When you work for a small company, as the company’s designated business writer, sooner or later you’ll be asked to create online/ offline publicity push for a Web site revamp, or a product launch.

Not a problem. You can handle it, right? Of course you can. And you can handle it in a way which will ensure that your company keeps on getting media attention.

Start by creating a Media section on your company’s Web site

Like the proverbial diamonds, the Web is forever. I created a Web site in 1998 that I stopped hosting in 2001 but that site lingers on, like the ghost of Christmas Past, following me around online.

This is why you need to create an online media room – a place for your press releases, company backgrounders, and puff pieces about your management team. Few companies use their Media section to its full potential, but YOU can. If you develop a news release schedule of posting a couple of releases a month to your site – no need to post them anywhere else if you don’t want to – your company’s presence in the search engines will grow.

Add other material too: news about staff happenings, company coups, stock prices…

Soon journalists will pop by to see what all the noise is about. Hey presto – instant publicity. I know of one company hitting the New York Times, just on the strength of their site’s Media section. An Australian politician called his press conferences “feeding the chickens” – his insight was the the media need to be fed, regularly. Start feeding them today, you’ll be surprised at the difference it makes.

Add images – hire a pro photographer for a day

The media love images, and since Google bought YouTube, more companies are exploring video as a way of getting customers and attention.

Hire a professional photographer, and let him loose. This will beef up your site’s media section.

There are bound to be one or two shots which are exceptional: use these shots as the centerpieces of a couple of news releases you send out far and wide.

As time passes, your online media room will get more and more attention. Free publicity, just because you took the time to scatter some feed for the chickens.

BTW – ensure that you get the credit for all the free publicity. It should be worth a bonus or two.

[tags]publicity, online, media, NYT, site, media section, news releases, backgrounders[/tags]

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