Getting noticed. When you boil the public relations field down to its core, “getting noticed” is what’s left in the pot. When you perform even the most basic PR tasks for your company, you do so in the hopes that someone will stand up and say, “I see you!”
When you’re running a business, this recognition of your existence is vital as it leads to making sales. Thus, you want to get noticed as soon as you can. The sooner you start making sales, the more likely you’ll be around in a year.
So how do you get noticed as soon as possible? Since we boiled PR down to its core, let’s boil this situation down as well. The quickest way to get noticed is to put yourself and your business out there for people to see.
Exposure
“Putting yourself out there” for a business means any kind of positive exposure you can muster. Usually, this involves setting long-term goals and slowly making the rounds in the media and word of mouth with your customers.
However, you’re here to learn how to do this quickly. And there are ways – though admittedly a lot of it depends on chance and luck. You can tip the scales in your favor, though, by being constantly vigilant and monitoring your progress.
Feel free to dispute this, but I would say nothing spreads the word of a business faster than good word of mouth. When people really like something, they don’t stop talking about it. When the first Star Wars movie came out, the studio had no faith in it so it depended almost entirely on word of mouth. The fans all managed to find each other and flock to the theater, giving it huge numbers – and this was before practically the whole world was on the Internet.
Ironically, the fact that everyone is on the Internet means you’ll have a harder time achieving good word of mouth. More people online means more businesses online. Also, web users have practically seen everything by now. How will you make your company unique enough they’ll latch on to it?
Niches
The importance of finding a proper niche cannot be overstated. You need to not only find a niche, but find a way to fill a need within that niche. With Star Wars, the creators filled several niches. A growing “geek” population fascinated with sci-fi meant instant sales, but the human story and huge “story world” of the series gave those geeks something to talk about for ages. In fact, it’s still going on.
So achieving good word of mouth is a result of fulfilling a need within a niche. Preferably, a niche that has (or has potential to bring about) a die-hard fan base willing to tell everyone they know about your product or service.
Once you feel you’ve discovered this hole to fill, get to work spreading the word. Get your website up and running ASAP. Also make sure to start a Facebook, Twitter and G+ for your business so people have something to follow.
Most importantly, though, you should head to where your “geeks” are. People seem to congregate on the Internet for literally anything, so figure out where your people are hanging out. If your product is remotely like anything a Star Wars fan would love, go to their message boards and make friends. Soon, they’ll be buying your stuff along with collectible mugs and action figures.
What is your niche, and how can you get your business noticed in it within 30 days or less?
This article is written by Mickie Kennedy, founder of eReleases (https://www.ereleases.com), the online leader in affordable press release distribution. Download your free copy of 7 Cheap PR Tactics for Success in Any Economy here: https://www.ereleases.com/free-offer/cheap-pr-tactics/