Using P.R. to Build Visibility & Authority
Jane Tabachnick is a content and PR strategist who works with mission-driven authors, coaches and consultants who are frustrated they’re not better known.
She helps them become highly visible and seen as the authority in their industry so they attract more pre-sold clients and can grow their business more and easily.
Founder of Simply Good Press, a book publishing and PR company, Jane has helped over 200 authors achieve bestseller status.
Named one of the top 100 people online by Fast Company, Jane is often quoted in the media.
PR in the textbook definition is communicating with your stakeholders…but the way most of us use it is public relations or the result of it which is publicity.
In a model called PESO (paid, earned, shared owned) it’s the highest form of content.
Owned content would be your website, social media profiles…you control the content.
With earned media, you earn the right to be featured….when they invite you to be in front of their audience, they’re saying you’ve reached this level and they’ve basically vetted you. And it gives the impression…of being an endorsement from the media.
No one cares what you say about you. What matters is what other people say about you.
Start right away. Every day you can do something simple.
Follow or like and share the content of certain writers and editors so you get on their radar.
It feels good to help support someone in this way.
Show that you are listening, reading, watching.
Their content being seen is important on a lot of levels to them….it can help them get their work seen so that they get more work.
Understand your audience…and know where they spend time. Know what media outlets they’re interested in.
You want to be strategic about it….build relationships on platforms where your audience already spends time…and try and understand what kind of content they like.
There are really 3 ways you can get publicity. 1.Doing it yourself. There are a lot of great free tools. 2. You can hire a firm, which can be expensive or 3. The hybrid method. You can do your own PR and then outsource pieces of it.
You can’t hope. If you want something to happen, you need to proactive about it.
It’s when preparation meets opportunity….you have to create those opportunities.
Find out who the right people are….staffers will often have in their bio exactly what topics they cover.
Don’t pitch them off-topic.
Create your pitch in a way that you let the media know that you have something that their audience will value….because of ‘this’.
Sometimes you have to connect the dots.
Don’t be afraid to spell it out…but focus on the value of what’s in it for the audience…what’s in it for them.
When you pitch a traditional media outlet, they would be writing about you.
There is a form of content marketing….where you could pitch..on contributing an article.
Writing the articles, even if you don’t consider yourself to be a writer, can be valuable.
You have to check out the outlet and see what their requirements are.
Again. you’re getting that perceived endorsement…and it’s third party credibility…and it can show up in the search engines.
You can use social media to build those relationships…I call it hugging an influencer.
Just by doing this and building this relationship, she got invited onto one of the top podcasts that there is.
Share the press that you get. I call it re-promoting.
We want to make sure everybody sees and knows that we’ve got that press.
Mostly all press is good press.
Their job is to write things as they see them.
Create some really good press…to push that down. You can’t hide it…but you can create a lot of good things that will show up so that’s less visible.
It hits hard when we get negative press.
1. Set up a media room on your website….and link it from the top navigation so it’s easy to find…it’s often read as much as your ‘about’ page. 2. Repurpose it. Tag the media outlet and tag the writer. 3. Share it. You can break it into smaller pieces.
The easiest are probably local media outlets.
There’s a lot of syndication amongst newspapers.
I know people who’s stories got picked up because they were featured in the local paper and the anchor saw it.
Unless an outlet doesn’t align with your values…I would say don’t poo-poo an outlet and think that it’s too small.
Mistakes : pitching off topic…focus on you
You want to custom tailor your pitch.
A few targeted, automized pitches are more effective than just blasting out a lot of generic ones.
Visibility Assessment : Online Visibility Assessment
https://janetabachnick.com/assessment
Hire it out when….your company has some news that’s a pivot point…or when the company hits a growth point…it’s not just about the money, you have have the internal resources to work with a PR consultant or team to get the best results.
Mark Cuban has said he believes we are the best person to pitch ourselves….a PR professional will know how to pitch and they won’t feel as personal about it…and have some of the relationships already. It’s 50/50
There very rarely is feedback. You’re often very lucky if you even get a ‘no.’
Sometimes..the timing isn’t right, but they’ve got it in a folder to reach out in the future…I usually give things 6 weeks to two months, then figure it’s dead.
Take the same pitch and try a different outlet.
You’re not asking for enough. Go back and figure out what you really need.
https://janetabachnick.com
https://janetabachnick.com/assessment
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Audio : Ariza Music Productions