By Lori Shepherd 

Attracting favorable media attention for a truly innovative brand or startup is no longer a foregone conclusion. Why? Mainly because there are so many more startups and professional businesses in the mix. Along with them comes a plethora of weekly pitch letters and inquiries they send to a limited number of business editors reasonably able to cover them. This is why I’ve created 25 Proven Ways to Boost Your PR which provide helpful tips.

It’s true, journalists receive endless requests to cover, write about, feature, mention, and list businesses, from company founders, marketing staff, and others just like you. Added to this are people like me, PR professionals who are continually engaging editors with pitch letters, calls, and other tactics to garner attention for our clients. Realistically, it is impossible for editors to respond to everyone, regardless of how deserving your product, service, or event. In fact, I recall an engaging article I read a few years ago written by a Newsweek writer. He vowed to read every PR email he received for one week and chronicle his experience. The article reveals just how daunting the task and its impact on his professional and personal life. When you read it, I think you’ll understand what we’re up against. And, having worked on both sides of the fence, first as a business journalist, and then a PR professional, I understand the angst all around.

But, ‘Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way,’ someone said. And, with an endeavor such as PR, this dictum couldn’t be truer. So, no need to fret about nonresponsive editors, instead, here are 25 simple ways you can begin increasing your brand and business buzz factor, all on your own:

1. Tweet, Like, and Share your brand and business to your heart’s content. You’ll instantly derive interest from your followers and friends who will share links about your brand and business.

2. Create a new industry blog post, then share it! The public and the press will discover more about you and your brand and your business when you do.

 
3. Speak up! Find an industry-relevant conference you can participate as a speaker.

4. Community involvement. Genuinely find ways to help others.

5. Call a business journalist at a local news outlet and request an informational. This is surprisingly far easier than you might think.

6. Be sure to follow and engage with targeted journalists on Twitter and Instagram.

7. Tis the Season to be pitching. Is there a seasonal angle to your business and brand? Figure out what it is and get started!

8. Create a niche podcast series and host it.

9. Get your place at the roundtable. Make an effort to participate in relevant MeetUp sessions, or at conference workshops and roundtable discussions.

10. Write a guest blog post. Yes, the much-ballyhooed guest posting still has value.

11. Create original short videos and images and share them often!

12. Develop industry-specific data and share and pitch.

13. Write and distribute a relevant press release. While not nearly as useful as they once were, press releases can still complement your PR campaign.

14. Partner with other brand leaders for joint announcements.

15. Look to TEDx for topic-specific speaking opps.

16. Plan 6-8 months ahead to request participation at coveted 2018 conferences.

17. Judiciously display kudos from your customers on your social channels.

18. Offer an exclusive story to news outlets.

19. Automate your social media engagement.

20. Invest in reasonably priced sponsorship opportunities.

21. Create a paid internship program for students looking for experience.

22. Launch an annual outdoor community volunteer event w/ your volunteers wearing your company branded tees.

23. HARO is still a useful resource for locating journalists looking for specific stories. Use it.

24. At your next industry conference, request the media list of participating journalists.

25. Consider hiring a professional and experienced publicist or firm to help you accomplish everything I’ve described above, if you don’t have the time to do it yourself.

If you’re an emerging new startup or business owner, chances are good you’re already employing many of these ideas. If you’re not, consider applying what makes sense for your industry and your business focus, and give it a try. Keep in mind that regardless of how inundated business journalists are on any given day, ultimately they are interested in writing engaging articles about new products and services that interest their readers. Maybe that next article will be about your brand or business.