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Marketing Secret #72 The Right Way To Use Public Relations

Do you think you’d be interested in learning how to get all kinds of ads, sometimes even full page ads, for as little as 15 cents each?

Would you find it useful to your business to have reporters calling you, interviewing you, and telling everybody where they can call you to get free information?

Would you like to have a constant campaign of direct response marketing going on that you haven’t paid anything for?

If any or all of that interests you, keep reading.

Let me ask you a question – When you see an article in a paper or magazine written about somebody by a reporter or an editor, don’t you place a lot more credibility on it than you would if you found that it was a paid advertisement?

Now don’t get me wrong – the paid advertisements that we teach you how to use, and that we’ve been using for years, do a hell of a job! As a matter of fact, I’ve built several multi-million dollar businesses up for myself using nothing but real, direct response marketing that I’ve paid for. And for people who listen to what we teach…

Nothing is as good as getting your ads run for free!

But still, a direct paid ad is not as good as having some reporter or editor write about you! What could possibly be better than having them explain the same things that you would have explained if you had written an ad yourself? Think of the power of a reporter giving out your name, address, phone number, free recorded messages…or other pieces of information, so that people can respond to you exactly as they would to a paid ad!

(Is that something you might be interested in?)

By the way, this is called the “halo effect” by Paul Hartunian, the public relations guru of all time. It’s the effect of having reporters talk about you, and third parties with credibility talk about you, instead of you talking about yourself. Paul says the “halo effect” comes from the fact that, if an article is written about you in the press, people assume (wrongly, but who cares) that you must be credible; otherwise, the publication or broadcasters would not have interviewed you!

Would you like to have some “halo effect” hanging over your head?

Anyway, Paul experimented with public relations in the old days. He did the same things that I did with public relations that caused me to almost give up on PR and using the media as a source of advertising. Like me, Paul read the “professional” books on publicity, studying the materials that were available in the libraries and other traditional sources.

He followed the formats for issuing press releases and contacting reporters and newspapers and magazines with the same results that we all get. (Which is: occasionally getting your name mentioned in a three-inch article that nobody sees or reads, buried in the back of the news or in the weekly calendar section of the local paper. In other words, “nothing”.)

Unlike me, when Paul learned about the same kind of direct response marketing you now know about, the same kind that we use, and the same kind that we teach you…he decided to see if it could be adapted and modified to work with the media and the press.

His early efforts did much better than his so-called professional and traditional approaches, and they gave him the impetus and energy to try more creative and different ways to use direct response marketing for the media.

After a very short time, Paul started getting calls from reporters, and he started giving interviews in person. By the end of the second year, using this type of marketing to media, he was interviewed by dozens of radio shows, appeared at some radio stations, and actually got a few TV spots!

(How would you like to be on television, interviewed by a real interviewer for a real TV show, and have them give out your phone number offering your free reports, or other information that you have?

Do you think that would be worth a lot of money to you? Especially when it didn’t cost you anything to get the advertising out?)

Anyway, to make a long story short, Paul has now, at this point in his career, been interviewed by over a 1,000 radio stations; he has been on dozens of TV shows and has appeared in several dozen newspaper and magazine articles written all about him.

A Two-Page Spread in Forbes for FREE!

In fact, Paul had a two-page spread written about him in Forbes magazine. (In case you’re interested, it would cost over $100,000 to get two full pages of advertising in Forbes!) One time, Paul did an hour’s worth of work creating a simple little product, and sold several hundred thousand dollars of the product without paying for even one ad! Every sale came from the FREE publicity he generated with his press releases!

Not bad for an hour’s work, wouldn’t you say? And, of course, the cost for each fax he sent was only about 15 cents!

The so-called public relations people don’t have a clue about getting ads oublished for free!

After all, I should know. I read and studied and looked at over half dozen things myself. I had the misfortune of listening to, and actually flushing money down the toilet with, all kinds of so-called public relations people. (“PR experts”, as they call themselves). I had found that most, if not all, of it was mostly, if not totally, worthless.

Don’t you think it would be wonderful to be able to fax out press releases and have reporters calling you? Wouldn’t it be nice to spend 15 cents on a fax, and find out two weeks later that there’s been a full page article written about you that has your name and phone number, recorded message offering a free report? A report that you would offer through ads anyway, and spend money on in that same paper.

Do you think you’d get more responses because your pitch was written by a reporter. Do you think you’d get more responses because it was five times longer than the 2×3 inch ad that you’d run as a test? Do you think that you’d get more responses because the full-page ad attracts more people…and it’s a real article? I think the answer to all those questions is yes.

Now, there’s a very important caution or warning that we have to talk about here. You see, one of the things that you have to understand is that the type of information that you’ve been taught and brainwashed with as being “interesting” to people – things they want to do or learn more about – are, in reality, things that they could care less about!

In other words, sending a press release to a reporter saying “New Pet Store Open!” is not going to cut it. If you think that is going to get a response, you are mistaken.

“Professional” press releases are boring press releases…and will not work!

Forget trying to communicate to the press things like “All Green Landscaping Services Is Best In Area”, or “Solicitor Wins More Cases Three Years in a Row”. If you think any of those things are going to get reporters interested in contacting you, you might as well forget about it right now.

You see, that’s the kind of stuff that we are all taught to do, and that’s the kind of things that we send out as press releases.

There’s also the kind of press releases that we are taught to send out that say, “Jan Smith, has just completed her training course so now she is a graduate of the Design Institute of Australia. This means that she’s completed a complete course of study, and she’ll be able to help her clients with the finest home decorations and design. Jan’s office is located {Address} and you’re welcome to call her for a FREE consultation on 0400 000 000.

Yes, those are the kind of press releases that we all do, that just make absolutely no difference and which nobody gives two damns about. Getting responses from the press requires exactly the same psychology as getting responses from the public. Different tactic; same psychology.

Reporters are people too! They respond just like your prospects do! Just like you do!

Because, after all, isn’t a reporter a person? Isn’t a reporter filled with the same emotions, wants, desires, and fears as anyone else? Don’t they long for recognition, more money, more sex, and more love, just like everyone? Just like you?

If you are interested in learning how to do this, let us know, and we can help you.

Every day we hear people complaining about tight budgets. You worry if you need to spend $100, $200 or more on ads, or postcards, or mail packs, or other direct response media as tests.

You worry that you won’t get the response that you’re looking for, or that you’ll be unable to afford to continue testing, even if you get some responses.

So here’s a way that we can use direct response marketing in a way that we’ll get articles and ads published about us and get interviewed on shows that we would never have been able to do, at a virtually non-existent cost!

The best use of this PR is to offer free information, just like we want you to do anyway. The free reports aren’t threatening, they evoke curiosity, and they start building a relationship. You want to be interviewed, and have the reporter offer your free report and phone number ad response box as the ultimate goal. Then, you’ll have an “ad”, but you wouldn’t have paid for it, and people will respond better because it’s an article, not an ad!

I mean, you might occasionally get people to want to do business with you from publicity, but that’s not the purpose. If you stick to Paul’s formula for success, you’ll see immediate results from the new leads that you’ve generated at no cost!

Let me give you an example of what I am talking about. One of our members accidentally got one of our full page ads published in the local paper. The editor mistakenly thought that it was a press release being issued by one of his reporters. Don’t ask me how it happened; all I can tell you is that it did happen. This same Marketing Maniac had run this same ad previously (as a paid ad) spending $250. He got about 25 responses. (Not bad.)

When the article was run as an article by the paper, written by the paper – same ad – he pulled in 204 responses at a cost of zero. The only difference was that the public perceived it as being an article and not an advertisement, because of the way it was presented by the paper.

Now, this was an accident. But even though it was an accident, it proves the power of the “halo effect” as Paul describes it when you are getting the publications to, in effect, endorse you.

I promise you that this is the type of thing where you can be sending out press releases and literally having interviews coming in later that week. That’s how fast this is, and at a cost of virtually nothing! When I say virtually nothing, I mean virtually nothing. Let’s look at an example, this one for a realtor:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
MARSHA BRADY 0400 000 000

Local Real Estate Expert Says There Are 17 Ways To Finance A Home Without A Mortgage!
Bankers Outraged By New Report Just Released!

A local realtor says that banks are misleading consumers by putting forth the notion that homes can only be bought with a traditional mortgage. She says there are 17 ways to buy a home without a “normal” mortgage issued by a bank or savings and loan. “If you are selling or buying, you need to know that there are many ways to skin the financing cat,” says Marsha Brady, a long time real estate broker. “Sellers who are having trouble aelling in this tough market need to be aware of ways to help potential buyers get into the home without going through a normal bank type deal” she continued. She added, “I have written a report that explains 17 different ways a buyer can (or a seller can show a buyer how to) finance a home with no bank involvement!”

This new report reveals such things as:

  • The biggest mistake sellers make by not helping a potential buyer get financing for the home.
  • The little known method of financing that allows buyers to get into a home with no down payment.
  • Strategies of how to take advantage of government programs that offer rates as low as 3%!

And more.

Marsha’s report has angered many traditional lenders. She doesn’t care if she ruffles any feathers. Marsha believes that the consumer has the right to know all the possible ways to buy and sell a home with creative financing. If you want your readers to get a totally different slant on home selling and buying, call Marsha on 0400 000 000 to get an entertaining and lively interview!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
ENSIGN PARKER  0400 000 000

Fence Company Issues Challenge To Dog Owners!
Will Pay $1,000 To Anyone Whose Dog Gets Out!

A local “Invisible Fence” company will pay $1,000 to anyone whose dog gets out of the yard, when wearing their new electric collar. These new underground fences, are invisible, and no dog, no matter how big, can get out of the yard when wearing one! Ensign Parker, the company owner said, “Until now, all electric underground fences had weak spots, places a dog could get out of. Now, with the release of the Electric Fence 2000, there isn’t a dog alive that can get out when wearing one!” Parker added, “We’re issuing a challenge to anyone who thinks their pet can escape this new system. I’ll pay you $1,000 in cash, if your dog gets out of your yard in the first month of using the device. We’re so sure it cannot happen, we’ll pay anyone who can prove us wrong!”

The product is the result of several years of testing and refining similar products, and eliminating their weaknesses. The new Electric Fence 2000, among other things:

  • Eliminates the biggest, and almost unheard of weakness that all previous invisible fences had…and that no one knew about!
  • Uses a new technology that until now, was only utilised in space missions!
  • Uses a customised signal that virtually makes any yard escape proof! This new feature will keep even the biggest, sneakiest or wildest dogs under complete control!

Many people doubt that this kind of fence actually exists. In fact, people are so sceptical, that

Parker wants all comers to put his patented invention to the test. Parker is an outspoken critic of the pet industry, and always makes for an interesting interview. Call 0400 000 000 to get a great story!

See how these press releases offer the reporter or editor the chance to become curious about what this person has to say?

Do you see how we use bullet points to create curiosity the same way we use them in an ad?

Actually, the whole purpose of these press releases is to get a call from someone at the media. That's it!

If you use this type of curiosity provoking, MAGNETIC, press release, you’ll get free advertising, any time you want it!

But please don’t waste your time doing it the conventional way.

It’ll get you nowhere, I promise!

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