PR Information |
How Marketing-Minded Financial Planners Get Publicity
You've probably noticed, if you live on this planet, that we live in a media-driven world. You may have mixed feelings, personally or philosophically, about this. But it's a fact of modern life. And in at least one very important way, it's good news. This is how: Living in a media-driven world is very good for professional practices, like financial planners. For anyone, in fact, who makes a living or runs an organization that is based on using their know-how or getting a message across. Because if you fit any of these categories - and most people do, even many who work with their hands - you can get media coverage. Favorable, positive media publicity. Free publicity. And you can use that free publicity to build your practice. Best of all, you don't have to resort to cheesy or tacky tactics to do it. You can do it responsibly and professionally. And still grow your business. You're going to do it by using the very same expertise you tap into every day at work. Only instead of applying that expertise to your client, patient, or customer service, you're going to use it a little differently. You're going to share your knowledge with the media - and through them with the public. With the people and businesses who will become tomorrow's clients. Ned Steele works with people in professional services who want to build their practice and accelerate their growth. The president of Ned Steele's MediaImpact, he is the author of 102 Publicity Tips To Grow a Business or Practice. To learn more visit http://www.MediaImpact.biz or call 212-243-8383.
MORE RESOURCES: Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exiting |
RELATED ARTICLES
Between Now and Economic Recovery There's still time to review your public relations program like Navy flight crews go over a fighter jet.Reason is, you need to fine-tune your public relations activitylooking forward to a snap-back in the economy, when you'll need all guns blazing. The Art Of Persuasive Pitching Media placement is an art. Practicing it often requires as much attention to approach and style as it does to the focus of your story. Tough Times, Tough Tactics When times are tough, it's no time to ignore those external audiences whose behaviors matter so much to your organization.In your own best interest, are you seeing to their care and feeding? I mean, if a certain group of outsiders behaves in ways that really help or hinder your operations, they do rate your attention, right?Of course they do! That's why we call them key target audiences, or publics. Transparency in Online Transactions In these days of every increasing demand and competition, there is a considerable choice available to the cautious consumer. People have the choice of various types of media, if they are looking to shop for any particular product. A Blueprint for Managing your PR OK, as a manager, your goal is to show a profit for your business unit, or meet certain expectations of your association membership, or achieve your non-profit's operating objective. In each case, you'll need public relations activity that creates behavior change among your key outside audiences. Passion with Purpose - The Winning Combination The power of PassionPassion is an extraordinarily powerful spring. Without it religion, history, romance, and art are useless. How About MANAGING Your Own PR? It's one thing for a senior manager to approve story angles for the publicity folks to use in shopping around for print and broadcast placements. Not an especially large amount of managing needed there. Managers: Do You Trust Your PR? You can if, as a business, non-profit or associationmanager, you can honestly say you are doing somethingpositive about the behaviors of those important external audiences of yours that most affect your department, group, division or subsidiary.And particularly so when you persuade those key outside folks to your way of thinking, and move them to take actions that allow you to succeed. What is News? What may be the more appropriate question is: What makes a story newsworthy enough to get picked up by the media? Here are a few rules of thumb to determine if you have a news angle worthy of press coverage.First, is the subject relevant to anyone outside of your organization? For example, if your firm is announcing changes to the employee health plan, that's newsworthy of coverage in the company newsletter but not typically for the mainstream press. Public Relations Productivity Should it be measured in "publicity by the pound," or by how well external audience behaviors help achieve the organization's key objectives?I opt for holding public relations responsible, first, for recognizing that people act on their perception of the facts leading to behaviors about which something can be done. And second, for how well its practitioners create, change or reinforce that opinion by reaching, persuading and moving-to-desired-action those people whose behaviors affect the organization. Marketing-Minded Financial Planners Piggyback on Topic A to Get Free Publicity That big story the media pursue each day is what I call Topic A. And even if it doesn't seem to have anything to do with financial planning, it often lead to huge media visibility for you. So Whats Wrong With Strategic? Some folks see the word "strategic" as a needlessly tiresome and complicated notion. But anything that shows you how to get from here to there IS strategic, and something we all need. Leveraging Media Coverage - Your Tool For Business Growth Media relations, simply put, is the business of building and growing reputations. One of the strengths of media coverage is that its free and gives great credibility because it is written by a third party, namely a journalist. Your Organization: What Role PR? As a manager, does your current business, non-profit or association public relations effort concern itself primarily with radio and newspaper publicity? Or does it concentrate on a specialty area like financial communications or trade relations? Or, possibly, it deals each day with sales support or government affairs?Actually, maybe your PR effort should concentrate on delivering what you really need?For example, PR that really does something positive about the behaviors of those outside audiences that most affect your organization?PR that uses its fundamental premise to deliver external stakeholder behavior change - the kind that leads directly to achieving your managerial objectives?And PR that persuades those important outside folks to your way of thinking, then moves them to take actions that help your department, division or subsidiary succeed?What fundamental PR premise are we suggesting as your new action blueprint? People act on their own perception of the facts before them, which leads to predictable behaviors about which something can be done. When we create, change or reinforce that opinion by reaching, persuading and moving-to-desired-action the very people whose behaviors affect the organization the most, the public relations mission is accomplished. Gaining Free Publicity Through Press Releases One of the greatest ways to promote your product or service is with publicity. Many people have little, if any, understanding of how to go about securing publicity, never mind free publicity. Marketing-Minded Financial Planners, Make Your Web Site a Resource for the Media Reporters, by nature, are curious people.If you can get them to come to your web site, they will probably poke around and spend a few minutes there, learning about your business and your capabilities. Is PR All About Image? NO!! That's like asking if advertising is all about type faces and photography. The answer to both questions is a teeth-clenched"of course not!"What public relations IS all about, rather than hollow images,is the very real business of dealing effectively with targetaudience perceptions and behaviors that have a major effect onan organization. Publicity: Three Tips on Writing a Press Release Use journalistic styleReporters are busy. Just like you. Media Exposure Validates And Legitimizes Your Business Although repetition is extremely important, there are times when advertising can help bring you a fast response.If you're having a fire sale, you want to advertise. How To Get Zero Cost Publicity For Your Business Part 2 This is the ending to my previous article, How to get no cost publicity for your business. Some other options include signature files, joint ventures, free for all links, informational articles, webrings, and giveaways. |
home | site map | contact us |