It’s something I hear all the time, “Christina, I don’t have time to do my own PR.”

In the time it takes you to make that quick stop to Starbucks every morning, wait in line, order your Frappuccino, have the Barista whip it up, and head to the office, you could have handled your PR for the day. Seriously!

I spend about 15 minutes a day, at the most, on PR and I am regularly featured in the media. Just this past Sunday I was a guest on Washington Business Report (the top ranking business show in D.C.) discussing PR Tips for businesses. Look for that in next week’s blog.

So how do you do it? This is the “work” part that may take you about an hour or so to set up. You make a PR plan for the year. Take a Sunday when have an extra hour or stay up a little late one night. Just commit one hour to creating your master plan.

Step 1 – Sign up for HARO, www.helpareporter.com. Three times a day they will send you queries from journalists looking for experts to quote or guests for their shows. Quickly scan the list and if you see a fit, respond. Best of all, it’s absolutely free.

Step 2 – Go through the calendar and think of something you can pitch to the media every month. It could be related to seasonality, a holiday that month, or a regular event such as Tax Day. What can you tie your business to?

Step 3 – What media outlets does your topic pertain to? Pick a handful and then find the journalists that cover your topic. Look for them on social media and see what they’re writing about and how you can be a resource for them (TIP – it’s not about you or your business but how you can serve the journalist and THEIR audience).

Step 4 – Start pitching those journalists your ideas. Provide newsworthy ideas on a regular basis (don’t keep pitching the same idea) and at some point, that journalist WILL start to recognize you as a resource and an asset to them. Also if you can refer someone else to them who might be a good resource, they’ll be appreciative of that.

Step 5 – Don’t forget to stay on top of current events and trends. Is there something timely that just happened in the news that you can speak about and provide expert information? If there is breaking news on your topic, pick up the phone and call that media outlet. If you’ve made contact with any journalists so far, this is the time to show them how you can help them with your knowledge.

There you have it – 5 easy steps for PR success that take about as much time as it does to grab a cup of coffee in the morning.

To Your PR Success,