PR Tools for Coaches

By Annette Densham

PR TOOLS TO BUILD YOUR PROFILE

By its very nature, public relations is all about getting attention, standing out, being noticed and creating relationships with the people you want to do business with.

Forget everything you know about mainstream PR – which is getting your name in the media (you still want to do that). It is so much more – it is everything you say, everything you do and everything others say about you.

Think about it. PR is the way you interact at a networking event. The blog you dedicate time to writing every week. Your posts and interactions on Facebook. The information you share on LinkedIn. The book you write about your expertise. The information you share freely that helps someone make changes in their business. The interview a podcaster does with you about your business. The great customer service experience you provide.

The way you answer your phone. Everything you do in service of your business, your clients and prospective clients is about PR.

In a cluttered market, standing out is challenging. With tight budgets and traditional advertising techniques not as effective as it used to be, the need to engage the market requires different thinking. Using public relations and the media to share your opinions, news and achievements can set you apart and elevate your status to EXPERT and as an AUTHORITY in your industry or niche.

As the expert, people want your opinion, more doors open, opportunities and possibilities for partnerships and joint ventures explode… and people want to do business with you.

Here are some handy tools to help you get noticed.

Is an online platform that connects journalists looking for help with a story with the people who can help them – you.

Every day callouts are posted on the site and shared twice a day via email and on SourceBottle’s Facebook page. As you scroll through the list, you find one that suits you and your business and respond. When you send a media release out, you are pitching into the wind – the journalist may or may not want your story.

But with SourceBottle, the journalist is actively looking for a source of information.

Sign up is easy and you can join for $5 a month, getting the callouts straight into your inbox.

Facebook groups

There is a plethora of groups that inhabit Facebook. Women in business are good at setting up groups and interacting. Groups are thriving places of networking, marketing, sharing ideas and thoughts and information.

Like any community, you get the most value about of participating. Sitting quietly in the background will not win you business – you must comment, ask question and share information to stand out.

Media contact lists

Finding the right people to send you story to is always a hurdle. With the many media outlets there are these days, sometimes it is a case of not knowing what is out there.

Purchasing access to a media contact database like AAP Directories where you can search for journalists or media by name, location or media type.

This comes with a hefty price tag but if you want to spread your PR beyond the main media outlets, this is a great tool.

Google is your friend. If you get stuck for ideas on story ideas or want to keep your finger on the pulse in your industry, create a series of alerts to come into your inbox every day. Using your keywords or words relating to your industry, stories around these are sent to you. Just Google how to set up Google Alerts. Google Alerts is also a great way to newsjack.

Newsjacking

Newsjacking is the art of using breaking news story to get your take on the story across. But you must be dedicated to following the news – through Google Alerts, Twitter feed, or reading, watching or listening to mainstream news. A story breaks about coaching and its impact on developing minds. This is right up your alley; you disagree with some of the points made and contact the journalist with your angle. The journalist loves it and runs a secondary story featuring you.

Not exactly a PR tool but a grand writing tool. Not everyone is a wordsmith. One of the reasons a story may not get a run is it is badly written. Hemingway helps you ensure your content – blog, article or media release – reads well. The app highlights lengthy, complex sentences and common errors.

Handle Your Own PR engine

Created by PR disrupter Jules Brooke, this handy online tool streamlines the PR process, build your own media contact list, write better releases and easily send to the journalists most interested in your topics. It has thousands of media contacts, segmented into industry lists and you can follow up and resend directly from the platform. There is a cost to use it, but it saves so much time.

Weekly Rocket

If you’ve ever wondered how some people seem to get all the interviews on podcast programs, know about the latest speaking gigs or awards that are on offer, they’ve probably subscribed to the Weekly Rocket - a jam packed weekly email that contains heaps of media, awards and interview ops. It is free to subscribe to.

Article Contribution Sites

Forbes, Inc, Entrepreneur, Medium, MindBodyGreen, Business Women Media … there are thousands of online magazines looking for great content and are great for SEO, helping with website ranking and increasing traffic.

These sites are handy for creating backlinks are links from one website to another website.

If your story is featured on a website that has a bigger audience than yours, Google sees these backlinks as a pat on the back for your content.

Pages with a high number of backlinks tend to have high organic search engine rankings – that is good for you and your brand.

Most are free to submit content to, just follow their guidelines and the bigger the site, the harder it is to get onto.

Annette Densham is an international award-winning publicity expert with a 30 plus year career in newspapers – The Australian, Financial Review, and Daily Telegraph, magazines (print and digital) and corporate communications. She uses her expertise to teach small business people how to use their stories to connect with the world and build influential brands.

Annette is also a stand-up comedian, and as an author, trainer, mentor and speaker, she weaves her story magic everywhere.

For more info visit: www.theaudaciousagency.com