| Have you ever noticed how much of the news really | | | | will boost your brand by being quoted in the press. |
| isn't that new? Here's an exercise that focuses on | | | | But, what if there's no breaking news story you can tie |
| your examining the stories in the news, and then | | | | into? That's the reason for this little exercise. Take a |
| searching within your own company to find themes | | | | few minutes and read several stories from different |
| which can be fashioned into newsworthy items. | | | | sections of your local paper. Don't just stick to the |
| One thing you'll notice immediately: the news moves | | | | business news; this is the time to use your imagination. |
| quickly, but it moves around major themes. Sports, | | | | As you read through the stories, let your mind |
| Entertainment, Business, Health--these are all themes | | | | associate the story content with how your business |
| that one finds throughout the week in any newspaper | | | | solves customer problems. Remember, your |
| or on an internet news site such as Google News or | | | | customers come to you not so much to buy your |
| Yahoo. As you scan through the news, focus on | | | | product but to buy the solution to their problem that |
| these categories, but also keep your mind open to | | | | your product solves. |
| "breaking news". | | | | When you allow your mind to connect your |
| For example, if your small, local company has some | | | | company-supplied solutions to the articles you read in |
| connection to a breaking national or international story, | | | | the news, then you open up your imagination to |
| a quick call or email to the local paper may be in order. | | | | creating connections between your business and the |
| Let's say your company sells cellular phones made in | | | | newspaper audience. Remember, you can't blatantly |
| an area of the world just hit by a natural disaster. | | | | pitch your product to a newspaper reporter and |
| Fortunately, it appears all your suppliers are intact and | | | | expect the reporter to run it. |
| there won't be any interruption in providing your | | | | But what about the national trade press? You're just a |
| product to your local customers. A good headline for | | | | little store, right? You're not a huge supplier or one of |
| the story would be: "Asia disaster unlikely to increase | | | | the biggest players in your industry. What can a small |
| cell phone prices anytime soon." Of course, the | | | | business marketer do to get attention in the trade |
| reporter might expand the story to include the general | | | | press? |
| category of "consumer electronics" to give the story a | | | | Share. |
| greater appeal. | | | | Share with the industry, through the industry press, |
| And how do you know this? You probably don't have | | | | what's working for you. Share how you met some |
| contacts in Asia, but you possibly do at your trade | | | | customer need through an employee innovation; share |
| association and certainly from the salespeople who sell | | | | how something's working (or not). Share a marketing |
| the phones to you. A quick call to either will confirm | | | | win you're proud of. Industry publications need fresh |
| whether or not cell phone delivery and production will | | | | stories from the trenches to share with the other |
| likely be interrupted by the disaster. | | | | readers that are standing in their own trenches. |
| There's an old saying: "All news is local". People read | | | | There are other resources out there on the web for |
| the news and then constantly analyze how what | | | | press releases, and we'll cover those in a future issue. |
| they've just read will affect them, if at all. | | | | Plus we'll soon review a good book on the topic, The |
| Remember your goal: get your name in the paper or | | | | Fall of Advertising and the Rise of PR. Just for now, |
| on the internet or possibly on radio or television as a | | | | start making those connections as you read the news. |
| reputable source. Journalists aren't going to try and | | | | Remember: Brand (who you are) + Package (your |
| build your brand; they need a story. It doesn't matter: | | | | Face to the Customer) + People (customers and |
| as long as you and your company are mentioned you | | | | employees) = Marketing Success. |