The Most Powerful Bios Tell a Story

To create the career you want, you must communicate to your various publics with pure, intense authenticity and fervor. The most powerful way to communicate is to tell a story--your story.

The bio describes your major goals, your struggle against strong odds to achieve those goals, the climax of your eventual achievements and what you have learned or realized from your experiences. Write your bio in the third person, referring to yourself by name and as “she” or “he.” Once you have captured the main elements of your personal story, polish and streamline until you have no more than two or three pages of double-spaced text.

Use the Power of Fable

By shaping a bio into story form, we can make use of the power of fable. In stories, the hero takes a journey from living a predictable and safe yet unfulfilled existence to living the fulfilled life of his dreams. The hero wants something and faces tough obstacles to get it. He may want to win something--a contest, a dream job, a big business deal or a war.

On the other hand, the hero may want to stop something bad from happening, such as a business merger, an assassination or getting fired. He may want to escape an unfulfilling job, a war-torn country or a dysfunctional family. He may want to find, retrieve, rescue or protect something, such as a long lost person, a piece of art, a secret document, a stolen painting or a tarnished reputation.

The hero’s attempts to get this something, whatever it is that he wants, is his outward journey. But the hero also has an inward journey. This inward or inner journey is one of transformation and has to do with changing one’s self-image and living a more fulfilled life. The inner journey almost always moves from doubt and uncertainty to courage and success.

Anyone who reads a powerful business bio is moved to empathize with what the person has lived through to become a successful business owner. Although it is written in a straightforward and unsentimental style, the bio is at its heart a story that affects the reader’s emotions. The reader roots for the hero and wants him to succeed. When you write your bio, keep in mind that you want people to understand you, sympathize with your struggles and tough choices, and celebrate your triumphs.

Although your nomination letters for awards will be signed by other individuals who recommend you for the particular award, you will use variations of the information contained in your bio to write these nomination letters yourself, or at the very least, provide your nominators with written copy to which they may add their own ideas about you.

Here is where the story elements of your bio become important. You are the “hero” of your bio, and the information you include in your bio becomes fodder for almost any business award. For example, the esteemed Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award asks the following three questions, among others, about the nominee:

• Discuss the nominee’s high standards relating to him/herself, the business and his/her determination to be successful.
• How does the nominee demonstrate perseverance in the face of adversity and overcome obstacles?
• Describe how the nominee is an independent thinker and is willing to take risks in the face of uncertainty.

Talking points and interview questions for print, radio, TV and podcasts are also based on the bio. Extracting this information from your bio is a straightforward matter of steering a journalist’s questioning toward the topics on which you are most qualified to speak and for which you feel passion.

The Peer Advisory Group: Part II

The National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO), the voice of America’s 10.6 million women-owned businesses, has its own version of peer advisory groups. They are called NAWBOards—informative, supportive, motivating groups focused on exchanging ideas and best business practices in a small and intimate setting. Based on the members’ needs, a NAWBOard can act like a board of directors, a networking group or a group of professional women exchanging ideas about business and balance in their lives, according to the NAWBO Web site.

When Patty first started her company, she belonged to a NAWBOard of amazing, highly successful women. How she got into that group was anybody’s guess, Patty jokes, because she had been in business for only about 10 minutes. Patty wanted to hire her first employee, but she didn’t have a clue about payroll, taxes and withholding. The members of her NAWBOard jumped right in and gave Patty a basic “Employee 101” class, answering all of her questions. Thanks to their help, she started off on the right path and avoided some mistakes that could have been costly.

Start Your Own Peer Advisory Group

Sometimes it may be easier, more effective and more economical just to start your own peer advisory group. How do you go about creating one? Let’s say you are a sales manager, facing the same challenges and problems that other sales managers in other industries face. Seek out those other sales managers—not the ones in your industry, but the ones in non-competing industries. The reason behind this approach, of course, lies in protecting trade secrets from your competititon.

When your advisory group is composed of sales managers from other industries, however, you don’t have to worry about divulging trade secrets. Invite five or six people to meet with you on a regular basis, even if it’s only twice a year. It is important that everyone in the group commits to these meetings and to the group process.

Confidentiality is an absolute requirement. Sit down together and ask these other sales managers for their advice about what you should be doing and how you can advance yourself. Besides sales managers, maybe you can include a banker and an accountant in the group. Most people will be flattered when you ask them to participate in a peer advisory or mastermind group.

After you get commitment from your chosen individuals, make sure that you do not waste anyone’s time. Be prepared with a set of topics or questions to discuss, and provide this list to everyone ahead of the scheduled meeting so that they have time to ponder their input and possibly even do some research.

At the meeting, be prepared to “shut up and listen.” You asked for help. Now you must take the suggestions of your advisory group very seriously and act on their advice. Nothing will happen unless you take action! Not only must you act, but you must demonstrate to the group at the following meeting that you acted on their advice. Tell them the results. This is extremely important. If you fail to act, you will insult your peer advisory group in a fundamental way.

Don’t neglect to send each member of your peer advisory group a thank-you note or email to acknowledge their contribution to your career. It’s just good PR.

The Peer Advisory Group: Part I

To build a network that can actually be supportive of you, it is essential to go beyond the obvious steps of joining professional and industry organizations. Strategic networking is something much more than simply knowing lots of people, or even contacting them on a regular basis. It is developing real relationships with those who are in a position to help you—and you to help them.

Napoleon Hill first introduced the concept of the “MasterMind Group” in his classic book, Think And Grow Rich. With problem-solving, brainstorming, inspiration and motivation as their primary goals, mastermind groups take their individual members to higher levels of accomplishment and insight than what any could achieve on their own.

In a modern take on this principle, the Women Presidents’ Organization (WPO)—a nonprofit organization that connects top women entrepreneurs at the multimillion-dollar level for greater personal and professional success—has implemented the ultimate in peer advisory groups.

Peer advisory groups are the best method for those who are growing their businesses to learn what they should do next, according to Marsha Firestone, Ph.D., president and founder of the WPO. Marsha says, “Adult learning theory tells us that adults prefer to define for themselves what and when to learn, a concept I call just-in-time learning. In this type of learning, the learner decides for herself what skills and knowledge she needs to strengthen and when she needs to accomplish it.”

Marsha goes on to say that research by the Edward Lowe Foundation , an organization that helps entrepreneurs navigate second-stage growth through retreats and online forums, indicates that entrepreneurs learn faster and better when they learn from one another. In a WPO peer advisory group, members come from non-competing industries, and everyone must be open and willing to share information about finances and other sensitive issues. Confidentiality is essential. Peers must feel safe about sharing trade secrets.

Vistage (formerly TEC International) is an organization that uses an advisory group format to provide CEOs worldwide with business information and support. Group members meet once a month for a full day with up to 16 chief executives, presidents or business owners from non-competing industries in a trusted and confidential setting to share their business expertise, solve problems and come up with new ideas for better solutions. Like the WPO peer advisory groups, each meeting is professionally facilitated by a highly-trained Vistage Group Chair.

Business Etiquette Tips for Mixing, Mingling and Meeting

When you are mingling with and meeting people, hold your drink in your left hand. This leaves your right hand free for shaking hands. As you shake hands, ensure that your thumb joint meets web-to-web with the other person’s thumb joint, grasp firmly, give two or three pumps and maintain eye contact. Men: Wait for the woman to extend her hand first. Women: Do not fail to extend your hand first!

Introductions in the business world differ from those in the social world. Gender equality prevails, and if you’re introducing peers, it doesn’t matter whom you introduce first. But if you are introducing a person to someone of higher rank, say the name of the higher-status person first. A person of less authority is always introduced to the person of higher authority and prominence: “Mr. CEO, I’d like to introduce Jane Doe, my business associate.”

In terms of rank, clients are afforded higher status than your colleagues, so address your client first and introduce your colleague to the client: “Ms. Top Client, I would like you to meet John Doe, the head of our litigation department.”

What If I Can’t Remember Someone’s Name?
When you cannot remember someone’s name, introduce your wingman to them. Say something such as: “Hello, nice to see you. May I introduce my colleague, Mary Smith?” Your wingman then smiles and says, “Hi, I’m Mary Smith,” and extends her hand. The person with the unknown name then automatically responds with his or her name: “I’m Robert Brown. Nice to meet you, Mary.”

If you have no wingman, you may have to admit, “I’m sorry, but I’ve momentarily gone blank. Tell me your name again.” Most people will not take offense.

If you are with two or more people and can’t remember everyone’s names, simply ask: “Has everyone met one another?” People will take it from there.

Making chitchat or small talk with others at an event, especially if they are complete strangers, can be challenging. A good rule of thumb is to open a conversation with an innocuous topic, such as why the person is there. Ask the other person, “How did you learn about this event?”

Phrasing questions so that they cannot be answered with a simple “Yes” or “No” will stimulate conversation. When meeting new people, your goal is to at some point give your 30-second commercial, find out about the other person, and determine whether you can help that person.

Exchange business cards only if you see the potential for a helpful relationship. Indiscriminately handing out business cards is not strategically effective. Later you can make notations on the back of the card about the circumstances under which you met the other person, what you discussed, and what help you can offer each other.

Your Two-Minute Introductory Speech

When you are called upon to give a speech, you need to create a written introduction that summarizes your personal brand. This is very important if you want to make an impact on your audience. The two-minute canned introduction is a product you will create that is based on your bio. No longer than 250 words, the best introduction does four things:

1. Sets you up as a leader and expert in your industry or profession
2. Explains why you are passionate about what you do
3. Says something unique about you
4. Finishes with a personal brand slogan, a catchy phrase that will stick in the audience’s memory.

The brand slogan is sometimes called a “tagline,” which is a succinct play on words that captures the essence of you, your product or service. The tagline should resonate with your public or target market. A tagline is the sound bite that comes to mind whenever people think of your brand. Political figures are especially oriented toward the use of taglines. Remember how past President George H.W. Bush was dedicated to traditional American values and wanted to make the United States “a kinder and gentler nation”?

Here are few more well-known examples of personal brand taglines:

• Author John Gray: “Men are from Mars, women are from Venus.”
• Civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: “I Have a Dream.”
• Real estate mogul Donald Trump: “You’re fired.”
• Model and television show host Tyra Banks: “You’re still in the running towards becoming America’s Next Top Model.”

When you examine personal brand taglines, you see that many are taken from television shows, commercials, the titles of books or speeches. In her PR business, Patty Briguglio uses a couple of taglines. One is, “I’m good at what I do.” Another is, “I get results.”

When you are being introduced as a speaker, it helps to coach your introducer just a little bit by having the person read your introduction aloud to you ahead of time. This helps the introducer feel confident about the pronunciation of your name and perhaps other words you have used in the copy. It gives an introducer a chance to ask questions and feel that he or she knows you a little better. Introducers should be trusted, influential members of the organization or association you are addressing.

One gracious technique used by Toastmasters International is for the introducer to shake hands with the speaker before departing the podium. Never pass up an opportunity to have yourself effectively introduced in this way by someone else when you are the primary speaker for an event or a meeting. Even if you are just the facilitator of a panel, a proper introduction will set the stage. The audience watches you expectantly. You are in the spotlight. Smile! Take a breath and then speak.

6 Uses for the Bio

The story of your professional life is known in the PR business as a bio. Your bio describes your major goals, your struggle against strong odds to achieve those goals, the climax of your eventual achievements and what you have learned or realized from your experiences.

A bio tells much more about you than a resume or a simple chronology of where you were educated and what companies you have worked for, owned or sold. These elements are part of the bio, of course, but they are the skeletal structure, not the flesh-and-blood.

To draw out your own story, ask yourself the following questions:

• What is important to you about your family and heritage?
• What drew you to your profession or industry?
• Did you have a mentor? What did that person teach you?
• What is the most fulfilling aspect of your work?
• What is your most powerful dream?
• What is extraordinary about you? How do you stand out from others in your line of work?
• What struggles have you been through in your personal and professional life?
• What accomplishments are you most proud of?
• How do you give back to your community?
• Are you active in professional organizations? Which ones, and what have you accomplished for those organizations?
• What awards or honors have you won? Which ones would you like to win?
• Where do you plan to be in five years? Ten years?
• What advice would you have for others, especially young people, who are just starting out on the same road you have traveled?

Write your bio in the third person, referring to yourself by name and as “she” or “he.” Once you have captured the main elements of your personal story, polish and streamline until you have no more than two or three pages of double-spaced text.

If we said that your personal brand is like your “house,” then your bio is its “foundation.” To reach the media -- even the broadcasting media -- you start out with a written bio. From this bio, you will eventually create many other documents:

1. An “About” blurb for your news releases and published articles
2. Nomination letters for awards you want to win
3. Talking points or sound bites for radio, TV, podcast, media interviews
4. Sample interview questions to hand to a journalist
5. Two-minute speech for someone to introduce you as a speaker
6. Web site “About Us” or “About Me”

All of these documents are distilled from the bio. Everyone has a story, but some stories are more heroic, riveting and moving than others. You want to be among the latter.

4 Ways To Make Yourself Known as an Expert

Early signs usually appear in your childhood or teen years. You have a strong interest in one thing or another, and one day you realize you know more about it than any of your friends.

Take Ned Jennings, for example. As a child, he was always fixing things, just like the guy he most admired—Scotty on Star Trek. Ned dreamed of becoming an engineer. Today he heads FreemanWhite, North Carolina’s largest and oldest architectural and engineering firm.

Even as a teen, television historian Wesley Hyatt showed a propensity for remembering odd bits of information regarding the television industry. Today he is a recognized pop culture expert. Hyatt became an expert after years of dabbling in the field, but he followed a series of identifiable steps to establish himself:
1. He published books.
2. He spoke to groups and made appearances at bookstores.
3. He became a blogger.
4. He made himself a resource for the media.

After graduating from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in Communications and English, Hyatt served as editor for weekly newspapers in Hillsborough, N.C. and Jamestown, N.C. While doing research for a story, he noticed that no definitive book on daytime TV had ever been published, and he decided to write the first.

Get a Book Published
Publishing a book on your area of expertise is de rigueur for establishing yourself as an expert or leader in your field. Having a book out there gives you instant credibility. It can get you on television shows and speaking circuits. Speakers with published books earn more than those without. To get yourself known in your field, you should publish a book, even if you have to use a ghostwriter.

Hyatt sent out three query letters to potential publishers, and all three responded positively. He chose Billboard Books because the editor asked insightful questions and offered to expand the scope of the book to include photos. To research the book, Hyatt relied on Shokus Video, a leader in supplying classic 1950s TV shows to the home video market.

Hyatt’s first book, The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television, came out in October 1997 and covered multiple genres—everything from game shows, soap operas, sports and cartoons to kids’ shows. The book proved popular with libraries. Hyatt did most of his publicity himself, garnering an article in the Chapel Hill Herald and good reviews from the Library Journal and American Reference Books Annual (ARBA).

Other books soon followed, including The Billboard Book of Number One Adult Contemporary Hits, Short-Lived Television Series, 1948-1978, A Critical History of Television’s The Red Skelton Show, 1951-1971 and Emmy Award Winning Nighttime Television Shows, 1948-2004.

Obtain Speaking Engagements
To promote his books, Hyatt spoke to groups and made appearances at bookstores. His most recently published book is Kicking Off The Week: A History of Monday Night Football on ABC Television, 1970-2005. This book covers the complete history of Monday Night Football’s 35-year run on ABC, with chapters on the show’s inception, its influence on other networks’ sports coverage and the relationship between the NFL and ABC.

In the fall of this year, when football season is in full swing, Hyatt will give an author talk at the Bull’s Head Bookshop, located in the Student Stores at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He enjoys the give-and-take with an audience, and suggests Toastmaster’s International for those who want to speak to groups but whose speaking skills are rusty.

Become a Blogger
Hyatt consistently blogs about his subject on a blog at www.mmimarketing.com/blog, sponsored by MMI Associates, Inc., the public relations firm where he works as a writer. To promote yourself as an expert, you can use a blog as an effective, inexpensive communications and public relations tool. The business blog is a way for you to reach out to your customers, employees and stakeholders, and establish a personal connection with them. Like online discussion groups, promotions, events and user groups, a blog can facilitate the spread of buzz, or word of mouth marketing.

If you are managing your company's public relations efforts properly, you already respond to customers, show up at events, and take the concerns of user groups to heart. When you work to improve your product or service, a blog is another tool to reach out to your customers and give them the inside scoop about your efforts. Nothing sells like your own expertise, sincerity and enthusiasm.

Make Yourself a Media Resource
Hyatt has endeavored to become a resource for the media and make himself available for interviews. When the final show aired for The Sopranos, he was invited to be a guest on the Harry Ham radio show on KMOX St. Louis.

Hyatt’s status became official when game show media analyst Steve Beverly, who runs Weekly Game Show Magazine at http://www.tvgameshow.net/, interviewed Hyatt about Bob Barker of The Price is Right and subsequently has named Hyatt an expert.

It always helps to have another expert in your field proclaim you as a fellow expert. When that happens, you know you’ve arrived.

Your Personal Brand

Perhaps you already have a clear idea of your own personal brand. If you don't, begin by asking yourself the “Who, What, When, Where, Why and How” questions that every journalist knows by heart. Who are you and who is your public? What is your specialty, your gift to others? What are the things you value in life? When, where and why do you do what you do? How are you unique? How do you want to be perceived?

To stand out from the crowd, you must brand yourself in a distinctive way. Within the marketplace, your personal brand is your promise of value to your customers or clients. You want them to think of you as a leader and expert in your field, and you want to win their loyalty. What you are selling are the benefits that this loyalty will bring to them. These benefits depend on how your product or service makes your client feel.

One longtime MMI client, Erika Mangrum, President of the Iatria Spa and Health Center, likes to say, “Are we in the business of spa packages, massage and facials? Absolutely not! We are in the business of helping people find relief from the stress in their lives.” The brand that Erika and her staff stand for is one of relaxation and stress relief. More than 63 % of Erika’s market is defined as the “busy executive.” These people are pressed for time, and Iatria Day Spa and Health Center caters to its clients’ emotional needs for escape to an oasis of calm, relaxation and replenishment.

Give some thought to the emotions you want your personal brand to evoke. Do you like to make people laugh? Humor sells, and it has made Patty’s blog, Today With Patty, a daily entertainment stop for many. Perhaps like Patty, you enjoy brightening other’s lives by emphasizing the lighthearted, humorous side of existence -- all the while providing them with useful information and results. If so, concentrate on how your personal brand promises the emotion of amusement.

On the other hand, if you are an accountant, you want your personal brand above all to make people feel secure and safe. You want to come across as someone in whom others can place their confidence and trust. In these days when accounting irregularities can bring down entire companies and ruin employee retirements, an upstanding and ethical accountant is a trusted business advisor.

A horror writer such as Dean Koontz or Stephen King promises the reader terror and suspense. Many motivational speakers promise their listeners courage and confidence. A clown sells surprise and happiness. A priest is all about kindness and the hope of everlasting life and salvation. What emotional experience are you selling?

Ask yourself what adjectives best describe you. Are you results-oriented yet fun, like Patty? Mysterious and philosophical? Are you upstanding, ethical and trustworthy, like the ideal accountant or physician? Perhaps the words “powerful” and “commanding” describe you best? Are you a visionary intellectual? Or more of a people-oriented peacemaker?

Marsha Firestone, Ph.D., the president and founder of the Women Presidents’ Organization (WPO), says that through her experience with accomplished women business owners, she has observed that those who are most successful share some common personal characteristics. They are take-charge types who not only take responsibility for themselves but for others as well. They tend to take risks and are self-confident and driven. Most of them were not straight-A types in high school or college. These women tend to be the type of individuals who don't like to play by the rules. As students, they may have constantly challenged the status quo and created ways to get around the rules -- or any other obstacle in their paths.

Do these characteristics describe you? If they do, you may be a natural leader, destined to join the ranks of the world’s most powerful men and women.

Top 5 Ways To Work a Room

1. Network With Strategic Purpose
When you attend a networking event, take a client or coworker with you to “work the room.” This idiom means that you really are working, methodically moving around the room and introducing yourself to others, with a purpose in meeting new people that is business-related and strategic rather than social.

2. Take a Wingman With You
It is much easier and more fun to work a room with someone at your side as a wingman. A wingman stays at your side to introduce you to the right people and help you remember details such as names and personal information.

Patty once worked with a Congressman who loved to have her along at events as his wingman. His memory for names was very poor, but with Patty at his side to say, “Congressman, you remember John Doe from XYZ Organization,” he never had to worry about forgetting someone’s name.

It is the wingman’s responsibility to maneuver his “pilot” into the best position to take a shot at targeted industry and business opportunities. Your wingman should be ready to rescue you from pointless or potentially damaging encounters and swoop you away to something more promising.

3. Find Out About Other Attendees Beforehand
Before attending any event with your wingman, the two of you should know as much as you can about other attendees—names, photos, bios, positions and organizations—so you can target those whom you would like to meet and together plot a course of action.

If it isn’t possible to obtain a list of names ahead of time, scan the name tags when you first arrive. Ask people you already know at the event to introduce you to others. In this way, you will meet new people constantly under the most desirable of circumstances—that of trusted source.

Sometimes at an event or conference, you may scan the name tags, or obtain a list ahead of time, and see that there is someone in attendance that you would like to meet, but you have no wingman who already knows that person. In this instance, ask the host or the sponsors if they would be willing to introduce you to some of the people you don’t know. Usually they will make it their life’s mission to help you.

4. What To Do If You Have No Wingman
At some time or another you will attend a conference or event where you do not know a soul, or you will walk into a room and see only strangers because those people you know have yet to arrive. When this happens, look around for someone standing alone and approach them with, “I don’t know a soul here. Can I stand next to you and pretend I know you?” Only the rare misanthropist will spurn you.

5. Stay in Motion
After making conversation with this person—giving him your 30-second commercial and asking him about himself—suggest movement within the room by saying, “Let’s go get something to eat / drink,” or by saying, “Is there anyone here you would like to introduce me to?” Stay in motion.

Distribute Your News Releases

Unless you’re famous, the media considers few things about you to be “newsworthy.” Are you serving on a Board of Directors? Did you win an award? Get promoted? Are you speaking at a function or a conference? Did you win a new customer?

News releases about these topics typically result in only one- to two-paragraph stories in publications. But at least they keep your name and your head shot in front of your target public.

Don’t send a news release as an attachment to an e-mail. Copy your news release into the body of the e-mail. If an editor doesn't know you, chances are he will not open your attachment.

To distribute your news release, e-mail the news release to yourself, and use the "BCC" (blind carbon copy) function of your e-mail to send the news release to the names on your media list. Don’t use the "TO" function. You don’t want the editors receiving your e-mail to see the 250 other e-mail addresses to which you are distributing your release.

Post your releases on your own Web site in a special area called “News.” To ensure your releases are included on major online news sites, send them to one or several of the news release wires. You can bypass the media and put your news release directly in the hands of your customers this way. Online news distribution services include:

• PR Newswire at prnewswire.com. PR Newswire is the global leader in news and information distribution services for professional communicators.
• Market Wire at www.marketwire.com. Another service for professional communicators, Market Wire helps you distribute releases quickly and accurately, manage media contacts, add the richness of multimedia to your communications and monitor the news that affects you.
• Business Wire at www.businesswire.com. Business Wire is a global market leader in commercial news distribution. Thousands of member companies and organizations depend on Business Wire to transmit their full-text news releases, regulatory filings, photos and other multimedia content to journalists, financial professionals, investor services, regulatory authorities and the general public worldwide.
• PR Web at www.prweb.com. This leader in online news and press release distribution has been used by more than 40,000 organizations of all sizes to increase the visibility of their news, improve their search engine rankings and drive traffic to their Web site.
• Online Press Releases at www.onlinepressreleases.com. Advertises easy-to-use software with your press release delivered directly to the editor's e-mailbox. Targeted to your specific selection, each release is sent individually, not auto released or "blind carbon copied." Complete database of over 28,000 media contacts in the US and Canada. You can send your releases over and over again at no extra cost.
• Press Release News Network (PRNN) at www.prnn.com. PRNN guarantees that your press release will be catalogued into the major search engines. Within a week you will be able to see your business press release cataloged at Google, Yahoo, MSN, HotBot, AltaVista, and more. PRNN® will provide the most Advanced Social Media and Multimedia Press Release Distribution Globally. PRNN incorporates social channels within releases such as iTunes, YouTube, Twitter, Technorati, Digg, del.icio.us, Flickr, LinkedIn, and more to communicate to the online world.
• PR Leap at www.prleap.com is an online press release service that offers both free and paid distribution to search engines, newswires and websites. At no charge, PR Leap places your release on major search engines and distributes it to major newswires.
• PR.com at www.pr.com is a unique business community where you have a full company profile with which to promote your business, post products and services with full descriptions and images, distribute press releases, post job opportunities, and more.
• The Open Press, Inc. at www.theopenpress.com is not just another free press release portal. They exact industry standards for press releases and will not allow unprofessional press releases to be submitted through their services.
• The www.ereleases.com Web site says that a press release distribution is only as good as its database and newswire partner. eReleases has an exclusive database of opt-in (subscribing) journalists.
• The Internet News Bureau (INB) is an online press release service for businesses, offering clients the ability to reach more than 14,000 journalists and business professionals who have subscribed to receive their releases. See www.internetnewsbureau.com.

Compile Your Media List

What magazines, trade publications, newspapers, e-zines, Web sites and blogs do your customers read? What radio stations do they listen to? What TV shows do they watch? What professional associations do they join? To what clubs and organizations do they belong?

A media list is a crucial component of your PR plan. To promote yourself as an expert and leader in your industry or profession, know the media that influence your customers. Distribute news releases and articles to these media. Keep up with articles on your subject of expertise and know the media coverage by name of publication and journalist.

Try this. Go to Google News and type in your subject of expertise. Let’s say you are an accountant who owns a full service CPA firm specializing in consulting, financial services and leadership development. Type in “leadership development.” Google News will search through 4,500 news sources for articles on this topic, and you’ll see there are thousands. To narrow your search to find out your competition, type “leadership development consulting” in quotation marks. See the difference?

Compile your list and obtain the names, phone numbers and e-mail addresses of editors at each outlet. You can buy e-mail mailing lists from Gebbie Press or from Cision (formerly Bacon's). Your library will have access to online databases such as:

• The Gale Database of Publications and Broadcast Media, a comprehensive file containing detailed records on more than 87,000 newspapers, magazines, journals, periodicals, directories, newsletters, and radio, television and cable stations and systems.
• The Annual Editor & Publisher International Year Book, which lists addresses and editors of U.S. and Canadian daily newspapers, as well as alternative newspapers and specialty newspapers covering topics such as parenting, seniors, ethnic groups and real estate.
• The Writers Market, a database of more than 6,000 market listings, consumer and trade publications, syndicates and contact names updated every business day.
• The Encyclopedia of Associations, a comprehensive source of detailed information on over 135,000 nonprofit membership organizations worldwide. This can be helpful if your service or product targets a certain audience. A good example is Colorado author Christine Goff, who writes a birdwatching mystery series and often speaks to birdwatching groups.

Next: How to distribute your news release to the media and directly to your customers at the same time. Stay tuned.

Hone Your Pitch

Screenwriter Michael Hauge says screenwriters have less than 60 seconds to convince the people in power to read their script. They rehearse and hone their pitches until they can respond succinctly and on cue when asked, “What’s your movie about?”

You may not be a screenwriter, but if you’re in business for yourself, you face the same challenge. You often have less than one minute to pitch what your product or service will do for the potential client you just met. How do you respond when someone says “What do you do?” or “Tell me about yourself”?

In your 30-second pitch, let your listener know what your product, service, book, idea, strategy or business partnership will do for him. What need does it fill? What problem does it solve? Wrap up with a call to action if it’s appropriate. What you’re actually doing with this 30-second pitch is summarizing your personal brand. A personal brand tells your clients, customers, co-workers or employer four things:

• who you are
• what you do
• what makes you different
• how you create value for your target market

Here’s my 30-second pitch: “I’m a ghostwriter at MMI Associates, a PR firm known for getting results. I help clients win awards and get published -- and they don’t have to write a single word.”

Knowing your pitch and being able to verbalize it is one of the basics of being a more powerful and effective person on the job, in your community, at a conference ... and especially any time you need to “work a room” full of strangers. People will remember you.

What’s your pitch? I’d like to hear from you. If you want feedback from me and others on your pitch, post it in the comments section of this blog.