Marketing for Managed Growth




 

Writing a Press Release,
and More
 

Marketing for Managed Growth

       It's no secret that many small businesses spend endless hours fretting over ways of connecting with their market. Effective advertising can bring you peace of mind; but, what happens when your efforts work so well that you become unable to keep up with product demand and suddenly find your business in jeopardy -- not because of a failure to thrive, but because of misaligned strategies and objectives? Who would have thought raging success could kill a business? When a once stable business begins to flounder and buckle beneath the weight of under-anticipated demand, the results can be as catastrophic as a lingering death resulting from no marketing plan at all.

       This article examines how to analyze your business structure and design a marketing plan which better enables you to stabilize the growth of your enterprise and therefore, its future.

       Small companies desiring stable growth face the continual challenge of striking a three-way balance between ambition, resource allocation, and market demand. Because many new or transitioning businesses fail to properly account for the forces which act to shape their stability, all small businesses can suffer from the consumer perception that, because a business is small, it likely lacks the resources necessary to satisfactorily fulfill consumer demand for its product or service. This persistent perception is more than a myth and is often the direct and unfortunate result of failed planning.

       According to the Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy’s 2004 report, The Small Business Economy, “More than 70% of all businesses in the United States have no employees other than the owner(s).”  With only one person, or a handful of people, meeting the needs of their market, successful small businesses depend heavily on one thing for survival: A strong business plan. An integral part of such a plan necessarily involves strategic marketing for managed growth.
 

Forces That Shape Business Stability
 

Personal Attitude

       Demanding long hours, and a heavy personal investment of time, finances and emotion, most American entrepreneurs who nurture their business beyond the first two years are one thing if nothing else – ambitious. Yet, that sense of persistent drive can become a liability if it outstrips your ability to manage growth objectives. Though you may desire to dominate your market, slower-paced, more stable growth is usually desirable in an effort to appropriately conserve precious resources and continually meet project goals. 

Market Demand

       Additionally, market demands apply pressure on growth management from a second direction. Fluctuations in market demand, or changing trends in buying behavior can force you to consider a balance between aggressive growth and vital production considerations, such as preserving a strong distribution network or wrangling static inventory volume. The market may be new or developing. It may be expanding or contracting. As consumers gain more product/service options through continual innovations in business transaction processes like technology, transportation and decentralized customer service, such inevitable dynamics lead a smart business owner to consider capitalizing on short-term opportunities by leveraging them against longer-range objectives which may present rare, though highly sought after longer term growth possibilities.

       Alertness to the many variables affecting the productivity of your business can provide needed insight during times of change. Noting how your competitors manage their infrastructure and resource bases can clue you in to emerging market trends. Often, service or product modifications lead the market to change its buying habits. Keeping an eye on service/product innovations can push your business to the fore -- failing to do so can push it to the side.

Resources

       Pressure, in the form of resource allocation, is further applied from a third direction. Depending upon your ambitions and the realities of market demand, you must make decisions pertaining to resource allocation which will directly influence your potential product/service output. These critical resources include: financing for opportunity and growth; managing an adequate work-force sufficient to accommodate fluctuation in demand; managing suppliers and relationships continually subjected to market flux; and maintaining infrastructure while planning for and accommodating expansion.

Demarketing - The Essence of a Light, Tightly Structured Approach

       The kinds of influences outlined above demand special marketing considerations and strategies in order to manage the destabilizing effects of expansion and help ensure the long-term viability of a small business in transition. That kind of thinking depends upon a sound marketing plan. A marketing plan structured to achieve limited, stable growth should be highly strategic: That is, it should carefully account for creative methods of leveraging resources in a way which capitalizes on select opportunities. Because of its focus on limited growth, this type of marketing is often considered “demarketing”.
 

 3 Important Components of a Strong, Yet Flexible, 'Managed Growth' Marketing Plan
 

Integrating Your Campaign

        Because of its capacity to exponentially increase demand upon your resource base, be wary of launching a major campaign during a time of tightly structured anticipated growth and/or major internal reorganization. A successfully implemented, yet carefully managed, slow-growth campaign will help to preserve the status quo so necessary to ensuring stable, satisfactory work-flow and customer service. To effectively integrate a campaign into your existing infrastructure and in line with your objectives, develop a coordinated approach which accounts for project implementation throughout a phased release of promotional activities. Structure a promotional timeline, noting target deadlines and release dates in tandem with your primary objectives -- arranging your objectives according to their priority. Establish an end date, enabling you to measure the outcome of your approach.

Structuring Your Campaign

       Decide who, as a market, you will target. Determine if that demographic represents a general market or a segmented market. Selecting a segmented market can narrow your approach, better enabling you to calculate a finely tuned anticipated response. You must also decide how long you’ll run a campaign and how thoroughly you’ll saturate your target market. You may opt for a marketing blend resulting in a segmented, long-running, low-saturation approach. Or, perhaps you'll structure a general market, short-run, high-saturation approach. Any blend thereof is possible, and will depend upon your goals and objectives.

Designing Your Campaign with Specific, Strategic Objectives in Mind

        Determine, if successfully implemented, how any growth opportunity will

n Potentially affect your short-term, mid-term, and long-term growth goals

n Strain your resource base of suppliers, financing, work-force, and infrastructure

n Provide a launching board for new, related projects

n Enhance or impede your potential to diversify -- remembering that flexibility is often key to adaptability and therefore, survival
 

Forecasting the Future: 4 Keys to Marketing for Managed Growth
 

Know Your Position in the Market

       The first step in identifying your competitive position is to develop a clear picture of what you're offering the consumer. This vision can become distorted or completely obscured depending upon how broadly or narrowly you define your service or product.  You must understand the value of what you offer as well as how it compares, precisely, to that of your competitors. Further, assess the potential for stability under changing conditions. Can you adjust your process and approach quickly in order to meet changing demands? As consumers enjoy more choices from competing interests, a market of strong competition makes the operating environment less predictable and resource allocation decisions more perilous. Good information and proactive management is critical to small business survival. Pricing, innovative design, and distribution are all benchmarks in establishing a path to success, as well as providing the necessary framework to structuring an effective marketing campaign.

Planning

       This involves not just acknowledging, but anticipating market change. Anticipating market change involves getting a fix on your demographic. The more you know your demographic, the better equipped you'll be to anticipate critical shifts in market dynamics. Know the evolving needs of your demographic. Know the buying trends now and what they may become in the future. Know your suppliers and the circumstances of resources. What are the political and economic environs as they pertain indirectly and directly to your product or service? Thoroughly and accurately assessing your current situation can help you analyze and predict trends of tomorrow. In today's increasingly globalized arena, businesses operate in a less stable environment because of constant innovations in the many interdependent facets of a broad and highly energized market. You should be alert to evolving technologies and shifting resource demands. Maintaining a clear vision of your mission, your goals and your objectives is vital to the hundreds of important decisions necessary to smoothly accommodate inevitable growth over a longer period and design a marketing plan in line with your objectives.

Target Sub-Markets

       This involves examining your market in a broad way, then determining how you can strategically target segments of it in order to solicit favorable response in a more controllable fashion. In looking at your market through a macro lens, consider how many people are, or can be, connected to your product or service. Particularly when pursuing slow growth, you'll want to examine micro-segments of this larger market -- identifying those with different, perhaps more specialized interests, needs or buying habits. In analyzing these aspects, you can more easily determine which segment appears specifically tailored to your objective, and how, through their habits, you will reach them. A customer must want what you have to offer, at the price you are offering it, when you are offering it. Understanding when and how you will make your product or service available to consumers is another logistical consideration in structuring a marketing campaign intended to meet tightly targeted market objectives.

Use of Less-Traditional Advertising

       Careful implementation of highly strategic marketing efforts can yield relatively precise growth in line with your objectives. Unless you are in aggressive growth mode, these strategies probably won't include highly saturated, sustained broadcast marketing to a general market via various media formats. More than likely, a quieter approach will reflect other, no-less-powerful, methods which are more measured in their delivery and potential outcome. Some of these methods may include word-of-mouth; event sponsorships; and special, specific-market-targeted, short-round promotions.

Fine Tuning

       Few small businesses possess the protracted business plan, latent infrastructure and tripping mechanisms to smoothly facilitate rapid growth on a very large scale. However, recognizing the connectivity between the forces that influence your growth will help the smallest enterprise anticipate, recognize and prepare for relevant patterns of change within their operations, lending an agile flexibility large operators envy. Yet, even when you’ve put every conceivable effort behind managing your marketing efforts to better reflect your growth objectives, you may find your business the focus of turbulent change. Leasing or renting your building and/or equipment; adjusting your work force through the use of contract labor, temporary hires and/or part-time employees; and, establishing new routes to financing, such as restructuring your company, can provide flexibility in times of unsettling transition.

     In examining the need to retool your company, particularly in light of relocation and major policy modification, remember, the absorption of tremendous change can affect far more than you might expect. Too much change too quickly can easily result in a sudden loss of overwhelmed staff, disruption in supplier/distributor relations, and a drop in a once loyal - but now confused and frustrated - customer base. This response can hyper-extend the disruptive impact of even the best-planned transitional process -- forcing you to deal with new hire costs, distribution logistics and public relation issues -- ultimately increasing demand for a renewed marketing effort and related expenses due to a need to re-educate and perhaps even reconnect with your market.

     Understanding the role of marketing in managing the growth of your business, and mastering marketing techniques useful in sculpting a plan which parallels your ultimate objective is a vital long-term management consideration.  A functional marriage of well-conceived strategies and effective tools coupled with a natural sense of ambition, adaptability and foresight will allow you to move forward and grow your business today in line with your vision of tomorrow.

Back to TOP

Fifteen Minutes With Israel Shapira: Owner, Builders West

Meet Israel Shapira, owner of Builders West. A native of New York City and inspired by many annual vacations to Aspen, Israel relocated to the Roaring Fork valley a little over 6 years ago. Now a developer, Israel is noted for having taken on a challenging project in his dedicated restoration of Rifle’s historic Midland Hotel building. From its original and humble beginnings in New York City, Israel’s enterprise has undergone tactical transformation; and, in this interview, he and I discuss ways in which careful and strategic marketing decisions have played a vital role in the 26 year success of his thriving business.

photo: © Lisa Bracken, 2006

Builders West, LLC
Israel Shapira, P.E., Structural Engineer
0235 County Road 170
Carbondale, CO 81623
Phone: 970-963-6580
Cell: 970-618-2511
Fax: 970-963-5542

       I took a seat opposite Israel in the rustically elegant second story lobby of the newly restored Midland Building in Rifle. Originally a sanitarium, then a stately stop over for travelers through the old west -- the 100 year old Midland Building, with its charming courtyard, now hosts a varied array of small businesses. A great fan of antiquities, I pined several years ago for what seemed the inevitable fate of a derelict building left, since 1983, to gradual ruin on Rifle's lovely downtown Third Street. With its compromised infrastructure and degraded facade, the building proved an albatross of an investment none seemed inclined to adopt. Then, in stepped Israel Shapira, a structural engineer and owner of Builders West. A short time later, I marveled at Israel's clever remedy of structural challenges while safeguarding the building's historic beauty through the preservation of striking details such as original hardware, brickwork and wood flooring.

     AIMS  "Israel, What is your market base, that is, the geographic region you serve?"

     SHAPIRA  "Generally from Aspen to Rifle."

     AIMS  "What was your vision, back in New York, when you first began this business, and how did you start out -- small, or with a  lot of resources?"

     SHAPIRA (with a nostalgic grin) "My partner and I set out with a goal to become successful by offering great quality service. And, though we never had fewer than eight contractors going at a time, we started small, with a very small budget."

     AIMS  "What did you find the most intimidating aspect of launching your new enterprise?"

     SHAPIRA  "Intimidating is not really the right word. We were never intimidated. Challenged some times, yes... but, even then, our challenges were manageable. When you start out small, you give yourself a lot of room to grow and take on new opportunities without a lot of risk, financially or otherwise. And if you make a mistake, they are small also. So, we approached our growth in a very modest, hands-on way which gave us a lot of control over the quality of our service."

     AIMS "You're now a developer. As a service provider, but also a manufacturer, what three attributes do you feel have been critical to your success?"

      SHAPIRA  "Experience, fairness to clients, and, being helpful."

     AIMS  "What steps did you take to help manifest these attributes? Did you advertise to get established and bring in business?"

     SHAPIRA  "We’ve never advertised. We knocked on a lot of doors and gave our best every time we took on a project. Without a track record, this was important and helped us build a loyal customer base. People were happy with our work and continued to hire us for projects. You have to bring a lot of things together to be successful. You have to be smart, approachable, honest. And you have to explore every available opportunity. As a new business, with very little money, we started off with simple, smaller projects; but, later on, we were getting the challenging projects in the city. In the beginning, we had to sacrifice, and sometimes work very long days for little or nothing. But, we never compromised on quality. Quality has always been the number one priority. When you can go home at night and know you’ve done a good job, and the client knows you’ve done a good job, this is what brought in our business – and, when it comes down to it, I think it’s the same for any other business."

     AIMS  "Has growth been steady, or has it been sporadic, relative to population and other factors?" 

     SHAPIRA  "The market conditions are what influence opportunity. So these conditions have always driven our growth."

     AIMS  "In growing your business, are your objectives clear, measurable and tied to goal achievement?"

     SHAPIRA  "Yes, but they are general, also. First, you have to want success, then, be willing to work hard to gain it."

     AIMS  "What aspects of your business do you consider vital to your continued prosperity – for example, financing;  suppliers; a business plan; a managed work force?"

     SHAPIRA  "These things are important, but opportunity is your first consideration. You have to know your market very well. Then, you can adjust things like financing and suppliers accordingly. Market conditions lead your development."

     AIMS  "What are your near-term and long term goals?"

     SHIPIRA (smiling)  "To be busy with a lot of projects going."

     AIMS  "What are some of the challenges you continue to face?"

   SHAPIRA  "Given market conditions, opportunities can be scarce, especially in rural areas. Isolating opportunities can be challenging."

     AIMS  "How do you develop and quantify a notion to launch a new project?"

     SHAPIRA "It has to be commercially viable as well as interesting. But when everything is said and done, it must make economic sense for us to take it on."

     AIMS  "What inspired you to take on the Midland Hotel? It sat neglected for years."

     SHAPIRA  "It had a lot of problems, and I saw it as a challenge but also a unique opportunity to diversify and bring something good into to the community."

     AIMS  "How important do you feel investment is in an area's older structures and infrastructure?"

     SHAPIRA "Very important. It is important to a community. When older structures are revitalized, many people benefit. It's a win-win situation, and it contributes something to the place and to the people where the construction takes place. A project is usually successful when you can bring something for everyone and add, in a positive way, to the neighborhood."

     AIMS  "What is the greatest saboteur of business success?"

     SHAPRIA  "Wanting to make money right away. This is not a reasonable attitude. You must build your foundation for success, and that requires sacrifice and re-investment in your business. You must grow it bigger and bigger for at least the first two years. If you do a good job for people, you will be able to sleep well, and more business will come from this. This is good for all, and is the basis for everything."

     AIMS "What is your definition of personal success? Take your time, some people really like to think about this one..."

     SHAPIRA "No, no..." (Israel raises his hand as if to signal this is something he doesn't need time to think about) "To be happy with what you are doing. At the end, success doesn't mean anything if you are not happy. Even if you are not "successful", if you are still happy, then maybe you are better off."

     As a structural engineer, Israel has a keen appreciation of what a strong foundation can provide. His is a simple and straight-forward formula for success.  Through his dedication to craft and customer service, Israel has built a solid reputation upon his grounding in fundamentals and brought his business through 26 years of market fluctuation with his careful planning and focused approach to strategic marketing.  He is now in a comfortable position to choose the projects he finds interesting and viable, contributing to a sense of happiness few achieve through their work, while, at the same time, demonstrating an exemplary business model that has stood the test of time.

Back to TOP

Five Fast Pathways to Marketing for Managed Growth
 

• Set goals and establish objectives for attaining those goals. Aspects of good planning include addressing how you will build, maintain or modify your existing business infrastructure. 
   
   

• Develop a means of monitoring, measuring and innovating your progress. Aspects of this approach include considering how you compare to your competitors. As you develop a system of measuring, be sure to allow for flexibility. That is, ways of identifying and disregarding obsolete goals and objectives. In a busy enterprise, these kinds of artifacts can mire your growth objectives and progress toward the end goal.
   

• Develop a data collection system. Navigating your current course and projecting future growth depends upon accurate data. This can be as simple as analyzing information from several different sources, such as: personnel, project acquisition, advertising efficacy, and the examination of evident trends.  
   

• Develop a communication system. Communication among partners, investors, employees and associates is important in clarifying areas of conflict, accurately assessing advancements, and correlating goals and objectives. Your network of input can be as large or as intimate as you deem necessary; but, by bringing immediate stakeholders to the table you can strengthen the shared mission, enhance the chances for more effective implementation of goals, and anticipate the need for flexibility by capitalizing on multiple, qualified perspectives.

• Develop a strategy for targeting your ideal market. In considering your strategy, include the following: 1) Will you seek a general or more segmented aspect of the market? 2) How long will your campaign last? 3) How greatly will you saturate the market you seek? 4) How will you measure your results, and integrate the data into your growth projections?

Back to TOP

MARKET SHOT
 

When you are seeking to strategically implement a marketing plan to achieve structured growth, you should ask your media provider to indicate as much about your target market as possible. One thing to consider: "Reach". Reach refers to the percentage of the target audience which will be exposed to at least one advertisement during the specified period of the campaign.

Many media providers maintain a collection of statistics on their specific market, as well as information on rates, deadlines and special sections. They often provide this information in the form of a "media kit".

AIMS can help your small business develop a marketing plan which includes determining what types of media exposure can more effectively help you reach your marketing objectives. 

This feature encourages subscribers to write in and ask a marketing question. Only registered subscribers receive the 'submit a question' format. Three questions which reflect topics of interest to subscribers will be selected and posted anonymously together with responses in the next edition. The automated questionnaire, below, will not appear in archived editions, but all posted questions and answers will. AIMS reserves the right to edit any questions for clarity and/or brevity.

Have a marketing question? Ask AIMS!

Q. I'm conducting a sales presentation for a large group. Any suggestions on how to go about structuring the presentation? And, about how long should it be?

A. Second question first. The length of your presentation will depend primarily on three things: 1) the time constraints of your attendees; 2) the interest level of your attendees; and, 3) how much you have to say (important information only, please) about your product or service.  An hour is probably a good starting point. you can pare down or build up from there.

Next, I approach a sales presentation from a fairly structured perspective. This allows me to build a good infrastructure and fill in the spaces, much like an outline can serve to help you build a good essay (remember 4th grade?) Because of this approach, I can plan efficiently. This model is useful for many different scenarios - not just sales.

The 20/20/20 Model

This model, which I developed through hosting a number of different presentation situations over the years, has evolved into a loose design which can be easily modified or completely rearranged according to your needs.

First 20 minutes: Use the first fifteen minutes to circulate and meet your audience. You'll want to do a little pre-presentation homework to learn about hot topics of interest to the group; but, the first fifteen minutes will provide a good opportunity to refine these issues and discuss them with select individuals. This pre-meeting provides opportunities for you to make comfortable eye contact throughout your presentation as you hit on topics of specific interest to various audience members. Next five minutes: set up your demonstration and talk about what you will be doing as you set up (unless you've set up in advance - which is preferred, but not always an option).

Middle 20 minutes: Demonstrate and invite questions throughout your presentation. This is your heard-hitting zone, so have your act together. Make sure your demonstration is long enough to cover all the basics and answer questions, but not so long as to fatigue your audience or overwhelm them with too much information (that's what hand-outs are for). During the course of your demonstration, showcase specific features; highlight how your product or service contrasts with competitors; and, demonstrate how your product or service can benefit the audience (addressing specific differences for each member, if known).  Tip: Make sure everyone can see and hear your demonstration properly!

Last 20 minutes: Five minute summary. Next ten minutes: take any remaining questions. Last five minutes, circulate again and connect on a one-on-one basis with those interested in more information or a one-on-one discussion, later. Keep this going as long as you like.

The Demonstration

If you offer a product, a demonstration is a great way to showcase your product while offering relevant information in a format easily assimilated by your audience. As you work through your demonstration, you will find you rely less on written notes, and cover a great deal of ground through hands-on manipulation of the product and answering questions as they arise. If yours is a service, you can achieve similar results by providing a PowerPoint® presentation or similar-type slide show demonstrating samples of your work. Actual hard-copy samples are a great way to skirt the eye-glazing effect of a too-lengthy or  boring slide show. An informative, visually appealing, well-considered PowerPoint® presentation, on the other hand, can be a joy. And well-produced video/DVDs are usually well-received.  Always hand out hard-copies so your audience can follow along, or, if technology fails you, you are not without back-up!

Be as familiar as you can possibly be with your product or service, so you can pocket the note cards and simply converse. Preparedness = Relaxation! PowerPoint® presentations, while popular, can be intimidating to certain audiences, particularly non-business persons, and especially when your swift set-up and slick presentation seem disconnected from their discomfort. Consider your audience while planning your presentation. While some business people respond to PowerPoint® presentations (though sometimes in an embattled, rather jaded capacity), most everyone responds more attentively to up-close, actual-factual demonstrations and hands-on participation. Some people, especially those who drew the short straw as a representative attendee, dread presentation. If you can make your presentation fun, without seeming cavalier or clownish, you may win points for entertainment value. Please, please, please use only humor in good taste. I sat through a presentation once by a local attorney who (I still cannot believe this) told a sexist, crude and derogatory "joke" in a room of mixed company. Not only was the "joke" offensive, it wasn't even relative to the subject. What could this person have possibly been thinking? Don't risk offending just because you're convinced you're a pretty good comedy act.  

Finally, on your hand-outs, don't forget to include how your audience can obtain more information about your product or service (a website or ordering center) and your contact information.

And lastly, don't forget to thank these busy, attentive people for their time!

* PowerPoint® is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation

Q. Should I use humor in my ads?

A. This is related to the question above; though specific enough to bear further commentary. Ads which convey any kind of emotionally powerful  message tend to be remembered longer - though extreme impact can cloud brand recall. Humor, a usually universally appreciated concept, further provides the added interest and therefore value of entertainment. I am quite convinced that humor is the elixir of life. In fact, in a recent study, a large majority of subjects were exposed to three different movies - one of which was considered a comedy. The comedy actually produced better blood circulation - by a significant amount, than the other movie whose harrowing opening scene actually caused restricted blood flow. Humor has been proven to produce good feelings and relax both mind and body. This can produce a powerful perceptual connection between your product or service and your intended market or audience.

Yet, as positive as that seems, humor is decidedly subjective. That is, what makes one person chuckle can make another livid. This is based largely on things like life experience, cultural norms, perception and social training. I recall, from a few years ago, an ad which showed what appeared to be a rodent being shot through a cannon, or some such disgusting nonsense. Personally, I think the high-flying CEO, complete with flailing wingtips and flapping suit tails, would have provided much greater visual interest (this ad - and the entire campaign, by the way, at least in the American prime-time television market, lasted a very short time). In an attempt to avoid the alluring specter of social commentary, I will simply state this: Humor tends to appeal to groups of persons who share similar values and backgrounds. This could be a pot of gold in targeting a very segmented part of a market, and can be strategically implemented by reaching out to that market where those that comprise it are evident in significant numbers (magazine subscribers, or listeners of a certain radio or television program).  Some large companies distribute variations of their ads in just this way to appeal to specific audiences. However, you could run the risk of offending other segments, should they stumble upon your perhaps innocent, yet, subjectively offensive campaign.

In appealing to a broad majority, examine lifestyles and general values, observing also laws designed to protect certain classes of persons. Determine if you can absorb the risk should the campaign go poorly. And if you decide to pursue humor, as a means of minimizing risk, I recommend you do so subtly and in line with the image of your company and the product/service you offer. Irony is a classic approach for soliciting a  humorous response in people. Something about it just tickles the funny bone. I think a great example of humor done subtly and correctly is an ad for a home improvement store, where a guy is lounging on his couch watching television, and his wife says she's going shopping. He mumbles something, then she mentions she is off to the particular store. He jumps up and asks if they should take the truck. I think this ad has the potential to appeal to a broad cross-section of suburban and rural Americans, and the subtle application of humor is brilliant. My, and many others', favorite aspect of the Super Bowl are the ads. If you decide to go for humor, I hope your ad turns out to be tasteful, on target, and successful - because I'll look forward to seeing it around!

Q.  I'd like to write a press release. How do I write one?

A. The press release is a great and usually free way to reach out and make contact with an established or potential market. Though they are limited in their ability to build brand recognition, and are certainly no substitute for an integrated marketing campaign, they can be a useful means of reinforcing a positive image and enhancing public familiarity with your business, and should, consequently, be in the marketing toolbox of every enterprise. As important a marketing technique as they are, however, no press release is probably better than a poorly constructed one. Here are some reasons to write one and tips on what to include.

Most print media (and other formats for that matter) are particularly interested in releases which pertain to local hot topics, or specific subscriber interests. Some media providers reserve areas specifically for business briefs.

Here are 4 great reasons to write a press release

• The announcement of a new business.

• The expansion of your market area; location; or, services/product line.  

• An announcement of business restructuring.

• An announcement of an upcoming sponsored event or project benefiting the community or support of an organization serving/benefiting the community.

What to include

Include as many of these six attributes as you can: Who, What, Where, When, Why and How; making sure to at least address Who, What, and When.
Who are you? - include the name and address of your business as well as any other contact info.
What are you announcing? Be specific and detailed, but brief. If possible, note how this transition compares with previous status quo.
Where applies to the expansion of services or the location of an upcoming event.
When can your market base experience this anticipated transition?
Why?  What inspired you to do whatever it is you are announcing?
How will you implement these changes? How can your market take advantage of your announcement?

Other things to consider

n Research which publications or outlets you'd like to send your release to.
n See if the publication has specific guidelines on submissions, such as word length. Many releases will fall between 100 and 500 words, but some are much shorter, while others can be longer than a page.
n Address your correspondence to the specific editor of the section where you'd like your release to appear.
n Get your release to the editor before deadline.
n Include all of your contact information.
n Indicate when you'd like the press release to run - immediately or at a later date.
n Set your release content apart from any notes you may include by putting <<BEGIN>> ahead of your content, and  <<END>>, after it.

The Los Angels Times receives hundreds of press releases every week, and lists these as the most common press release mistakes:
1) Omission of contact information (such as name and day-time phone number) 
2) Writing releases that are too long
3) Submitting a release too late

Writing a press release is an art form. It may take some practice to refine your release - but it is worth the effort! Your goal is to create the essence of a bite-size news brief. This involves tightly integrated, grammatically correct and economic writing. You also want to consider the effect of your chosen words on the market with which you seek to connect. If this is too intimidating, you may prefer to hire a professional to create it for you. With its allure of mass distribution through interested media outlets, the well-crafted press release really is too good of an opportunity to pass up!

Back to TOP

AIMS Marketing Trivia

How many hours per day do adults 18+ spend listening to radio?
Find the answer in the next issue!

Answer to the July edition's question: Nine.
 

Full-Spectrum, Integrated,  Multi-Media Business Communications Consulting and Design

Graphic Design | Copy Writing | Editing | Photography | Layout | Creative Consulting | and more..

Phone: 970-876-2146  |  E-Mail: info@aimsatyourservice.com  |  PO Box 112 Silt, CO 81652
 

Back to TOP

Subscribe Today! it's FREE! and EASY!
just click the icon above to see how..

Did you enjoy this issue of the Native Wave?

You can help us build an even better publication!

The Native Wave is a community-driven publication, and we continually strive to provide content which is relevant to the interests of our local business community.

We'd love to have your feedback and encourage you to share the Native Wave with your friends and associates!
 

The NATIVE WAVE is an on-line, free, subscription-based publication, published by AIMS Accelerated Innovative Marketing Solutions (www.aimsatyourservice.com). The opinions expressed in the "Spotlight Interview" section, and by sponsors of this publication do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher, and vice-versa. None of the information contained in the NATIVE WAVE should be construed as legal advice. Any references to businesses, their owners or use of their products or services, within the Native Wave and/or AIMS' website, does not constitute an endorsement by AIMS or The Native Wave. Further, although AIMS strives for accuracy, AIMS neither guarantees, nor warrants the timeliness or accuracy of any information herein provided by third parties - such as may be reflected in the "Run the Rapids" or other feature sections. Please contact third parties individually to verify the accurateness of any statement herein. The information provided herein is for educational and entertainment purposes only; and, is subject to change without notice.  To learn more about The NATIVE WAVE, please visit the NATIVE WAVE page.

The Native Wave - October 2006 Edition © Lisa Bracken, 2006. All rights reserved.

All text and graphic-image content of this website is copyrighted by AIMS Accelerated Innovative Marketing Solutions, and/or Lisa Bracken and/or other owners where stated 1995-present. All Rights Are Reserved. Reproduction and/or Distribution is Strictly Prohibited. For copyright permission, terms of use and other information please visit our legal notices page.