Publicity: Yes You Can!

Publicity is one of the most useful, cost-effective tools to build a professional practice or a business. It doesn't matter whether you are a solo practitioner, small firm, mid-sized, or giant. Publicity just works.

• Reach more of your target market, in the media they read and view
• Gain credibility and prestige
• Increase visibility
• Showcase your capabilities before prospects whom you'd never even meet otherwise

The two things you need to do in order to succeed at the publicity game are this: know how to service a client, and know how to get a client. Because it turns out that the whole business of attracting publicity, as intimidating or inaccessible as it may seem to the uninitiated, involves exactly the same skills you use in business every day:

• You have to know your stuff
• You have to be reasonably good at communicating some of what you know to a lay audience - your clients.
• You - or someone in your organization -- have to be at least minimally adept at marketing and selling.

How can I be so sure you can do these things? Simple. You - or your firm - wouldn't be in business if you didn't do them on a regular basis.

I'll repeat my message: if you are good - excellence is not necessary - at providing service to your clients and you have even a lick of ability to sign up a new client, you have what it takes to attract publicity for your business.

When I speak to groups or work with clients, I like to take the mystery out of the publicity game. I show professionals and businesses how to get more media coverage, and use that publicity as a tool to grow their practice. But first, let's review briefly why publicity is a good idea.

Here's what happens now when one of your competitors is featured or quoted in the local newspaper. Your neighbor thinks, "Wow, that guy/gal must be good. They put him/her in the newspaper."

You think: "Why did they call her for? I know that topic much better."

Truth is, nothing bestows credibility like media coverage. Think about it - how often have you clipped something from the newspaper or a trade magazine, or jotted down something you heard on a radio or TV talk show? Perhaps you shared it with a colleague or family member - or filed it away for future reference.

The point is, that bit of information made an impact on you. It stuck with you, because you saw it in the paper. The writers and editors of a publication you respect and trust - whether The Wall Street Journal or your local community newspaper - evaluated that information and its source, determined that it met their publishing standards, and decided it was worthy to pass along to you, their valued customer. When you see something in print, you give it more credence - because a professional journalist has pre-screened it for you. The information has credibility.

And that's just what prospects will do when they hear about you in the media. Even better, they'll call you to learn more, or to inquire about your services. Not everyone who sees your publicity. Not even most of them. But enough to keep your phone ringing, and your business growing, for as long as you keep playing the publicity game.

Advertising is great - when you can afford it. Nothing builds visibility and recognition faster. But publicity gives you credibility- something that money literally cannot buy. Because publicity is free. Unlike advertising, you don't pay a cent (unless you encounter the occasional shady outlet) for visibility in the news and information columns of newspapers, magazines, or TV.

You just have to be reasonably - not exceptionally - good at what you do. You have to know your stuff, and you have to communicate it effectively. If you're a natural salesperson who loves to pitch to new prospects, so much the better - but this is by no means essential.

Working with audiences and one-on-one, I show you how you can tap into the power of publicity. The operative words are "you can."

I zero in on the real key to publicity success for professionals, entrepreneurs, and non-profits: knowing just how to turn your professional knowledge - all that you do on the job every day - into a tool that will have reporters calling you with offers of free publicity.

I focus like a laser on what people like us - I call them knowledge professionals-can do to become media magnets.