Handle Your Own PR: HYOPR Blog

How do you keep bought lists up to date?

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 04:18:43 GMT

Eleni Mitakos from Galmatic emailed us with a question. She asks, " if we have bought contact lists from you in the past - how often should we update them? What's the best way to keep our database current?"

Well Eleni there are a few ways. The media is a fickle industry and people do move around a lot. If you have an old list you can start by emailing the contacts on there and just ask if they are still the right person. Often if someone has left their bounce-back message will give you the new person's details. Or the phone number might still be relevant so you can call and find out who the contact is now. Another way is to buy the magazines and newspapers you really want to get into and look up who the team is which is usually stated in the first few pages of magazines and in the various sections of newspapers. If you're regularly pitching news to the media you'll be updating it as you go. If you haven't used your list for about a year you might need a new one.

How do you keep your lists updated?

No news?

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 04:18:20 GMT

No news is good news right? Actually that's not always the case. In fact, in the world of publicity sometimes you have to create your own news.

Often we have clients coming to us wanting publicity but they aren't launching a new business or new product or even a new version of an existing product (hello iPhone 4GS!). So we have to think of ways to get them exposure by creating news angles.

Here are a few ways it can be done:

1.TIPS - put together a list of hints or tips the media can run. If for example you have an online gift store you could put together some 'Tips for giving Christmas gifts that aren't going to end up on eBay in January'. Or if you run a health orientated business you could put together a list of 'Tips for surviving the silly season with your liver intact.' If you have a food or catering business you could put together a list of 'Tips to reduce Christmas day lunch stress'.

2.TRENDS - can you see any trends emerging in your industry? Perhaps you have a beauty business and you're finding clients are preferring short, square nails in nude tones, or a new eyebrow shape is being requested. Or maybe you run an accounting firm and you are finding that sole traders are waiting until the last possible time to lodge tax returns. If you have a fashion brand or store you might find that people are spending more per item, but buying less items. Whatever the 'trend' is that you can see can be turned into 'news' for the media.

3.PREDICTIONS - hot on the trails of 'trends' are 'predictions'. Do you have an opinion on where elements of your industry are heading? The media might quote your predictions if you do. For example in a story about preparing homes for sale they might quote a person with a window cleaning business. "?Joe Blow from Ultimate Window Cleaning agrees. "With people becoming more and more time poor, the job of cleaning windows is becoming increasingly outsourced," explains Joe, who has had a 60% increase in business this year alone."

4.TOPICAL - What's happening in the news that you can tap into? Do you have a jewellery line that is producing "wedding" rings popular with the gay community? With news of Gen Y unlikely to be able to afford their own homes, have you got a business offering money saving advice? With the Spring Racing Carnival just around the corner have you got some relevant tips/trends/predictions/advice to share that will generate good publicity for your business? Perhaps your range of fold-up-flat shoes are the perfect Spring Racing accessory?

As you can see, there are many ways to generate news for your business. So what are you waiting for? Get cracking now and we'll see you in the news soon.

Helping Artists get Publicity

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 07:41:42 GMT

We have always thought that HYOPR would be a great service for people in the arts who need to publicise their work but on a shoestring budget. Of course, that's why we set up the site in the first place and it's not just small businesses that need help! Anyway, we have finally created and uploaded lists for musicians, actors, dancers and fine artists. If you know someone who might need media contacts in this area, do let them know! We'll mention it in the newsletter next week but thought we would give you the heads up first!

Sue Papadoulis' Publicity Workshop

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 07:41:09 GMT

Recently Handle Your Own PR customer, Phoebe Olsen from MyFavourite.com.au went along to Sue Papadoulis' DIY PR 2 day course, on our recommendation. We thought we'd pick Phoebe's brain about the experience.

Phoebe firstly tell us a little about MyFavourite.com.au.

My Favourite is a re-brand of the successful children's and Mum's store, Mummy's Favourite which I purchased in August 2010. Having lived in London for the last 10 years I felt that there was a real need for a really slick gift website that specialized in design led gifts for all ages and occasions (not just Mums & kids of which there are so many out there these days!) and decided to re-locate back to Melbourne to launch MyFavourite.com.au. Australia is at least five years behind the UK/US in online retail and I wanted to be able to bring to the market a lot of my own online shopping experiences from the UK together with my experience in Marketing from my previous corporate career.

MyFavourite.com.au is the place to find gift ideas for absolutely any occasion. If you're stuck for a birthday present, an unusual gift or something to simply say 'I love you', then you're in the right place. From birthday presents to baby showers, My Favourite has a variety of gift ideas, which makes buying presents for the special people in your life even more enjoyable! Shop by person, age, category, budget or occasion!

In a nutshell what was the course about?

Sue's course was about how to generate your own PR through all PR channels. We learnt the general public relations formula that can generate plenty of media coverage on TV and radio and in newspapers and magazines, earning you instant credibility and increasing sales. We also learnt how to find journalists who are interested in what I have to say for both my website and the industry.

Sue Papadoulis has been both a journalist and a PR exec in the past. How did her 'insider' knowledge help you?

Whilst I have a good knowledge about PR and marketing in general I wanted to understand more about what the Australian market expects and demands as my knowledge was pretty UK centric.

What are the three main things you learnt from the course?

1. Whilst I sell products the PR doesn't always need to be about the product, it can be about me, about what is going on in the ecommerce industry and other related areas such as social media.

2. I learnt how to structure a press release for the Australian PR audience and what their expectations and requirements were.

3. I learnt more about all the areas of PR i.e. TV, radio, magazine, newspaper etc.

What were the practical things you took away?

We were able to write a few press releases that Sue then reviewed and made appropriate changes to, which allowed us to not only walk away with press releases ready to go but a better understanding, first hand, about how to best structure a release so that it is actually picked up and used by the journalist. Once I had seen the changes Sue had made to my releases I really had the 'light bulb' moment of understanding it all and now chuckle when I read an article or see an interview on 'Today Tonight' for example as it has been structured the exact way that Sue has taught us!

Has it inspired you to start generating your own publicity? Have you had any success yet?

Yes, I have used some of the releases that I worked on with Sue and as a result have been interviewed for a social media story by the Herald Sun (there was consequently an almost quarter page photo of me that appeared in the Technology section' with the interview!) and I have been actively using the media contacts lists that I purchased through 'Handle Your Own PR' which are quiet simply invaluable!

Was the course worth the time and money you invested into it?

Initially I was really skeptical and actually pulled out a week before the course and then Sue called and we discussed it all and I committed to it again. It was a huge outlay for me as a small business only just starting out but I have started seeing the benefits of it and would recommend it to anyone.

Would you recommend it to other small business owners? Why?

Yes, absolutely. If you are unfamiliar with PR and the way that the Australian market likes to work than it is extremely valuable way to go. You also get to work with Sue one on one and she helps you develop at least one press release ready to go (I managed to do four in the time I was there!) and you also walk away with all the templates you would ever need for all PR channels together with a healthy discount to buy media lists from the ever impressive 'Handle Your Own PR'!

If anyone else is interested in doing the workshop you can find out more here.

Finding the right media contacts

Tue, 17 May 2011 02:08:31 GMT

When you are about to start your very own PR campaign, you need to make sure you contact the right media. When we say 'right', we mean the media that your target market reads, listens to or watches. So the very first task you have is to identify exactly WHO you are speaking to. It may be that you have a few different markets to cover.

For instance, one of our HYOPR clients, Pheobe, the owner of myfavourite.com.au, an online gift store, spoke to us the other day about her different target markets. She has Mums and Dads (parenting media and websites) as well as general lifestyle type products (lifestyle media which includes in-flight magazines). By using both lists and tailoring her media release, she is doubling her chances of getting coverage and targeting the media that her customers use.

If Simone and I are creating media lists for our own clients, (we also run a full service PR agency, Handle Communications) we always try to include at least three or four distinctly different media groups. The more we can approach, the higher our chances of getting coverage. For instance, Simone has been working with a fantastic toy company who have clever sports goggles with built in video cameras. To get them the maximum exposure she has targeted men's media, gift guides, lifestyle media, newspaper product sections, technology writers, general sport magazines, speciality sports magazines (for motorcross, skiing, scuba diving etc.) photography media and even kid's media and women's media.

Another example is a children's wear company Jules works with. They have an incredible background story so as well as sending out a release to the parenting and kids magazines and blogs, and the fashion Editors for magazines and newspapers, she also pitched the idea to magazines like Good weekend who featured them in the 'Two of Us' section and Wellbeing magazine (it is a fair trade label) with great success.

Start by thinking about what kind of people your customers and potential customers are. Old or young? Parents, singles or grandparents? Male or female or both? Are they environmentally minded? Do they love sports? Then think of the sort of media they would use including online, magazines, newspapers, TV and radio. From there you will start to get a picture of the sorts of categories the media will fall into. You can then either spend some time researching media contacts online or via the contacts provided in such magazines and newspapers or buy the relevant lists from us. However you get your media contacts make sure you place them into an Excel spreadsheet with the name of the media, the contact person, their role, their email address, their phone number and a leave a column for notes.

It's also a great idea to create a space for "media" clippings on your website. That way potential customers can see that your business is credible and endorsed by others. A new Handle Your Own PR customer, All Day Heels, has a great example of a media section on their website. They recently picked up a story on A Current Affair and have provided the link to that story, as well as others, on their site. This is a great way to make your editorial work for you well after it runs. https://alldayheels.com.au/in-the-news.html

Do you have any questions about how to create a media list? How many target markets have you got? Where have you been getting your media contacts from?

Parenting List has even more contacts!

Wed, 30 Mar 2011 23:52:29 GMT

I have just finished updating the parenting media list and have added a few more contacts for those of you that are thinking of sending out a media release about your cool new parenting product or service! Make sure you let your friends know as well.

Simone recently attended Sue Papdoulis' DIY PR seminar and was very impressed! Sue covers off a lot of useful information and really arms the people who attend with the information to get their PR campaign happening. If you are a little uncertain about how to get started or what angle to use for your campaign, it might be worth attending one of Sue's events - check it out here.

Finally, we promised we would start to write up a step-by-step approach to running your own campaign and it is coming! What with Simone's house move and Jules' twins starting school (Vic only went back to school last week for preppies) we are running behind...sorry!!

We are doing our own little talk the Motivating Mum lunch on March 1st i n Melbourne so do come along if you are free that day. More details can be found here.

We do love to get your comments so keep 'em coming!

Celebrity Lotto

Wed, 30 Mar 2011 23:52:04 GMT

One great way to get your product or service some great exposure is to have a famous person photographed using it. Now we're going to assume you don't have a spare $200,000 to pay the likes of Nicole Kidman or Elle McPherson to be seen using your brand of nappy bag/earrings/organic lipstick (wild assumption, I know!), but there is another way. Sometimes you can get lucky. Celebrities like gifts, especially clever or useful ones. And often their agents like to pass on gifts to their clients. And occasionally a celeb will use your product in public and, hey presto, every man and his dog wants one too. It's a long shot and it's not right for every product and service out there, but if you're willing to play 'celebrity lotto' it might just pay off. This works particularly well for you if your product has an identifiable logo. Who can forget seeing images of Sarah Jessica Parker and Gweneth Paltrow pushing their babies in Bugaboos?

In our newsletter today we gave you agent contact details for Natalie Portman, Kate Hudson and Nicole Richie. Who else do you want contact details for? Who would be 'celeb gold' in terms of your business? Have you had any success with a celeb in the past? Don't be shy. Post a comment!

Hit the ground running in 2011!

Wed, 02 Feb 2011 03:41:21 GMT

Don't wait till next year to start your next PR burst!

We know what it's like. You're thinking about that list of Christmas presents you need to buy and the million parties you've got coming up. You're dreaming about your summer holiday and the prawns and mangoes you're going to eat. The last thing on your mind is getting publicity for your business early next year. Well guess what? The media are already working on 'Back to School' features, 'Valentine's Day' and even 'Autumn' features. If you want to generate some publicity in the first few months of 2011 you really need to start sending your pitches now. If you leave it till February or March you won't see any results until close to the middle of the year and that's just a big waste of precious editorial.

Have a little think about some angles that could work with these themes. Do you have a product in earthy tones that could be part of an autumn feature? Do have a fabulously romantic story about how you met your partner that oculd be used in a Valentine's Day feature (with a mention of your business of course!). Or maybe those pencil cases you're making out of recycled billboards could be included in some back to school stories. Put your creative hat on for a minute and think about a way you can 'spin' your story to fit. A little effort now means you could up and runnning next year quicker than you can say "I wish these summer holidays would hurry up and end"!

So what have you got planned for 2011? Is there a way you can pitch your story to fit these features? Have you got a question about the best way to go about it? We're giving away a free list to the best idea we see here or on our Facebook page so please join in the conversation.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Handle-Your-Own-PR/173155454513

A Couple of Things to Remember

Wed, 02 Feb 2011 03:40:52 GMT

This week we discovered another little snippet on Handle Your Own PR in Mother & Baby magazine. A friend who is in the late stages of pregnancy picked it up in a sample bag at the hospital. It just reinforced a couple of things about PR that I thought were worth touching on:

1. It can be a slow burn - Simone was interviewed by the magazine for this story over six months ago. As we know, magazines work months ahead but other factors can also come into play; If your story isn't time-critical (ie. there are no specific deadlines), the article can get bumped from issue to issue, depending on the space available for that month. It can make it hard to keep track of whether stories have appeared or not. Most journalists won't mind if you ask them if you aren't sure.

2. Editorial can 'travel' - what I mean by that is that sometimes an article can appear in additional media that you didn't know were linked to the original story. For instance, this M&B article was used in sample bags for maternity hospitals. We also got story a few months ago in Smart Company and it was then reproduced on the ninemsn website in the Money section. Ditto with articles that appear in the small business section of newspapers. I recently got a client an article in the Courier Mail that was reproduced in the Daily Telegraph as well as The Herald Sun. What a bonus!

Have you had either of these things happen to you?

Job titles in the media

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 00:56:05 GMT

It's all well and good suggesting that you contact people in the media directly - but what do the titles mean?

We are often asked by our clients and customers who they should contact within a media organisation, so we thought we would give you a quick run down! Here is an overview of the roles and titles you may come across, and who to approach to pitch a story.

Newspapers

If you are contacting a newspaper with a news story, you should go to the news desk or the Chief of Staff, whose role it is to allocate stories to the journalists for following up. However if you have a nifty product or service, you may want to contact the Editor of a particular weekend magazine or supplement. If you know a journalist on a newspaper works in a particular section you want to target, you can also contact the journalist directly. They will have to get the green light from the Editor or Sub-Editor to progress the story so will pitch it on your behalf.

Magazines

Most magazines have an Editor who overseas all the 'story' or editorial sections. Then there are specific Editors for the different sections such as the Fashion Editor, the Features Editor (who writes more in-depth or 'feature' stories), The Beauty or Sports Editor etc. There is often an Editorial Co-ordinator as well. The person in this role receives the incoming emails and presents them to the Editor and/or journalists. They control the email traffic and can be a very good ally to have!

Radio

When pitching a story to radio you need to contact the Producer of a specific show. They will normally collate all the requests and discuss them with the presenters before getting back to you. Another approach for some radio stations is to offer them something to give away to their listeners. This would normally be something you would discuss with the Marketing or Promotions department on the bigger stations and the Station Manager for smaller and regional stations.

The Holy Grail! There are a number of people you can pitch a TV story to, depending on the show. If it is a news story or a photo opportunity then go to the Newsroom and pitch it to the Chief of Staff for that day. For a light entertainment/chat show you can either go to the Executive Producer (who manages the entire show) or one of the Segment Producers (in the case of morning TV or early evening Current Affairs shows). You can also go to the Segment Producer for product reviews and potentially, giveaways. Most TV stations also have a Promotions department who will be looking for prizes for a variety of shows. They are always happy to hear from people but would normally be looking for prizes with a $2,000-$20,000 retail value.

Don't go to...

The advertising department! You may find that an Editor or journalist has passed your details on to the advertising department. They will then contact you and ask for you to buy an ad. If your story is of genuine interest, the Editor will cover it regardless. Advertising has nothing to do with Editorial and the two are not linked in any way. Advertorial is when you basically pay for an 'editorial style' ad. it is NOT PR which is free. Be warned!

End of Financial Year sale!!

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 07:13:44 GMT

Not sure if anyone is reading this yet (think we might need to do something more to let people know about it) but here goes anyway...

We all love a bargain! Especially one that is a legitimate business expense and can be claimed at the end of the financial year. So we're offering you a special deal. Until the end of June 30 BUY TWO MEDIA LISTS AND GET ONE FREE!

Simply forward your receipt to info@handleyourownpr.com.au and tell us which other list you'd like and we'll email it back to you. That's a pretty good offer if we do say so ourselves!

When planning your campaign remember to think about all of your potential markets and tweak your media release to reflect the market you are pitching to. If your product can be used by a 'chef' and a 'mum' you will need to communicate differently to these markets, and you will of course need different images and media lists.

So get cracking and start getting your business some valuable publicity. And remember, the more journalists you contact, the more likelihood of getting a mention.

And a bit of exciting news from us. Watch this space as we are about the launch www.handleyourownpr.com VERY soon - yes, we're going global and will have US media lists for sale and advice for getting exposure in the USA! We'll let you know as soon as it's up and running.

Be Prepared!

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 01:18:35 GMT

Just got a great email from Mel Quick at greengoat.com.au who told us that she got a story straight away, the first time she sent her press release out! It makes us so proud to hear that you are having success with our media lists - and your talent of course! Either email us or post your story on our Have Your Say page. Or you can take a look at what other people have said.

Simone has gone to Thailand this week as a surprise for her cousin's wedding so I'm holding the fort. Oh what fun!

What has this week been like for you? Are you getting ready to send out a media release about you product or service with a Mother's Day theme? We will be putting a Mother's Day media contact list on the site shortly and you will want to send out to the media straight away if you want them to know in time.

Make sure you register for the newsletter and we'll let you know when the list is up there!

Til next time...