How to Snag $10,000 in Free Advertising for Your Design Business
Imagine how you would feel if you tripled your client base in one week? Can you imagine what that would do for your business … and your income?
One of my clients experienced this happy situation two months ago. The best part: He did it by spending only a $60 distribution fee.
His success came from sending out 3 press releases that got attention from nearly 200 newspapers across 2 states. You can easily do the same thing.
Exposure in the media is one of the fastest, surest, cheapest ways to build credibility, position yourself as an expert, draw attention to your business, and generate sales. In a mid-sized daily newspaper or trade publication, a one-page article about you is worth about $10,000 in free publicity.
Here are some topics you can use for your press releases:
- When you open your business
- When you hold an open house
- When you win an award
- When you have a speaking engagement
- When you partner with another business (For example, we partner with a salon that does professional makeup & hair for our clients before they come to our studio for a portrait.)
- When you get an article published
- A client’s success story
- A book or special report you wrote
- A fundraiser you’re helping with
- “Predictions” about what’s coming up in your niche
- A survey, top-10 list, or “free advice” about something related to your niche
(If you’re not confident in your ability to write your own press release, partner with an AWAI copywriter and barter your design services.)
Keep in mind that you need to send your press release at least 2 weeks before the publication’s print date, and earlier is better. That said, here’s how to write a release that grabs media attention and helps you sell your design services.
Open a new document in your word-processing software. In the upper-left corner of the page, type (in bold all-caps):
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
If you want the release printed on a certain date, type:
FOR RELEASE ON OR BEFORE:
Underneath that header, type the approximate date you’d like the release to hit print (without bolding or all-caps).
Drop down a couple of spaces and type (in bold all-caps):
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Directly beneath that header, type your name, address, and phone number (without bolding or all-caps).
Drop four spaces down the page. Type the headline of your release, designed much like the headline of a sales letter – large, bold font size (18-24 point for a release), with down-style capitalization on the words. Just like a sales letter, the headline must grab your reader’s attention. (In this case, your reader is the publication’s editor.)
Down-style: “Powell to lead U.S. delegation to Asian tsunami region”
Up-style: “Powell to Lead U.S. Delegation to Asian Tsunami Region”Under the headline, type a “deck” (subhead) that teases the editor to continue into the “lead.” (The lead is where you present the angle or “hook” to pull him into the body of the release.)
Drop two spaces below the deck and start the lead with a “dateline” (like BILLINGS, Montana – March 15).
The dateline tells the editor where and when the “news” is coming from. Immediately after the dateline, jump into the lead.
Next, write the body copy, where you “tell the story” you’re writing the release about. It will make up about 90% of the release.
After the body, provide a “call to action.”
You might say something like “For more information or an interview on (your topic) call (your name) at (your phone number.”) Or “To order your free copy of (title), call (phone number) or email (email address).”
Finally, drop two spaces after the body copy and type # # # in the center of the page. This signifies the end of the release.
The Internet has drastically changed how press releases are handled by the media. You no longer have to stick to local news.
Publicity expert Joan Stewart says …
“Today, you can start writing press releases directed at people anywhere who need what you’re offering, not just journalists. The Internet makes it possible to post press releases to your website and send them to press release distribution services which will blast them all over the Internet.
When someone is looking for information on a certain topic and uses a search engine to find it, even if they don’t know you, they’ll stumble across your press release if it includes the keywords they used during their search.”
You can find out how to do this in Stewart’s e-book, 89 Ways to Write Powerful Press Releases.
And to learn how to structure releases for immediate response, see Bob Bly’s special report, Direct Response PR.
“While no job anywhere is secure these days, Michigan, where I live, has been particularly hard-hit. My copywriting income has definitely increased our peace of mind in a very uncertain economy.”
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