Advertising Agency Blog - Inspired 2 Design, LLC

The press can work for you or against you - just depends on the media outlet, your position and your relationship to the press.  It’s our goal to help you position yourself, and your company, around media sources that will be of benefit to growing your business and getting the word out.

Currently, we are actively drafting press releases for a client on a monthly basis. It’s been six months or so since we began the program which includes a monthly newsworthy event, activity, or milestone, that’s written about in a press release and issued to the local media. Since inception, this program has helped the client get FREE, yes, that’s right, FREE exposure to the local market. This exposure has come via TV news magazine interviews, community news magazine feature articles, a Publix magazine story, and more.

What’s most important about all this is that while the FREE exposure is a great product of the strategy, the regularity of the campaigns creates a familiarity with the media (or should I say them with you). Once the movers & shakers in the press (both print and electronic), know your name, you become the local expert in your field. Why’s that important? Whenever the media is doing a story, say… about computer repair… they’ll know who to call for input and quotes to add to the story.

There’s nothing quite like news coverage to validate a business, and a business professional. Consumers believe what they read in the paper, or see on TV. Why shouldn’t your company be the one they see most often?

Interested in getting a campaign started? Contact Inspired 2 Design for more info on public relations as a means to promote your business - especially at a time when saving money is very politically correct.

Happy Fall!

Today we heard from Family Dog Central that they’ve been contacted by the Publix Supermarket lifestyle magazine for an interview as an EXPERT in dog care. The article being written is about what to do if your dog ever gets lost. What GREAT publicity! What GREAT FREE publicity. This is just the type of thing we tell our clients to go after, and FDC has done it! Here’s how:
1. WRITE articles. Even if you HATE to write, you have to begin putting your knowledge down on paper and submit your articles to local papers, news and lifestyle magazines, local community advertising magazines and so forth.
2. POST articles on your website, and on article sites online. Find the most reputable and the most popular ones, and include links back to your site in your bio.
3. ISSUE Press Releases! You’d be surprised what is newsworthy about your business. Issue Press Releases every month or at the very least, once per quarter. Find out who to address you release to at the local papers, trade magazines, etc and personalize them.
4. POST your PR on your website, and make the info easy for the media to access and download.

Free publicity is the very best you can have, ESPECIALLY when you’re cited as an expert in your field. This opportunity is fantastic for Family Dog Central, as it adds a level of credibility that no advertising in the world can get, no matter how much you spend.

Become an expert and flaunt it! Make sure when you’re cited as a source in an article that you post that article on your site, and ask - always ask - for a link from electronic news articles back to your website.

Contact Inspired 2 Design for more info on Press Releases, or even article writing. We can help you with either or both!

We’ve gone and broken our own rules again - only one blog post this week, and this is it! Inspired 2 Design always stresses to get at least two new blog posts per week, if you’re serious about blogging. Similar to blogging, we consider Public Relations a huge part of your marketing mix, and wondered how many people are taking advantage of this area for their business. Media coverage is free, and carries a ton of credibility - much more so than advertising itself.

Here’s some tips for developing a press kit:

Start with a two pocket folder -Best choice: a custom design to match your company’s color, includes your logo and slogan, and is professionally printed. Include a business card slot.

Contents:

Business card

Press release

Article reprints, copies of speeches or presentations - past news coverage

Photographs (5×7 glossy) - key people or other appropriate image

Company profile and fact sheets - summarized

Testimonials, case studies, statistics - validate your company

Biographies of key people in your business - profiles, not resumes

Brochure, catalog, newsletter, or other promotional material

Address your package to an actual person at the paper or news source. Include a personal note, and follow up with a phone call to make sure the package was received. If you’d like to develop a press kit for your company, call Inspired 2 Design.