When small businesses open, local community groups, more often than not, look to them for donations. All of these non-profit organizations have worthwhile aims; but is there a way to choose which of these local community groups to provide sponsorship to?

To answer this question, if the local community provides the lot of your customers, then definitely, you should be associated with that group.

Here’s a short checklist of things to consider and questions to ask when deciding what organizations to support. The list is  going to make deciding for you much easier; and will also bring benefits to both parties.

• Is it a local group? Supporting your local non-profit organizations is usually preferred rather than issuing donations to the umbrella group that handles them.

• Will I make a difference? Remember that a two hundred dollar donation would mean more to a local women’s refuge rather than a local hospital. The donation to a local hospital would probably disappear into a million dollar profit and loss statement. On the other hand, a two hundred dollar donation to a local women’s shelter will go a long way as this can cover for food, shelter, and clothing for a person for a few days. Small amounts of time and money can make a bigger impact to smaller organizations rather than the big ones.

• Can I include it in my business profile? Unfortunately, not everyone has the same views when it comes to what type of activities are done by the local groups in the community. Some people may have some prejudices about some group’s actions and cause. One thing to consider before putting a sponsorship of a local group as part of your business profile is to ask yourself if you would be proud for people to know that you’re sponsoring a certain cause.

• Can I also give time and effort? Some organizations will benefit not from monetary donations, but from your time, skills, or products instead.

Categorise your Sponsorships

It would also be very helpful if you can split your local community sponsorship contributions into two categories: local and hyper-local.

Take a good look at your customer demographics and if a significant number of customers come from a certain geographic are, then you can consider supporting organizations within that community. You can group contributions under this as local.

Another situation is that when you have a few local futsal teams asking for your donations, then perhaps supporting the local futsal league would be the most beneficial. Contributions that fall under this category can be classified as hyper-local.

Be Practical

Another suggestion is that you put emotions aside first and treat sponsorships as business decisions. Personally, you can make any donation to your preferred organization anytime, but if your business will be involved, always make decisions based on the best interest of your business.

Be a Proud Contributor

There is no shame in letting everyone know that you’ve done the community some service. You can put up signs or include in your marketing materials that you’re a proud supporter of a certain community group. Furthermore, you can also put a link to their website on yours. And if you’re supporting an event, then make sure to get all the publicity and exposure that you can so that you can use this as leverage for your business.

Free publicity has great and many benefits, and a media release is one of the best ways of doing it. Learn how to do it effectively.

Follow these simple steps in crafting your media release.

Look for your distinct advantage, and then sell them

You should be able to convey your distinct advantages in a brief, yet clear message. You are going to make it as interesting as possible. The message must contain something special to make it deem worthy the attention of the media.

There are various ways of doing these; you may tap the emotions of the journalists by tackling a human interest story that talks about struggles and success.  Or you could even utilise and time your media release with an upcoming event such as weddings, anniversaries and grand openings. Find a story that will really sell, and then make the most of your skills in selling it.

Objective

Your media release must have a clear objective. And that is not just to generate sales and profits but a genuine interest of helping people. Your media release must be something that is beneficial to a specific individual or the general public.

Impressive title

Come up with an attention-grabber headline to earn their attention indeed. A sloppy title might bore the journalist who received your media release and might not even have second thoughts of deleting it from his email without a single glance to its content.

Relevant content

There is nothing more important in writing than offering relevant content, because it is what the people want and deserve in the first place. Make your content interesting and compelling. Choose words and phrases that will earn their time to spend reading your media release. Fill it with relevant details and make it an interesting read. Establish a connection with the way you craft your words, make it more lively and engaging.

Use the correct format

Use the right template when you write your media release. You do not want to lose credibility over something that could have been perfectly prepared. Include all the relevant details usually required when writing a media release, and make sure not to forget one good detail. Keep your words at its minimum for an optimum impact.

Establish your database

You must have at least an extensive database to which you will be sending your media release. You already must have been able to make genuine connection with these people. Establish your expertise and along the way gain their respect. When you will be able to project to the media people that you could readily help them on areas of your expertise, in time, all your efforts will pay off handsomely.   Supply them with information; suggest a photo session or any other things to gain their goodwill.

Apply these simple and effective ways of writing your media release for a successful result.

An impeccable case study that is well created and implemented will benefit your marketing efforts with favourable and desirable results. Here is how you should craft your case study in achieving your business goals.

Great case studies are patterned after positive testimonials from previous clients. It helps you create an image of professionalism and quality work of service. It also paves for you an avenue where you could greatly explain in details about all the competitive edge of your business. The following pointers will help in crafting a usable and effective case study.

1. Create a need

The first thing you should establish when you go about your case study is the kind of need you are capable of responding. You can do it by including all your past successful collaboration with clients who came to you with a dilemma that you were able to find a solution.  Your case study must specifically point out the need and its nature for clarity. Make it as simple and as specific as possible, covering only the details that your audience will be directly interested in.

2. Walk them through the process

Throw in some problems that your audience could readily identify with and then spontaneously come up with a series of answers and solutions. This way, you are already establishing your deep knowledge early on, thus giving an impression that you will certainly do a good job with the project they have in mind.

Lets also bear in mind that your customers could be busy and need to have this process as  simple as possible. Create a form they need to fill in – ask them a set of questions – this will give them the guidance they need.

3. Provide testimonials

Your case study must be a collection of all the testimonials of your previous clients. You should be able to establish the fact that all your previous clients were deeply satisfied with your work. You may personally approach your clients to generate a number of testimonials or you could outsource the interview phase for a more reliable, credible and unbiased results.

Use their quotes and spread them over your case study. Slowly, you are gaining the trust and confidence of your prospect which will eventually increase as time goes by. They will get the impression that you are the right person they are looking for and that you will satisfy them with your works’ results.

Finish your case study by supplying your contact details in case they will need your expertise.

How did you go? If you’ve attained some great results, let us know!

Getting a media coverage could cost so much money, but that does not have to be necessarily true with you. As long as you do it with utmost diligence, these 10 simple tips could help you garner good media coverage.

You already must have concluded by now how important media coverage is. And you already must have anticipated the fact that hiring a PR firm to do the PR works for you will require a huge amount of money. By following these 10 great ways, you will gain a pretty good media coverage without having to spend so much.

1.     Acquire the necessary skills and improve it to the level of great expertise to establish your authority in a given field. Associate with like-minded people within your industry and be a part of their activities to build up your much needed credibility.

2.     Be efficient in conveying your ideas – you should be able to have relevant and noteworthy ideas to share, and the necessary ability to convey those ideas exactly the way you want it to be understood.

3.     Gather ample information about your target audience – it helps if you have enough information about the people whom you intend to deliver your message to. This will give you an idea how to craft your message to make it more understandable.

4.     Utilise the power of the media – Have as many media resources as you can gather in delivering your message. Use its own power to reach out to your audience.  It is an advantage to have your own media directory.

5.     Reach out to the media – Initiate a working cooperation with the media. Regularly send your impeccable media releases. Do anything to secure collaboration with them. You might also find it helpful to write and send out articles.

6.     Photo opportunity – have the best of your photograph along with your media releases, or if you do not have one yet, you may ask them directly for a brief photograph session.

7.     Be consistently unrelenting with your efforts. Convince them that you are serious about your craft. However, do not overstate the obvious; do not push hard as you might offend their sensitivities.

8.     Always be ready for a spontaneous interview. You do not want to get caught off guard and make silly off-handed remarks as a result.

9.      Ready personal portfolio – journalists love it when they could readily gather as much information as possible, so always have it prepared, or have it posted in your website.

10.   Establish your proficiency in the given field.  Make possible efforts to build your reputation. Write e-books, make podcasts or anything else to establish your skill.

Public relations has always been misconceived as a marketing strategy that doesn’t generate tangible returns on investment; but unknown to almost everyone, this is exactly the opposite. It is now time to debunk the myth that public relations is more of an expense rather than an investment.

Most business owners believe that PR is all about changing and influencing others’ opinions. Hence, a common misconception borne from this belief is that public relations will take a lot of time to measure because its main objective is change in behavior. This in turn, has brought about another myth: PR will take even longer to show tangible results.

As a business owner, it is always important to get a return of investment for the time and money you spend in marketing and promoting your business. In running your business, it is always necessary  to know how much return you will get given an X amount of marketing expenditures.

Any marketing strategy doesn’t guarantee a return every time it is employed; but PR has one of the highest returns of investment. Moreover, public relations, more often than not,  generates more revenue than advertising. There are also numerous studies that have directly related public relations and  tangible returns on investment. The case study below is such an example.

A recent study published by the Institute for Public Relations measured PR against other forms of marketing. In this instance, they used a case study of a beverage brand. Data showed that for each dollar spent on television advertising, a dollar and ten cents were returned thru sales. On the other hand, trade advertising delivered a return of twice as much as television advertising. Finally, public relations returned eight dollars for every dollar invested. Public relations has, by far, the best results compared to the other marketing strategies. As a matter of fact, this beverage company credits four percent of their sales to their public relations strategy. Initially, the numbers may not look that impressive; but think of this on a scale of tens of millions of dollars.

These studies are common, and their findings almost the same. We are hoping that these figures will encourage business owners like you to take another look at how public relations can be used to maximize your return of investment. Moreover, we hope that, as a business owner, you also get to consider PR when evaluating your next marketing campaigns.

Don’t forget that studies show that effective public relations is a form of marketing that can positively affect all other marketing strategies. When positive and catchy news breaks out about a business, every other marketing tactic has proven to be more effective; therefore creating a beneficial ripple effect across all marketing efforts.

It truly is great that PR has the best return of investment in terms of sales, but it will also be advisable to look into the other advantages that it can bring to your business. There is always that opportunity to make your story known. There is also that opportunity to establish yourself as a credible source to gain more customers. You can even find that getting a high-profile, publicized reputation will get you to charge higher among the competition, regardless of the business environment.

Here a quick guide on how to prepare that media pitch so that you can get that wanted attention from the media and generate some newsworthy information on your business.

1. Identifying your targeted Niche

In creating your media pitch it is always important to take the demographics of your ideal customer. Always put into consideration a potential customer’s age, income, location, and interests. The more honed down you are to your target audience, the better. Tailor-fitting your PR tactics make it more likely for you to spend less time and effort in getting a message across your target market.

One other important consideration is that you need to focus on what type of media your target niche actually read. Doing this would require a little bit of research on the part of the business owner. A younger target audience means that blogs and online news syndications would be more accessible to the group. Professional target audiences would prefer industry-specific magazines, business journals, websites, and publications. A much more mature target audience would prefer print, radio stations, or TV channels.

2. Analyzing your Target Media

Read issues, download podcasts, listen to radio broadcasts, or watch a few episodes of your targeted media. Moreover, take note of the names of contributors, writers, and journalists covering the topics that you can share your views on.

Taking a closer look at your target media allows you to get more clues on the material that would most interest media people and their readers, listeners, or viewers. The more practice you get in analyzing your preferred media, the easier it becomes to know what opportunities are available for you to capitalize on.

3. Thoughtfully Crafting Your Media Pitch

Write a short presentation that will present your news angle to the media. Make sure that you write it in a very concise and involving manner. Keep your pitch to fifteen seconds at the most. Facts show that this is the average time that a person gets to talk with a reporter over the phone.

4. Always Having your Facts Handy

If your short pitch catches a journalist’s attention, given the curious nature of their work,  they’ll phone you to ask further questions. Make sure that before you answer that call, you have your facts either printed out or are in front in your computer. Have all the facts that support your business and your news story. This is very important because these are the things that give credibility to your story. They can  also act as your cue cards if you suddenly experience a mental block during the interview itself.

5. Having More than One News Angle Ready

Don’t waste your time and the media person’s time by having just one news hook. Have a few stories or perspectives to suggest.

6. Taking note of the Proceedings as they Happen

Always have a piece of paper or a worksheet open in your computer while entertaining or making media calls. It would be your guide on what transpired during the call. Make sure to take note of what was discussed, real time. Moreover, it will be your main device when trying to recall details like what’s going to be the next step in the process, or even the place, date and time of your interview or TV show appearance. I’m pretty sure you don’t want to lose those.

Success in attracting media attention is always dependent on a business owner’s ability to put themselves in the journalists’ and readers’ shoes. This recognition in publicity campaigns is something that businesses can leverage to get more customers and, ultimately, more sales; but how does one get securing publicity?

Being knowledgeable of The Industry’s Trends

If you can identify the main reasons that bring clients to your business, you can begin to create story angles that you can use to attract media attention.

As an example, if you had a sudden remarkable increase in sales, find out the reasons why. If you can pinpoint the reasons why there is sudden influx of customers, then you’ve found something newsworthy.

Potential customers might be seeking specific services or buying a particular type of product; as a business owner, find out why, and develop your material from there.

Innovations are Always Newsworthy

Innovative products or services are also newsworthy. If you have something new to introduce to the market, rather than letting the features and benefits go in one presentation, think of something that makes your innovation unique and create your news angle from there.

Remember to Appeal to your Niche

One example is a mobile dog grooming service that caters to show dogs. If this is your business, don’t simply advertise your service in the hope that it will stand out among the other dog grooming businesses. Instead, create a story about the certain pressures that dog-owners go through on a dog show.

Doing this will make you come across as an expert and readers in your targeted niche will make connections based on that. Taking on this perspective also allows you the chance to mention that a specialist like you can help alleviate this pressure from the dog-owners.

Involve yourself with Charitable Institutions

Being charitable is another news angle. The importance of engaging in charitable institutions is the authenticity of your involvement and commitment. You can approach your local paper to get some local coverage if you’ve donated. During the coverage itself, focus on providing stories about the charity and the work that they do; only mention the donation in passing.

Focus on Why your Product or Services Benefit Customers

Don’t focus on the features of your product or services. Instead, get publicity for customers who are doing something amazing with your product or service. Focus on why this product has helped them and not on how. You can also feature your customer’s achievements in an industry magazine, and always remember to keep the story focused on the customer. This will not only foster client relationships, but your product or service will also be shown in a way that will attract new customers.

Find and Leverage Existing Opportunities

The products and services that you offer aren’t necessarily unique. You might offer the same products and services as anyone in the industry; but this doesn’t mean that you can’t get media exposure. You can do some background research on the target audience and get in touch with media organizations and ask for upcoming features. You can also try placing products as a part of a wider feature or buyer’s guide.