How to create great stories to promote your business
By Paul Green
The hardest thing about getting free publicity is coming up with a great story idea in the first place.
Creating press releases and selling the idea into journalists is a lot easier with a fantastic idea to drive their interest.
But sometimes, you are so close to your business, it’s easy to mistake something you’re interested in as something that other people care about. This is why lots of businesses send out press releases about dull things like their latest office move… they rarely get editorial coverage, because no-one outside of that business cares!
Don’t waste time writing press releases that will never be used by the media. Here are some easy ways to create great ideas:
Understand journalists and their audience: Every newspaper, magazine and radio station has a target audience. Every decision a journalist makes should be driven by that audience. Appeal to the audience and you appeal to the journalist. To really understand the audience, go to their website and download the media pack. This is a load of information given to prospective advertisers, and will help you understand who they are aiming their content at.
Start an ideas book: Write down every single idea you have, no matter how bad you think it is. Occasionally 2 or 3 bad ideas combined can produce a good idea! And emptying your mind of ideas regularly leaves space for new ones to form.
Brainstorm regularly: Businesses change so quickly that new ideas can arrive every day. Get into the habit of doing a quick brainstorm for ideas regularly, rather than a tortuous long brainstorm infrequently
Ask your team: Your employees could be coming across potential story ideas each day and don’t realise it
Steal ideas from businesses in other industries: Look through your target media – what stories do non-competing businesses in other industries seem to get regularly? How can those ideas be adapted to your business?
Steal ideas from other areas: See what stories competing businesses in other areas are getting, then steal them for your area!
Ask people outside your business for ideas: Particularly people that know you well, such as peopel you trust in networking groups or online forums.
Ring a journalist and ask: Catch the right journalist at the right time (not on deadline) and they might spend a few minutes chatting with you about your business, and what story ideas there may be within it. Don’t make it sound like a sales pitch, and remember if you come up with good story ideas, it will make their job easier too.
