One way of getting traffic to your network is by using the press, and I do mean USING, not paying.
Free press is great if you can get it, and I'm gonna tell you exactly how to do it.
So far I've been featured in local press as well as a couple of glossy monthly mags, 5 publications in all, and it did not cost me a penny!
Check out the coverage so far
One thing you have to remember is that newspapers and magazines are on the lookout for stories, simple as that, they have pages to fill, and finding good content is a challenge for newspapers and magazines these days.
So all you have to do is come up with an interesting story that links to your network somehow, and you're halfway there.
For my network (dog lovers), I simply came up with a story about meeting so many people when I walk my dogs...
Expressing that my local park was a network of dog owners, which of course gave me the idea for k9united ;)
This is not the most interesting of stories granted, and some publications would not print it, but this is of course a rather 'mild' story, and some newspapers still printed the story, giving my network loads of exposure.
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So lets say you now have a story that links to your network, obviously the more interesting your story, the more chance you have of getting it published, so be creative...
Now it's time to email that story to as many newspapers and magazines as you can.... easy peasy
Now bear in mind that journalists and PR people get hundreds of emails with press releases, and it's fair to say that yours could quite easily get ignored.... this is why it is essential that you follow it up with a phone call.
Had I not done this my press release would have been ignored.
Obviously when you do your follow up calls, be professional, and talk about how your press release would be of interest to THEIR readers.
A few phone calls later and I was in the paper!
Comments
Great tip - thanks!
thanks for sharing. free press is one of the branding strategies that we are working on using for our new brands, too. we're working on the creativity part right now, to stand out from the pack.
Awesome! Great JOb man!! I'm based in NY so there are a lot of local guys as well as big guys out here
Hi Ben,
I do have a excel spread sheet with lots of contacts of editors and press people at certain publications, some are in the dog related area, but many not.
Do I feel some back scratching coming on? :)
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