by Guest Blogger, Shannon Cherry
Are you looking for an easy and free tool to help you get publicity for your business?
One free resource which makes it easier for business owners and public relations professionals to manage their visibility is the useful Google News Alert.
Google News, a place where you can go to read the news of the day, has an additional feature, called News Alerts. The news is emailed to you when you choose: On a daily, hourly or as-it-happens basis.
Many use it to receive entertainment, news events and topics of personal interest. Savvy business owners also use these alerts to make sure they are aware of developments in their own industries.
But did you know this idea is exactly how Google News can help you start getting exposure?
Set alerts for topics which relate to your industry and the products and services that your company deals in. (Don’t forget to set alerts for your own business; it would be a shame to be covered somewhere and not even know it.)
This will help you know what your competitors and your industry is up to. After all, if you hope to keep up with (or better yet, ahead) of your competitors, you need to understand what they’re doing so you can either follow suit or start thinking a few moves ahead to outmaneuver them.
Also, being current with how your industry or your products and services are being covered in the media allows you to get out in front of issues as they develop and better yet, gives you an inkling of when to pitch an idea to the media.
If you see a trend happening your industry, it’s time to get in touch with journalists to inform them what else is going on in the field, respond to news stories and receive some extremely valuable visibility by offering yourself as an expert source.
Following trends to pitch to the media is only one way Google News Alerts can help your publicity.
By following coverage of your organization allows you to add links on your website or blog to this coverage, effectively increasing your online press room’s resources. Showing off your media coverage will add credibility to you and your products or services. And you can increase on this publicity by featuring the coverage on the front page of your website, in a blog post, or urging people who follow you on Twitter and other social media sites to have a look.
Finally, there is another, very helpful benefit you can get by following Google News alerts for your business, your industry and the products or services you offer.
When you see a journalist covering topics related to your organization, add them to your list of media professionals contacts. When you have your own news to offer, you now have additional media outlets to send it to, knowing they already do news on your topic. (If you don’t have a media professionals contact list, now is the time to start creating one.)
Half the battle of getting free publicity through media coverage is knowing who to tell your story to. If a journalist covers your industry, they’ll more than likely be interested when you have some news of your own to share with the world.
About the Author:
Shannon Cherry is known as The Power Publicist. She helps small business owners, coaches, consultants and entrepreneurs create a powerful presence using low-cost, high impact publicity methods. Learn more about how to create your own publicity plan with the free audio webcast at http://www.easypublicityplan.com
