ve seen it all before, and their antenna is primed to spot these! Stick to providing useful information and educational tips, or out-and-out news releases about your company.

How do you write strong press releases? The key is to keep it simple. Only tell one story or piece of information at a time. Your release often won't get run in full so explain why, how, when, where and who in the first paragraph, then expand as you write the rest of the release. This way, wherever your release gets chopped, readers will still understand what you're trying to say. If you are looking for customers to take some act

It's easier than you think to get very extensive Public Relations (PR) coverage. Which is effectively free advertising to your target audiences, if you do it right! You should realistically try to get ?50k worth of free advertising every year with PR (measured by the equivalent advertising space, so a full page in the FT is worth about ?100,000. If you achieve this, you can probably kick back with a glass of something, for a while at least!)

PR is almost free and is often considered completely unbiased, although this isn't really true. Unless journalists are running a story that they've researched themselves, which has a risk of libel, whatever you submit to the media will go through quite a small confirmation process. More often than not, they will just run an edited version of your release.

However, journalists have seen it all before, so they won't fall for anything! And having something unusual and wacky is always great. But consistent coverage is the key to building rapport with your customers.

You could use this channel to educate your customers about new and different products, the benefits of certain services, and “fashions” in the product ranges you sell. Customers often don't know what questions to ask, and feel quite intimidated and vulnerable admitting that.

You should also be positioning yourself as an expert. By providing information and answering your customers’ questions, you develop a level of trust that price can't touch. If you can position yourself in the mind of your customers and prospects as the most professional and caring supplier, competitors wouldn't even be able to steal these customers with freebies!

By explaining the value and focusing on the benefits you've achieved for other customers, people feel reassured and comfortable approaching you. People buy from people they like, and if they can relate to you and your testimonials, they'll “like” you.

Use your PR to tell people the reason why. Just by saying “because...”, you overcome huge psychological sales obstacles in your customers' minds. Decisions are made on emotion and then rationalised, so this helps with both stages of the sales process. If you're giving away free products, relaunching your brand, recruiting more staff, running special offers, etc, tell them why.

When drafting your editorial for the media, never be tempted to make it a thinly veiled sales pitch. As I say, journalists have seen it all before, and their antenna is primed to spot these! Stick to providing useful information and educational tips, or out-and-out news releases about your company.

How do you write strong press releases? The key is to keep it simple. Only tell one story or piece of information at a time. Your release often won't get run in full so explain why, how, when, where and who in the first paragraph, then expand as you write the rest of the release. This way, wherever your release gets chopped, readers will still understand what you're trying to say. If you are looking for customers to take some act

mselves, which has a risk of libel, whatever you submit to the media will go through quite a small confirmation process. More often than not, they will just run an edited version of your release.

However, journalists have seen it all before, so they won't fall for anything! And having something unusual and wacky is always great. But consistent coverage is the key to building rapport with your customers.

You could use this channel to educate your customers about new and different products, the benefits of certain services, and “fashions” in the product ranges you sell. Customers often don't know what questions to ask, and feel quite intimidated and vulnerable admitting that.

You should also be positioning yourself as an expert. By providing information and answering your customers’ questions, you develop a level of trust that price can't touch. If you can position yourself in the mind of your customers and prospects as the most professional and caring supplier, competitors wouldn't even be able to steal these customers with freebies!

By explaining the value and focusing on the benefits you've achieved for other customers, people feel reassured and comfortable approaching you. People buy from people they like, and if they can relate to you and your testimonials, they'll “like” you.

Use your PR to tell people the reason why. Just by saying “because...”, you overcome huge psychological sales obstacles in your customers' minds. Decisions are made on emotion and then rationalised, so this helps with both stages of the sales process. If you're giving away free products, relaunching your brand, recruiting more staff, running special offers, etc, tell them why.

When drafting your editorial for the media, never be tempted to make it a thinly veiled sales pitch. As I say, journalists have seen it all before, and their antenna is primed to spot these! Stick to providing useful information and educational tips, or out-and-out news releases about your company.

How do you write strong press releases? The key is to keep it simple. Only tell one story or piece of information at a time. Your release often won't get run in full so explain why, how, when, where and who in the first paragraph, then expand as you write the rest of the release. This way, wherever your release gets chopped, readers will still understand what you're trying to say. If you are looking for customers to take some act

what questions to ask, and feel quite intimidated and vulnerable admitting that.

You should also be positioning yourself as an expert. By providing information and answering your customers’ questions, you develop a level of trust that price can't touch. If you can position yourself in the mind of your customers and prospects as the most professional and caring supplier, competitors wouldn't even be able to steal these customers with freebies!

By explaining the value and focusing on the benefits you've achieved for other customers, people feel reassured and comfortable approaching you. People buy from people they like, and if they can relate to you and your testimonials, they'll “like” you.

Use your PR to tell people the reason why. Just by saying “because...”, you overcome huge psychological sales obstacles in your customers' minds. Decisions are made on emotion and then rationalised, so this helps with both stages of the sales process. If you're giving away free products, relaunching your brand, recruiting more staff, running special offers, etc, tell them why.

When drafting your editorial for the media, never be tempted to make it a thinly veiled sales pitch. As I say, journalists have seen it all before, and their antenna is primed to spot these! Stick to providing useful information and educational tips, or out-and-out news releases about your company.

How do you write strong press releases? The key is to keep it simple. Only tell one story or piece of information at a time. Your release often won't get run in full so explain why, how, when, where and who in the first paragraph, then expand as you write the rest of the release. This way, wherever your release gets chopped, readers will still understand what you're trying to say. If you are looking for customers to take some act

from people they like, and if they can relate to you and your testimonials, they'll “like” you.

Use your PR to tell people the reason why. Just by saying “because...”, you overcome huge psychological sales obstacles in your customers' minds. Decisions are made on emotion and then rationalised, so this helps with both stages of the sales process. If you're giving away free products, relaunching your brand, recruiting more staff, running special offers, etc, tell them why.

When drafting your editorial for the media, never be tempted to make it a thinly veiled sales pitch. As I say, journalists have seen it all before, and their antenna is primed to spot these! Stick to providing useful information and educational tips, or out-and-out news releases about your company.

How do you write strong press releases? The key is to keep it simple. Only tell one story or piece of information at a time. Your release often won't get run in full so explain why, how, when, where and who in the first paragraph, then expand as you write the rest of the release. This way, wherever your release gets chopped, readers will still understand what you're trying to say. If you are looking for customers to take some act

ve seen it all before, and their antenna is primed to spot these! Stick to providing useful information and educational tips, or out-and-out news releases about your company.

How do you write strong press releases? The key is to keep it simple. Only tell one story or piece of information at a time. Your release often won't get run in full so explain why, how, when, where and who in the first paragraph, then expand as you write the rest of the release. This way, wherever your release gets chopped, readers will still understand what you're trying to say. If you are looking for customers to take some action based on reading your piece, also make sure you state it early on.

Make sure you always focus your articles on the reader, not your business. As with advertising copy, make sure that the benefits of your offering or advice are the focus of anything you write.

If you can create tips, especially topical ones, these are almost guaranteed coverage! Can you advise on the best way to keep IT running smoothly, reduce office wastage or provide a review of the latest products in your industry? What about the benefits of long-term stress relief through massage or counselling? Or how to get the best possible results from sales campaigns? Which products you really need for your holiday?

And give some thought to where your articles could run. Although the local and regional papers work well, what else do your customers read? Could you submit articles to Marks & Spencer instore magazine? Or travel publications? What about online e-zines? And don't forget relevant TV and radio shows. Bitesize tips are really good here, because long articles don't translate well in spoken form.