Big Ticket Marketing Tools
For me, the theme this week has been Big Ticket Marketing Tools.
Big Ticket Marketing Tool: Press or News Releases
Several weeks ago, Joel Christopher (The Master List Builder) asked me if I wanted to be 1 of only 2 sponsors at the upcoming Double Birthday Bash event that he and Ted Nicholas are hosting on March 18 - 21, 2005 in San Antonio, Texas. This was a surprise for me and an honor that he would ask me.
Now, part of my marketing plans for my business, myself and for the Big Ticket Home Study System was to use news or press releases to promote them. I had not had an opportunity to utilize them yet and this presented me with a good opportunity.
By the way, if you haven't already, go sign up for the Big Ticket Home Study Audio E-course. You'll learn a lot from the course but you'll also learn about the Big Ticket Home Study System itself, something I use a lot in my own business.
As a sponsor for the Double Birthday Bash, I am really sponsoring the Big Ticket event of the year. And I wanted to to make that fact widely known and promote my business at the same time. The easiest way to do that is to use a news or press release.
News releases are factual, informative and are sometimes told in story format or are related to stories that were previously covered by the media. Some examples of good topics for news releases are:
- New business announcements
- New product announcements
- News stories that cover a similar topic already covered at the regional, national or international level but with a new slant
- Human interest stories
News releases have many advantages.
If they are formatted correctly it is easy to submit them to one or more news release submission websites. http://www.prweb.com and http://www.i-newswire.com are two that I am familiar with. You can also fax or email these releases to specific newspaper, radio, TV or other media centers that you would like to notify via your news release.
You can submit to these sites for free but there are advantages to paying $10 - $30 when you submit your news release which we'll talk about in a minute.
These submission sites are how you get your news release distributed broadly. Many journalists and reports search these "newswire" sites when they are investigating stories or looking for new content in a specific area for their readers.
Also, news releases at these sites are often picked up by other media across the country.
And these news releases are usually fully indexed by search engines. And some of the submission sites allow you to specify additional keywords as well. This means that your news release can also be found by anyone on the internet using any of the many search tools such as google or yahoo search. If you want your results indexed in this way you usually have to pay the small fee I mentioned above to ensure that your news release is fully indexed and promoted to the search engines. But it is worth it for the exposure you get.
Your news release allows you to specify your contact information and also your websites. This means that anyone who reads your news release may also decide to spend some time checking out your sites as well, so you get traffic to your site that way too. And you may be contacted for interviews or for further information by other journalists giving you even more publicity.
Some news release submission sites also allow you to track how often your release is read on the site, picked up by a media outlet, printed or forwarded. So you can get some idea of how much interest there was in your release.
Now, I knew the importance of the news release as a Big Ticket Marketing tool for exposure but I had no idea about how to write one or even how they should be formatted. But luckily I met George McKenzie at one of Joel's previous workshops. In fact, I just wrote a blog post for the Double Birthday Bash Blog (Boy, is that a mouthful :-) on George. You can visit http://www.dbbblog.com to check out the blog but I am including the post here for you to read as well:
I've had the pleasure of hearing George McKenzie speak twice now.
George is not only a super nice guy but he is a polished and professional speaker as well. That's probably because George has worked in radio and TV since 1972.
And George knows what gets the attention of deadline-stressed reporters, producers, and editors – the people who have the power to give you precious (and expensive) air time or print space – or toss your release in the trash after one glance!
And George knows the subject material not only from being a media insider but also because he has been a small business owner too. If you want to know how to get publicity or the attention of media for your business then you must hear George speak at the Double Birthday Bash. If you haven't already registered or just want more information you can do that here: Double Birthday Bash.
Recently, I had to create a news release for my role as a sponsor of the Double Birthday Bash. I had no idea how to go about this. But luckily I had George Mckenzie's Publicity and Public Relations Bootcamp. You can learn more about that here.
Now, I have only actually listened to the portion of the Bootcamp that is the The Instant Press Release Toolkit because that was what I needed to learn quickly. If you are interested in that as a separate product you can learn more about that here. But if the Bootcamp is as informative and helpful as the Instant Press Release Toolkit was, its sure to be worth it!
Anyway, I had my news release created in very little time with George's help.
As an example, below is a sample critique that George did for a press release he actually received when he was at KLUP Radio in San Antonio Texas, where he hosted a weekly radio show. I hope you enjoy it!
And come hear George and all the other speakers at the Double Birthday Bash.
Press Release Critique
"Udo's Oil"
by George McKenzie
Press Release
PR FIRM NAME
To: George McKenzie, Guest Contact
For Immediate Release
Contact: PR Person’s Name
Phone Number
Email address
Dr. Udo Erasmus discusses
Has Madison avenue created a health crisis in America
Sample Interview Questions The Book – “Fats That Heal, Fats That Kill” About Dr. Erasmus
We’ve all heard these familiar expressions:
“Low fat is healthier”
“Fatty foods clog your arteries”
“Use margarine instead of butter”
“Cut out oil to lose weight”
Sensible dietary maxims, right? “Wrong!” says North America’s leading expert on fats and oils.
According to Dr. Udo Erasmus, author of “Fats That Heal, Fats That Kill”, these so-called “sensible dietary maxims” come not from the science of nutrition, but from high paid advertising execs on Madison Ave.
Madison Avenue’s “war on Fat” is being waged to improve corporate profits, not health.
“The giant food makers know that low fat foods have much longer shelf lives than fatty foods,” says Dr. Erasmus. “So they’ve hired high-powered advertisers to create “fat phobia” in the minds of consumers – and they’ve succeeded.”
According to Dr. Erasmus, studies have proven that low fat diets do not improve health. One recent study proved that people who switched from butter to margarine had twice as many heart attacks. “Fresh fats and oils are an essential part of a healthy diet,” says Dr. Erasmus. “They should never be damaged or removed.”
Dr. Erasmus says that the “War on Fat” has stripped America’s food supply of vital nutrients called “essential fatty acids – triggering a variety of degenerative diseases including heart attacks, strokes, cancer and diabetes.
Children’s health is another casualty in the “war on fat.”
Children raised on diets without essential fatty acids are more likely to be sick – and they frequently manifest behavioral problems and learning disabilities.”
“After years of ‘low-fat propaganda,’ fatty acid deficiency has become the number one nutritional (next line cut off by fax machine)
Is fatty acid deficiency correctable?
“Yes,” says Dr. Erasmus. “but you have to stop listening to all this “low-fat” hype and start eating properly prepared food containing essential fats and oils.”
To ensure adequate fatty acid intake, Dr. Erasmus recommends drinking one or two tablespoons of fresh seed oil made to his specifications by (company name), called “Udo’s Choice Oil,” which can be found in health stores nationwide or by calling (number).
“Don’t be a victim of “fat phobia”, encourages Dr. Erasmus. Stay healthy by eating lots of fresh, properly prepared foods rich in essential fats and oils.
A list of foods supplying essential fatty acids can be found in Dr. Erasmus’ book, “Fats That Heal – Fats that Kill.
2. Why is it more profitable for food processors to sell low-fat foods?
3. Is margarine healthier than butter?
4. What diseases are linked to low-fat and no-fat diets?
5. What are “essential fatty acids” and why are they “essential”?
6. Why does lack of fat and oil cause heart disease?
7. How are behavioral disorders linked to nonfat diets?
8. What foods contain the essential fatty acids?
9. What supplements are available to adequate intake of essential fatty acids?
Trained in biochemistry, and genetics at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Dr. Erasmus has been an invited guest on over 800 radio and television programs. His advice on health and nutrition has appeared in newspapers and magazines worldwide.
To schedule an interview, call (PR Firm number)
Critique
Instant Eyeball Test: Easy on the eyes. Uncluttered. Contact info is where it should be. Name of the PR firm is there, but it takes up little space, which will score points with news people.
Paragraphs are short and that makes it easier to scan quickly. Several sentences are written in bullet point style.
Sections headlines are in bold type and centered. Again, easy to scan and compartmentalize at a glance.
Overall, this one will probably be placed aside for later review.
Headline Test: Good headline. Uses a media catch word: “Conspiracy” in the primary headline. Implies that someone has been trying to get away with something, and that’s always good grist for the media mill.
In the sub-headline, we get details on the perpetrators of this conspiracy.
Has Madison avenue created a health crisis in America
Madison Avenue, of course, is famous for it’s huge, high-powered advertising agencies. There are people who live in New York City, drive fancy cars, drink three martinis at lunch, and then bombard us with untruths about products they fool us into thinking we just can’t live without. Or so the writer would have us think.
The sub-headline uses another catchword: “crisis.” There may or may not really be a crisis, but the news person will read on just in case. Besides, even if there’s no crisis, but enough people think there is, it’s worth talking about.
Newsworthiness Test: A winner because it hits several universal news themes:
Myth-busting the writer opens by quoting “conventional wisdom” about diet and nutrition:
“Low fat is healthier”
“Fatty foods clog your arteries”
“Use margarine instead of butter”
“Cut out oil to lose weight”
She then claims all those ideas are (excuse the expression) balogna.
Sensible dietary maxims, right? “Wrong!”
Conspiracy Theory (mentioned above): someone is trying to get away with something: in this case, it’s “Madison Avenue.” The writer elaborates a few sentences below the headline
Madison Avenue’s “war on fat” is being waged to improve corporate profits, not health.
This implies that Madison Avenue’s ‘war on fat” is not only taking money out of our pocketbooks, but it’s costing us our health as well.
Read a little further down the release, and the writer nails another universal theme:
Children’s health is another casualty in the “war on fat.”
Anything involving children has relevance.
Children raised on diets without essential fatty acids are more likely to be sick – and they
frequently manifest behavioral problems and learning disabilities.”
Body:
The writer offers credentials immediately after making the myth-busting claim:
says Dr. So-and So, North America’s leading expert on fats and oils.
She also continues to imply that someone’s getting rich at the public’s expense (which the media, as watchdog of the public welfare, has a duty to expose):
high paid advertising execs on Madison Ave.
Quotes:
The writer does a nice job of making them fit the tone of the release. There’s a connection to ideas and themes that have been introduced previously:
I say the writer does a nice job of this, because in all likelihood, the writer made up the quotes, took them to the doctor and said, “Hey is it okay if I say this?”
“So they’ve hired high-powered advertisers…”
“Yes,” says Dr. Erasmus. “but you have to stop listening to all this “low-fat” hype…”
“After years of ‘low-fat propaganda…’”
Q&A and Bio sections:
Not much to add here. They’re short, relevant, easy to pick out of the release on first glance. Just what the news person is looking for.
Medium Match: I personally think this release would pass the test with any medium, but it’s especially suited to radio and TV talk shows.
This release was faxed to me at KLUP, so I’m not surprised it’s “talk show friendly.” I suspect the writer may have also sent releases written especially for TV and newspaper, but I don’t know that for sure.
Worth Mentioning:
This news release was so well constructed that it was easy to miss the purpose of the release FROM THE PR AGENCY’S POINT OF VIEW.
They want to get publicity for their client, obviously. But their client wants to sell something.
Do you know what?
If you said, the doctor wants to sell his book, you only got it half right. Guess again.
And no cheating. Don’t go back and look more closely at the release.
Okay. Here’s what the doctor is really selling—quoting from the second page of the release:
“To ensure adequate fatty acid intake, Dr. Erasmus recommends drinking one or two
tablespoons of fresh seed oil made to his specifications by (company name called “Udo’s
Choice Oil,” which can be found in health stores nationwide or by calling (number).
The doctor is selling what, in my mind anyway, is a food supplement.
Some book sales would be nice, but I’m guessing the book is mainly a promotional vehicle for the supplement.
Trying to promote a product like seed oil would be a tough sell to any reporter or talk show producer.
But promoting a book that warns about a “conspiracy” that affects our health, pocketbooks, and kids…well, that’s a different story.
The person who wrote this release did a masterful job of keeping any mention of the seed oil as low profile as she could.
But she did mention it, and for a good reason.
If she hadn’t written about it at all, and then the doctor started talking about it during the interview, the producer/host would have felt duped – and irritated enough that they’d remember her name next time she contacted them.
But she gave the news folks what they wanted first. She pushed all the right buttons in the first page and a half of the release so the fact that the doctor was selling a product probably wouldn’t have mattered.
The truth is…since most news releases are SCANNED but not READ, a lot of people might have zipped right over this paragraph and not even noticed.
Did you?
In Summary…
In my opinion, this was a extremely well done release. Yes, there were a couple of punctuation errors, including two glaring mistakes in the subheadline: the word “avenue” should have been capitalized in
Has Madison avenue created a health crisis in America
and there’s a “?” missing at the end of the sentence.
When I first read the release, I was a little put off by both these oversights, but the release had already passed the eyeball test and the headline test, so I kept reading.
I’m glad I did.
I wouldn’t hesitate to call these folks to set up an interview. They know how to play the press release “game.” They probably also know how to do “good radio”.
Big Ticket Marketing Tool: Webinars
Webinars are fast becoming one of my favorite Big Ticket Marketing Tools.
They allow much more direct contact with the people I care about: you, my readers, or other folks interested in Big Ticket Marketing.
A Webinar is just like the name sounds - a seminar on the web. It's like a teleseminar, which is just a phone meeting that lots of people can dial into to listen to a speaker and perhaps ask questions once the speaker is finished. But webinars have some even cooler advantages.
Because the webinar happens on the web, you interact using your computer instead of your phone. Long distance charges that are typical with a phone teleseminar are not incurred for a webinar. For me that could mean a savings of between $30 - $50 per month depending on how many teleseminars I would host or attend.
Webinar rooms typically allow you to view and speak directly to other people in the webinar assuming they have a working web camera and microphone. Some also allow you to browse the web inside the webinar system which is a great feature if you want to show everyone in the webinar a presentation, a particular website, a video or some other demo.
Some webinar systems also have white board capabilities which allow people to draw things roughly the same way as they would on a white board in a meeting.
In other words webinars allow people to gather together in a virtual meeting room on the web to hear someone present on a particular topic or to have a meeting where the participants are not located in one spot.
I've done several webinars on Big Ticket Marketing topics and was really impressed with the ease I was able to communicate with the other webinar participants and to speak with them directly and hear what they had to say.
I thought a lot about webinars this week because I was creating a user training video for the webinar system that I use. If you haven't attended a webinar or are just curious about what a webinar looks like, why don't you check it out at:
http://www.likemagicmarketing.com/Webinars/Training/index.htm
As always, feel free to comment on any posts or even email me if you have a question or would like me to discuss a particular Big Ticket Marketing topic.
-Chuck
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