PRing One’s Self

A few Sundays I closed my eyes and asked my friend to look at page 37 of Sunday Life to see if I looked half decent. After a “you look great”, I opened them and I saw my image taking up most of the page (Click Sunday Life to see PDF). Thankfully I looked half decent as I would have been very upset that the 100,000 odd people reading Sunday Life around NSW & Vic wondering why this PR chic was PRing herself.

I received many texts, emails and calls from friends, family about it. One associate emailed commenting about “PRing one’s self” and “Interesting to note you are doing PR on yourself”. I guess when you are in PR you have to do your own PR!

But it got me thinking. Many businesses can afford to use a PR consultancy – and trust me – it really does make a difference and is worth the money. But some very small businesses don’t have the budget and should try some PR techniques themselves.

One such business is my Women in Business mentoree – Gail Rast. Her business, Life’s a Feast is still evolving so she has been “PRing one’s self”. She has written a media release and was featured in her local newspaper with her contact details. She got a call from it.

She was also featured in the Sun Herald which is now proudly featured on her home page. So she is getting double PR from it.

So where do you start with “PRing one’s self”?

Media releases are a great way of distributing relevant and topical information to a group of targeted publications (think about which media outlets your target audience get their information from). The release must be newsworthy and cover the “who, what, where, why and when”.

Case studies provide an ideal platform to leverage business success and tell your story to the media through your customers. Many trade publications publish case studies and you can use them as testimonials when speaking to journalists.

Write an article that positions you as an industry expert and offers topical, helpful information. Ensure it is written in an objective, informative and entertaining manner.  It should never be a blatant advertisement or advertorial. Determine which publications your potential clients read, and approach editors focusing on what you can do for their readers.  This is an effective way to generate future requests for comments from journalists as it positions you as an industry expert.

If you need expert public relations help drop us a line.