Attention Getting

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Category: Publicity (Page 1 of 3)

How Top News Stories Can Mean Free Publicity for Your Business

October 25, 2022 /

It really is not that difficult to get free publicity for your business. One tip I always give clients is to stay on top of current news stories, so you can find ways to add your business to the story.

SAMPLE PITCH #1

For example, if you sell online or retail, there is a lot in the news right now about inflation and people cutting back on holiday spending. So reach out to a business writer and ask if you can contribute your findings to any editorial they might be writing.

For example, “Jane Doe from XYZ Company, who sells their dog products online, has noticed that their holiday sales are on par with last year, but people are just buying earlier”.

sample pitch #2

You can do this with any type of business. If you’re selling real estate, you could ask to comment on a potential story idea such as:

“Mary Smith from MS Realty sees pent-up demand from the pandemic continuing to fuel sales despite higher interest rates and inflation on the rise.”

sample pitch #3

If you’re a travel agent, for example:

“Steve Johnson from AMC Travel offers these tips to cost-effectively avoid the Thanksgiving travel rush.”

Therefore, a take a look at today’s new headlines and see if there is any way to fit in the story.

For more inspiration, read my posts, Easy Way to Get Year End Publicity for Your Business and 9 Publicity Ideas for Your Small Biz.

my pr pitch service

If you need help coming up with a pitch for a relevant news story, my Publicity Pitch service has gotten my clients featured in Real Simple Magazine, Apartment Therapy, House Beautiful, Vanity Fair, Houzz, Martha Stewart, Glamour Magazine, LONNY, DesignMilk, Emmaline Bride,– just to name a few.

About Me

Do you need your Brand Story written or an SEO-Optimized Blog Post or a Personalized Business Consultation? As a 20+ year marketing professional and small business consultant, all of my services are super affordable.

I have consulted for thousands of small businesses since 2012, and my advice has been featured in the NY Times, Success Magazine, Yahoo Business, American Express, Big Commerce, Business2Community to name a few – so this is professional advice you can trust! Be sure to read an article on Yahoo I was recently quoted in: “4 Businesses to Start in the Fall🍂”.

 

 

 

©2022 Gail Oliver. All rights reserved. Free Publicity for Your Business

Free Publicity Opportunities for Your Business this Summer

May 11, 2022 /

Want some free publicity opportunities for your business this summer? Here are the best opportunities in June, July and August.

SUMMER PR IDEAS
  • June is pride month, so writers will be looking for businesses to include in stories such as “LGBTQ-Owned Businesses to Support for Pride Month”.
  • Juneteenth is on June 19th and writers will be looking for businesses to include in stories such as “Observe Juneteenth by Checking Out these Black Owned Businesses”. You can try this again for August, which is National Black Business Month.
  • July is Independent Retailer Month, so local writers will be looking for businesses to include in stories such as “Celebrate Independent Retailer Month by Shopping these Local Businesses ”.
  • July 1st is Canada Day, so Canadian writers will be looking for businesses to include in stories such as “Canadian-Made Products to Shop This Canada Day”.
  • July 4th is Independence Day, so American writers will be looking for businesses to include in stories such as, “American Small Businesses to Love this Independence Day”.

I offer a Publicity Pitch Writing Service and all of these events are covered in my best-selling 96-Page Marketing Plan Template.

Also read: Easy Free Local Publicity Opportunity

©2022 Gail Oliver. All rights reserved. Free Publicity Opportunities for Your Business this Summer

How to Get Free PR for Your Small Business for Earth Day

February 23, 2022 /

If your business has any type of eco-friendly and sustainable practices, policies, packaging, events, products or services, now is the time to pitch this story for Earth Day editorial, just 8 weeks away on April 22nd.

If you’re not sure what to pitch, ask me for an idea, or try one of these:

Actual Story Headlines from 2021
  • “In Honor of Earth Day, Shop Our Editors’ Favorite Sustainable Brands”
  • “Sustainable Brands Offering Earth Day Sales, Freebies and Promotions”
  • “To Celebrate Earth Day, Here are 10 Eco-friendly Brands That Are Taking Care of the Planet”
  • “Shop Small: 50 Sustainable Products for Earth Day and Every Day”
Other Story Pitch Ideas for Earth Day Editorial
  • If you’re a realtor, pitch a story about increased demand for sustainable housing.
  • If you’re a restaurant, pitch a story about how you reduce spoilage with a menu audit.
  • If you’re a travel agent, pitch a story about your favorite eco-friendly vacation destinations.
  • If you’re a beauty salon, pitch a story about how you have eliminated all toxic ingredient products.

Remember, you need to pitch story ideas about 6 to 8 weeks prior to the actual event, so start pitching this week. If you’re successful, let me know!

If you sell eco-products, find tons of marketing tactics in my 12-Month Marketing Plan Eco-Products.

© 2022 Gail Oliver. All rights reserved.

Free Publicity Opportunity for Black Business Owners

January 23, 2022 /

Free Publicity Black Business OwnersNext month presents a great free publicity opportunity for black business owners.

If you’re a black-owned business, you should be spending this week pitching your success story to business and lifestyle blogs (as well as your local media) in hopes of being included in next month’s most popular editorial “Black Businesses to Support in Honor of Black History month”. 

Every publication and blog from Oprah to Reader’s Digest to Yahoo to Glamour wrote an article like this last year.

More Posts
Be Sure to Also Check Out

© 2022 Gail Oliver. All rights reserved. Free Publicity Black Business Owners

Huge Opportunity if You’re a Black-Owned Business

May 4, 2021 /

huge opportunity for black owned businessesJuneteenth (June 19th) is coming up and it presents a great opportunity to get free publicity if you are a black-owned business. With all free publicity, the key is to know when and what to pitch.

Real Customer Example

So how do you find publicity opportunities like this for your business? Here’s is the strategy I use.

When one of my clients came to me in December looking for a publicity pitch for her business, the first thing I did was look ahead a month or two to see what opportunities existed in the news or pop culture. Being that she was a black female business owner, and February is Black History month, and Kamala Harris was about to become the first female black vice president, I had a feeling that a lot of blogs would want to write about Black Female Businesses to Support in Honor of Black History Month. 

I crafted a short but compelling story about her business journey, she pitched the story idea above and it resulted in her getting a mention on Martha Stewart, “15 of Our Favorite Black Owned Jewelry Brands to Support Now”. Not the exact story we pitched, but it still put the idea in the writer’s mind.

The Opportunity

Last year, there were hundreds of these types of stories for Juneteenth. Everyone from Forbes to USA Today to HuffPost, as well as niche blogs, were publishing lists of black-owned businesses to support, and it will likely happen again this year.

Now, you can pitch the headline a few ways:

  • “Black-Owned Businesses to Support This Juneteenth”.
  • “Female Black-Owned Businesses to Support This Juneteenth”.
  • “Local Black-Owned Businesses to Support This Juneteenth”
  • “Black-Owned Etsy Shops to Support This Juneteenth”
  • “Black-Owned Fashion Businesses to Support This Juneteenth”

You get the idea. Email out your pitches this week to give writers enough lead time to research and write the article. Keep the pitch short, no more than three brief paragraphs about why your business should be included on such a list.

Don’t get discouraged if your pitch doesn’t work. You can try this pitch again in late June for National Black Business month (August).

Another Tip: Give a shoutout to @Beyonce on social media and you might get included on The Black Parade Route, a list of black-owned businesses on her blog.

Bonus Offer! Share this post on social media, let me know attentiongetting{at}gmail.com and I will send you a list of 23 top media contacts who wrote about black-owned businesses last year.

Get More Success Tips!

 

 

 

© 2021 Gail Oliver. All rights reserved. Huge Opportunity if You’re a Black-Owned Business.

9 Publicity Ideas for Your Small Business

November 12, 2015 /

Right now is a good time to pitch a story to your local business reporter in hopes of getting some press for your company in December and January. Even if you sell online and internationally, never discount the power of your local market. 

Here are some headlines you could pitch or maybe one of these will inspire one of your own:

December PR Ideas
  • How This Local Business is Pulling Out all the Stops for the Holiday Shopping Season
  • Local Company to Host Food and Toy Drive
  • Was Black Friday a Boom or Bust for These Small Businesses
  • Why You Should Shop These Local Businesses This Christmas Season
January PR Ideas
  • How a Bad Winter Could Impact These Local Businesses
  • Challenges and Wins in 2022 for Local Companies
  • Our Favorite Local Small Businesses of 2022
  • What These Local Companies Plan to Do Differently in 2023
  • Advice for Starting a Business in 2023, from 5 Local Small Business Owners

As I have always said, you have to give a reporter a compelling and timely story headline (and then show how your company would fit in the story) as this makes it easier for them to see the value in the pitch.

My Publicity Planner is part of my Marketing Planner Bundle, and it will help you create, plan, and organize your pitches.

Good luck and let me know if you have success!

© 2015-2021 Gail Oliver. All rights reserved. Publicity Ideas for Your Small Business

The Holiday Gift Guides You Really Want to Get Your Products Into

August 20, 2015 /

by Gail Oliver, Online Marketing Consultant

If you sell products online and want to take advantage of those huge holiday sales, then I highly recommend you re-read my post of two years ago, Why You Should Be Pitching Your Products for Holiday Gift Guides Now. However, today I want to give you a more current suggestion for getting holiday gift guide publicity.

how to get your products into holiday gift guides

Popular Pinners

You want to pitch to the lifestyle bloggers who are excelling at creating beautiful, comprehensive, and highly pinnable gift guides for Pinterest. One of my favorites is The Everygirl blog. Their gift guides are really well done, great at attracting attention on Pinterest and getting thousands of repins, not to mention turning up first in Pinterest search results. Other bloggers whose 2014 holiday gift guides also got huge circulation on Pinterest last year include:

All of these blogs create gift guides for every family member, every type of interest, so don’t be afraid to pitch your own category. Some of these blogs were also part of a mass marketing effort last year by a group of lifestyle bloggers, all promoting each other’s holiday gift guides, creating even wider exposure by tapping into each other’s social media following.

YouTube Vloggers

I have a feeling we will be seeing a lot more holiday gift guides on YouTube this year. Many popular “vloggers” (people with popular YouTube channels) last year did holiday gift guides that were viewed by millions of people. Granted, most of these vloggers and their audience tend to be young, but they are recommending gifts for mom, dad, boyfriend, boss, your pet, etc., so it is a wider market than you think. Vloggers are known to get paid for endorsements, however, you should still pitch to them asking for consideration as an artisan/indie seller, and hopefully they haven’t completely sold out and would still recommend your product because they like it, not just because they got paid to say so. You would likely have to send them product to show. Here are a few vloggers who had popular gift guides last year:

Now, Before You Go….

  • Follow my blog on Bloglovin
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  • Check out my E-book shop on Gumroad for more creative ideas!

Thanks so much for your support!

Gail

© 2015 Gail Oliver, Attention Getting Marketing. All rights reserved.

How to Get Publicity for Your Business by Pitching Attention Getting Headlines

March 5, 2015 /

attention getting headlinesWant to know how to get publicity for your business by pitching attention getting headlines.

When you are trying to get publicity for your business, I have always said you have to pitch a story, not a product. Essentially, you want to give a potential headline to a writer or editor, and the more grabby (and timely) the better.

The print and online world is inundated with content, so attention-getting headlines have to stand out among the noise. Why make the writer come up with one on their own, when you can do part of the work for them. How do you get that headline? Try looking at current ones.

 

Products or Services Attention Getting Headlines

Maybe you want to get press for one of your products. Certain publications do product reviews or will write about a product that is innovative or cutting edge (i.e. Apple) but if you really want to get your product mentioned as part of an editorial, you need to give a story idea and then mention how your product would fit the story. Below are real headlines from popular blogs that might inspire you:

  • The Jackets You’ll Want To Wear All Spring (Refinery29)
  • 18 Dream Items to Punch Up a Master-Bath Wish List (Houzz)
  • 15 Easter Kids Outfits That Get the Celebration Started (Popsugar Moms)

attention getting headlines

Business Attention Getting Headlines

If you do have an innovative product, service or invention, or your business has enjoyed some recent success or accomplishment, that can be newsworthy to a writer, if you give the right headline, like these:

  • Forget Apple Pay. A Michigan startup says what you truly need is a Buetooth-enabled supercard (Mashable)
  • How This Entrepreneur Reworked His Business Idea in the Face of Financial Armageddon (Entrepreneur)
  • This Couple Ditched Their Tech Jobs to Pursue Their Passion for Beer (Business Insider)
Quirky Attention Getting Headlines

You know that I have always said the “quirky” or “unusual” will always get press. Here are some ideas for these types of stories:

  • 13 of the Most WTF Maternity Tops Ever Made (Buzzfeed)
  • 25 Books to Get You Through a Quarter Life Crisis (Bustle)
  • The 20 Most Amazing Things Only Rich Jerks Can Afford (Cracked)
Newsworthy Events Attention Getting Headlines

You also want to pitch headlines that are timely, based on upcoming events, current pop culture or trending topics.

  • The 3 Best Drugstore Sunscreens for Spring Break (College Fashion)
  • 50 Shades of Grey Activewear for the Gym (Shape)
  • The Best Way to Celebrate National Cherry Month (LONNY)
How to Write the Pitch

Now, if you have your headline, you are ready to write the email pitch. Keep it short as editors will not read a long winded pitch. For example:

Hello {name of writer or publication}

I see that in your April issue you will be focusing on Spring Fashion Finds for Kids. I was hoping that if you were planning any articles such as “Easter Dresses for Girls Under $100” that you would consider including my best selling lavender tutu dress for girls available at my online shop below:

{link to product}

Just $45, the dress comes in sizes 6x to 12 and is perfect for any spring event. 

Thanks so much for your consideration.

Mary Smith

www.kidsdressshop.com 

It’s that easy. Good luck pitching your business. If you need help, I do offer a very affordable publicity pitch writing service.

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© 2012-2015 Gail Oliver. All rights reserved. Attention Getting Headlines. 

Should Your Small Business Create an Annual Publicity Event?

November 28, 2014 /

 

annual publicity event small businessShould Your Small Business Create an Annual Event, Just for the Publicity?

Annual Publicity Event: Victoria Secret

Every year Victoria’s Secret, the lingerie store, creates a “Fantasy Bra”. This is a bra that they unveil at the end of their annual fashion show, and it is typically jewel encrusted and worth millions of dollars. The bra isn’t for sale, merely a publicity opportunity that they started in 2001 …. and it does get lots of press from television, print and online media. #VSFantasyBra even started trending on social media simply when they announced which model would be wearing the bra. That is how popular it has become.

Screen shot 2014-11-28 at 8.01.05 AM

Annual Publicity Event: Pantone

Next week Pantone will announce their color of the year. This isn’t a haphazard pick, but based on extensive interviews with fashion designers worldwide about which colors they plan to use in upcoming seasons, as well as sales of certain color swatches. Pantone’s announcement, which first started in 1999, has become an annual event that captivates not only the fashion press, but also the mainstream media.

So, would your small business benefit from an annual event, merely for the publicity it would generate? The key is to think of what it is you sell or offer, and how you can “own” it (so to speak) for an annual event. It can be in conjunction with a holiday or just the start of end of the year.

Here are Some Publicity Ideas to Consider:
  • A bar that annually runs a contest to choose its “Locally Brewed Beer for 2015”
  • A dental office that makes its yearly list of “Top 10 Celebrity Smiles”
  • A photography studio that sponsors the announcement of the first baby born in the new year with a free birth photo
  • A hair salon that chooses their “Hair Style of the Year”

Whatever event you decide to go for, simply pitch the story idea to your local press who is always looking for that fun, common interest story to write about. It may take a few years before the momentum for your event really takes off, but once it does you can leverage that local exposure into national exposure for your business.

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About Me

A 20+ year marketing professional, small business consultant, ebook author & blogger, my advice has been featured in the NY Times, Forbes, Success Magazine, Yahoo Finance, American Express, GO Banking Rates, Big Commerce, Business2Community, SheKnows to name a few – so this is professional advice you can trust!

I sell online on Shopify, Etsy, Gumroad and on Amazon back in its early years. This, combined with my decades of marketing & business experience means I can advise, mentor as well as come up with creative new ideas for your business. It really does help to talk to someone who is objective to get a new, but professional, perspective.

I have also written publicity pitches for clients that resulted in them being featured in Real Simple Magazine, Apartment Therapy, House Beautiful, Vanity Fair, Houzz, Martha Stewart, Glamour Magazine, LONNY, DesignMilk, Emmaline Bride – just to name a few. Be sure to try my Publicity Pitch and other Marketing Services.

© 2012-2014 Gail Oliver. All rights reserved. Annual Publicity Event Small Business

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