Public Relations: How to Identify Story Ideas Within Your Company or Organization

Does this sound like you?

• You can't understand why the business reporter at your local newspaper has quoted your competitor in five separate stories but hasn't called you once.
• Your company sends out more than two dozen press releases every year about new employees and promotions, but they result in little more than a few lines of type.
• The 12-page speech your boss wrote when he spoke at the local Rotary Club luncheon would have made an excellent column for the local business magazine. But after you mailed it to the editor, you never heard a word.
• If your attempts at media coverage have fallen flat, quit grumbling and start taking a proactive approach to free publicity by identifying interesting, compelling story ideas the media need. Yes, NEED. Newspapers, magazines and trade publications have hundreds of thousands of column inches to fill. TV and radio stations have hundreds of hours of news and community interest programs they must broadcast. The number of media outlets is greater than ever, and competition is fierce for advertising dollars, viewers and subscribers. The secret to savvy media relations is knowing exactly what they want, then giving it to them.

Want More Info? Click here to order the full special report for just $10.00. In this report, you will learn: 2 hot-button topics the media love The value of taking polls and surveys How to publicize your altruism Creative tips for promoting routine events The value of how-to articles Click Here To Order This Report People who ordered this report also ordered: 1. Special Report #8 - Media Kits on a Shoestring: How to Create Them Without Spending a Bundle 2. Special Report #10 - Powerful Publicity Tips for Your Fund-raiser or Special Event 3. Special Report #11 - Secrets for Building Your Celebrity Image 4. Audio CD: Secrets of Perfect Pitching to Reporters

Here are tickler questions designed to help you identify the best story ideas within your company or organization:

What’s Different?

Is your company doing anything unique or different than your competitors? Examples: A candy store that offers free samples to customers. A web site company that gives its customers discount coupons good for a web site update for every referral a customer sends. An agency that buys creative toys for its employees to use during brainstorming sessions to get their own creative juices flowing.

The Local Angle

Are you the local angle to a national or regional event? During the war in Kosovo, many local newspapers and TV stations ran stories about people in their own communities who kept in touch with their relatives in the war zone. During the Columbine shootings in Colorado, newspapers interviewed local child psychologists and counselors who offered tips on how parents can spot warning signs in their own children.

Piggyback on a News Event

After severe rains in Milwaukee a few years ago, a Minnesota company got several minutes of free advertising on a Milwaukee radio station by talking to the drive-time radio host about their special pump that removes standing water and moisture in the air. The host interviewed a company representative and gave out the company's toll-free number.

Piggyback on Trends

Do you sell a product or service that ties into a national trend? A credit counseling agency might offer themselves as a source for stories about the whopping credit card debt wracked up by college students, many of whom have their own credit cards. A nonprofit agency that advocates safety for women can promote its community classes by offering the media tips on how businesswomen can be less susceptible to theft of laptop computers in crowded places like airports.

Piggyback on a Holiday

Is your company doing something different on a particular holiday? Are you a management consultant who can suggest ways that companies can keep their employees productive during the holidays? Have you determined that it's more efficient for your business to simply close down during the week between Christmas and New Year's? If you're of Irish descent and give all your employees a half day off on St. Patrick's Day, that story might interest the media. Remember that the week between Christmas and New Year's is the slowest news week of the year, and an excellent time to seek coverage. A Wisconsin company got a six-minute story on the local TV station after it announced at the annual Christmas party that every employee was being treated to a trip to Disney World.

Want to know more?

Download Special Report #5 “How to Identify Story Ideas Within Your Company or Organization” for only $10.00.

In this report, you will learn:

- The value of how-to articles
- 2 hot-button topics the media love
- The value of taking polls and surveys
- How to publicize your altruism
- Creative tips for promoting routine events

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