Love Thy Media
Some would say that journalists are an odd breed and they might be right in some areas? In our experience though they are just the same as you and I, in that they crave a bit of extra attention every now and again.
Plenty of small business owners have great stories to tell and when a journalist stumbles across that great story they are often up against a tight deadline and need the facts, figures and information as quickly as possible.
The most common way to get this to a journalist is via a "media section" on your website.
The media section is a bit Ronseal, as in “it does what it says on the tin”. It is an area specifically set aside for journalists so that they can get some further information about your business. It may well just contain various bits from elsewhere on your website, but to make your journalist visitor feel truly special and loved then set aside a bit of space for them.
Oh yeah, and don’t forget, it makes you, your business and your website look far more professional, especially if you have a public relations company that works for you and you can put their information on there as well.
I consider this to be a really important element of what goes onto your site, especially from a credibility point of view. Sadly, it is often the last thing people think about, usually after spending 8 months trying to come up with every FAQ response.
It can also help you with sales via the site as ordinary browsers will naturally have a nose around (it is human nature) and they will see how well your business is doing. If you also add copies of cuttings (be sure to get permission from the paper or magazine first) to the site it will act as a further boost.
This is what makes up the average media section on a website;
Media home page with greeting for media and usually a bit of blurb explaining that it is not intended for customer use
Company fact sheet with info such as number of employees, financial data, how long you have been operating, usp’s and any other areas you think would be of interest
Press release section with all your historical press releases in
Key contact information with the company spokespersons contact details (as long as you have nothing to hide the worst that is going to happen is that a few customers call you!!)
Key business images of contact people and products etc as well as high resolution (300dpi) copies of your company logo
Availability of case studies of happy customers
Your PR agency details
Copies of past media mentions
Hopefully collating this information will be as easy as actually putting it onto the site (give us a shout if you get stuck), and you can then sit back and marvel at how much more professional your business looks.
So there we have it, a shortish newsletter this month, but it goes to show how one little addition can make a really big difference.
As ever, any subject ideas for other newsletters, give me a shout. And... of course, if you are ever looking for the most cost effective design, marketing, viral marketing or public relations help, you know where to come!