| you want to win and woo new clients with national | | | | Remember the ad campaign in the 1970s that urged |
| publicity -- and don't have an enormous budget to | | | | you to write away to a major petroleum company for |
| distribute your message -- turn to the news wires. But | | | | free booklets on auto maintenance, safety and repair? |
| first, be sure you're telling a story that's worth printing. | | | | (Hint: The booklets were yellow, and the logo is still red. |
| The best publicity draws on one of a handful of | | | | Looks a bit like ... a seashell.) School children across |
| tried-and-true themes. Newsworthy stories have | | | | America learned to write "business letters" by carefully |
| something that hits you as a reader and makes you | | | | printing "Dear Sir" requests to that company, and even |
| more interested than "just the facts." | | | | 30 years later, people remember the company's |
| Think about how your company's story might work as | | | | generosity with a warm, fuzzy feeling. You can't beat |
| part of one (or more) of the following story themes. | | | | free advice for building trust. |
| David vs. Goliath | | | | Did you know? |
| You were small, the odds against you were great, but | | | | You can assert all you want. But numbers make it real. |
| you took on the big guys and you won! Everybody | | | | Research -- real, proprietary research, carried out by |
| loves an underdog, and if you can play this card, you | | | | you, with numbers that you own --can be a great way |
| might stir up more attention than you ever thought | | | | to get attention. San Diego-based Metabolife Inc. just |
| possible. An Orange County-based company, | | | | wrapped up a year-long research initiative that resulted |
| ProtectConnect ( is using this strategy to publicize its | | | | in mentions and stories in several national publications. |
| buzzworthy invention -- a modular system of | | | | What did they do? They got numbers, and they used |
| safety-first electrical outlets and switches. The wiring | | | | them. Did you know that 47 percent of people say |
| device industry they're taking on is dominated by just a | | | | everyone is out of shape at their high school reunion? |
| handful of huge corporations, but the attention they're | | | | Metabolife did the studies, found the numbers, then |
| getting as a startup for their patented product has | | | | turned the statistics into a great opportunity for |
| prompted more than $1.5 million in orders -- before the | | | | publicity. |
| company even opens its doors for business. | | | | The wires |
| First, fastest, brightest | | | | Once you've got a newsworthy story, how do you |
| If you've really got a story that's unique -- you're the | | | | get the word out? |
| first, or the biggest, or the strongest, or the loudest -- | | | | One option is to hit the news wire services yourself. |
| then you have a certifiably newsworthy story. | | | | Both the PR Newswire ( and Business Newswire ( are |
| RoseTel System Inc. ( a Los Angeles-based | | | | membership-based services that require you to join in |
| manufacturer of the world's first streaming, real-time | | | | order to distribute your releases. Prices for releases |
| video delivered through plain old telephone lines, scored | | | | can range from as little as $125 for a statewide |
| a touchdown with this angle in January 2003, when | | | | distribution to $600 for national, or several thousand |
| their system helped the city of San Diego maintain | | | | dollars for an international release. For this price, which |
| surveillance, security and order during the Super Bowl. | | | | is much less than postage, your brief release will cross |
| The story became especially significant because on | | | | the country or the globe, passing in front of the eyes |
| the day of the big game, the Internet, which would | | | | of thousands of editors in tens of thousands of media |
| have carried other forms of video, was crippled by a | | | | outlets. |
| global virus. RoseTel was able to honestly state that | | | | There are also services that will take on the task of |
| their video communication system was the first and | | | | distribution for you, especially if you're a small firm or |
| only one in the world that could have performed so | | | | don't have a dedicated staff to make contact, handle |
| affordably and so well that day -- and as a result, their | | | | releases, or do follow up. One such service, E-releases |
| story was picked up around the country from one | | | | ( for example, will do as little or as much as you want |
| simple wire release. | | | | to help you get the word out. They'll even write your |
| Rags to riches | | | | release for you, for a nominal fee, shaping your story |
| Stories about the GWOG (Guy Working Out of | | | | in ways they know are likely to garner the most |
| Garage) who strikes it rich are still unusual. Steve Jobs | | | | attention. They'll also distribute for around $350, and |
| of Apple may be one of the best examples of a | | | | send you links showing you where your story was run |
| rags-to-riches story, but there are countless examples | | | | online (a great deal that saves you hundreds of dollars, |
| of this. Jack Daley, president of the Triarch Group, a | | | | because it includes a national distribution via PR |
| San Diego-based consulting firm that works with | | | | Newswire). |
| tech-driven companies to systematize their approach | | | | Finally, no public relations expert would ever say there |
| to innovation, delights in telling a rags-to-riches story | | | | isn't at least some element of chance involved in what |
| from his own experience. His client, the company that | | | | stories get picked up and which ones don't. It's best to |
| eventually became Network Solutions (still the biggest | | | | take a "water drip" approach. Every little bit makes a |
| registrar for domain names on the Internet) was | | | | difference, even if you can't see them for each |
| started with a cash advance on a credit card and | | | | droplet. Still, after a while, water will wear away a |
| eventually grew into a multimillion-dollar monster. Now | | | | stone, and your story can break through the clutter in |
| that's a story. | | | | the same way. |
| Free advice | | | | |