Public Relations And Goodwill

One highly effective type of advertising costsA free slide talk on family hikes in the Bay Area will
virtually nothing: public relations. With public relations,be given by writer-photographer Jane Doe on
the newsworthiness of some aspect of yourThursday, October 18, 7:30 P.M., at Jackson's Shoes
business or business activities can earn you freein Berkeley.
publicity in newspapers or magazines, or even onIn the following one or more paragraphs, add
radio or television.information that rounds out the first paragraph or
However, it must truly be newsworthy. You mightanswers questions the first paragraph may evoke.
publicize, for example, a lecture, a demonstration or aFor example:
workshop being presented at your business site-anDoe, author of A Walk in the Park, will recommend
event that news outlets could list in their communitynature walks for families with children aged seven
calendars or possibly even send a reporter to cover.and older. Most walks are in regional parks, and Doe
Find out who at a station or publication handles suchwill not only show what various trails have to offer
local events and send that person a news release.but also the trails for difficulty. Parents and their
Alternatively, prepare an article for a newspaper orchildren are invited to attend. Jackson's Shoes is
trade magazine in which you offer information oflocated at 1234 First Street in Berkeley. For more
value to its readers. The point of such articles is toinformation, call (510) 555 3271.
establish you as an authority in your industry. It's forFinally, on either the top or bottom of the news
this reason that a stockbroker might write arelease-which can be written on letterhead with the
biweekly column on personal finance or a nurserywords NEWS RELEASE above the text-write the
write a column giving gardening advice.name and telephone number of your contact person.
A further source of publicity is goodwill efforts. TeamFor example:
sponsorships, for example, keep your name in frontFor more information, contact Mark Jones at (510)
of the public. Lectures given by you or your staff to555 3271.
civic groups or other businesses also enhance yourTo give newspapers further encouragement to
company's visibility. Get a list of clubs and associationspublicize your event, enclose a glossy black and white
from your local Chamber of Commerce. Anotherphoto that illustrates the subject of your release.
course of action, one that must be heartfelt andType a caption and paste it on the back. For
genuine, is to spearhead a campaign to solve aexample, if you are using a nature photograph:
community problem that is related to your business.Family hikes in the Bay Area will be the subject of a
A pharmacist, for example, might lead an effort tofree slide talk by author Jane Doe on Thursday,
keep poison detection centers open.October 18, 7:30 P.M., at Jackson's Shoes in Berkeley.
Writing a News ReleaseOverall, the virtue of a clear, well organized news
If you keep in mind the person at the newspaper,release and captioned photo is that they give
magazine or station who'll receive your newsnewspapers-your most likely recipients-several ways
release-a person buried under stacks of releases andto respond. They can print your entire release and
eager to find some newsworthy information - you'llcaptioned picture, they can use only the captioned
automatically write the best kind of release: short,photograph, or they can insert just the first
crisp and simple.paragraph into a community calendar. As a result,
In the first paragraph, tell who, what, why, whereyour chances of getting something into print are
and when-starting with a description of the eventgreatly enhanced.
itself. For example: