free PR in local newspapers
Free PR in newspapers is available for anyone - if you know how.
With most people, we like to have an easy life. So if you’re a journalist on a weekly newspaper it can sometimes be difficult to fill all those column inches. Every week.
So if someone approaches you with a great local story about a business that’s doing well you may as well publish it.
So if you run a small business that has a good local interest story it’s time to start thinking about writing a short article for that local newspaper.
So what should you write about?
Newspapers and the people that read them want something interesting. Something that they can relate to and maybe take on board for their business or perhaps start a new business with some of your inspiration.
Pehaps you have just begun and are only targeting local people. (Not just a franchise but something specific). If you are local people bringing in new business into the local community then this is good news for all.
Don’t talk about new hires or boring stuff - talk about success.
Once you have your news story it’s time to contact the local newspaper. All you need to do is literally telephone them and ask to speak to someone about your area (so if you have a landscape gardening business talk to someone in the gardening section).
Discuss with them about your business and the news you have to offer. Say you have written your piece and could you email it to them. I guess most journalists will say yes, so email it away to them.
Once you have emailed give it a couple of hours and phone them up again to make sure they have received the email and offer to answer any questions they may have. At this stage you may find they will run your story or maybe they haven’t quite got around to reading it yet.
In anycase, you must keep contacting them each day until they either run the story or reject it. If they reject it ask them why (it may just be your angle is not quite right so you’ll get an understanding as to what the journalist requires). Once you know this and have a good relationship you can then start to send your stories in on a regular basis.
Local newspapers are a good source of leads so ensure you make contact and keep that special relationship going,
