Why wait for media coverage? Don’t wait, believe! Most companies and organizations send out press releases to the media only when they want to publicize an event, a new product launch, a stock offering, an expansion, or an innovation, to name just a few. But these things don’t happen very often over the course of the year, which means you only make a couple of media contacts each year. Also, with such limited contact, the odds of media coverage of your events are not in your favor. So instead of waiting for something to happen in your company or organization that you think is worth alerting the media to, why not create an endless stream of ideas for stories and press releases that you could send out to the media. at least twice a month? Twice a month would mean twenty-four contacts with the media per year instead of one or two today, which would certainly increase your chances of getting coverage. So where do these story ideas come from? Quite simply, they come from stories you read and hear every day on the radio, magazines, newspapers, and even your own company newsletter, as well as your industry trade publications. Just look for stories that make national news and find the angle that connects your company to the story. Local news organizations love local angles on national stories. The following Associated Press news article serves as a perfect example:
MILWAUKEE (AP) – In his youth, Jason Heiman used to play basketball at Edgewood College in Madison. Today he still knows his way around a basketball court, but in a very different way. As president of Waukesha-based Jason Thomas Flooring, the Heiman company recently completed the fabrication and finishing of three of the 16 portable basketball floors that the NCAA has commissioned for this year’s national men’s and women’s basketball tournaments.
Local news organizations, in this case in the state of Wisconsin, love these things! A local business with a direct connection to what is arguably the most watched sporting event in America. When wildfires, floods, or tornadoes cause death and destruction in parts of our nation, did the local bottled water company increase production and send emergency shipments thousands of miles away? Did the local paper products company get the contract to make napkins for the president’s inaugural ball? Are there one or more people in your company training together to run the Boston Marathon, a national event that certainly millions of people are interested in?
Don’t miss out on these opportunities. The reason many companies and organizations get lost is because they don’t normally think about these things. They are too busy doing what they do! Few people think in terms of the national impact of their everyday, mundane jobs. Turn mundane into media coverage. Don’t wait, believe!