This Wednesday, publicist and media strategist Carrol Van Stone
shared some tips and tricks for using media coverage to boost your company’s
profile in her Ticket Summit® Plus
webinar! Van Stone works to position small business brands for media coverage
to have a dramatic influence on awareness and growth. Her work with a ticketing
industry company has led to profiles in Forbes
and regular appearances on Fox News Live, Yahoo Post Game, and ESPN Radio.
In the webinar, Van Stone said it is important to know how
you WON’T get publicity. She has a few hard and fast rules: never call the
media to say how great you are, never read the company brochure to a reporter,
and never ask why they have quoted your competitor and not you. Remember that
reporters and editors work for their company, not yours. Your mention or quote
will be the result of your assistance to them, not theirs to you.
You can keep a PR representative on retainer, Van Stone
suggested, or you can have a pay per placement arrangement. However, you should
never expect any media coverage guarantees. Van Stone offered the old adage: “Advertising
is what you pay for, media coverage is what you pray for.” Instead, Van Stone
recommends gauging the media efforts of the PR rep you are working with.
Van Stone also discussed unusual or underused methods of
boosting your company profile, such as paid editorial or op-ed pieces. Paid
editorial will guarantee your coverage, but might be obvious to viewers/readers
that you have paid for the opportunity. Op-Ed pieces and letters to the editor
can provide extra coverage, but must cover timely and relevant topics.
Be sure to follow Van Stone on Twitter at @VanStonePublic
for more tips! The Fall 2013 Ticket
Summit® Plus webinar series continues on Wed., October 23 at 1 PM ET with How to Prevent Online Fraud. Register now for FREE!
