Open any newspaper and you'll find mention of thousands of companies and products. Most typically, the same names are mentioned over and over—Sears, Old Navy, GM, Microsoft, Wal-Mart, and the list goes on.

Many, if not most, of these stories relate some event or product these companies want to expose to a broad audience—earnings reports, new product releases, record sales for a particular product line, promotions, and a myriad other items, all reported as hard news.

And within the same newspaper, on the same page, you'll find some small companies you've probably never heard of. Of course, there is probably little in common between Wal-Mart and Joe's Handy Cleaners, except most all of the stories on the page were planted by the companies themselves.

Most midsize-to-large companies have long learned the value of the press release, but the vast majority of small companies haven't. The notion seems to be that, to make it into the newspaper, companies must have some momentous news to break.

But, by forfeiting the newspaper coverage to the "big boys," small companies are missing out on possibly the most dynamic form of promotion and lead generation there is—and it's free. And, after all, if it's in the newspaper, it must be important, right?

Press releases can help level the playing field for companies with limited budgets and resources. Various online distribution sites will release your press release for virtually nothing. A company called PRWeb will send out your press release to tens of thousands of potential prospects and thousands of media sites for as little as $80 (and as little as $10 if you're willing to take fewer perks)—and provide you will a full array of statistics to give you a good feel for the effectiveness of your press release.

If you supplement that with a faxed copy to your local media and a follow-up call, you can likely gain significant exposure for less than a nice meal. In addition, if your company operates on a local level only, you can direct your press release to only local distribution.

Of course, that still leaves the issue of what a small company can possibly say that is newsworthy. Actually, there's much that can be newsworthy. Have you taken on a new line of merchandise? Maybe you've just had an expansion? Possibly, you've just developed a new product or added a new service? Your company is about to have an anniversary? You're sponsoring an event, scholarship, or some other community-related promotion? All of these are newsworthy.

Still can't think of anything you would consider being significant enough to be picked up by the news? Possibly, you can create something.

Here's an example of a short press release I sent out:

Author Deconstructs Referral Selling Methodology

Houston, Texas (PRWEB) November 27, 2006: Leading prospecting and referral selling trainer and authority, Paul McCord, tears apart the traditional referral selling methods taught to salespeople by companies and sales trainers for decades and has reconstructed them into a systematic referral generation program that promises to change the way companies and salespeople relate to customers and clients in his newly released book, Creating a Million Dollar a Year Sales Income: Sales Success through Client Referrals (John Wiley and Sons, 2007).

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Paul McCord is the author of Creating a Million Dollar a Year Sales Income: Sales Success through Client Referrals (John Wiley and Sons) and the upcoming Planning Your Success: The Ultimate Guide to Creating Your Personal Marketing Plan. He is president of McCord and Associates, a sales-training and management-consulting firm. Reach him at pmccord@mccordandassociates.com or via www.powerreferralselling.com.