HOW YOUR COMPANY CAN BENEFIT FROM FREE MEDIA

By John Adams

The recession of 2001 was not all bad. Among other things, it focused new attention on the benefits of "free media," the low-cost way of strengthening your company's image - and sales - when advertising dollars are hard to come by.

What exactly is free media? How do you access it? How can your company benefit from it?

Free media is an advertising term. It refers to all media attention that is not specifically advertising. It means news stories, feature articles and columns that may promote your company or its products, but for which you do not have to buy space. It is literally free.

To access it, you no longer deal with a paper's or magazine's advertising department but with the editorial department - the reporters who write the stories and the editors who decide what actually goes into the paper.

This is very different from buying advertising. With free media, you have to convince the editorial staff that your company and your products are worth writing about. (And they likely are, by the way. You just have to put some effort into finding "angles" or subjects that would interest a media outlet's readers or viewers. This is especially true when dealing with publications, as tough economic times translate to fewer ads and a smaller "news hole" to fill.)

Free media offers two great advantages over regular advertising. The first, of course, is that it really is free. There are no creative costs, no placement costs, no annoying "administrative expenses." The second is that it is an implicit third-party endorsement of your company and its products that often can be more valuable than advertising.

Public relations firms (as opposed to advertising agencies) specialize in obtaining free media for their clients. They charge for their time, but it usually costs far less than advertising, especially if it's a small local firm. Individual consultants working from home cost even less. Good Web sources for these small firms and individuals are www.odwyerpr.com, www.worldcomgroup.com and www.naipra.org.

But you don't need a public relations firm. If you are a small company, it can be more satisfying and more fun to do it yourself - at virtually no cost. Here are a few simple steps to get you started:

1. Imagine you are in a meeting with a valuable potential customer. What are the most interesting things you can tell him about your company and the particular products you want to sell him? What special benefits will he get from your company that he can't get somewhere else? You probably have made this pitch all too many times and know it by heart. But have you written it down? If not, now's the time to do so. Be specific, then fine tune what you have written. These are the points you'd make to a trade or technical publication.



2. Next, you need to determine the trade and technical publications your potential customer is most likely to read. These are the publications in which you would advertise if you had the budget. If you are not sure, you can find all trade publications listed by industry (e.g. construction, boat building, packaging) in Bacon's media directories. Ask your library for Bacon's magazine directory (which includes newsletters) or access its Web site at www.bacons.com.



3. For local or general media, imagine you are talking to a neighbor. What would she find interesting about your organization, its products or its employees? What would she find interesting enough to pass on to someone else? For instance, has your company been in business for decades, providing employment to generations of local workers? Have you introduced a new product that will enhance your piece of the market, helping to strengthen the local economy? Would that neighbor find a tour of your plant interesting? Has your company provided services to the community? These are the points you'd make to a business reporter or "metro" editor. If you're looking for local recognition, you likely know the publications you want to target. If you don't, Bacon's guides are available for newspapers and electronic outlets, as well.



4. Now you have to get the publication interested. There are many ways of doing this, but first you have to get over the fear that they won't be. The trick is to look through a few issues of the publication to figure out which section and which reporter or columnist most frequently covers business or your industry or your products and ask yourself where you and your story fit in.



5. For the trade press, you'll want to go back to the points you made in that meeting with the potential customer. For general media, you'll look back to your conversation - real or imaginary - with a neighbor. These are the same message points you want a reporter to write about, but they need to be modified slightly so they come across as news rather than a sales pitch. Here's where you may want to call on a public relations professional - or a reporter friend - for some low-cost help.



6. Now you are ready to pitch your story. Call the reporter or columnist you identified above (the number will be in Bacon's) and tell him or her that you have a story you think they'll find of interest. Give a brief description and ask if they'd like you to send them something on it. If you've done your homework and are offering them some substance or an interesting angle, they nearly always will say yes. Ask if they'd like to receive it by e-mail, fax or regular mail (this is an important detail, by the way, as most reporters today have strong preferences).



7. You now have the beginning of a relationship with a writer in a publication reaching your customers, potential customers and/or your community. This relationship eventually could be worth many thousands of dollars in sales and/or a great deal of goodwill (and a positive image) for you and your industry, so you should do all you can to nurture it. In your phone conversations, explore common interests, invite the writer to your plant, introduce him to your top people. Brief him on trends you see in the marketplace. Become a valuable source of information for him or her -- not just on your company, but on your industry and your customer industries. The more helpful you are, the more helpful he will be to you. He will begin to quote you as an industry authority. In chatting informally, you will be able to develop additional story ideas that will reflect well on your company and your products.



8. Finally, all the above applies equally to online news services on the Web, which usually are easier to interest in your story because they have no space constraints; they just need information. Many of the trade and technical publications have their own supplementary online services, and your local papers likely do, as well. Here again, Bacon's can guide you. It publishes a specialized Internet media directory with a wealth of information, including all the names and phone numbers of online editors and writers. You will find they are usually very friendly and helpful.

In short, free media is a two-way street. You interact with reporters and editors, being respectful of their time and using your own "news judgment." They welcome this interaction and soon you will, too. You can learn a lot from them. As a New York Times reporter said to me recently, "you are our eyes and ears; we depend on you to keep us informed." This is especially true in hard economic times, when too few reporters have to cover too many beats. Yet it's an opportunity that too few businesspersons are using. Many remain unnecessarily fearful of the press. Approached correctly, the press - the free media - can be a truly valuable friend.

Reaching out to reporters could be one of your best business strategies for 2002 -helping you manage your own message, show your value to the community and keep your name in front of your customers.

The author is an industry media consultant. He can be reached at (202) 737-8400 or by email at jadams@johnadams.com.

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