Press Release Summary = There is only one thing that brings Black business publicity but there is only one way that guarantees it.
Press Release Body = You need publicity to attract attention to, create awareness about, and arouse interest in your Black business, and this is more so because people tend to buy what they know and from whom they trust.
But to get publicity, you either pay an experienced and effective publicist or save yourself money by becoming a do-it-yourself publicist. Whichever way you go, there is one thing that brings publicity and it is summed up in two words: press release.
Press release is the key to Black business publicity but not every key can open the door to such publicity. So, here are the things your press release must have to make a desired impact:
1. Newsworthiness: You can always find or create something newsworthy about your Black business. Launch of a free service for Black seniors is a good reason for a press release. Being the first Black business in a predominantly White city is another reason. Being the first Black business to offer free skills program for ex-convicts is yet another. Being a Black business with the highest number of female employees in your city or state is certainly newsworthy. It is not enough to say \"New Black business opens in Detroit\". Journalists may not find it newsworthy unless there is a ban on Black businesses in Detroit. Remember to point out what makes it different or unique, and stress its benefits to society. 2. Timeliness: Your newsworthy press release should be issued on time. Thus, if your Black business is launching its \"Poetry Competition for Chicago Teens\" on May 1, your press release should go out by mid-April. For greater impact, tie your press release to current issues and events in the news. If you have an alarm systems business and there is a case of robbery making its rounds in the news, issue a press release smartly presenting your alarm systems as the elixir. Are annual events like Christmas, Easter, Veterans\' Day, Black History Month, Mothers\' Day, Fathers\' Day, etc, around the corner? Issue timely press releases establishing an unusual connection your business has with the events - like street-clothes wearing female Santa in your store at Christmas or your \"Paint your favorite veteran\" competition on Veterans\' Day. Timeliness is one of the things journalists call News Determinants. 3. Keyword-richness: If yours is a weight watcher-friendly restaurant, reflect it in your title and at least three more times in your press release. A title like \"Detroit restaurant woos weight watchers with fat-free menu\" or \"Johnson\'s targets obesity-free St. Louis\" is likely to captivate local journalists interested in health and fitness or food business. As you can see, Black business publicity is in the title of this piece and appears at least three more times. This ensures good visibility online as people around the world search with keywords, key-phrases. 4. Coherence: Your press release must have a consistent theme running through it. Each paragraph must be connected to the theme. The idea is to make it meaningful to its target audiences - journalists and individuals or groups interested in businesses like yours. While the title of your press release should be captivating, the body should be \"melodious\". So, make your press release short, simple and sweet to read. 5. Contact information: Your Black business press release should not only have your contact phone number or email address but also a clickable link to your ecommerce website so interested journalists and potential customers can visit your site for more information or contact you directly.
One more thing, and it is very important. There are a number of ways to deliver your press release but there is only one surefire way. Let me explain:
1. Email: You can find cheap software to blast your press releases to journalists but your press releases are unlikely to reach such journalists in this spam-phobic era. My email addresses, for instance, are programmed to automatically delete emails that come unsolicited, and when they don\'t, I manually delete them myself when I find time to do so. Many journalists are angered by unsolicited press releases flooding their email addresses, and you don\'t want to anger them or waste your time and money. 2. Fax: You can dissipate energy faxing your press releases to media houses but they could end up in trash as media houses are compartmentalized and your press releases may arrive amid newsroom tension or confusion. Besides, a lazy journalist would not be happy to type a piece of information he or she could have easily copied from an online source. Make it easy for journalists. 3. Slow Mail: You can mail your press releases to journalists but apart from the cost of ink, paper, envelopes and stamps, your press releases may arrive late. I have sent a mail from Iowa to New York that arrived very, very, very late. Remember timeliness? 4. Online syndication at Blackvertiser.com, etc: There has been a paradigm shift in PR, and it has to do with online press release syndication using Really Simple Syndication (RSS) technology. Today\'s PR is Internet-driven, and it is cost-effective and convenient. 98% of journalists use Internet daily; 92% to research for articles, 76% to find new sources, experts like you, 73% to find press releases like yours. Yes, quality press releases like yours, according to Middleberg/Ross Survey.
Since journalists are hungry for news and go searching for it online, why annoy them by flooding their email addresses with your press releases or waste your time and money faxing your press releases?
If your quality press release is newsworthy and search engine-optimized, journalists will find it online. Let me give you a practical example. In January 2007, I wrote a press release on our newly-launched Best-caring Author Program at BookCharity.org, and in a matter of days, big newspapers like Atlanta Journal Constitution in Georgia, Wichita Eagle in Kansas and Detroit Free Press in Michigan published stories on it, without me emailing, mailing or faxing any journalist or even paying a publicist. I simply posted my press release on MyBookNews.com. Bingo!
As for customer-targeted Black business publicity, you can\'t go wrong with quality press releases as many consumers are known to conduct \"extensive\" research online before making purchases. Besides, Pew Internet and American Life Project says 50 million Americans rely on the Internet for their daily news. So, your timely, well-written, factual and keyword-rich press releases syndicated online could easily be counted among the daily news diet of millions of Americans. What are you waiting for?
Web Site = http://www.blackvertiser.com
Contact Details = Paschal Eze is editor of press release syndication sites, Blackvertiser.com and MyBookNews.com, helping Black businesses and Christian authors appear on Google News, etc. A former daily newspaper and monthly business magazine editor-in-chief, Paschal Eze has written and edited countless quality press releases since the 80s. Contact him at Blackvertise (no spam) blackvertiser.com.
2022
