How To Profit From Obama’s Economic Stimulus Program

It seems you can’t turn anywhere today without bumping into talk of economic stimulus. Whether you’ll be entitled to some of that money or not, you can use it to build your business.

How? Through using it to get more PR!

Here are some story pitches that astute marketers like you can use the economic stimulus talk and Obama’s new Presidency to build your publicity:

Right now, before it’s set in stone, pitch a story about how the plan will affect your business. That pitch could show how you would benefit from it, how you wouldn’t, how you should get it, or even how it will be a waste of money in your industry.

Pitch your corporate environmental policies and improvements. Tell reporters about the changes you’ve made and how they will affect your bottom line. Show how they will increase employment, and how they will impact the environment, especially if those changes cut greenhouse emissions. Remember that those emission reductions don’t necessarily have to come from you, they can come from suppliers, customers, or even from the eventual disposal of the product. The extra work to calculate those numbers will be worthwhile, because they will likely be a lead element to your story.

Pitch any new U.S. employment initiative you participate in, even if those initiatives just preserve a job that might otherwise be lost to foreign workers. Again, remember, those initiatives don’t have to be just within your company. If you order a new machine that replaces one on your shop floor, you may not add a job, but the manufacturer of that machine may, and there’s a story there! Clearly communicate the number of new jobs, or the number of jobs preserved in your pitch, don’t leave it up to the reporter to do the calculations. And don’t be afraid to make estimates and assume that the money you’re spending won’t trickle down to others in the economy - the government accounting offices are!

Pitch the direct results from bailout funds and economic stimulus plans. Recognize that you don’t have to be the direct recipient of that check to have a pitchable story. For example, if you run a corporate cleaning service and one of your clients is able to keep you on because of receiving bailout funds, you’ve got a story of the job gains (or prevention of losses) that result.

Pitch the human interest side of the housing crisis on your employees. Tell the story of your employee who was at risk of losing his home because he couldn’t to get his adjustable rate mortgage refinanced. There’s one story, especially if your company somehow helps him out. But if the bailouts or new policies enable him to actually renegotiate his loan, you’ll have another opportunity to pitch the story.

Pitch the potential of troops coming home from Iraq. Show the advantages of having 3 of your employees return to your workforce after their stint in Iraq.

Pitch your usage of technology. As the media focuses on this most technologically savvy presidency ever, story opportunities exist for those who use similar technologies to build their business, avoid laying off people, or maintain their customer base.

Pitch your company’s volunteerism efforts. Let the media know about the employee that you loan to the United Way for 3 months each year, the employee who gets half a day off once every two weeks to serve as a big sister, or the Saturday when your entire workforce helped clean the local homeless shelter.

Pitch your corporate giving. If your restaurant gives your leftover food each night to the homeless shelter, you donate x% of profits to charity, or you give your used cars to the Lung Association, there’s a story there. Some would say that in publicizing your giving you are defeating the purpose. So, instead of strutting your contributions, use them as a way to challenge other businesses and individuals in your area to do the same.

Pitch your contributions to schools. Donate computers, teach reading skills, have your finance VP teach a high school class how to balance their checkbooks. Then tell the media about your story.

Pitch how your latest book fits into and supports or disagrees with one of the Obama Presidency priorities.

I could go on and on. The key is to look at the policies and focuses of the new administration and the economic stimulus plan with an eye towards how you could spin them into a story about you or your company.

One point - most of the examples listed above show how you fit into the actions of the new administration. But there is an opportunity to do the exact opposite - to show how you are opposed to or your actions are against those policies. But be aware, you’re more likely to get stories picked up that show how your company fits into those policies as opposed to fighting against them.

Remember also, the media wants to localize the national happenings by showing how local companies and individuals are affected by them.
Regularly brainstorm how your company can fit into a story on that subject. Then, when you’ve got a great, logical fit, pick up the phone and tell your local newspaper, television and radio station, and bloggers about the story. In your pitch, don’t focus on how the story is will be good for you, tell them how it will fit the interests of their readers, and you’ve likely got yourself a story on your hands!

Convinced that you need to pitch a story, but don’t know how to do it? Check out Secrets of Perfect Pitching.

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Tags: Obama politics economic stimulus pitching