Free Press Release Tips: "One is the Loneliest Number...

...you'll ever know..."

When 3 Dog Night crooned those lyrics back in the 70's, you had no idea they were speaking of PR, did you? But in PR, one is an extremely lonely number.

One event in the midst of a bazillion competing events. All vying for your eye and earballs.

But you don't have to be a one-hit wonder. You can mount a PR Campaign and keep the momentum. To get those earballs tuned into your message.

Now, I know I've hinted, mentioned, and suggested that you look at PR in terms of multiple releases.

Now it's time to YELL!

Here's why: Every day I hear from folks who do a single release, and expect it to carry them to Time Magazine cover fame, and millions of web hits.

Ain't gonna' happen.

I've been playing this game since 1986, and aside from a couple of really lucky, well-timed hits because I personally made friends with someone in the media, I've rarely seen a single press release do magic. Maybe a sparkle or two, but not magic.*

If you want to create magic; if you want to drive lots of traffic; if you NEED to get above the noise presented by a trillion web sites indexed by Google, you need to start thinking in terms of a PR Campaign.

What's this mean?

I've placed a calendar above with some hints. (Don't worry if you feel lost right now. I'll fill in the blanks over the next week or so). What this is is my routine used to gain the ultimate in online visibility over the first 30 days. You don't have to do as many releases nor as often, but this is what I do to dominate my market. And get our clients seeing major results.

The next month we scale it down a bit, but keep with a regular rhythm. And if we stay with this rhythm, we can literally own the ToMA (Top of Mind Awareness) for a brand, keywords, market, online searches... you name it.

Look for my next post to get into more detail here (Hint: start developing a list of every word or phrase that is used by you, your company, your competitors and your industry to describe your products and services. Make the list as inclusive as possible, and write down every word, phrase, colloquialism, buzzword... all of 'em).

Secret: When you optimize a press release on PRWeb, there is a button called "Upgrades". As you add press release upgrades, you'll find the SEO tool, which is a keyword research tool. A great one. Use it, and get familiar with the process of refining your keywords and phrases.

We'll see you in a few days.

Mark Alan Effinger
PR Evangelist

*By the by: Even when you make the front page of the Wall Street Journal, or Time Magazine's "Best of..." issue, those are only one-time events. The duration of those results, aside from the potential distribution or financing deals that may happen as a result, are minimal. 3-30 days, max (how long do you remember and more importantly ACT on an article or blurb you read in a publication? In your Dentist's office? On the toilet? Right. That's what I'm talking about).

Do you want those events? Absolutely. It's all good for you. But recognize it for what it is, and don't expect it to sustain your sales or online activity. A cover shot was never intended to do that.

I push Online PR because every week I get an order, referral or request from press releases I did months or years ago. Still. Today. Almost 3 years later. Try that with a Time Magazine cover (which one of my clients also achieved, but has not driven a sale since 3 months past the cover shot...)

Comments

Congratulations on your page, it is really interesting

Posted by: Pharmacy Drugstore | March 16, 2009 at 12:28 AM

Hi to all,
I am a newly viewer of this posted message "One is The Loneliest Number" which I can relate it to myself. Being a loner I love to be alone and I don't go in crowded people.

________
vanessa

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Posted by: vanessa | June 05, 2008 at 08:10 PM