BBF064: How to Get Free Media for your Business with Bec Derrington

How To Promote Your Business In The Media, With Bec Derrington

Every business needs good PR, but in order to get it, you have to understand how to build bridges with your preferred media. One great way of attracting the media is to be quoted as an expert, so we spoke to Bec Derrington, founder of http://www.sourcebottle.com - a service that connects experts with the media. Source Bottle is a free global service used by bloggers, journalists and reporters that gives them easy access to experts in any given field so they can be quoted as part of their story. This could of course be your business… you are an expert after all, aren’t you?!? Bec’s personal story is a great example of how challenging it can be to get the media onside if you don’t have many personal media contacts. How do you prevent the story of your business being lost in the mire of press releases and mailshots? And how do you come across as an expert that is simply indispensible to the media?

Having worked in PR, Bec was inspired to invent Source Bottle because she knew first-hand how difficult it was to connect with the media without a large base of personal-media contacts. The same is true for many businesses and many inspirational leaders of these businesses: they might have a great story to tell, but they don’t know who they should tell, and they don’t know who might want to know and when they might want to know it. Source Bottle is one way of making the process easier, but there are some other very important tips about how to make the ‘story’ of your business/expertise stand out enough to gain maximum publicity:

** First understand what it is you want to be known for, i.e. a particular product/industry/stance on a particular matter

** Identify the issue that your ‘solution’ solves

** Seek out the publications/media outlets that most effectively connect with your target audience

** Try and specifically target a journalist rather than doing some kind of mass mailout

** Understand the journalist’s tone of voice and tailor the content you send them (remember, it’s all about them thinking that your ‘story’ is unique to them)

** Make sure you have plenty of ‘assets’ to go with the story, i.e. photos and video

Following the above is a great way for your business to be promoted in the media without the need for an expensive PR campaign.  And remember, being recommended as an expert by a third party (in this case a journalist) can be a lot more powerful to your audience than simply advertising yourself.  If your expertise is qualified by somebody else, people are more likely to think “well it must be true”. In this episode of Business Brain Food you will learn:

** The inner workings of http://www.sourcebottle.com

** How to easily build a long-lasting relationship with a journalist from the comfort of your own home

** Why media relations is so powerful

** How to pitch to journalists correctly

** How to find contact details of journalists

** The difference between advertising and PR

** How to state your position as an expert

** Are press releases important in this day and age?

** How businesses/experts can control the message

Resources mentioned in this episode:

** Source Bottle: (http://www.sourcebottle.com.au)

** Free Sydney Two-hour workshop: (http://www.businessfasttrack.com.au)

** Facebook (www.facebook.com/businessbrainfood)

** Business Brain Food Facebook Group (www.facebook.com/groups/businessbrainfood)

** Twitter (https://twitter.com/bfewtrell)

** ActionCOACH (http://actioncoachanz.com/itunes)

** ActionCOACH (http://actioncoachanz.com/stitcher)

Are you ready take your business to the next level and let the public know that you’re an expert?

Then use the information provided in this episode to make it happen! Also, if you are enjoying these Business Brain Food podcasts, then make sure to share them via social media sites or email the links to family and friends. A lot of time and effort goes into producing each of these podcasts with the goal in mind of the more people we can inspire about business the better. You can help us do just that! Until next time, have a profitable day. Cheers, Ben Fewtrell [phone]