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3
Ways
to
Kill
a
Small
Business
Publicity
Opportunity
with
a Lousy Media Interview
Some
small businesses work hard to get noticed by the media,
and then lose the opportunity by making some of these
common mistakes
By
Will Dylan
Publicity
is a huge weapon in gaining a competitive advantage in
your local market and becoming recognized as an expert
in your field. It costs less than advertising, and does
more for you in building awareness and credibility for
your small business.
So
why do some small business owners blow their big
publicity opportunity by making deadly mistakes once
they've uncovered an opportunity? Here are some of the
most common errors that can sink a good small business
publicity opportunity in the interview with a reporter:
Not
Preparing for the Big Interview
Repeat
this 10 times - "I will not wing it...",
"I will not wing it..." You've worked hard to
a get a local reporter interested in a story that will
involve your business. You must be prepared for the
interview with interesting stories, facts, observations,
trends, etc. Winging it won't win you any points with a
reporter who wants to give your business the spotlight
but finds that you've got nothing interesting to
say.
Have 3 key messages in mind and keep going back to those
if you are a little stumped.
Not
Catering to the Medium
Radio is different than TV, and that's different than online, and so
on. You can't operate the same way in every interview
and expect to build a relationship with a reporter. Yet
many small business owners make this mistake and end up
sounding out of touch with the audience.
Remember,
TV demands short, catchy sound bytes. You'll be on air
for 15 seconds, maybe 30. You can't start with
"Well, let me start at the beginning. Back in
1975...". No time. Get to the point and do it in an
interesting way. You need to keep people's
attention.
Radio
is conversational. Listeners need you to paint a picture
of your business since they can't see you. Be friendly.
Reach through the radio and make a connection with
listeners. If you sound boring on radio, you are boring,
because the only link between you and the audience is
your voice.
Online/print
is often more about educating the reporter - you have
time on your side, it's almost the opposite of TV in
this respect. They need their facts straight to build a
400 or 500 word story. Yes, you will be quoted, so stay
on message, but use your time with the reporter
educating them on the topic and sharing your small
businesses point of view on the subject. i.e. if you
sell all natural food products, you can give the
reporter some background on why people are changing the
way they eat, etc.
Turning
the Interview into a Commercial for your Small Business
If
you really want to blow a good small business publicity
opportunity, turn every answer into a commercial for
company. This
is a big mistake that some small owners make because
they think the interview is a great opportunity to get
"free advertising".
Think
of it as "free exposure" instead. Talk about
issues and problems that affect your customers, and then
briefly talk about how those problems can be solved.
Wrong
way: "Thanks for asking about how to choose the
right car for you. Right now, we're having a
sale..."
Right
way: "Thanks for asking about how to choose the
right car for you. The most important factor is
affordability - you need to realistically look at how
much you can afford. Here are some ways to do that with
a pen and paper at home..."
The
credibility will be valuable, and don't worry, you'll
get plugged in the story.
Avoid
these critical interview errors and you'll have a much
better chance of making your big media interview a
success, and driving more small business publicity with
future interviews as reporters will come back to
you.
Will
Dylan is the
author of
Small Business, Big PR,
an affordable audio course that teaches small business
owners how to get publicity at next to no cost for their
small business. Find out more at
www.marketingyoursmallbusiness.com/
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