Public Relations

Public Relations is free advertising. How do you get it? You need to be willing to put in some effort.

Your first PR effort is announcing your new business. Before you can start announcing, you need to know who to send it to. With each contact, you need to identify whether they prefer e-mail, fax, or mailed releases. You may want to send your release in more than one format.

The obvious place to start is your local paper. Look through their masthead (usually on page 2 or somewhere in the first section) and find the appropriate department to submit to. There may only be one editor- there may be many. In the case of many, you may want the local/neighborhoods editor, the Living or Lifestyle editor, and the Business editor. Put as much information as possible into your contact management system. (This can be Outlook or another electronic system or an address book. We strongly recommend you use an electronic system of some kind- it is much easier to sort and update.)

The next place to look is local weekly or monthly papers in the areas you want to serve. Collect as much information about them as you can through the papers themselves or online.

Next take a look at local publications like business magazines or lifestyle magazines targeted at your audience.

Now don't forget broadcast media. Pull the news editor's information for local TV stations and radio stations.

The hard part is over! Compile this information and determine who gets what type of media and you are ready to roll.

Your first release should be about the launch of your new business. Many papers will run these types of announcements in the Business section. If you are the first moonwalk rental company in the area, play up that angle and you may get a feature story. Use our Press Release Template for a professional release.

After that, send out announcements when you purchase new equipment, do a low-fee or free rental for a non-profit group, hire staff, or get an office. Think of ways to make your news interesting enough to get a mention in the local media. Teaming up with high-profile organizations and helping them with fundraisers is a great way to get free advertising and build a positive image for your company.