Welcome to The Healthcare Marketing Connection! This week we are talking about press releases and looking at five easy ideas for topics to write about. I am honestly not a regular writer of press releases. It is something I genuinely plan to do more often, but for some reason never do. I write a couple a year when I think about it. I'm working on one right now and took a few moments to reflect back on last year - there were several opportunities to write press releases that I passed up because I wasn't thinking about them. My loss and possibly my big loss!

Some of the things I did last year would have made really great press releases! The last one I wrote was for a writing award I won last fall, and as bland and routine as that press release was (journalists receive tons of award winning press releases a day), it was picked up by my local paper. Who knows what business it may bring me down the road? It was a surprise when a couple of the mom's from my daughter's class took the time to congratulate me; so I know it was read. Who knows who else read it from my community? More importantly, just imagine what could happen with the next one...

To your success!

Kelly

5 Easy Ideas for a Press Release

One of the least expensive ways to garner attention for your business is by writing press releases. Having a journalist write about you and what you do is an invaluable way to promote your business. Your business is exposed to people that it otherwise would not be, and you are saving yourself the time and expensive of running an often ineffective ad.

As an entrepreneur, the key to your public relations success is to come up with things about you and your business that journalists and their readers care about. There are some basic things that many businesses routinely write press releases about, that are easily and effortlessly put in the calendar section of the paper. If you have a class or event coming up - send a press release about it. This should be a standard press release that you incorporate into the routine of running your business.

What are some other things that you, as a small business owner, can do to generate some publicity for your business that’s a little bit different - that is more likely to generate a feature article or a bigger mention than just in the calendar or what’s happening section?

Here are five easy ideas to get you thinking...

1. If you are interviewing someone, doing a teleclass (especially a free one), a webinar, or other free something for your clients or subscribers, tell the press about it. Invite the general public to come or invite the journalist.
   
   
2. Partner with an unlikely business and teach a class together, or simply announce your joint venture and how that benefits people in your community. An example could be a chiropractor offering free health and wellness classes together with the city or county nutritionist or health office. The chiropractor is giving back to the community and the city is educating the community on health issues - something they just looooove to do.
   
   
3. Agree to write a short column for your local paper - for free. If you are a copywriter this could be on marketing tips to grow your business. If you are a dentist you could provide tips on oral hygiene. A tip - keep your tips educational in nature and besides your byline there should be no selling involved. This tip may not involve a journalist writing about you, but it does get you in the paper on a regular basis and it is an article rather than an ad - so it is much more likely to be read. It's very similar to an advertorial.
   
   
4. Have an open house or annual party. If you work from home and don’t have a place to hold an open house, consider doing an open house over a teleconference line and you can give away prizes or gifts over the course of an hour. Another option is to partner with another business and hold your open house together. Both of you can do promotions to both of your clients and to the press individually. Another angle to the story is WHY you are holding the open house together.
   
   
5. Write a press release every time you have a new product, a new client (may not apply to all of you), a new volunteer position, a new award - anything you can think of. Read the papers and trade journals and get ideas from what other people do. Can you put a twist on what you read and write your own press release too?

Make a commitment to yourself to write a press release every two weeks or once a month. This will make you keep looking for ideas and have getting free publicity at the forefront of your marketing efforts. And just think how impressed your clients will when you show them your press clippings!

(c) 2006, A Marketing Connection

Want to use this article in your e-zine or web site? No problem! Just let me know at info@KellyRobbinsLLC.com. I'll send you a short bio to include at the end of the article.

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"How To" Grow Your Ezine list, Wednesday January 17th 1-2pm Mountain Time

You've got your ezine up and running, you've even published an issue or two. The next step is to get your target market to actually read it! You've got the systems in place - now you need to get out there, find your target market, and get their permission to market to them.

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"How To" Start Your Blog - Wednesday January 24th 1-2pm Mountain Time

Blogging. One of the newest marketing tools available today. In this teleclass we will talk about what a blog is and why and how to use one for marketing your business.

"How To" Do a Teleclass - Wednesday January 31st 1-2pm Mountain Time

One of the most interactive and fun ways to get new clients is by leading a teleclass. Kelly teaches us the ins and outs of setting up a teleclass – both the mechanics of how to get the conference line and record the class as well as creating the content for the class itself.

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This week Kelly recommends www.prweb.com. Prweb.com is a recognized leader in online news and press release distribution service for small and medium-sized businesses and corporate communications.

If you have any other great resources you'd like me to share with everyone, let me know and I'll check it out. kelly@KellyRobbinsLLC.com

"How To" Grow Your Ezine list, Wednesday January 17th 1-2pm Mountain Time

University of Masters - Tuesday February 6th 10:00 AM (MT). "How To" Series. For only $19.95 you can learn from Kelly and 30 other master teachers: www.masterteacherandmarketer.com

Steve Slaunwhite puts Kelly in the hot seat in a special interview - Thursday February 22nd 1:00pm MT

To learn more about healthcare copywriting and marketing, visit my Web site at www.KellyRobbinsLLC.com/article_archives.shtml. There are tons of fr ee articles on a variety of helpful topics.