Hello All!

A while back I posted about my local paper finally doing a story about my cheesecake business. Well, today, it has finally arrived!!!

I can't even describe how happy and excited I am about this!

You can read the article here:
http://www.sj-r.com/sections/food/stories/95172.asp

I would like anyone who has had experience with this sort of thing to talk about their experience with it. Did it help your business? Did the phone start ringing off the hook? Did business pick up?? Did people call just to get more information about your product or service --- then decide to buy??

Any and all stories are welcome!!!

Thanks so much all!!

Have a great day!!!:D

Hi Lisa,

First.....bravo!!!! That's fabulous.

Now you need to parlay this item in the State Journal Register to coverage of the other Illinois newspapers. Send out your releases to all of these papers and include in your release "as seen in the State Journal Register." Being a highly competitive business, like all others, even newspapers don't want to be left out of a popular trend.

Be well,
Michele
http://SpreadtheNews.net

Affordable Daily Newspaper Editors Non-spam Email Addresses for Your Press Release Submissions on a per State Basis

Thanks Michele!

Question --- A press release about being in the newspaper? What would that entail?

Thanks a bunch!

I just wanted to say congrates!!...make sure you put a link on your website so people will know that you were recognized!!:D

Yeah Lisa!! I loved the article!

In answer to your question....yes, when my press release resulted in a newspaper article I got many more customers coming to my shop. They would call and say they saw the article and wanted to ask about my products and policies. No, they didn't come in swarms, but every little bit helps. The best thing was that the first article resulted in several more from other newspapers.

Have you tried posting a press release with prweb.com? I paid all of $35 for a basic listing and got even more national recognition.

Hopefully this will result some great things for your business.

No message

Hello Lisa,

Congratulations on your sweet success! All publicity is a plus. However, in my many years of experience, I've found that rarely does any form of advertising or marketing bring immediate results in droves. Unless, of course, you're running a limited time offer with very compelling benefits.

Marketing, advertising and publicity are all an ongoing process and it's the synergy of the efforts together that bring results.

Word of mouth is still on of the very best ways to get more customers. And, your article will generate that. Kudos!

Lisa Manyon
Writer & Consultant
http://www.writeoncreative.com
http://www.writeoncreative.com/blog

Hi Lisa,

Congrats on the coverage... but don't stop there.

We've been written up many times in the local paper and we still get new customers telling us that they saw our ad in the paper... Most of them get the paper that wrote the article wrong, when I ask which ad, btw. So I wouldn't let the article go to your head.

As Lisa said previously, it's rare that a single article will cause "droves" of customers to come to your store.

Your mission now, if you care to accept it, is to keep up the persistence and find other media to write about you. The more they write about you, the more exposure you will get.

Writing a press release about being in the local paper may seem silly, but it might get some lazy writer's attention and they'll want to snag up your story and use it to write their own. Writers often feed on what they read. That said, it is repeated exposure that is going to going to drive business to you.

Quick analogy... People win awards, do everything they can to make sure that everyone know they won that award and for a brief time, they experience a brief flurry of activity, then slowly, bit by bit, the activity drops away; until the phone stops ringing altogether. And then they wonder why they aren't doing more business than this, after all, they have this big award.

It is my experience that you need to ensure that you continue to do your marketing no matter how busy you get, or you will end up with a drought. A lot of businesses do that... busy period... drought... busy period... drought. Whatever you did, your persistence paid off and you received press coverage. Well, keep doing that, the more exposure you get, the better.

Now is not the time to rest on your laurels, now is the time to find the next media personality to cover you and your business.

Go girl!

T

Tina Brooks, VP Marketing
Brooks Pepperfire Foods, Inc.
Makers of Peppermaster Hot Sauces
http://www.peppermaster.com

Eat more peppers!

What I've done...

Had the article framed and put it up in the office... in your case, your store.

Send the article with a cover letter to all your clients, friends, colleagues, etc.

If you're a member of an organization, make copies and when you network, give out a copy of the article.

Make copies and give them out in your store to clients who walk in.

Include the article in Christmas/Holiday cards.

Send the article out along with two discount certificates (one for your client, one for a friend).

Just a few ideas...

and Congrats!