Know-How Exchange : Advertising/PR

Renee, if I were you, I'd do a series of press releases (human interest stories, really) that highlight different products or that tie in with current events. Two examples:

If you know whether any of your products have been purchased for families of military in Iraq or Afghanistan, you have a story to tell.

If you know how families who've lost an infant have been helped by certain products, there's a story there, too. (I had a lump in my throat looking at that page on your website.)

You can write something short and tasteful, using some of your sales trend data and customer feedback to back up the story. Chances are that a journalist will pick it up and do a full-blown feature.

- Shelley

Reneewood,

You are not going to believe this but we live right up the road from each other. I am from the Saint Charles community and would love to help you create a specia interest story for your project. My main girl sryan is giving you some great advice but that's what she does best. Take what she has to say run with it and never look back.

There are a lot of approaches you can take and truly there is no yellow brick road to getting you a national story. But I can show you how to milk that Tribune story for all it's worth. And if you have other state stores now is the time to position yourself and create the type of identity that will get you to the next level.

FYI, PR Web is a great resource that I use often and I think you need to be more intentional about targeting your next steps using online and offline resources. Begin by establishing some real specific goals for what you would like to achieve or put another way (you need to develop a strategic plan). Depending on your budget you can choose some different routes to get there. If you would like to know how to do it with a frugal approach let me know by clicking on my profile name above and sending me an email. What ever you do let's talk because we're too close not to use our networking influences to get you to the next level. Remember great things happen to those who "Make It Happen".

Also you may have seen the greeting card project I created for a virtually unknown school in Saint Charles named Glenwood. The PR reached over 56,000 in the Kane County area. Is there anything else I can do for you?

Your Servant, Deremiah, *CPE (Customer Passion Evangelist)

Your challenge is to find the pr professional who can do this for you. There are not enough hours in the day to do it yourself AND run your business. (I'm not a pr person, so I have no axe to grind or hidden agenda.)

I've seen the syndrome time and again. Entrepreneur gets a good idea and launches it locally. Figures that if it works in Peoria (OK, metro Chicago), it will work nationally. Tries to do it him/herself. Burns out from all the activity and closes up shop. End of story.

Do yourself a favor and find someone who can do the national publicity thing for you. Perhaps a small PR firm in your area, perhaps a firm that's done something similar in a related category. Make a deal with them and let them do what they know how to do.

Maybe not the answer you wanted, but good advice, IMHO. If you interview a few professionals for the project, you'll see what I mean about the pros knowing how to do this stuff.

P.S. If you think the cost is too high, perhaps the problem isn't with their fee but with your business model and profit structure. They should be able to generate incremental volume for you, but it's up to you to service that volume profitably ... at least profitably enough to pay a reasonable fee.

(Let me know if you need a referral to a pr person who might be good for you ... or who might know someone who could be good.)