Another Way To Get Publicity: Positioning Yourself As An Expert With The Media

Here's a note Steve sent me a couple of weeks ago to illustrate what I mean. Plus, this tends to generate more interest in your company, which can result in additional publicity for your company and it's product. Here's a note Steve sent us a couple of weeks ago about his recent PR successes:

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Today has been a really good day for publicity. Not only that CBS Marketwatch article (for which I was just interviewed yesterday afternoon!), but Jean Chatzky mentioned us on the Today Show this morning. Here's a snippet of the transcript.

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ROKER: Uh-huh. You can spend a lot on books. Any way to save some cash?

Ms. CHATZKY: Buy used.

ROKER: Uh-huh.

Ms. CHATZKY: There is a great Web site called Bestbookbuys.com. You can go on, you can search for the best prices in books. Textbooks are expensive, they can run $1,000 per semester. So if you can get them used from a site like half.com of even from eBay, you can save yourself a lot of money.
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If you want to see it you can watch the video here:

http://www.msnbc.com/news/951923.asp

She mentions us at 2:45, so skipping ahead to 2:35 will get you the whole context.

Okay, the "how". Well, my publicity consultant is trying to groom me as an "online shopping expert". So, besides the various press releases we put out, I'm also listed places like PR Newswire's ProfNet. This is a place that journalists can go to find experts for a particular area they are writing about. In just a month or two, it has already got me quoted in CBS Marketwatch and a few smaller ones (like the Springfield (Ill.) State Journal-Register last Sunday).

We had no idea Jean Chatzky was going to mention us on the Today Show (thank goodness they have the video clip on their site). We've historically had good luck with Money magazine (where Jean works), with mentions there in 1999, 2000, and 2001. We were mentioned in their August 2003 issue (can't remember if I ever announced that here) and will supposedly be in the September issue also (probably in a piece very similar to the MSNBC piece above). A couple years ago, Jean was planning to mention us (we even sent her a prop book) but Ann Curry was running out of time and skipped over our little bit.

Finally, these are all good examples of "when it rains, it pours". Up until about a month ago, we were in a publicity drought (note how Money mag forgot about us in 2002). But, these things tend to feed off each other. We got mentioned in Money August issue, we put out a press release bragging about that, someone else notices, etc., etc. We'll see how long this wave lasts.

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Part of Steve's success here has been hiring a good publicist who has actively worked to get him out and in front of the media. In a separate note about his publicity consultant, Steve told me the following:

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I've had the same publicity consultant for the last four years. When we first hired her, we knew nothing. We didn't interview anyone else. (Editor's note - not a recommended practice!) We've paid her a $2000 monthly retainer since the start. A couple times when money's been tight (and when we hadn't had any ink in a few months), we discussed dropping her, but always decide against it. We're always happy shortly afterwards because she lands us more ink.

Performance guarantees? We don't have any. I think some consultants might have these, but this is a tough area to guarantee. Plus, depending on the medium, there can be some serious time lags (especially with monthly magazines). Our only performance guarantee is that if it really looked like she was no longer providing value, we'd sever our relationship.

I really enjoy the fact that we've been working together so long. So, now she knows me well enough to write all my press release quotes before I say them. (Of course, I still approve them.) She's even been quoted a couple times as a spokesperson for our company (I think while I was on vacation or something).

Another advantage of having her on retainer is that it gives us an extra kick in the butt on development. Here's how it works: 1) She wants to keep getting us publicity so we continue to be happy with her. 2) We can't get publicity with the same old stuff; we need "news". 3) So, her assessment of the publicity value of particular site features is used to help us prioritize our long "To Do" list. (One of many factors, of course.) 4) The need to have some semblance of a stream of publicity means we must keep rolling out new features.

Finally, we used to pay a clipping service every month to find mentions in newspapers and magazines. But, since almost everything is online now, we stopped that and our consultant uses various services to track down any mentions. Once again, it's to her advantage to find as many mentions as possible. Sure, she'll already know of the ones where she personally pitched us. But, press releases will often stimulate a mention by someone we never had contact with.

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Can you see some of the power of having a publicist (or at least a firm preset publicity plan) from his note? In addition to getting publicity, they can often push you to make changes that will make news that you may have prioritized lower on your list.

For more information visit How to Hire a Publicist

And no, we won't be giving out Steve's publicist's name, so don't bother to ask!

Another element we can learn from Steve's notes is that they have pushed his site around a certain set of dates. BestBookBuys.com focuses part of its business on the college textbook market, so back to school is a very logical time for them to push publicity on their site. And, since they can save students hundreds of dollars a year, they've got a story that has some natural human interest tie-ins.

What key dates can you tie into to generate publicity? What's your plan to hit those dates?

Note also how they have been working on a long-term basis with several media outlets (especially the magazines mentioned.) Always keep in mind the importance of consistently pushing your message out to the relevant media. Never assume that because you were featured in a story last year that they will feature you again this year. Always re-push your presentation every year to ensure that you get covered again.

We cover the subject of positioning yourself as an expert for the media in detail in our audio CD: How To Become An Expert Spokesperson That The Media Love.

Tags: Expert Spokesperson