creativity, and resources you apply toward your media relations program.

Let’s face it. Any new marketing or public relations initiative needs to prove its value in the form of results to compel you to apply precious resources to the task. Be clear about what you want your public relations program to accomplish for your growing business. If you want escalating Website and foot traffic to your business, leads to be of higher quality and quantity, and a story on the front page of the Snohomish County Business Journal to draw

There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about." - Oscar Wilde

Every growing company has a story to tell, yet not every growing company has the budget to retain a public relations firm to tell it. This article is the first of a series that will show you how to tell your own winning story without breaking the bank. Step-by-step, month by month, you’ll learn how to prepare your news, share your news and/or expertise, and earn the headlines you need to spread your story far and wide. Plus, you’ll learn about plenty of useful and often free resources to help you get the mission accomplished. When you get into action, your brand, reputation, and business will grow. You’ll soon learn that good publicity can last forever, and you’ll wonder why you didn’t begin sooner.

But don’t just start writing and sending press releases all over town, the Internet, or the world without first determining the current “buzz” about your company and what you most want to accomplish as a result of your publicity efforts. First take the temperature to see if you are sizzlin’ or fizzlin.’ Visit www.Google.com to discover the current “buzz” about your name and company. Better yet, visit www.linkpopularity.com to learn how popular your Website is according to Google, MSN.com, and Yahoo.com. If the only thing that comes up is the 5K race you ran three years ago, you’ve got some work to do. And, if you don’t yet have a Website, add that to your list of essential tasks to accomplish. But before you do that, ask yourself a few key questions.

• What do you want to be known for?
• What qualifies you?
• What is special and different about the way you do business?
• Why is what you do or offer timely, newsworthy, trend-worthy, or relevant to the news media today?
• What do you want “Google” of www.linkpopularity.com to reveal about your company and name six-months and one year from now?

If you are thoughtful and strategic about your storytelling approach, you’ll be in a much better position to evaluate your return on investment of time, creativity, and resources you apply toward your media relations program.

Let’s face it. Any new marketing or public relations initiative needs to prove its value in the form of results to compel you to apply precious resources to the task. Be clear about what you want your public relations program to accomplish for your growing business. If you want escalating Website and foot traffic to your business, leads to be of higher quality and quantity, and a story on the front page of the Snohomish County Business Journal to draw

far and wide. Plus, you’ll learn about plenty of useful and often free resources to help you get the mission accomplished. When you get into action, your brand, reputation, and business will grow. You’ll soon learn that good publicity can last forever, and you’ll wonder why you didn’t begin sooner.

But don’t just start writing and sending press releases all over town, the Internet, or the world without first determining the current “buzz” about your company and what you most want to accomplish as a result of your publicity efforts. First take the temperature to see if you are sizzlin’ or fizzlin.’ Visit www.Google.com to discover the current “buzz” about your name and company. Better yet, visit www.linkpopularity.com to learn how popular your Website is according to Google, MSN.com, and Yahoo.com. If the only thing that comes up is the 5K race you ran three years ago, you’ve got some work to do. And, if you don’t yet have a Website, add that to your list of essential tasks to accomplish. But before you do that, ask yourself a few key questions.

• What do you want to be known for?
• What qualifies you?
• What is special and different about the way you do business?
• Why is what you do or offer timely, newsworthy, trend-worthy, or relevant to the news media today?
• What do you want “Google” of www.linkpopularity.com to reveal about your company and name six-months and one year from now?

If you are thoughtful and strategic about your storytelling approach, you’ll be in a much better position to evaluate your return on investment of time, creativity, and resources you apply toward your media relations program.

Let’s face it. Any new marketing or public relations initiative needs to prove its value in the form of results to compel you to apply precious resources to the task. Be clear about what you want your public relations program to accomplish for your growing business. If you want escalating Website and foot traffic to your business, leads to be of higher quality and quantity, and a story on the front page of the Snohomish County Business Journal to draw

y efforts. First take the temperature to see if you are sizzlin’ or fizzlin.’ Visit www.Google.com to discover the current “buzz” about your name and company. Better yet, visit www.linkpopularity.com to learn how popular your Website is according to Google, MSN.com, and Yahoo.com. If the only thing that comes up is the 5K race you ran three years ago, you’ve got some work to do. And, if you don’t yet have a Website, add that to your list of essential tasks to accomplish. But before you do that, ask yourself a few key questions.

• What do you want to be known for?
• What qualifies you?
• What is special and different about the way you do business?
• Why is what you do or offer timely, newsworthy, trend-worthy, or relevant to the news media today?
• What do you want “Google” of www.linkpopularity.com to reveal about your company and name six-months and one year from now?

If you are thoughtful and strategic about your storytelling approach, you’ll be in a much better position to evaluate your return on investment of time, creativity, and resources you apply toward your media relations program.

Let’s face it. Any new marketing or public relations initiative needs to prove its value in the form of results to compel you to apply precious resources to the task. Be clear about what you want your public relations program to accomplish for your growing business. If you want escalating Website and foot traffic to your business, leads to be of higher quality and quantity, and a story on the front page of the Snohomish County Business Journal to draw

ns.

• What do you want to be known for?
• What qualifies you?
• What is special and different about the way you do business?
• Why is what you do or offer timely, newsworthy, trend-worthy, or relevant to the news media today?
• What do you want “Google” of www.linkpopularity.com to reveal about your company and name six-months and one year from now?

If you are thoughtful and strategic about your storytelling approach, you’ll be in a much better position to evaluate your return on investment of time, creativity, and resources you apply toward your media relations program.

Let’s face it. Any new marketing or public relations initiative needs to prove its value in the form of results to compel you to apply precious resources to the task. Be clear about what you want your public relations program to accomplish for your growing business. If you want escalating Website and foot traffic to your business, leads to be of higher quality and quantity, and a story on the front page of the Snohomish County Business Journal to draw

creativity, and resources you apply toward your media relations program.

Let’s face it. Any new marketing or public relations initiative needs to prove its value in the form of results to compel you to apply precious resources to the task. Be clear about what you want your public relations program to accomplish for your growing business. If you want escalating Website and foot traffic to your business, leads to be of higher quality and quantity, and a story on the front page of the Snohomish County Business Journal to draw attention to your company’s most important breakthrough and why it matters to the community, be clear about it. Always align your actions and storytelling with your desired results.

The next article will address some proven ways to earn editors’ attention. In the meantime, keep reading the newspapers and watching the local and national news. You’ll need to gain familiarity with the work of the reporters who write about your industry if you hope to influence them to tell your story. And if you have a burning media relations question to ask, get in touch.