Publicity Archives | Jane Tabachnick & Co

Combining LinkedIn and PR can get you more press

This post is based on my interview with Karen Yankovich,
LinkedIn expert on the Good Girls Get Rich podcast –
How to Use LinkedIn and PR Together

Karen: There’s a lot of focus on how to use LinkedIn and PR to get more visibility, because that gives you more credibility. I think that that is something that is so powerful and so overlooked. I’m really excited about having a chance to dive deeper into that today with you Jane.

You and your next-door neighbor competitor may be apples to apples across the board, but when you are the one that’s ‘as seen in’, it takes you to the top. That is completely creatable by you. And, probably, Oprah’s not going to come knocking on your door. You’ve got to go after it. You’ve got to look for the opportunities and I love that that’s what you’re helping people. when you are doing what you love to be doing, I want to shine a light on it so the whole world knows.

Jane: I’m so glad you mentioned that the media don’t come knocking on your door. Sometimes people think, “Oh, she’s lucky. She’s getting press.” Yes, there is always a certain element of luck, synchronicity, timing, but really luck is what happens in my opinion, or publicity happens, when preparation meets opportunity. The people who are on stages, who are getting publicity, who are in Oprah or any other publication, are out there pitching, or they’ve got someone helping them with the pitching. It doesn’t just magically happen.

Look Worthy of Press

Karen: You have to have a great LinkedIn profile and be connecting with people on that level. So energetically, you’ve got to be showing up like an influencer, somebody worthy when they’re checking you out and of being in their publications. And then building relationships from that point. You have to look worthy of press.

Jane: So true. You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression. People are going to judge you on your photo, on your profile and on the comments you make. Everything until they know you, and then they may give you a little bit more leeway. You want to be on brand, on message and really coming across as professionally as possible. I know you teach this and we certainly go through a lot of this with our clients on giving that professional appearance and looking like you are media ready. That way if the media want to feature you in a story, they know that any of their audience who goes to check you out is not going to think, “Whoa, who’s this person, how did this happen?”

Karen: Take the time upfront to create a LinkedIn profile that makes you look worthy of their time. You’re making it easier for them to want to be connected to you. If you do all of this, with a LinkedIn profile that has dust bunnies on it, you have no credibility. They’re going to love that you did it, but chances are, they’re not going to be going out of their way to continue to build that relationship.

Build Relationships – Human to Human

Karen: Working with clients on a PR plan, what does that look like?

Jane: Very much like the way you teach your clients to use LinkedIn, PR is really about relationships. Having a great profile is a start. The LinkedIn platform is great for building relationships, I’m not saying to connect and immediately start pitching someone but connect with the media to start a relationship.

I teach my clients to do something we call hug an influencer. When I say influencer, it can be someone who is a thought leader in your industry, someone you respect, or a journalist. It can be an Instagram influencer or anyone in that category. Follow them, share their content and be authentic. Don’t just do this to get in their good graces, but let them know if you like something they wrote- comment, share it and tag them.

The tagging is a really great thing to do. A lot of people don’t do this because some of the tools don’t make it easy. Take the time to find out their social handle and include that. This does a couple of things. It sends them an alert and lets them know you’re sharing their content, which is great. It gives them credit and the recognition which they deserve. Today, as many more media professionals are freelancing, they need to get this visibility. It also helps put you in front of their audience because when you tag someone, it’ll get shared to their network. So, you’re increasing your visibility along with theirs. It’s really a win-win-win.

Karen: What you just described, is really a simple thing to do.

Jane: Exactly. It’s so simple, and it can help you stand out because, so few people take the time to do this.

Karen: So, it’s about paying attention to not just the content, but the person that published the content.

Jane: Exactly. As you know, it’s so frustrating and sometimes a little bit unsettling when you put content out there and no one comments. So be that person that comments and shares and acknowledges someone else’s content.

When you start getting out of your head and responding to people on social media, you build relationships authentically and easily. You just told me something great. I’m human, I have to respond.

Karen: It’s often human to human and which, by the way, is where the money is. That’s where the profit is. People buy a $50 something off of a funnel and a web thing. But nobody’s buying your $5,000 or $10,000 stuff without a human-to-human conversation.

How to Connect With and Pitch the Media on Linkedin

Karen: Now that I’ve identified some journalists one LinkedIn and I’m doing all the good stuff [optimizing my profile…commenting…]. Do I pitch them? What do I do?

Jane: You can start following them. You can comment on their posts. You can send them a connection request without a pitch. Just say, “I’ve read your content.” It’s always good if you’re specific. Instead of, “Hey, I’ve read your content,” which could be a cut and paste message, instead say, “I just read your article on the new LinkedIn Stories. And I love that you explained how to do X, Y, Z in great detail. It let me get into action right away.” Something so specific it lets them know that you had to have taken the time and read the story. You’re actually speaking personally to them, not sending a blast and just changing the first name.

Karen: You’re building the relationships so that when an opportunity may come down the road where you’ve got something interesting, you can maybe reach out then and say, “I’ve got this idea and I thought of you,” and pitch them.

Jane: Yes, now that you have built up some social currency, you can pitch them your idea or you can offer additional value by offering access to your contacts. “I’ve got a good network here on LinkedIn. You’re welcome to look through my contacts if you need an intro or a source. Or if there’s someone specific you’re looking for, I’m happy to try and make a connection for you.” Be of service and try to give before you ask.

How PR Grows Your Business

Karen: How does this PR help us grow our business?

Jane: The thing about PR, which makes it really the most valuable form of content, is that it gives you third-party credibility. They featured you in the media, rather than your so-called competition or somebody else. That positions you as the expert and it’s as if the media endorsed you, although technically it’s not an endorsement.

How do you use it? You share your press on LinkedIn and you thank the person who wrote the story by tagging them. You tag the publication and again, let them know. Not only does this acknowledge and thank them, but it also puts you in front of their network, so you get even more visibility.

Share it more than once, which is good for you, good for the publication and the journalist. This is a step a lot of people miss and therefore lose out on more visibility. Think about it like this… that old adage, “If a tree falls in the forest and no one’s there to hear it…. you know the rest.” How this relates to PR is that if you’re in The New York Times today, and I haven’t picked up The Times today, for me, it didn’t happen, unless you tell me it happened, right?

It’s important to let your audience know about press you get, because we’re all bombarded with so much information and may not have seen it. When it comes to the publicity you get, it’s not a one and done; you can put your press into your scheduler. Six weeks later, pull out one line, a sound bite from the article or interview and mention it again on socials. Also, add it to your media room. You can add the media logo to your, “as seen in”, or “as seen on” bar, which gives you additional credibility on your website and social media.

Their First Impression of You is Your Digital Footprint

Karen: We’ve learned a lot in the past year of being virtual. And I think a lot of it really is, what is your digital footprint? We learned about how the first impression is what we’re learning about people digitally.

Jane: Yes. If you start now doing one simple thing each day, which could be five minutes of commenting or connecting. By the end of the year, I’m not going to do the math, but you can have hundreds of comments and connections. Amazing things can happen that you weren’t expecting. So, you have to be in it [the pr game] for that to start happening.

Karen: It’s exactly right and you can take control of this by doing yourself. You can control your digital footprint by building these kinds of relationships. Understand how powerful publicity could be for you, no matter what the stage of your businesses is.

Resources:

► Listen to the full podcast interview of Good Girls Get Rich – How to Use Linkedin and PR Together – with Jane Tabachnick

► Take our Visiblity Assessment

Media Mentions- How 3 Words Close More Sales

The power in your media mentions is that they can help drive sales. Even today, they create impact and influence, despite the media and their credibility being questioned during this past year.

When was the last time you bought a new computer, stereo or other electronics without asking for recommendations from friends and family or checking online reviews? Will you book a restaurant without checking what other diners had to say? Most likely not.

It’s no different for your business. We’re in what has been called the Reputation Economy and the Trust Economy; it could be called the Review Economy. The bottom line is that what the customer cares about is not what you say about you, it’s what ‘they’ say about you.

Leverage Your Media Mentions

As consumers’ trust in advertising has declined, trust in recommendations from friends and family, online sites, and the media, have increasing value, in that order of importance according to a Neilsen study.

People like to do business with those that they Know, Like and Trust. Recommendations can help form the basis of that trust. It’s one of the reasons Linkedin offers recommendations and endorsements on your profile – to add a trust factor – the kind of credibility that only an independent third party can bestow. These recommendations can also inspire sufficient trust between strangers that makes them comfortable handing money over to other strangers across the internet; it’s the driving force and what has been responsible for the success of sites like eBay and more recently Airbnb.

Seth Godin recently wrote about this on his blog:

“The digital asset that matters is trust. Awareness first, then interaction, and maybe a habit, but all three mean nothing if they don’t lead to permission and trust. The privilege of connection. Everything else is slippery.”

For most businesses, trust can take time to build and maintain. It is often multiple touch points over time that increase know, like and trust until a prospect feels comfortable enough that they are ready to do business with you.

The process can be shortened when two factors are in place simultaneously: trust and authority.

[click_to_tweet tweet=”Authority is the power to influence others, especially because of one’s commanding manner or one’s recognized knowledge about something – lexico @janetabachnick” quote=”Authority is the power to influence others, especially because of one’s commanding manner or one’s recognized knowledge about something “]

The Impact of Being in the Media

The best way to accomplish this accelerated process is by leveraging the media. Done right, you can have instant trust and authority, which can immediately transform cold prospects into warm, pre-sold ones; this in turn closes sales more quickly. Here’s why:

Trust

Coming in a third on the Neilsen study on consumer trust, behind recommendations from friends and family, and online reviews, is the media. Being mentioned or featured in the media is perceived like an endorsement from them, the equivalent of a 5 star review, even though it technically isn’t. People trust the media and that trust is transferred to you and your business.

Instant Credibility

The media are trusted in part because they research and vet their sources. Once you’ve been mentioned in the media, you are instantly credible.

Third Party Credibility

The media mentioning you or singing your praises bestows third party credibility. Remember, consumers care more about ‘what they say about you’ than what you say about you.

Authority Status

Now that you have been featured in the media, you are seen as an authority in your field or niche. Given that they chose you, and they didn’t feature your competitor, you are seen as a top expert.

Celebrity Status

Being in the media immediately elevates your status to that of an instant expert and celebrity. Our culture is obsessed with celebrity and fame; people want to be associated with celebrities. This bodes well for businesses because when you are featured in the media you attain a form of celebrity status. This will cause people to seek you out and want to work with you.

The Three Words That Close More Sales

As Seen In are the three words that close more sales. By showcasing your media mentions, you are able to harness all the points outlined above: trust, authority status, celebrity status, instant credibility and third party credibility at once, invoked simply by using those 3 words.

Ok, it’s not just those three words. They need to be accompanied by the names or logos of the media outlets where you have gotten press or been cited.

For our purposes, the media can be defined as any newspaper or magazine, radio and TV, as well as high profile portals, blogs and social media, online or tablet magazines, podcasts or online influencers.

To get the biggest impact and instant trust, you need to use the graphic media logos, not just the names of their outlets.

Using instantly recognizable media logos on your webpage, in social profiles and in your marketing capitalizes on our current visual marketing preference and sends important information to your prospect or site visitor, rapidly and on multiple levels.

“When it comes to marketing your business, pictures speak volumes. Not only do they make a bigger impact, but also they do it in a shorter amount of time. The brain processes visual content 60,000 times faster than text. Add that to the fact that 93% of all human communication is nonverbal and it becomes clear that a visual online presence is critical.” Source: Rebekah Radice Social Media Examiner

In fact, according to Neoman – “It only takes us 150 milliseconds for a symbol to be processed, and 100 milliseconds to attach a meaning to it.”

With a 2-7 second window of opportunity to grab someone’s attention when they land on your site or online profile, one of the best ways to garner their interest is with visual content. Use visual content that has a built-in trust factor and you have presold your visitor on working with you. That is why, As Seen in, accompanied by media logos, are the three words that close more sales, more quickly.

Think of it like creating a Trust Trigger- inspiring trust, elevating you to expert status and offering the equivalent of a 5-star review simultaneously. It’s the reason these media mentions, when showcased with the three words ‘as seen on’, are able to quickly or instantly turn cold prospects into warm ones. They may even close the sale for you.

A version of this article was first published on Linkedin

Media Mentions sales trust

Why Your Brand Needs Both PR and Content Strategy

You’ve heard the expression ‘don’t put all your eggs in one basket.’ It is true for your communications, which should include both PR and content strategy.

An ideal communication strategy strives to incorporate all channels to get the attention of stakeholders. This includes using the following types of media: Paid, Earned, Shared, and Owned or the PESO Method.

PR and content strategy both serve unique and useful purposes for you, work well together, and as a result create greater Roi. Here is how:

PR is Earned media and Content Marketing is Owned Media.

Your content strategy can consist of your website, blog posts, articles, and social media. It gives you a chance to communicate with your audience and share ideas and topics that matter to them. It is also a chance to educate and inform about your brand.

Using the right keywords in your content can help your ideal prospects find you, based on topics, solutions, and products they are already searching for. Your owned media is a key component of your communication strategy as you get to tell your story and craft your communication and messaging your way. You have full control over your content.

Your owned media gives you a chance to communicate directly with your audience, exactly as you choose to, as often as you choose to.

Publicity is referred to as earned media, as it is something that you have to work to garner. With PR, while you have less control over your messaging – the media has the final say on what they write, it is the most desirable form of communication. Getting mentioned or featured in the media gives you free visibility in front of an audience outside your own.

Being written about in the media gives the reader, viewer or listener the impression your brand is endorsed by the media [though technically it is not]. You get a positive boost to your brand by being associated with the media outlet. Think of it as a 5-star review on Yelp or another online platform.

Unlike your owned media, you don’t get to decide when, where, or how often you get publicity. What you can do is be strategic in the media outlets you target and have a consistent media outreach plan.

How Your PR and Content Strategy Work Well Together:

Your owned and earned media complement and lift each other. Consumers are suspicious and less trusting of what you say about your brand, products, and services. They do trust the media. Publicity provides third party credibility to your brand. It also provides authority positioning; someone else, the media, citing you as an expert or talking about your product.

Your earned media makes for great content. You amplify the value of the publicity you get when you share it with your audience.

The benefits of having both owned and earned media are that they [can] help you get more publicity. When a journalist googles you to see if you are a credible source, they will see the content you have put out, as well as any media coverage you have gotten. Together they paint a stronger picture and make you more attractive to the media as a credible source.

For prospects who discover your brand after reading about it in the media, the content you have created will help them learn more about your brand and will be taken more seriously. Your credibility has already been established for them by the media.

Communications Content Marketing Content Strategy PESO PR Strategy public relations Publicity

Are You The Best-Kept Secret in Your Niche ?

Being the best-kept secret in your market is a disservice to you, your clients and the world. Most brands, like my clients, LOVE what they do. They also create great impact in the lives and businesses of those that they work with.

This inspires me and makes me proud.

It also makes me mad…

What? It makes you mad Jane?

I know this applies to some of your companies, my dear, talented readers….

The problem is…..

You may still the best-kept secret…

So… the best-kept secret I want you to meet is YOUR COMPANY! You have a gift, you have a message that needs to be heard. Your brand can make a difference in peoples’ lives, health, wealth…. And so your not being seen enough – that makes me mad – how can your brand share it’s gifts, services and products if the right people don’t know about you?

I want to help you so that more people know about you and what you can offer. Simple mindset shifts, as well as learning more about simple publicity you can do for your business can be both fun and profitable. Often the solution is simpler than you think!

So I have a question – what stops you? Why isn’t your company getting the word out, getting more visibility and reaching more people who want and need you and what you offer?

I have a sneaky suspicion…. As well as how to fix it… and I’ll share with you in an upcoming post. I am also going to be talking about this on Facebook, so please follow me there and like my page so you get notified when I add content or go Live. I’ve also created a new program to help you Magnify Your Message.

Of course, I love to hear from you… Please comment below.

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PR vs. Public Relations

In this Flash Briefing – I explain the difference between Public Relations and Publicity.

How Chrome Extensions Can Boost Your PR Campaigns and Productivity

Chrome extensions help you trick out your browser to customize your computer, in turn making you more productive. Here are the top Chrome Extensions that help my PR efforts – and can help entrepreneurs or anyone in any industry or niche be more productive.

What’s an Extension you ask?

“Extensions are small software programs that customize the browsing experience. They enable users to tailor Chrome* functionality and behavior to individual needs or preferences. They are built on web technologies such as HTML, JavaScript, and CSS.

An extension must fulfill a single purpose that is narrowly defined and easy to understand. A single extension can include multiple components and a range of functionality, as long as everything contributes towards a common purpose.” Source – Chrome
* Extensions exist for other browsers as well

Here are my top Chrome extensions for PR Campaigns and Boosting Productivity

Alexa Traffic Rank – Lets you see the global Rank and the US rank for any website -free
Use: I use it to evaluate both media list building for PR campaigns and guest posting opportunities. Does a site get enough traffic to warrant pitching them or submitting a guest post there?

Grammarly – writing editing software – free and paid versions.
Use: It will check spelling and grammar and will make suggestions for better words, will score your content’s reading level, let you know if you are using too many colloquialisms, etc. A must before launching a PR campaign, pitch letter, blog post or any writing and communication.

Hunter.io – email address finder – free
Use: Looking to connect with the media or pitch a website on submitting a guest blog post? This extension will help you find any publicly available emails that are listed on a website, even if you couldn’t see them or find them when visiting the site.

One Tab – A browser organizing tool that can save up to 95% memory and reduce tab clutter – free
Use: If you are like me the queen of opening multiple browsers, this extension helps organize them into a single page so that your browser is less cluttered, it reduces bandwidth usage, and lets you save the tab. Ideal if you are doing a search – save the search in one tab for future reference.

Awesome screenshot- a screen capture & image annotation tool – free
Use: Show and tell with pictures. It is true that a picture is worth a thousand words. Good screen capture with notes can help move a project forward with less back and forth. The image of browser extensions in this post is a great example of how you can use screenshot & annotation.

Loom – is easy to use and free video screen recorder for Mac, Windows, and Chromebooks. Record your camera and screen with audio directly from your Chrome browser and share it easily – free
Use: Show and tell with video. Want to share your thoughts, do a quick demo or tutorial, review of a document, graphic, website…. This easy tool lets you film your desktop with the option to appear on camera as well.

Have a favorite Chrome extension? Please share it below in the comments!

Boost Productivity Chrome Extension Entrepreneur PR PR Campaign

Why You Need to Promote the Media Mentions You Get

Many companies make the mistake of sitting back and waiting for sales and opportunities to come in as a result of the media mentions they get. This is both a mistake and a missed opportunity.

The reason that your media mentions are better than advertising, content you create, or social shares, is that being written about in the media gives you free visibility and instant expert positioning as well as the impression that you are being endorsed by the media. Since people trust the media, for the most part, this provides third-party credibility.

Getting featured in the media is a positive nod to your brand. Media mentions are also the best type of content possible. They are sometimes referred to as earned media. This is because your brand has done something the media deems worthy of writing about. This could be can be anything from successful projects, a unique perspective, the way you are transforming an industry or sector, your methodology….

Let’s face it – no one cares what you say about your brand – but they do listen to what someone else says about it.

Here is why not promoting the media mentions you get is a mistake and missed opportunity:

The mistake – assuming your media mention gets seen by your ideal audience and as much of that audience as possible

It is a noisy world. We are all bombarded with messages in our inbox, online, at the supermarket checkout line.

Imagine for a moment that your company gets featured in the print edition of the New York Times. Congratulations – you just got in front of over 400,000 new people. Of course, not all of them will be your ideal prospect, but there will be a segment that is.

Consider for a moment the following:
only a portion of the 400,000 will read the article
Some of your existing customers, partners or prospects in your pipeline may not see the article or read it

The missed opportunity – not leveraging and amplifying your earned media. Now that you have third party credibility from a recognized media outlet, this may be the best brand asset you have – today and years down the road. It’s news worth sharing widely and often. This includes all of your stakeholders – from your employees, partners, vendors, customers to prospects.

6 Easy Ways to Become a Great Source for the Media

With continual deadlines, the media are always under pressure to gather information and sources for their stories (while often juggling multiple stories and deadlines at the same time). The media depend on a great source or two to help them with each story.

As a source, there are some simple things you can do to make their job easier and more efficient and become a sought-after source.

1. Meet deadlines

Stories have deadlines. Getting all the research done and finding sources and images on time can be stressful for the media. Be a reliable source and provide requested information in a timely fashion, ahead of the deadline.

2. Use white space

When pitching or responding to the media via email or written document, use short paragraphs and lots of white space. It makes it easier to read your content and reduces eye strain. This is especially welcome as journalists read a lot of documents and emails.

3. Use identifiable file names on photos

Rather than labeling your photo ‘headshot.jpg’ when submitting it to the media, use ‘yourname_headshot.jpg’. That way, it can easily be identified when they are compiling your story and they can avoid unnecessary time needed to double check who is in the photo, and thereby avoid errors.

4. Don’t ask for updates

While it’s tempting to want to get updates on a pending story you have contributed to, don’t ask for updates, and don’t ask when a story will run.

It’s unreasonable to expect the media to let you know when your story gets published. The media are stretched thin already and don’t appreciate your ‘just checking in’ or making requests.

Instead, set a Google Alert, and monitor the media so that you know when your story is live.

5. Share stories and credit the journalist

Share stories on social media, and tag the journalist, not just the outlet. Journalists rely on social media for publishing and promoting their own content.

You can help them get more visibility by promoting their work and helping them reach a wider audience.

6. Secure image rights

If you are offering or providing photos to accompany your story, secure the image rights and provide them to the journalist. This saves them the time and trouble of having to do this themselves.

By asking yourself, how can I be a better source, you are not just thinking about how you can get more publicity, but you are becoming a more valued asset.

“You can have everything in life that you want if you just help other people get what they want,” said motivational speaker Zig Ziglar stated.

Being a great source is a win-win. You can make a journalist’s demanding job less stressful, and you can have the satisfaction of helping them do their job more easily while gaining media coverage for yourself.

Being easy to work with is a desirable reputation to have. It can also make you the media’s go-to resource — they might just begin to seek you out for upcoming stories.

This article first appeared on Muckrack.com

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How to Connect with Journalists on Social Media to Get Publicity

Journalists are social.

Here is how to Connect with Journalists on Social Media to Get Publicity

I use a 4-step formula I call I.S.E.P. It’s really so simple, you may be surprised to find out that you already know how to do this. Just in case, though I am going to walk you through exactly how to connect with and pitch a journalist on social media.

Step 1: Identify [I]

Identify a journalist who covers your topic, niche and or geographic area. Find out what social network they are on.

This is very important. In the case of PR, less is more. A shotgun approach will not work. You need to make sure you are targeting, and eventually pitching the right journalist, one who has stated they cover your topic/niche/geographic area. [More about this in the box below]

Step 2: Socialize [S]

Connect with the journalist on social media.

You know how to do this. Follow them on Twitter, add them to a Google + circle; join a group they are in on LinkedIn…

Step 3: Engage [E]

Create some engagement with the journalist. Start by retweeting or commenting on an article of theirs. You will, of course, want to read some of their work first! Don’t go crazy. You want this to look natural, not like you are their new cyberstalker who is watching and commenting on their every move. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Neither are relationships – offline or online.

Your ultimate goal is to build a relationship and have the journalist acknowledge that they know who you are and appreciate that you are following them and appreciating their work. It could be a one-on-one cyber conversation or just a mention from them.

Now that you have engagement, you are ready to pitch. Whoa, not instantly after they acknowledge you. Let a few days or a week go by. Then you can go to step 4.

Step 4: Pitch [P]

This step can be best accomplished with a Tweet. Keep it short, simple and to the point. Write your pitch like a tweet – state the entire pitch in 140 characters or less. You don’t need to tell your whole story in your pitch, just enough to intrigue the journalist to want to know more.

The challenge for many is the pitch. I often hear that it’s hard to know what to pitch or how to come up with a story idea. 2 questions that you may find helpful in coming up with a pitch are: What would be of interest to their audience? Why should their audience care about your topic?

Here are a few other things to keep in mind when pitching.

Let the journalist know why you think it is something their audience would be interested in.
Provide a 1 to 2 sentence bio that shows why you are qualified to speak on your proposed topic.
Provide them your best contact info [your mobile phone, Skype address and your time zone are ideal], in the event that they have to follow up questions or would like to speak to you.

Congratulations! You now know the 4 Step I.S.E.P. process to pitch a journalist

How to Get Publicity Using Social Media

How ti get Media Coverage Using Your Existing Social Network

If you are looking for media coverage, you can start by using social media. Chances are there is a journalist in your existing social network. Or just one connection or friend away.

This is great news. It’s never been easier to connect with a journalist, one who can write about you and your company and give you the media coverage and visibility you deserve. And this may surprise you to hear, but you probably already know exactly how to connect with a journalist using social media. You are probably using these skills, perhaps just not in connection with a journalist. Please read on, as I am about to explain.

I speak to a lot of entrepreneurs, authors, coaches and business owners who find the idea of doing public relations or promotion, daunting.

I remember the first time I was considering doing some publicity for my fashion company. I was scared, overwhelmed and intimidated.

That was just before the digital age. No Internet to look up how to write a press release. No online press distribution services. No online directories of journalists, and no social networks.

I needed some information and insight as to how to do my own publicity, so I did the only thing I could think of – I sought out a mentor and asked a lot of questions.

My first attempt at public relations, I probably did at least 10 things wrong and yet I still got some great media coverage! And you know what, it turns out that getting publicity really isn’t hard, if you know a few simple rules of the road. And I am about to share them with you in this post.

Today, you have the distinct advantage of the Internet for information, templates, training and video tutorials. Just do a search on YouTube and you will find a plethora of training on virtually any topic including how to do your own public relations. You also have online social networks that make connecting easy and sometimes instant.

Here is your best news: Journalists are very social

A recent study from the Indiana University School of journalism looks at how U.S. journalists use social media to report the news. Here are a few specific ways journalists are using social platforms:

59.8% find ideas for stories
54.1 % find sources
20% interview sources

Journalists also see social media as a vehicle for self-promotion; 80% state that it helped them share their work and two-thirds say they are more engaged with their audiences thanks to social sites.

As you can see from the study, more and more journalists use social media to promote as well as to facilitate their work, including finding story ideas, finding sources and interviewing subjects. That is where you come in! You can be a source for journalists in any or all of those aspects of their job!

On social media, journalists are more accessible to everyone whether they are PR professionals or folks like you. Therefore, it has never been easier to connect with journalists.

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