Guest Post by Bill Wardell
In this day and age of total disclosure and exposure in the Web 2.0 world, why do you need publicity? Because if you’re going to stand out in a crowd you’ll need to have the right exposure to the right audience.
With the right things happening (BUZZ) and a few simple clicks of a mouse, a normal person can have their lives changed in a heartbeat… or become an overnight success after the hard work has been done.
You can have your “15 minutes of fame” when a tidal wave of excitement surrounds you from YouTube Videos, to Digg and maybe eventually being found by Oprah. Just ask “The Secret” creator about the fame and how quickly it can happen. Look to J.K. Rowling to see how you became an overnight sensation when someone digs up a manuscript. With the web you can plan your publicity and create your own BUZZ!
Top 10 Reasons You Need Publicity.
#1 You can control what is being said about YOU!
In order to sell something, people need to know about it. You have something that you are certain that people need to know about and there is no better way to spread the word about you or your product than with public relations. The amount of encouraging attention that a magazine interview or news article gets blows away a simple advertisement. There is an extra sense of authority when people hear about something from a TV show or radio show. It is notably influential. Although both ads and PR are effective and necessary to properly market you or your product, you really cannot do without public relations. PR efforts can expose you to all kinds of media.
#2 Customized Plan
Create your publicity plan, customized just for your business, not some template used for all other businesses. Each niche is different, each business within a niche is different, therefore, we all should have a plan customized to fit our needs and our budget. With a custom plan, you can drive serious branding and plublicity for your business.
#3 – Media Savvy
You should learn everything there is to know about the various forms of media and how to get your business noticed by them. You don’t have to know everything, but pick up on those things that you can do by yourself. By doing so, or at least knowing enough, you can more easily weed out PR people who are not right for your specific business. Being “in the know” gets you into places you’d never dream of.
#4 – Product or Service Leveraging
A good publicist will create the right (or desired) relationships that turn into clients and customers by leveraging your products or services. Do you know other players within your niche? Do they take you seriously? Do you know how to approach them? If not, your publicist can help you.
#5 – Media Publicity vs. Public Publicity vs. B2B Publicity
Today’s internet allows us to incorporate more than traditional media publicity. Small businesses need to be able to incorporate three forms of publicity: Media, Public, & Business to Business. A good publicity agent will never tell all their secrets, but they will make sure you are informed and that you are meeting the right people for your business, which in turn will help you to leverage your own form of publicity. Learn how to get the most of all 3 kinds of publicity!
#6 – What Can A Publicist Do That I Can’t Do Myself?
Often times we hear people say that they do all their own marketing. Why do they do it all themselves? Typically the cost of hiring another person or hiring someone without the knowledge of their business are the first two reasons given. Many times a business owner will know who the other players are in their industry. Relationships and control are two other reasons that people think they can do it all on their own.
What some business owners may not realize is that publicists are more than newspaper advertisers or glorified secretaries. A publicist can help raise the perceived importance others see in you and your business. A good publicist will save you time, which in essence, is money.
There are a million things to do before one can achieve true success. Public relations is very time consuming. There are many words to speak, sentences to write and ideas to generate. Very few people have the time to handle an effective PR campaign, market their product and conduct “business as usual.”
#7 – Raise Your Street Credibility
Having a publicist who can perform specific PR functions for your business is more essential than most small companies realize. You don’t have to have a full time $5,000 a month retainer to get key components of your PR functions accomplished.
More and more, you will find publicists who have struck out on their own, who have key knowledge in certain areas of publicity. Determine the type of publicity that will best suit the needs of your company, and then build on the services you need and want from there.
“Have your people contact my people.” Believe it or not, having a publicist on staff boosts your credibility. This is basically for two reasons. First, it shows that you are serious about your product. If you did not believe it could be a success, you would not hire someone to tell the world about it. Second, it makes you look and feel important, which in turn gives you the confidence you need to thrive.
#8 – Cost of Keeping a Publicist or PR Firm
This is actually the number one reason why most small businesses never hire a publicist. What most large firms will tell you is that they are all encompassing and a small firm will not be able to service all your needs. What most businesses don’t know, is that you don’t have to start out doing everything. You can start out slow or with only the most important pieces of the puzzle.
#9 What is a Media Kit? I Don’t Have a Clue!
Do you know how to pitch a producer? Very few people know what they need to do to successfully launch a powerful PR campaign. The time spent on learning every procedure, tactic and secret in addition to the probability of failing is not worth the money you save being your own publicist. Sure, anyone can write their own press release… but do they know all the rules? Do they understand the proper format? Do they know the tricks of the trade? Can they come up with an effective angle? Publicists can see things from a different point of view—and not just from the company’s perspective. It is vital to try and see everything from the public’s standpoint.
#10 GOOD or BAD either way it is Publicity!
Take as an example, me! I am known as the “Online Security Authority” and I’ve only been doing the web 2.0 system called Blog Success since June 2006. A total of 3 years of investment of time and money, inspiration and passion. Those have been the 4 components of the driving force behind my goal of landing on the first page of Google for “Online Security,” a search team and keywords that are now synonymous with OSA and Bill Wardell. That was our goal and it was completed a year ago, and continues to stay at the top of all the major search engines, today.
So why do you need a publicity plan?
We decided in 2009 to contract with The Publicists Assistant to build a campaign (Media Kit) to help us take our online presence to the next level. And the only way that was going to happen was to take what had already been accomplished and refine it, tweak it, correct it to make us a household name in households most important to our business. For the results, check out what has been accomplished in 6 short months with ”CyberHood Watch Partners” and “Dave and Bill” in Google. We are number #3 right under Dave Lettermen and Bill O`Riley, and right above Hewlett & Packard. That’s right! Bill Hewlett & Dave Packard. Publicity works and it works in a big way when you do it correctly.
“Having a Publicist allows you to have them work for you in your voice to convey your message. You Can Control What is Being Said About You!” -Anissa Wardell
It has taken 3 years to become the Online Security Authority. I’m often asked “what good is that, does it make you any money?”
Blog Success
My mentor and coach Jack Humphrey taught all of us the way to be successful on the Internet. You need to build a network of people, sites, and blogs linking back to you. (Power Linking) backlinks for long and short term results, and now with Web 2.0. that includes Social backlinks. Links are the foundation, and with publicity as part of your marketing campaign, that includes all media and social buzz.
I knew that starting an online business was not an overnight money making scheme. I also knew that if I was going to build my business the right way, I had to use the step by step process that had been laid out for me. I took the step by step process, did it while working a full time job, and made the best of what time and money I had available to me. Because of determination and follow through, I was able to leave my full-time day job and work from home.
I won’t tell you I did everything the right way, nor that I did it without being creative. If you have the money to do it big right away, you should. But there is something that he learned through this whole process, and that was perseverance. Never give up!
Those who quit before they succeed do themselves a disservice. I didn’t want to be one of those people. I wanted to prove not only to others but, also to myself that it could be done!
Do you have everything you want in life?
If you’re like most people the answer is a resounding NO. Sure, you’ve worked hard and achieved some of your goals…but ask yourself, is there more? Could you do better?
Most successful people have a common trait. They are notorious goal setters. They realize that a dream without a goal is only commentary. And hope is not a business plan.
Are these folks smarter than you? Do they come from wealthy families? Not at all. In fact, you might be surprised to learn that most successful people started with nothing, nada, zilch.
Many were in a worse position than you might ever be in. And yet they had a dream. They set goals. Goals they knew were achievable simply because others had done it before.
Setting goals can be a real challenge; especially if you’ve tried and failed before. But don’t worry; it’s not your fault. It’s just that people make goal setting seem difficult or even impossible.
So, Why The Hard Work on Publicity For Me?
Because last week I was contacted to do my own national radio show by a researcher was looking for new ideas and new personalities. She took my information to her executive producer and said Bill Wardell, the Online Security Authority might be someone he would be interested in.
I wish you all success you deserve, Never quit and Always finish what you start 
-Bill Wardell
Your Online Security Authority
