THOMAS PR IN LONG ISLAND EXCHANGE
 
By Dawn Allcot, LongIslandExchange.comThomas PR in Long Island Exchange by Dawn Allcot! "SIX STEPS TO DO-IT-YOURSELF PR" "(Thomas') clients span across the United States. Miami, Fla.-based PeeWee PC recently achieved a placement in the NY Times thanks to Thomas' diligent PR efforts."
 
 
SIX STEPS TO DO-IT-YOURSELF PR
Thomas PR of Melville offers PR tips for small business owners


(Long Island, N.Y.) Many small-to-medium size business owners do their own PR and marketing when they launch their business. I mentioned a few weeks ago that you may want to hire a professional writer to blog for your company. Should you also hire a professional public relations firm to do your PR and marketing?

Probably... it's all a matter of saving time by not reinventing the wheel. The right PR professionals already have contacts in your field. They know how to forge relationships with local and national media -- or have already built those relationships. They know where to go to meet the press, and they have years of experience that tells them what magazine editors and writers look for in an engaging story.


Many people think you have to go into the city to find the best PR, marketing and advertising agencies. But a wealth of top companies exist right here on Long Island. Recently, Karen Thomas of the award-winning Thomas PR, named a Top Tech Communicator in 2009 and winner of the PR Rep of Year (2009), was kind enough to sit down and offer Long Island Exchange readers some PR tips.

Locally, Thomas handles PR for businesses such as the Little Shelter in Huntington, but her clients span across the United States. Miami, Fla.-based PeeWee PC recently achieved a placement in the NY Times thanks to Thomas' dilligent PR efforts.

If you're a business owner who wants to get a start on public relations before you can afford to hire a firm, these tips will help you make connections with both local and national media. Follow these PR tips and maybe your product will be featured next in the NY Times.

Write a press release. Select the top keywords that people use to find your product or service and make sure to include those words in your release. Include your email address and fax number. Keep it short and simple, using the reverse pyramid structure, with the most important information in the first few paragraphs of your press release. Make sure your email and any other contact information you want to include is clearly listed.

Cultivate a press list. Once you have your SEO-optimized press release, where do you send it? Here's where a PR agency's expertise can really help. If you opt to do it alone, take small steps. You won't built a list of 100 names overnight. Karen Thomas advises, “Pick the top 10 magazines you want to be in, go online and find the editors and make a list.”

Use social media to reach out. Once you've found your top ten markets, you'll want to build relationships with the editors. Karen Thomas, who added me to her Friend list on Facebook moments before we spoke, recommends leveraging social media to build relationships quickly and effectively. “Go to Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, and look for the editors and bloggers that are on your media list.” Meeting the press through popular social media sites sets the stage for a face-to-face meeting at trade shows. Because as much as people now do business over the Web, trade shows and in-person networking remain the most important part of building relationships with the media.

Research the trade shows. Thomas emphasizes the importance of trade shows. Large shows like CES (Consumer Electronics Show) have big parties that are well-kept secrets; Thomas PR uses its insider sources to compile a list. If you can get an invite -- not an easy task, according to Thomas -- you'll find yourself hobnobbing with top technology media.

Approach the press. You'll recognize the press at trade shows by their badges. “If you have a really cool product, they will want to hear about it,” Thomas says. Otherwise, you'll need to spend more time forging a relationship. Familiarize yourself with their publication or blog and consider what will interest each specific editor or writer about your product or company. “If they just covered a product similar to yours, you might mention that,” Thomas says. “Writers like to hear you've been reading their column.” In a first meeting, don't come on too strong. Expect to exchange business cards and ask for permission to add them to your mailing list. Be sure every press release or email you send has an “opt-out” link at the bottom.

Don't Forget the bloggers. In today's Web-driven world, you cannot ignore the bloggers as crucial members of the media.
When compiling a mailing list of bloggers for clients, Thomas looks for blogs with an Alexa rank of 100,000 or lower. “The closer it is to 50,000 or below, the better,” she says.

For PeeWee PC, Thomas has been reaching out to everything from TV shows to radio to the NY Times, and is reaching out to a list of 100 “mom-bloggers,” an important demographic for many technology products from toys to smart phones. There are some [blogs] that are really powerful -- they drive the news now,” Thomas says.

Dawn Allcot

March 08, 2010 3:50 PM Eastern


 

 

The contents of all photos, graphics, and text are protected by copyright
and may not be used or reproduced without prior express written authorization from the publisher.