Publicity Is Everywhere

By Ned Steele, MediaImpact

Clients have lots of questions, don’t they?

“Buy or lease?”
“When to outsource?”
“What are some new ideas in cost management?”

Or maybe you’re hearing individuals ask:

“What will it cost to pull out of my mutual fund?”
“Are college 529 plans still the way to go?”
“How in this uncertain world do I plan for retirement?”

And on, and on. It’s actually good that clients have so many questions. It’s why they need accountants.

Why am I belaboring the obvious? Because I want to embed and underscore an important message for the new year. If you’re seriously interested about expanding your prospect base via free publicity, make a resolution to commit it to memory:

If a client asks something, a thousand other people are wondering too.

Only they can’t ask me because they never met me.

And when a thousand people I never met want to know something, it’s a hot topic that can get me some free publicity.

So even if I’m not the world’s foremost expert, I know enough about that topic to write 400 words on it.

And that’s just what I urge you to do right now. Write one brief article on one topic you know is on people’s minds these days. Just cover the basics, in plain English. Offer a few broad but timely nuggets of advice. No scholarly analysis. No flowery language. Most important, resist the temptation to add a sales pitch. Just provide your name and contact information.

Now, do any or all of the following:

Put the article on your web site
E-mail it to clients and prospects.
Use everyday software – Microsoft Word or Publisher are fine –to lay it out attractively, with a nice headline and perhaps your photo. Print and send one to everyone on your mailing list. Don’t bother with a professional designer – it’s overkill.
Finally – send your article to the newspapers, professional or trade magazines, and business publications that reach your target audience (not to a publication for CPA’s; their audience is your competition). Ask them to use it.

Do all this, and you’ll accomplish three things with minimal effort: You’ll reach your audience with a timely, useful message – minus the unwelcome hard sell. You’ll reach new people who never met you. And you’ll establish yourself as knowledgeable on an important topic. Together, these are the key elements for generating new prospects and new inquiries.

On to the advanced course, which has two parts. Remember I told you to keep the article brief? Next, you’ll expand it into a somewhat longer version, adding more specific details and advice. Again, aim modestly – no master’s theses here. Now, go back to your original article, and add these words in a box: “For a more detailed article on this topic, call, email, or visit our web site.”

And when they do, capture their contact information and start treating them as prospects.

Second, go back to those publications you sent your article. Identify a reporter at each one who covers your topic and your market. How? Just read that paper for a week or two and you’ll see who they are. Call or email that reporter. (Don’t be afraid; they like to hear from you. How do you think they get story ideas?) Tell him or her the topic you’ve identified. Tell him it has been much on the minds of people in lately. Offer to be a resource for that reporter in explaining the topic and offering advice to the readers. And that’s it. Here too, no hard sell.

Spend no more than 60 days start to finish on this entire project. Then start over all again, with another hot topic. Sixty days equals six articles a year (now you see why I started this column with six sample questions.) Six great chances to get free publicity, build a better relationship with your mailing list. A year-round program to stay a step ahead of the pack.

Ned Steele works with people in professional services who want to create a business development initiative and build their business. The president of Ned Steele’s MediaImpact, he is the author of “102 Publicity Tips To Grow a Business or Practice.” To learn more, visit www.mediaimpact.biz, call 212-243-8383, or e-mail him at: info@mediaimpact.biz.

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