| 71 | Publicity: Five Tips for Calling a Reporter Preview: Always ask, “Is now a good time?” Deadlines in journalism are unrelenting and unforgiving. Using these as your first words after “hello” shows the reporter you’re sympathetic to her needs. It also ensures your pitch gets heard when the reporter is devoting proper attention. Your goal: attract In your first contact with a reporter, don’t come of... (more) Published By: Ned Steele Submitted: 22 June,2005 |
| 72 | Financial Planners Get Free Publicity With Email Preview: In previous articles for marketing-minded financial planners, I've discussed what to say to a reporter over the telephone. However, if you are phone-shy or time-challenged, it's better to send an email than to do nothing. Many reporters favor e-mail anyway, so use it. Call the media outlet or check its staff listing to get the reporter’s email ... (more) Published By: Ned Steele Submitted: 22 June,2005 |
| 73 | Go Ahead, Marketing-Minded Financial Planners, Call a Reporter Preview: Yes, you can call a reporter. I've said it before, in dozens of articles and presentations to financial planners looking for free publicity. Hopefully now you’re getting comfortable with the idea. Go on. Pick up the phone. Reporters and newspeople are human beings like the rest of us. They can, and do, take phone calls. Just be ready with a c... (more) Published By: Ned Steele Submitted: 22 June,2005 |
| 74 | Three Publicity Tips for Marketing-Minded Financial Planners Preview: Financial planners, the first thing to know about reporters is this: they are busy. Often, they are too busy to read a press release, too busy to wait for you to call back, too busy to find the "best" resource. This leads to three tips for marketing-minded financial planners. When a reporter calls – move quickly A reporter calls you. Great! No... (more) Published By: Ned Steele Submitted: 22 June,2005 |
| 75 | Polls and Surveys: A Great Path to Free Publicity for Marketing-Minded Financial Planners Preview: When I search Google News for "surveys," I get nearly 50,000 results. When I search for "stocks," I get about 54,000. The media love polls and surveys. Here are just a few headlines in the news as I write this, generated directly from surveys: Survey: CEOs cut expectations of economy Survey: Israelis more depressed, anxious than Western Europea... (more) Published By: Ned Steele Submitted: 22 June,2005 |
| 76 | Financial Planners, Increase Your Search Engine Ranking with Web Articles Preview: The goal of free publicity is to get your name in front of as many people as possible. So if you write an article, don't bury it on your web site. Why hide it? You want as many eyes as possible to see your intelligent professional advice. So offer that article to other web sites. Articles you author that appear on someone else’s web site – a pro... (more) Published By: Ned Steele Submitted: 22 June,2005 |
| 77 | Marketing-Minded Financial Planners Get Free Publicity by Choosing the Right Outlets Preview: Sure, any publicity is good. But don’t invest time and effort to be in “Lucky: The Magazine for Shopping” if your major topic is planning for college. Go where your market is! Which media outlets are the best for you? Easy answers – and the Home Run of publicity – include national giants like CNN and The Wall Street Journal. These outlets reach m... (more) Published By: Ned Steele Submitted: 22 June,2005 |
| 78 | Tips on Dealing With the Media Preview: You thought of it, you researched it, you wrote it. So you own your story. At least you do until you send it to the media. At that point, they are free to do whatever they want with the information you gave them. Your job from then on: control and communicate it to the maximum. Offer new information if you find it. Steer them to resources that ... (more) Published By: Ned Steele Submitted: 22 June,2005 |
| 79 | How To Get Your Financial Planning Story on Television Preview: A press release telling about "Stevie, the Water-Skiing Squirrel" will never get that talented mammal on the TV news. But that same press release, accompanied by video of Stevie jumping over mini-ramps in an inflatable pool, will make the news nine days out of ten. Words on paper or screen alone do not make a TV story. If you want to crack the ... (more) Published By: Ned Steele Submitted: 22 June,2005 |
| 80 | Headlines That Will Garner Free Publicity For Financial Planners Preview: Taking your ad and turning it into paragraph-style prose is not a press release – chances are it will only lead the publisher to call and invite you to run it as a paid ad. A press release is for news or for information about a topic the audience needs to know. Any press release that reads too much like an ad will likely lead a media person to fo... (more) Published By: Ned Steele Submitted: 22 June,2005 |
| 81 | Don't Wait, Financial Planners--Media Folks Want Your Free Publicity Ideas Months in Advance Preview: Looking to get your name into a magazine? You need to be thinking ahead--way ahead. Magazines start planning their issues as much as six months before their publication date. In January, when you are muttering about the expensive heating bill, magazine writers are penning tips about staying cool. In June, while you lie on the beach, they are rese... (more) Published By: Ned Steele Submitted: 22 June,2005 |
| 82 | Marketing-Minded Financial Planners Piggyback on "Topic A" to Get Free Publicity Preview: 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. Often, Topic A has a controversial element, such as when tax cuts or Social Security is being discussed. The last thing that you want to do is pick sides on a ... (more) Published By: Ned Steele Submitted: 22 June,2005 |
| 83 | Marketing-Minded Financial Planners Find Free Publicity on Google and Yahoo Preview: When a big story breaks, hundreds of media people begin searching for subject-matter experts to interview. They are also suddenly very receptive to stories that tie into the big story. But...the window closes as quickly as it opens, for two reasons. One, there will be many other financial planners looking to be interviewed. Two, another big stor... (more) Published By: Ned Steele Submitted: 22 June,2005 |
| 84 | Your Financial Planning Clients May Hold the Key to Free Publicity Preview: Every reporter, from the cub at the small town paper to the high-paid anchor on 60 Minutes, dreams of finding a lead to that news story that everyone will want to read. Any marketing-minded financial planner will start to do the same if they are serious about getting free publicity through the media. See, the media has a pretty good idea of what... (more) Published By: Ned Steele Submitted: 22 June,2005 |
| 85 | Two Don'ts for Financial Planners Seeking Free Publicity Preview: Many of my clients have had the misguided perception that they won't be able to get media coverage from a publication that their larger competitors advertise in. Nothing could be further from the truth. Most respectable publications erect a wall separating advertising and editorial (news/feature) coverage. Reporters and editors are specifically ... (more) Published By: Ned Steele Submitted: 22 June,2005 |
| 86 | Financial Planners Garner Free Publicity by Making it Easy for the Media Preview: Would you advise clients to buy a stock based on the say so of an investor relations person, or something you overheard at a restaurant? Of course not. You want to see at least some independent research before suggesting it be added to your clients' portfolios. Media people are just as protective of their "clients," the reading and viewing publi... (more) Published By: Ned Steele Submitted: 22 June,2005 |
| 87 | Financial Planners Publicity and Marketing: Live By The Calendar Preview: The media live by the calendar. Your story pitch might miss the mark with them the first time out, solely because it’s out of whack with the seasonal cycle (obvious examples: just try pitching another tax story on April 16, or offering the media your 10 tips on backyard barbecue safety the morning after Labor Day). But come back when the time’s ... (more) Published By: Ned Steele Submitted: 22 June,2005 |
| 88 | Marketing-Minded Financial Planners, Don't Hold Back Information From the Media Preview: Some financial planners think that they shouldn't share their top tips with the media. I can see some validity in thinking this way. After all, the media is going to deliver these tips to the public at practically no charge. Then all those people who might have been paying customers won't have any use for their services. But there's two things w... (more) Published By: Ned Steele Submitted: 22 June,2005 |
| 89 | Trade Show Marketing - Getting Prepared for the Big Event Preview: With the increase in number of tradeshows being held across the world, it has become imperative to check the trade shows' credentials before you commit participation. Here are some quick tips on checks to ensure that you are not heading for a dud trade show: 1. Check previous history and years of experience including backing by any large industri... (more) Published By: Patty Stripes Submitted: 22 June,2005 |
| 90 | Financial Planners, Want Free Marketing and Publicity? The Key is Understanding the Media Preview: The media need you. Need the information and expertise you offer, that is. But they are not encyclopedias. They don’t serve up information. They serve up stories. That heap of paper that thuds onto your doorstep early each morning – it’s called a newspaper, not an information paper. And that evening broadcast you watch to catch up on the day’s e... (more) Published By: Ned Steele Submitted: 22 June,2005 |