 Category :: PR Articles |
Author :: Ned Steele  |
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| Article Title :: Two Don'ts for Financial Planners Seeking Free Publicity |
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| 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 cautious about this; they end up actually being less likely to write articles about or containing quotes from advertisers.This leads to two very important "don'ts":
Don't (read full article) |
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| Category :: PR Articles |
Author :: Ned Steele |
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| Article Title :: Publicity - How to Write a Headline That Will Garner Free Publicity |
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| 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 Families $600,000 On Estate Taxes Last Year"This headline is attention-getting, but for the wrong reasons. It doesn't tell the media person anything other than that Chet Th (read full article) |
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| Category :: PR Articles |
Author :: Ned Steele |
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| Article Title :: Publicity - Tips on Dealing With the Media |
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| 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: creating the story as it will appear in their newspaper, magazine or over the airwaves.Unless you are authoring an article to appear under your own byline, don’t expect – or re (read full article) |
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| Category :: PR Articles |
Author :: Ned Steele |
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| Article Title :: Publicity - How To Get Your Story on Television |
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| 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 that moves or talks to tell its stories.If it looks interesting or nice, that’s a plus. They will shoot the video; you don’t need to. But often you do need to suggest (read full article) |
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| Category :: PR Articles |
Author :: Ned Steele |
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| Article Title :: Marketing-Minded Financial Planners: Get Free Publicity by Choosing the Right Outlets |
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| 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 through many outlets that are more readily accessible. Sometimes the best outlets are ones you've never even heard of. Trade magazines, special weekly television or radio programs (read full article) |
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| Category :: PR Articles |
Author :: Ned Steele |
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| Article Title :: Publicity: Polls and Surveys Are a Great Path Free Publicity |
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| 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 rustAs you can see, surveys are used for just about any industry. Why not yours?If you’re the expert on bankers, or single parents, there’s hardly a better way to tell the media than by releasing surveys of your market group. It’s easy to do – almost all media out (read full article) |
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| Category :: PR Articles |
Author :: Ned Steele |
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| Article Title :: Three Publicity Tips for Marketing-Minded Financial Planners |
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| 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 quicklyA 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 swiftly enough, they’ll quote someone else. Media time is not like regular time: for them, three hours is not a quick callback. It’s an eternity. And probably for you, it (read full article) |
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| Category :: PR Articles |
Author :: Ned Steele |
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| Article Title :: Go Ahead, Marketing-Minded Financial Planners, Call a Reporter |
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| 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 reporters is to always ask first: “Is this a good time to talk?”Amazingly, many people think reporters don’t want to hear from them. Wrong! Offer information t (read full article) |
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| Category :: PR Articles |
Author :: Ned Steele |
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| Article Title :: Publicity - What to Say to a Reporter |
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| 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 consultant in town. I see you cover mutual funds, and I thought you might be interested in this.Did you know that about two-thirds of my clients lately have been as (read full article) |
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| Category :: PR Articles |
Author :: Ned Steele |
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| Article Title :: Financial Planners Get Free Publicity With Email |
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| 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 rarely a secret.Again, offer practical story ideas – one or two max per e-mail. Summarize your best story idea in the ‘subject’ line of the email.Be specific. In (read full article) |
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