and write down - the three key points you want to convey. Keep that list in front of you, or memorize it cold. Wherever the talk goes, make sure you nail those three points. Make sure each of your points is really only one point. He More..

Is PR Right for You? 6 Questions to Ask

When most people think about marketing, they think advertising. While advertising is a part of marketing, marketing is much bigger than advertising. There are lots of different marketing methods floating around out there, and the challenge as a business owner is figuring out when it's appropriate to use each one and the best way to use it. Public relations, or PR, is the art of getting someone else to write or talk about you or your business. Preferably in a favorable manner. Traditionally, "so More..

Detailing The Famous Kentucky Derby Train

The annual detailing of the Kentucky Derby Train is an annual ritual for the beautiful long sleek historical piece of American History. It may seem easy to detail such a fine piece of machinery, but it take many man-hours and they expect it perfect. Such a job is sure to inflate the egos of the company with the contract and make some ice pictures for their portfolio. My company, The Detail Guys were commissioned by the Top Brass of CSX Railway to clean and Detail The Kentucky Derby Train for th More..

Publicity: Show a Reporter You Care by Inviting Them to Fact-Check

Just like a financial planning client fears not having enough money for retirement, reporters fear getting their facts wrong in print. Inaccuracy isn't tolerated in newspapers or magazines. Look at the outcry after Mitch Albom, bestselling author of Tuesdays with Morrie and The Five People You Meet in Heaven, mis-stated the location of an interview subject in an article. And this was in a sports column! Imagine the fallout if he'd made a crucial error on the business pages. It's no wonder repor More..

Financial Planners, Make Sure Reporters Comprehend Your Topic

Don't assume that a reporter understands financial planning. If anything, assume the opposite until proven wrong. See if you can't develop a couple of questions for the reporter that delicately explore their subject-matter knowledge. Freddy Newshound may cover personal finance, but he's no expert. He may have started on the beat yesterday and not know a T-Bill from a municipal bond. Fill in any necessary gaps so that the reporter can grasp the significance and context of your story. Making assu More..

Publicity: Nailing a Media Interview, Part I

The most important thing to remember for any interview: stay on topic. I ask clients to repeat this like a mantra before they go on the air, or even when on the phone with a reporter. A print reporter gets maybe 700 words to do your story. A TV or radio reporter has two minutes. So your interview shouldn't be hours long. Don't give them more than they need. It's too overwhelming for them, and can divert the story to a tangent. Tangents have a place - in intellectual dialogue; when you're talki More..

Publicity: Nailing a Media Interview, Part II (Crisis Management)

We'd all like reporters to ask us about our career successes and personal triumphs-heck, we'd all like anyone to ask us about those. But reporters must look out for their clients, the reading public. Think about it from your own perspective as an investor-when you read a story about a company, you want to know that the reporter has asked difficult questions, not just relied on the PR hype. So don't get offended when reporters ask tough or skeptical questions. It's their job. Chances are an unha More..

Publicity: Nailing a Media Interview, Part III (Staying on Topic)

In a media interview, always stick to your main points without rambling or digressing. Practice this when you rehearse. Sometimes, when you are doing a great job of keeping on topic, the reporter is leading to you talk about different topics, some of which you aren't as knowledgeable about. If the reporter leads you into different areas, go there only if it suits your needs and you are comfortable there. One advanced technique you can use in a tough interview is "bridging." Bridging is simply More..

Marketing-Minded Financial Planners, Make Your Web Site a Resource for the Media

Reporters, by nature, are curious people. If you can get them to come to your web site, they will probably poke around and spend a few minutes there, learning about your business and your capabilities. If your web site is any good, this should make them more likely to interview you in the future. So in your press releases, go one step beyond merely listing your basic contact info. Think creatively and come up with a clever reason for reporters and readers to go to your web site. For instanc More..

Keep The Publicity Machine Rolling with Reprints

More than half of America skips the Super Bowl, the nation's most-watched TV event. So it stands to reason that not all your prospects will see your publicity, even if you're on 60 Minutes and Oprah. Create a strategy to use your publicity proactively to reach and impress everyone with it. Here's how? You've worked hard, gotten your story in. You're a media star. Wait? Job's not done! You want everyone in your mailing list - not just those who read today's paper - to see it. Create a nice-look More..

Marketing-Minded Financial Planners--Appearing on TV? Tell the World!

It doesn't matter how cruel the reality programs get, there always seems to be an endless supply of people willing to humiliate themselves to get on television. There's just something exciting about appearing in front of millions of people. In fact, just knowing someone that's going to be on TV or on the radio is exciting, so when you know you are going to be on the air, send an alert to your mailing list. Send notes, e-mails, faxes - whatever it takes - so they know when they can catch you. Y More..

Marketing-Minded Financial Planners: Put Extra Content in an E-Zine

As you start getting more media-savvy, you'll find yourself coming up with more and more information and ideas to help the public. Not all of these ideas will strike the fancy of your media contacts, but don't let them go to waste-become a media person yourself by publishing an e-zine. Fill your e-zine with the same advice, information, and tips you use in your publicity articles. You'll want to edit in for readability on the Web-that means short paragraphs. Studies have shown that people hate More..

Foolproof Publicity for Marketing-Minded Financial Planners

They'd hate to admit it, but the media is pretty predictable. There are some stories that will run in newspapers until the saints go marching in. Some of the obvious ones: diet tips, anything having to do with kids or animals, political scandals, celebrity divorces...you could probably find a story about each one of these topics in every single edition of every daily newspaper in the country. Long ago, newspaper editors realized that these topics attract readers. And, if you got your story pub More..

Grow Your Financial Planning Practice by Taking Your Publicity National

Think that you aren't big enough for national media coverage? Says who? Certainly not the USA Today. In one recent two-week period, they quoted financial planners in Southfield (Michigan), Dublin (Ohio) and Clearwater (Florida). These are not exactly metropolitan hubs. When your media confidence and experience grow, consider branching out to a larger audience than just your hometown or targeted industry. To go national, you may want to consider using lists and directories where you can search More..

Public Relations Success Starts Here

For discerning business, non-profit and association managers, PR success is pretty much a matter of achieving their managerial objectives by alteringperceptions leading to changed behaviors among those important external audiences that MOST affect their department, group, division or subsidiary. Period. If, however, as a manager you choose to view publicrelations as simply a collection of tactics, you mightsee PR success through the lens of press releasepickups, successful special events, or n More..

The Only Way to Get Free Advertising?

Receiving free advertising is the dream of most business people. Ifyou've ever found yourself frosting at the mouth over how yourcompetitor got interviewed on the news or how they are alwayshighlighted in the local paper, then read on. Maybe next time you canbeat them to the punch and reach thousands at no cost. The only way to get lots of free advertising is to develop a Press Kit, alsocommonly called a Media Kit. Once you've produced a folder full ofinformation about you and your business, pr More..

PR for Brand New Managers

Just promoted to manager? Here's something you need to know. Whether you are now a business, non-profit or associationmanager, your road to success really means achieving yournew managerial objectives by altering perceptions. And Irefer to perceptions leading to changed behaviors amongthose key outside audiences of yours that most affect yournew group, department, division or subsidiary. And,incidentally, key external folks whose behaviors will affectwhether you will be a success in your new r More..

PR Secrets for Small Business

Most small businesses do little to no public relations (PR) to promote their businesses. The reasons are fairly common. No one within the small business knows the mechanics of writing a press release, and if they did, they don't know what to say. Instead, small business owners wait for a local reporter to stop by or for a trade publication editor to notice them at a trade show. Most small businesses are still waiting, but a select few luck into their moment of fame; and when it comes, Wow! what More..

Nows The Time To Get Christmas Media Coverage

Publicity seekers know that Christmas can provide a bonanza of media coverage. Every media outlet, it seems is cranking out a special edition on gifts for the winter holidays. So, Christmas is the time to get ink for your product. For many of these opportunities you need to be thinking at least six months out so that your product or service finds its way into the special sections. Magazines like Better Homes have long lead times, while newspapers have deadlines a few weeks from the holiday. Don More..

How To Write A Press Release: The Seven Deadly Sins And How To Avoid Them

How to write a press release that generates free publicity is a great skill to have. This analysis, of the seven deadly sins of how to write a press release and how to avoid them, contains press release sample writing and a how to write a press release sample. Learn how to write a good press release with more impact in less time. This is a question critical to gaining ongoing media coverage in a consistent way for any organisation and individual. And sometimes the quality of news releases ac More..

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