What's your biggest frustration about getting free publicity?

I would also like to know what is the best publicity method on getting the word out on your online business.

I am stuck at ~ 200 visitors a day. Would like to see more but all my efforts from last week seem to be bringing repeat visitors, not new ones. Any ideas why or suggestions?

Well, I had this super cool idea to sell pieces of the Brooklyn Bridge, but somebody already did it.

Kevin,

Don't waste time trying to find the best way to get publicity. There are many "best ways". It's far more important to do something.

First - understand that online publicity is designed to get you search engine listings, backlinks, reposts on other peoples blogs, etc.

Offline publicity is designed to get you interviews with reporters on radio, TV, newspapers, etc.

Second - take the small amount of time needed to learn how to write a powerful press release. So many people take time to learn the most obscure things that have little effects on their lives, but they don't take the hour or two it takes to learn to write a great press release, which could completely turn their lives around.

Third - do something. Send out a press release using one of the many free online services. Don't worry about what the story is about, whether it's perfect or not. Just get it out. Learn by doing.

Fourth - read the answers I'm giving to this question on my blog. I go into even more detail there.

Good luck - take action.

Paul

Scott, that's always baffled me. So many people are jumping from one idea to the next instead of focusing on a proven, reliable strategy like publicity which, as you say, is truly a gem.

Thanks for the input.

IMcruiser - Sorry, I can't agree with you on this one. There are tens of thousands of reporters, blog owners, talk show hosts, etc. who are very willing to do your marketing for you if you just spend a little time giving them good information they can pass on to their audiences. That's phenomenal leverage.

I may agree with you more if more people actually put into action the other strategies they're following. More often, though, they jump from the latest "thing" dangled in front of them to the next "thing" dangled in front of them.

I do agree with you that not all publicity is good publicity. I'll bet OJ Simpson will agree with us on that one. But it can be so simple to get and control good publicity.

For example, I'm sure you have information lots of people would want to know. If you spent 20 minutes or so putting together a press release, then a few minutes to post it for distribution, tens of thousands of people could read that release and act on it. To me, that's incredible power.

Thanks for your input!

Hey Chris,

Two great points and one I'll disagree with.

You're absolutely right - it's not the product, it's the marketing.

You're right again when you point out the value of marketing a best seller and not thinking that it's awarded for best writing. The people who whine about being a "better writer", "better actor" or "better whatever" are the people who most likely are the ones who like to talk far more than they like to take action.

But I've got to disagree that getting a story in front of the right audience at the right time is a different story. For the vast majority of people, there is no such thing as "the right time" for their story. After all, does it really matter if people learn about your widget today, tomorrow, next week or next month? Not really. There's very little time sensitive information out there.

As for getting the story in front of the right audience - for over 20 years I've let the audience find me. Of course I wouldn't send a story about baking cookies to a sports editor, but I would use online distribution to get my press release out to thousands and thousands of people (total time about 30 minutes). Then I'll let them follow up if they're interested.

In over 20 years I've never once called anyone in the media to follow up on a press release and I've had tremendous success -simply because I make sure I make my stories irresistible. You can do the same thing.

Does following up with phone calls work? Sure it does. But I don't like spending time on the phone, especially cold calling media people.

There are lots of ways to get publicity that work. You should choose the way that works for you and get everything you can out of it.

I appreciate your comments!

There's no reason to submit your press release to 10 distribution sites. If you're using free sites, one or two well-chosen sites will be plenty.

If you're using paid sites, one - again well-chosen - site is all you need.

There's no truth to the idea that the more distribution sites you submit to the more response you'll get. It's just a waste of time and you risk unnecessary duplication.

Paul

That's a fine idea, but your service or product doesn't have to be "kick arse". It actually can be fairly mundane.

As I've mentioned several times in this thread, all you have to do is solve problems.

I'm a musician - play several instruments. I had a problem with one little part of music theory. I saw a press release about that aspect of theory, went to the person's website and bought his product.

How much more mundane can you get than music theory?

Another example - this year I had a problem with backwashing my pool. I searched the term, saw a press release about the topic and went to the person's website. Score another one for press releases.

Backwashing a pool! Is that mundane enough for you?

Don't get locked into the thought you've got to have something sexy, dazzling, unique, etc. You don't.

I don't care what product, service, professional practice, etc. any of you have. You have loads of information that would make for great press releases and resulting publicity. And as I've said so many times before, I don't know of a marketing technique that's as powerful while being so simple. But you've got to take the small amount of time needed to learn the basics correctly.

If I was told that I had to start a new business build a following for it, and was allowed to choose only one marketing tool, I'd choose publicity every single time.

I was reading about publicity stunts yesterday and ran across this article about and thought it might inspire some people trying to think of ways to get publicity. Most of it the stuff in the article is about pretty large scale corporate stuff, but the smaller example below which I've excerpted seems like the kind of thing any one could do:

That may inspire someone.

I agree that paid press release distribution services will give you much better results. Plus, with the paid services you get some excellent tracking ability which will give you vital information.

So, why use free services?

I use them to test out new ideas. If I'm testing something new I'll use a free service first. If my release gets picked up using a free service I know I'll get good pick ups when I use the paid services.

Plus, people first getting used to using press releases (or almost anything else for that matter) want to test what they're doing on as low a budget as possible.

On your second point - organizing your time is one of the most vital qualities you can develop. People constantly complain about not having enough time. I don't believe a word of it. It's not a lack of time, it's an inability to use time to it's greatest advantage. Thomas Edison, Mother Teresa, Bill Gates, etc. all have the same 24 hours in a day and look at what they've accomplished.

I always track results as well as I can. You don't get much tracking ability with free distribution services. With paid services, the more you pay the more tracking ability you get. It's often not necessary to pay the highest amount to have your release distributed, but if you're serious you will use paid distribution, track your results and make adjustments from there.

As for time being your problem - it's not time, it's your use of time. I've addressed this in an earlier post in this thread. The less control you have of your time, the less control you have of your life. So many people get wrapped up in meaningless activities every day - activities that don't move them forward. With just about everything I do, I ask myself a simple question - how will this help me move forward. If I can't answer it, I drop the activity. (I only do this with activities related to business, not relaxation, entertainment, etc.)

Almost anything can be called publicity, but when I talk about publicity, I mean using press releases online and offline.

As I've said many times, publicity has given me everything I could want. It's given me a life that anyone would envy, but most of all, it's given me my freedom. I'm very grateful for what publicity has given me. I want to do whatever I can to help other people enjoy similar benefits. That's why I get frustrated when I see people chasing rainbows instead of focusing on one thing and working it until it pays off.

I saw the story when it came out. I also got a Google Alert that my name was in the story.

I admire you for borrowing my Brooklyn Bridge idea and running with it. You turned it into a great opportunity for yourself. Good going!

Jillian, you bring up a great point. Lots of people search the Internet for instructions on how to write a press release, but they stop there. They don't learn how to distribute the release and, most importantly, how to do the interview so that it benefits the interviewer, the audience and themselves.

Kind of like buying a baseball glove, then thinking you're ready for the major leagues. But it's a whole lot easier to get into the major leagues of publicity

Thanks for the input. Good stuff.

Don,

You're very welcome. Now take action - and let us know about your successes!

Paul

Maybe that's part of the problem. People see that getting publicity is either free or so incredibly inexpensive, they don't think it's worth planning. That's a shame, because the results can be tremendous.

Thanks for the input.

Since I started internet marketing in 2002, I have admired your professional approach, Paul.

Guys, listen I am not an affiliate or anything. But I do teach PR for a living. What Paul is saying is absolutely spot on. Paul was one of the first to understand how PR relates to internet marketing.

I have written press releases in earnest since 1989 (OMG) and I am 100% convinced that it still represents the best way of geting your product out there. Reason?

The better online news sites and offline media have someone at the end making a journalistic decision about the newsworthiness of your product or service. These journos in turn have a duty to their readers. Hook the journo and Bingo you have hooked the thousands of readers they serve.

The ones without moderators or employing journos are never going to be quite as powerful. But they are worth doing mainly to get your keywords and links out there.

Sorry Paul, I didn't mean to hijack the post. But I wanted to say that a fellow pro appreciates what you have been doing since internet marketing was in its infancy.

ENDS :-)