How to Get Publicity for Your Brand and Business

Would you like to get featured on more media as an expert? If you were interviewed on TV as a leader in copywriting, email marketing, or healthy eating, what would that do for your brand and business?

Like most business owners, if you've ever wondered how to get publicity for your brand or business, read on!

Want to listen? There's an audio version below

Just recently, on a mastermind call, I asked each of my members to teach me something.

Since my clients are often experts in their fields, I thought it would be a nice break from the routine to have them showcase their skills and teach me and the other members a tool, trick, or technique they've used to grow their businesses.

And they didn't disappoint.

Meet Jess

One of my members, Jess Shanahan, is a public relations pro and an expert on how to get publicity.

In just a few short years, she's landing major roles to do consulting work with companies, she's grown her brand and business, and she just started the process of doing a six-episode pilot series for the television and media giant, CBS.

Now, before I share a tip that could backfire or a tactic that might do more harm than good, let me give you part of Jess's backstory.

Jess has been creating content on her websites for years. She has a blog (RacingMentor.com), she's created content on YouTube, and she's lived and breathed her area of expertise every day.

Jess has built a following and a brand, and if you were to find her online, you'd immediately know what she was about – helping and guiding the motorsport industry on how to get publicity for their brands.

It's important to take note of what Jess has done to build her brand in addition to getting on television. If you don't do the groundwork, the next step, at best, won't work. At worst, it could damage your brand, hurt your business, and get you blackballed from future opportunities.

For example, if you were featured as the world's strongest man, but showed up without the ability to step up and prove it, you'd be laughed at, escorted out, and possibly never allowed back.

Your reputation is everything, and that's why content marketing is so effective for building your business. Here is how you can get publicity for your business and be seen as an expert, according to Jess.

How to Get Publicity

Step 1: Define Your Expertise

The first thing you need to do is to pick 2-3 things at which you're an expert. Don't only pick one, and don't pick seventeen, but pick a few areas where you're confident and know you could knock it out of the park when asked questions on the topic.

Make your topics related but not the same. Pick 2-3 things that are complementary and which overlap.

In other words, if someone were to ask you about your areas of expertise, they wouldn't ask you the exact same questions. Ideally, your 2-3 areas of expertise would be related to a product you have in development or one you have ready to sell.

NOTE: If you don't have a 1) website, 2) a way to collect email addresses, and 3) content on your site to market your business, Step 1 above is actually the fourth or fifth step in the process. The people you'll reach out to in Step 4 will absolutely check you out, so you need to have your website home base in order.

RELATED: How to Start a Website

RELATED: How to Get Started with Content Marketing

Step 2: Develop Your Pitch

Now that you've got your areas of expertise dialed in and you'd feel comfortable having a spirited debate on the topic, it's time to prepare your pitch.

Step 2 is to create quick blurb about each of your expertise areas. If you want to get publicity in the most efficient way possible, each blurb should:

1. state your expertise
2. highlight your experience
3. define who could benefit from your expertise

For example, if your expertise was in copywriting like my client Kris, your blurb might look like this:

“Hi Ellory, my name is Suzy, and I'm an expert at helping small businesses improve the content on their websites and in their sales letters through better copywriting. I've been a copywriter for 7 years, and in that time I've helped all sorts of companies, so I'm familiar with what they struggle with. If you're ever in need of a copywriter, I'd love the opportunity to share some of my experience with your viewers.”

Of course, you'd want to tweak that and make it your own, and I'm sure you'd probably come up with something better, but I hope that gives you an idea of what to send someone.

Step 3: Locate Your Target

Now that you have your areas of expertise (and your website, etc.) and your pitch, it's time to find who you'll target.

Here's what PR expert Jess showed me…

First

First, you'll need a Twitter account. It's free and only takes a second to sign up.

HINT: You might even be able to do this next step without an account.

Second

Second, in the Twitter search box, type in #HARO if you're in the United States, #JournoRequest or #PRRequest if you're in the UK. You might have to use a different hashtag for different countries.

After hitting “Enter” to search, you'll get reporters who are using these hashtags to find people to interview. These hashtags are popular with PR people who are working on stories to publish and who are looking for guest experts to interview.

HINT: On the results page, you may need to switch tabs from “Top/Popular” to “Latest/Recent” so you see the most recent tweets from reporters.

Now that you have your search results, start filtering through the list of tweets. You might have to scroll through several to find what you're looking for or reporters who're looking for someone with your expertise, but don't give up!

HINT: If you find someone who is tweeting with these hashtags, you may want to follow them so their future tweets show up in your feed. That way your process will be streamlined in the future.

Third

Once you have a lead, reply to their tweet or send the person a DM (direct message) and ask them if they're still looking for someone to interview. If they are, ask them if you can email them, or send them the blurb you wrote in Step 2.

HINT: Save your Twitter search so you can come back to it quickly.

Step 4: Send Your Pitch

I think the beauty of Jess' strategy is that its low pressure. You're not trying to sell something, you're offering help.

• If you're a copywriter, you could talk about common mistakes, and how to make sure people write effective messaging.
• If you're an email marketing expert, you could talk about list building strategies or why it's important to clean up your list.
• If you own rental properties, you could be an expert on keeping your properties full or how you vet tenants so you get the right people renting.
• If you own a restaurant, your expertise could be in how local businesses are impacting the economy.

I hope you've found this tactic super-helpful. When Jess told me about using hashtags to find people who were actively looking for experts, my jaw dropped!

If you've found this helpful, consider giving Jess a shout on Twitter, Facebook, or on her website at RacingMentor.com

And, if you use this trick to get publicity for your products, brand, or business, please let me know! Send a screenshot and a link to where you're featured to ellory@ellorywells.com so I can celebrate with you and share your success!