5 Tips for Getting Good Press for Your Small Business

Good press is not always easy to get when you are a small business, and it often times feels like small businesses are muscled out of good press opportunities. Despite how it feels, small businesses have plenty of opportunities for good press if the owners know where to look and what to do. Below you will find five ways for getting good press and media attention for your small business.

1. Make Donations to Special Events

A great way to get good press and media coverage is to make a donation to a special event, such as a film festival, an arts festival or a community celebration. These events often print out a brochure or special booklet that not only lists the events and concessions information for the event, but they also publish information about what companies donated to the event. These donations can be cash, but they can also be free meals for judges and prizes for special contests.

2. Host Special Events

Another low-cost way to get media coverage and good press is to work with your local radio or television station as a remote broadcast host. This option will involve having a remote studio being set up at your business. Broadcasts will be conducted throughout the day from your location. This can be tied into a special grand opening or sale that you are having, it can be tied to a special community event or it can be tied to a special promotion that the media station is having.

3. Distribute Press Releases

One of the best ways to get good press is to distribute press releases to local, region and national media sources in order to get the word out about your small business. This press release will need to list the who, what, when, where, why and how of your special event. For example, press releases are commonly released when a new product or service is being launched, when a new branch is opening or when something special happens to the company, such as being given an award. To increase the chance that your news release will be published, you need to try and connect the snippet with a community benefit, e.g. it will create jobs or it will add revenue to the local economy.

4. Join Community Boards and Organizations

In order to get consistent coverage by the media, you need to be an active member of the community. This means attending public meetings, joining local business organizations and sitting on boards. Many of these meetings will involve local coverage by the media and by public access television. While this can be time-consuming, it can also be effective at ingraining your company into the fabric of the community in which it operates.

5. Do Something Worthwhile

While companies operate to make a profit, good press frequently comes from doing something worthwhile for the community or the world. Set up a charity, lead a toy drive or provide a solution to a problem that the community is facing. These efforts will be rewarded with good press coverage.

Sources:

http://www.small-business-software.net/writing-pr.htm