A few years ago, I partnered with Karen Yankovich, a social media strategist, to combine my DIY-PR expertise with her social media brilliance. We found that combining our talents, in a planned strategy, provided incredible success for our clients. It’s been absolute marketing magic!
We created a new brand, Get Seen Be Heard, to work with clients together and also to create programs showing people how to use this powerful combination of PR and social media. What we discovered is that nobody is doing what we do, combining PR and social media together, at the same time, for incredible success. We discovered that we offer a very special niche service.
Just imagine if you could do the same thing…
The key to doing this right is in the strategy. We’ve perfected a PR/Social Media strategy that works successfully over and over again. Below are five tips to get you started on this now so you can start to see success as early as, today.
- Research on Twitter, industry-related websites and blogs, and LinkedIn updates to find out:
- Who is writing about your topic of expertise?
- Which reporters (online, TV, magazine and newspapers) report on your industry and more specifically, in a niche you specialize?
- Who is talking about what you want to and are able to talk about?
- Connect with these people on Twitter. Create a Twitter list called “Media.” Make it private and add these journalists to the list. This will help you organize your media contacts, and allow you to keep tabs on their updates (which can give you plenty of ideas).
Before you do this, however, make sure:
- Your Twitter profile is professional
- Your Twitter description is interesting and has strong keywords
- You engage with a call to action somewhere in your profile
- Connect with the people on this Twitter list on LinkedIn. In the connection request, be sure to mention, “I just read your article/saw your segment. I loved it, and would love to connect with you here on LinkedIn.” Stay personal, authentic, and real. Just like on your Twitter list, you can tag connections on LinkedIn as “Media” to keep them organized.
Since the media will now be checking you out on LinkedIn, make sure:
- Your LinkedIn profile is rock-solid, polished, and professional
- Your summary and experience really speaks to what you want to do and who you want to connect with
- Your profile picture is up to date and professional. Don’t use a happy hour picture or you on the beach or with their kids. Remember, this is a business-networking platform. Save the “fun” profile pictures for Facebook.
- You’ve posted a few updates recently that show up in the “Posts” section.
Now that you’ve built the foundation, it’s time to make sure people know you exist!
- Schedule a few times per week to go into the Twitter list. Research who has tweeted what and see if there are tweets that are relevant to your expertise and niche.
When you find applicable tweets, you’ll want to:
- Favorite them
- Re-tweet them
- Reply to them
I promise you that journalists know who is paying attention to their work.
- Do the same thing on LinkedIn. Schedule a few times per week to research your connections. Sort them by the “Media” tag you created, and then go through that list of connections and:
- See what they’ve shared recently
- Comment on posts that are relevant to your industry
- Like and share those posts through LinkedIn and other networks
Because social media is right now, you could see results as soon as right now. Make sure your name is recognizable to the media as someone who adds value, is an expert, and is generous with sharing their content. This is where you begin to build the relationship — long before you ever contact them directly.
It’s always better to make connections and foster a relationship before you need that person for something. That way, when you have an idea or a pitch, you’re approaching them as a warm contact. No more cold emails, cold connections, or cold calls. This means the possibility of a successful outcome skyrockets. Your target contact is much more likely to respond favorably to your request.
These media contacts can be of huge value to you because one nicely placed media shout-out can bring you tons of new business! The best part? These five steps are all free and very easy to implement. It doesn’t take a huge chunk of time either, if you spread them out over a week or two. And, when you put in the maintenance of a few minutes a day, a few times a week, you will be seeing the return very quickly.
So, how do Karen and I make this work? While I’m finding and pitching influencers, she’s on the back-end making sure the social media part is supporting my efforts, and guess what? Our clients are killing it: TV spots, magazine columns, paid speaking gigs, products on QVC and HSN, and more! I have absolutely no doubt you could do this too.
What if you could get on television, in magazines or newspapers or on the radio, regularly exposing you to potential clients? How much more could you charge? Think about the endless potential.
To learn more visit, www.PRforAnyone.com, and sign up for free tips.
To Your PR Success,
