30 Press release ideas.

30 Press Release Ideas
By Al Lautenslager
Check this idea list for ways to turn any biz event into newsworthy info that will catch an editor’s eye.

It’s a well-known fact that a company’s visibility will increase with powerful publicity. After all, publicity aims to bring the news of your company to the world. The basic weapons you’ll need to do this include a press kit, a company background piece, press releases, story ideas and articles or columns about your business. The most important of all, though, is the press release.
If you’re wondering what exactly should be covered in a press release, think along the lines of “newsy” and interesting topics. Examples include: your online presence; important information and tools regarding a change in management or the business components you offer; special information that can be obtained online; any proprietary product or methodology that you offer through your consulting services; the announcement of articles, events and appearances; relevant worksheets, tips and techniques; and so on.
A publicity campaign that uses press releases should begin with a master plan. The more newsworthy you make your company, the more coverage you’ll get. And coverage is important because it earns the kind of credibility that advertising just can’t buy. When writing a press release, your goals should be uniqueness, timeliness and top-of-the-mind awareness. Once you achieve publicity and visibility, both your company profile and your client and prospect levels will rise. One successful story about your company resulting in free publicity is advertising worth hundreds and thousands of dollars.
There is definitely a knack to writing a “newsworthy” press release, even though the ultimate goals are usually awareness and promotion. Editors don’t like promotion, though, so crafting a press release to appeal to an editor is key. If you provide reporters with news that appeals to their readers, you’ll gain instant credibility and be on your way to forming a valuable promotional relationship. This can be very powerful from a marketing point of view.
There’s no guarantee that any press release will ever be published, but by taking a consistent, professional and newsworthy approach with the reputable editors of respected publications, the probability is good that you’ll get some coverage. Press releases are also great vehicles for communicating with clients and prospects. Putting them on your Web site is a very effective means of promoting to your captive markets. It also further substantiates your marketing efforts, as well as your credibility.
If you’re not sure about what you should cover in a press release, consider these ideas to see if any apply to your business:
1. Starting a new business
2. Introducing a new product
3. Celebrating an anniversary
4. Announcing a restructuring of the company
5. Offering an article series for publishing
6. Opening up branch or satellite offices
7. Receiving an award
8. Receiving an appointment
9. Participating in a philanthropic event
10. Introducing a unique strategy/approach
11. Announcing a partnership
12. Changing the company or product name
13. Earning recognition of the company, product or executives by a publication
14. Announcing that you’re available to speak on particular subjects of interest
15. Issuing a statement of position regarding a local, regional or national issue
16. Announcing a public appearance on television, radio or in person
17. Launching a website
18. Announcing free information available
19. Announcing that you’ve reached a major milestone
20. Obtaining a new, significant customer
21. Expanding or renovating the business
22. Establishing a unique vendor agreement
23. Meeting some kind of unusual challenge or rising above adversity
24. Restructuring your business or its business model
25. Setting up a customer advisory group
26. Announcing the results of research or surveys you have conducted
27. Announcing that an individual in your business has been named to serve in a leadership position in a community, professional or charitable organization
28. Sponsoring a workshop or seminar
29. Making public statements on future business trends or conditions
30. Forming a new strategic partnership or alliance
Of course, these are just a few ideas to get you started. Just remember this: If a press release is well-written, almost any event can be turned into news.

Alfred J. Lautenslager is an award-winning marketing and PR consultant, direct-mail promotion specialist, principle of marketing consulting firm Marketing Now, and president and owner of The Ink Well, a commercial printing and mailing company in Wheaton, Illinois. Visit his Web sites at http://www.market-for-profits.com and http://www.1-800-inkwell.com, or e-mail him at al@market-for-profits.com.

33 Marketing Success Tips

33 Marketing Success Tips
By Al Lautenslager
Practice a few of these must-know marketing tips every day and build up your geurilla-marketing muscles.

Part of the guerrilla marketing mindset suggests that you should be thinking about marketing all the time. Not just quarterly, not just monthly, not just weekly, but every single day. Really, it’s not as hard as it sounds–there are quite a few ways you can incorporate marketing into your daily activities.
It’s often said that doing anything for 21 days in a row will eventually turn into a habit for you. And a marketing habit is a great thing for any business to have. So what I’m going to suggest is that you choose three to five things every day that are related to marketing for your business and do them at the beginning of the day before you start fighting the daily fires–and forget all about your planned tasks.
If you work on this developing a marketing habit–and the proper marketing mindset–every day, you’ll soon find that you’re going above and beyond your “three to five things” limit. You’ll find yourself talking and thinking in terms of headlines or talking, listening and thinking in terms of your customers and prospects’ benefits. And the more you think marketing, the greater the chance you’ll accomplish your marketing and overall business goals.
When talking to many business owners, professionals and organizations, I find that in the beginning, they’re sometimes challenged when it comes to finding three to five marketing tasks to do every, single day. Just remember, these activities don’t have to be elaborate, they don’t have to be long and drawn out, and they don’t have to take up much time.
To get your habit started and to help with your marketing mindset, here are the types of activities you can employ each and every day before your non-marketing, daily work activities begin:

Hand write a thank-you note to a prospect or customer
Brainstorm tagline ideas
Visit a competitor’s website
Write an article to pitch to your local business organization
Make a list of press release ideas
Write a press release
Call a newspaper and ask who the feature editor is for your area of expertise
Compose an e-mail sales letter
Develop a series of survey questions
Brainstorm advertising concepts
Write a pitch letter to a radio or TV station
Get contact information from media outlets
Plan a renaming of your products
Work on new product development and introduction ideas
Invite a customer or prospect to your office to discuss new ideas
Recognize a special prospect or customer
Discuss a fusion marketing idea with a strategic business partner
Post new information on your website
Plan your networking calendar for the week
Call to follow up with networking contacts
Develop a coupon for your product or service
Rewrite your phone’s on-hold message script
Write an article or other text for your newsletter
Brainstorm new product or service ideas
Plan a new customer service activity that will truly delight your customers
Develop your benefit list and compare to it to your competitions’
Develop a checklist, top-ten list or other information as a response to a marketing hook
If you’re still challenged with finding the right activities for your daily, three to five tasks, break your marketing down into these general categories: Direct Mail, Networking, Publicity, Advertising, Fusion, Planning, New Products and Services, Marketing Communication Materials, and so on. Then concentrate on thinking up activities for one area at a time. No one is really counting your “three to five” things. The point is to do something related to marketing every day to help you think about marketing all the time.
Obviously some of this activities will take a longer than just a few minutes–it’s OK if they consume your whole day. Although your goal to accomplish three to five things related to marketing every day, on some days, you may only get to one or two; on others days, you may get on a roll and do five to seven things. Don’t get married to the numbers.
The purpose of all of this activity is to help you develop a marketing habit and to move your marketing efforts to the next step in your plan fulfillment.
And even if you planned out your activities for the day, don’t be surprised if at times your progress, responses and results dictate the direction of your activity–and get you moving in a different direction than what you’d planned. Generally, this is a very positive thing, and you should let the activity guide you and keep the habit going.
No matter how much or how little you accomplish, the point is to get started. Because three weeks full of nonmarketing activities quickly becomes a nonmarketing habit, and that is a sure recipe for business failure.

Al Lautenslager is the “Guerrilla Marketing” coach at Entrepreneur.com and is an award-winning marketing and PR consultant and direct-mail promotion specialist. He’s also the principle of Market For Profits, a Chicago-based marketing consulting firm. His latest book, The Ultimate Guide to Direct Marketing is available at http://www.entrepreneurpress.com.