Any business large or small should have a media section. You can call it media room; press room or news room but there should be a section where journalists go to find out information about you or your company.
Include a link to the media room from the front page of your site so that it can be found easily. Journalists are like any potential customers or clients. They will do a search to find an expert in an area they need a comment on, or to interview or write a story about.
They may have heard your name or company's name somewhere or come across it in a feature article while they've been doing some research. Perhaps they are prompted to find out more about you from a media release that you may have sent to them. So they'll Google your name or even a topic to find the right person to make a comment. Journalists do like to research and be armed with a lot of information before they will do interviews.
Your media room needs to have several components to it. There needs to be a visual aspect of who you are and also written information.
I think the first thing that you need when a journalist opens your media page should be a short bio about you or your company's spokesperson and your topics of expertise. Just a paragraph or two about the business and the person behind the business so they know that's who to go to for media commentary. Then list topics that you can comment on with perhaps a sentence about your experience in that area.
For instance a journalist found me via my website and rang up to do an ABC TV news story on business etiquette. It is one of the subjects I talk about. I speak and present on media, PR, personal branding and helping people to stand out. One of those areas is corporate etiquette or business shine as I call it. It is one of my areas of expertise and because I had that listed on my website the ABC journalist asked me to be interviewed on camera about business etiquette. Great publicity!
So, list your areas of expertise that you can comment on. You can also include a quote that may have already been used in the media to prove that you are an expert in this area.
You may also have an area for media releases that they can click on. Anytime you send out a release to the media, post it on your website.
You should also have a link to any articles that have been written about you or that you have written yourself and have appeared in print. Also any reviews of products or services that have appeared in print. Journalists love to get as much background information about you as possible. You can also include a link to any other articles, e-books or special reports you may have written. Even a simple fact sheet - just one page with bullet points about your business is a good idea - something that they can print out.
Now let's look at the visuals that you should supply. Post jpg images of you that can be downloaded, small and large files, also your company logo. Rather than the stock standard headshot also include a creative photo as well. The more you can provide the better chances of having something appear in print. If you have any footage of you for video streaming or any audio recordings of any media interviews you have done, they can also be loaded into your media room. There's a lot that be included in your media room.
By taking a professional approach to your media strategy and providing as much information as possible you will maximise your chances of gaining publicity. Take a look at my media room.
You have my permission to publish this article or an extract in your PR communications if you include the following information:
Written by business educator Sue Currie, the director of Shine Communications and author of Apprentice to Business Ace – your inside-out guide to personal branding. Sign up for free monthly tips on personal and professional PR at http://www.shinecomms.com.au/subscriber.html and learn more about how you can achieve media recognition, enhance your image and shine.
Sue lives by her brand...she 'shines'! Great practical, positive suggestions delivered with pizzazz - all achievable goals which is important.
C. Baker, Optus
