Is your small business looking to step into the PR arena? If so, take a look at today’s episode of Two Minute Tuesday to get started.

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Many small online business owners think that Public Relations, or PR, is only for big industry players. In fact, almost anyone can take advantage of the publicity and press that comes from solidly consistent PR efforts. To get started, take a look at our quick guide to getting started with PR.

Happy selling!

-Matt Winn, Volusion

 

Here’s the transcript if you’d like to read along: 

Hi, everybody! My name’s Matt and I’m the Social Media Manager here at Volusion. Welcome to Two Minute Tuesdays, where we bring you two minutes of ecommerce advice to bolster your online success.

When people think of small business and public relations, they may not think the two go hand in hand, but as a matter of fact, together they’re a great way to drive more awareness and traffic to your website. So pay close attention, because today I’ve got five valuable PR tips for your small business.

First, you’ll want to create a list of influencers. Influencers are people who can help spread your messages to larger audiences. So take a look at local news reporters, or even look for popular bloggers within your industry. That’s always a great place to start.

Second, after you have that list of contacts, it’s important for you to build relationships with them. To do so, go ahead and subscribe to all of their blogs and feeds through Google Alerts. Then, once they have something new, you can: 1) read about what they’re writing so you know what topics are important, and 2) reach out to them via social media or by leaving comments on their blog. Again, it’s all about building relationships so they know who you are when you reach out to them.

Number three, look for pitch inquiries. In other words, instead of waiting for a reporter to come to you, you go to the reporter. There’s a really great tool called “Help a Reporter Out” that you can subscribe to and get many different ideas and opportunities to tell your story to an actual reporter. So make sure you check that out too.

Number four, make sure that you understand the press release. Whenever people think of PR, they automatically associate that with a simple press release, but it’s not always the most effective mechanism. Only use a press release when you have something that’s actually newsworthy, like a new product line or a huge announcement. That way, you’ll get the most bang for your press release buck.

Last, but definitely not least, always have something to say. Whether it’s PR, whether it’s blogging, your website or social media, you need to have a story to tell. So if you’re just trying to promote your products or your business, make sure that you have an angle that a reporter actually wants to listen to so the audience is actually satisfied with the content that you’re providing.

Hopefully, these five tips will get your PR efforts on the right track as soon as possible. If you have any questions, leave me a comment in the box below, and I’ll get right back to you.

From me to you, happy selling!