| 111 | Publicity: Nailing an Media Interview, Part III (Staying on Topic) Preview: In a media interview, always stick to your main points without rambling or digressing. Practice this when you rehearse. Sometimes, when you are doing a great job of keeping on topic, the reporter is leading to you talk about different topics, some of which you aren't as knowledgeable about. If the reporter leads you into different areas, go ther... (more) Published By: Ned Steele Submitted: 22 June,2005 |
| 112 | Marketing-Minded Financial Planners, Make Your Web Site a Resource for the Media Preview: 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. If your web site is any good, this should make them more likely to interview you in the future. So in your press releases, go one step beyond mere... (more) Published By: Ned Steele Submitted: 22 June,2005 |
| 113 | Marketing-Minded Financial Planners--Appearing on TV? Tell the World! Preview: It doesn't matter how cruel the reality programs get, there always seems to be an endless supply of people willing to humiliate themselves to get on television. There's just something exciting about appearing in front of millions of people. Just knowing someone that's going to be on TV or on the radio is exciting, so when you know you are going ... (more) Published By: Ned Steele Submitted: 22 June,2005 |
| 114 | Publicity: Nailing an Media Interview, Part II (Crisis Management) Preview: We'd all like reporters to ask us about our career successes and personal triumphs—heck, we'd all like anyone to ask us about those. But reporters must look out for their clients, the reading public. Think about it from your own perspective as an investor—when you read a story about a company, you want to know that the reporter has asked difficult... (more) Published By: Ned Steele Submitted: 22 June,2005 |
| 115 | Financial Planners, For Best Publicity Results, Make Sure Reporters Comprehend Your Topic Preview: Don't assume that a reporter understands financial planning. If anything, assume the opposite until proven wrong. See if you can't develop a couple of questions for the reporter that delicately explore their subject-matter knowledge. Freddy Newshound may cover personal finance, but he’s no expert. He may have started on the beat yesterday and not ... (more) Published By: Ned Steele Submitted: 22 June,2005 |
| 116 | Publicity: Nailing an Media Interview, Part I Preview: The most important thing to remember for any interview: stay on topic. I ask clients to repeat this like a mantra before they go on the air, or even when on the phone with a reporter. A print reporter gets maybe 700 words to do your story. A TV or radio reporter has two minutes. So your interview shouldn't be hours long. Don’t give them more t... (more) Published By: Ned Steele Submitted: 22 June,2005 |
| 117 | Publicity: Show a Reporter You Care by Inviting Them to Fact-Check Preview: Just like a financial planning client fears not having enough money for retirement, reporters fear getting their facts wrong in print. Inaccuracy isn't tolerated in newspapers or magazines. Look at the outcry after Mitch Albom, bestselling author of Tuesdays with Morrie and The Five People You Meet in Heaven, mis-stated the location of an intervi... (more) Published By: Ned Steele Submitted: 22 June,2005 |
| 118 | Publicity Won't Thrive on Press Releases Alone Preview: Press releases are a useful tool for announcing news and for keeping your name in the mind of the news media. But you can't build a successful publicity campaign on press releases alone, for the simple reason that very few press releases ever make it into the paper. You may think that your press release contains terrific, useful news, but you sh... (more) Published By: Ned Steele Submitted: 22 June,2005 |
| 119 | Marketing-Minded Financial Planners, Focus on Main Points During an Interview Preview: You never want to inundate a reporter with information, but you don't want to be branded a one-trick pony either. That's why I recommend coming up with three key points for every interview you do. In advance of every media call or interview, think carefully about – and write down – the three key points you want to convey. Keep that list in front ... (more) Published By: Ned Steele Submitted: 22 June,2005 |
| 120 | Writing a Press Release: The Design Basics Preview: Big corporations like General Motors and Coca-Cola spend thousands of dollars on press kits with specially-designed folders, full-color stationery, digital photos and lots of other goodies. Does this make a reporter more likely to do their story? In my experience, the answer is no. Regardless of the appearance of the information, there are two ba... (more) Published By: Ned Steele Submitted: 22 June,2005 |
| 121 | Unique Gift Items - 3 Creative Ideas Preview: With promotional items there are standards: t-shirts, mugs, note cubes, calendars, magnets and keychains. Then, there is the really creative. Sometimes with a specific campaign, you may want to go above and beyond and really start a buzz about your company. This is not to say that creativity always costs more money. In fact, a really cheap promo... (more) Published By: Cindy Carrera Submitted: 22 June,2005 |
| 122 | Writing a Press Release: Using Quotes Preview: Ideally, you will have two types of quotes in your press release. A quote from yourself is mandatory. To give your release extra impact, get a quote from a third-party. Quoting yourself may seem unnatural to you at first, but it’s what every reporter expects. Your quote should be about the information in the press release, not about how great you... (more) Published By: Ned Steele Submitted: 22 June,2005 |
| 123 | Writing a Press Release: Inverted Pyramid Style Preview: A term you'll hear in newsrooms, in editing meetings, in Journalism 101, but almost nowhere else, is "inverted pyramid." The "inverted pyramid" style is the goal of every newspaper reporter, and, if you want free publicity, it should be the goal of your press release as well. What is an inverted pyramid? It is the structure of the press release.... (more) Published By: Ned Steele Submitted: 22 June,2005 |
| 124 | Three Tips on Writing a Press Release Preview: Use journalistic style Reporters are busy. Just like you. So when you write anything for the media, be concise and tight. Short, simple, sentences. Lively. Ridiculously short. Even if they seem to violate those fourth-grade grammar rules about complete sentences. Save big, sophisticated words for impressing old English teachers at school reu... (more) Published By: Ned Steele Submitted: 22 June,2005 |
| 125 | Marketing-Minded Financial Planners, Join Your Professional Organization to Get Free Publicity Preview: Unlike some professionals like lawyers and doctors, financial planners aren't required to be members of a professional association. However, if you want to take advantage of a great way to get free publicity, you marketing-minding financial professionals will join an association like the Financial Planning Association or the Society of Financial S... (more) Published By: Ned Steele Submitted: 22 June,2005 |
| 126 | For Free Publicity, Don't Fake What You Don't Know Preview: Relationships are based on trust—not just romantic relationships, or doctor/patient relationships, but practically any relationship, even the one with your auto mechanic. That's why the absolute worst thing a financial planner can do in their relationship with a reporter—especially a new relationship—is to give them false information. Remember... (more) Published By: Ned Steele Submitted: 22 June,2005 |
| 127 | Publicity: The Right Way for Marketing-Minded Financial Planners to Follow Up with a Reporter Preview: Let's say you've called a reporter with some ideas for stories about financial planning, and they seemed interested. Congratulations! First, pat yourself on the back. It takes intelligence and gumption to come up with ideas that reporters like. Next, consider how you are going to follow up. Reporters are usually working on several stories at onc... (more) Published By: Ned Steele Submitted: 22 June,2005 |
| 128 | Marketing-Minded Financial Planners: Put Extra Content in an E-Zine Preview: As you start getting more media-savvy, you'll find yourself coming up with more and more information and ideas to help the public. Not all of these ideas will strike the fancy of your media contacts, but don't let them go to waste—become a media person yourself by publishing an e-zine. Fill your e-zine with the same advice, information, and tips ... (more) Published By: Ned Steele Submitted: 22 June,2005 |
| 129 | Write a Letter to the Editor for Free Publicity Preview: Ever wonder why papers devote a page or more to letters to the editor? Because subscribers read them! Letters to the editor are among a paper’s most popular features, so getting your name underneath a letter can be even more valuable that being quoted in an article. Letters to the editor can't just be about anything—they have to be related to t... (more) Published By: Ned Steele Submitted: 22 June,2005 |
| 130 | Writing a Press Release: The Media's Dirty Secret Preview: There's a dirty little secret about press releases that the media doesn't want you to know. The fact is, most of them travel directly from the sender’s computer to the reporter’s trash box. Or from out of the envelope into the "round file." That's part of the reason reporters don't like to be asked "did you see my press release." They probably d... (more) Published By: Ned Steele Submitted: 22 June,2005 |