Publishing as a PR Vehicle Write an article to establish yourself as an expert and garner publicity.
By Al Lautenslager Edited by Michael Dolan
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Q: Can featurearticles be used to generate PR and promote my business?
A: When thinking ofPR, one usually thinks of the media. When thinking of the media,one usually thinks of press releases to communicate with the media.There is, however, another way to leverage the media for exposureand awareness, and at a low cost. Feature articles are considered amedia-rich vehicle for communicating to the masses. Just pick upany magazine.
A feature article does a number of things:
2. Having a feature article published gives the writer almostinstant credibility. Communicating through the media, to a targetmarket, that a particular writer is an expert has a long-lastingtouch with residual value. This credibility is certainly higherthan what a paid, sponsored advertisement can provide.
3. Along the same lines as building credibility and establishinga high level of expertise is just the very fact that an article waspublished. Other promotional messages used in a total marketingcampaign can be enhanced when stating things like "As seen inEntrepreneur magazine" or "As published in USAToday." This works with obscure publications as well.
One of the more important parts of feature article PR is the bioparagraph that accompanies the article, usually at the end of thearticle. (Some publications will feature bio information in a boxapart from the article.) This source box, as it is commonlyreferred to, is where contact information-phone, fax, e-mail andWeb site-is communicated. There is a higher probability of contactinformation being published in an article vs. an article writtenfrom a press release. The source box also generates more responsethan a paid advertisement would.
Feature article PR costs little and should be part of youroverall awareness plan. The only cost is if a professional PR firm,marketing agency or writer is contracted to develop the featurearticle or series of articles.
Just like a press release, feature articles should have anewsworthy angle to increase the probability of it gettingpublished. How-to articles, new-product information articles oranything related to the trends of a particular industry appeal toeditors as newsworthy.
Alfred J. Lautenslager is an award-winning marketing and PRconsultant, direct-mail promotion specialist, principle ofmarketing consulting firm Marketing Now, and president and owner ofThe Ink Well, a commercial printing and mailing company in Wheaton,Illinois. Visit his Web sites at http://www.market-for-profits.com and http://www.1-800-inkwell.com, or e-mail him atal@market-for-profits.com.
The opinions expressed in this column arethose of the author, not of Entrepreneur.com. All answers areintended to be general in nature, without regard to specificgeographical areas or circumstances, and should only be relied uponafter consulting an appropriate expert, such as an attorney oraccountant.
