Kick off your PR on Micro Biz Matters Day 2016

This Friday 8th January, JournoLink is supporting the second annual Micro Biz Matters Day, celebrating the UK’s emerging micro businesses and helping them to take their business to new heights in 2016. As PR sponsor of the event and Micro Biz champion, we wanted to give you and your Micro Business 8 key tips to help you on your PR journey in 2016. Happy #MicroBizMattersDay!

Make an impression. Sending a press release out to a database of journalists is one of the quickest ways you could receive media coverage, so be sure to impress. Rather than listing off the many properties and benefits of your product as you would in a sales pitch to investors, be memorable by telling a story and adding a human interest angle to your news release that the public will remember. Once you have the body of your piece completed, you can begin to think of an equally intriguing headline.  

Is it interesting? What might be interesting to you about your business may not be what interests a journalist. If you have difficulty deciding what news is newsworthy, then following trending topics on social media platforms can help steer you in the right direction. When it comes to writing your press release, the more you can hook your story to an existing news article or trending topic, the higher your chance of coverage success.

Celebrity endorsements?  Can you attach a celebrity name to your press release? Celebrity name-dropping can have its benefits. If you know a celebrity has used your product before or can in some way be tied to your line of work, why not mention them in your press release? Depending on how well-known the celebrity is, you could find coverage much easier to gain this way. 

Relationship with journalists – the best way to guarantee yourself media pick-up is to befriend a journalist. Use social media to engage with and build relationships with journalists. You could show them you support their work by sharing a post they wrote, for example. However, it’s important to do your research. Ensure the journalist or blogger you are engaging with has a mutual passion for your industry sector so you are not wasting your time. Take a quick look at their blog and Twitter account for indications of what they are enthused by the most and then you can begin to understand if your story will attract them your way. 

Own your photos. Why not build your own photo stock of you and your staff members or day-to-day business activities? Attaching your own photos to your press release gives your business credibility and more importantly, adds a human element to your press release.

Be speedy with your replies to journalists. If a journalist is interested in your article and contacts you via email (assuming you are accessible!) reply back as soon as you can before there is any chance of them moving on to the next potential business owner for a quote. Keep in mind that time is of the essence,  when you know you have posted a press release, pay particular attention to your inbox in case of journalist interest. 

Intelligent thinking. You must be smart about which days you put out a press release. Do you know the lead times of a particular magazine/newspaper you would like to reach? Being mindful of these times can put you in good stead to receiving media coverage. After all, it’s no good sending a press release to a journalist on deadline day.

Z list. Don’t be put off posting press releases in the future if you know the first one you posted did not get picked up by the publications you sent it to. Feeling as though you’ve been rejected to the bottom of the pile will do nothing but demotivate you. Remember, journalists receive numerous press releases via email on a daily basis, so if you know you have an interesting story, persevere and be patient. In the mean time, it may be an idea to seek some friendly advice on your news release headline to ensure you are making the most of your opportunity to intrigue and impress.

Written By: Asena Yaman, Communications Manager

Asena is the voice of the customers at JournoLink; as well as keeping our Blog up-to-date she focuses on the happiness of our clients and educating our businesses on how to get the best out of their PR.