| |
| |
|
Acne Information |
|
|
|
16 Publicity tips for Restaurants
With a dismal failure rate of more than 75 percent among restaurants, you must be sure you do everything you possibly can do to promote your restaurant through free publicity. Here are 16 tips that will boost your publicity efforts and help you finally get noticed--even if you don't have a big advertising budget. 1. Call the advertising department of every newspaper and magazine you want to get into and ask for a copy of their editorial calendar. It's a free listing of all the special topics and special sections coming up during the calendar year. It will tip you off to sections where your story idea would be a good fit, so you can query the editor weeks and even months ahead. 2. Call the food editor or columnist from your local newspaper and invite her to lunch or coffee-or to your restaurant. Offer yourself as a resource. Ask "how can I help you?" Feed her tips and story ideas. Become such a valuable source that she keeps coming back to you for more information and eventually writes about you. 3. Produce your own television show on your cable TV company's community access channel. The station will rent you the camera equipment for about $20. You can produce either one show or an entire series of programs, from how to cook with fresh garden produce to a show on how to buy fine wines. Air time is free. Call your cable company for details. 4. Build a network of other restaurant and food industry professionals-even if they are your competitors. Agree informally that you will refer reporters to each other whenever the media calls. Often, reporters want more than one source for a story. It's a chance for all of you to get additional publicity. 5. Whenever someone asks you to write for their electronic newsletter or online magazine, visit their web site first and see if they have a resource section where you would be a good fit. Ask to be listed for free, in exchange for providing an article. 6. If you publish an interesting print newsletter with information about new trends in your industry, helpful tips for your employees or interesting stories about things that happen in your restaurant, send complimentary issues to local and national food columnists, food reporters, restaurant industry trade publications and other publications whose audiences you want to get in front of. You'll be amazed at how many reporters start calling you for interviews. 7. Don't forget newspaper and magazine columnists. They're always hungry for fresh ideas. Keep in touch with them and feed them ideas regularly. Tell them about trends you are seeing in your industry. 8. Call local radio talk show hosts and invite them to call on you when other guests cancel. They will be thankful you offered. Write articles for industry newsletters. My favorite resource is the Oxbridge Directory of Newsletters, which lists more than 18,000 newsletters by topic and includes detailed information on the type of audience and subjects covered. Most larger libraries have this resource directory. 9. Contact your trade association and ask them to refer reporters to you. Many reporters who don't know where to find sources start by calling trade associations. 10. Always refer to yourself as an "expert" in your marketing materials, at your web site, in your email signature file, and in your media kit. The media always seek out experts and interview them. 11. If you receive a favorable restaurant review, reprint it on placemats, or frame it and post it in your restaurant wall. Quote from it in your paid ads. Post it at your website. 12. If you have found innovative ways to attract and retain employees, let the media know. The labor shortage in the restaurant industry is a hot topic. 13. Suggest profile stories of employees who have interesting hobbies or participate in outstanding community service projects. The reporter will ask them where they work-and that's more publicity for you. 14. If your restaurant is a tourist attraction, pitch a story idea to in-flight magazines. 15. If you attend trade shows for the restaurant industry, hook up with reporters who are covering the show and pitch story ideas about trends in your industry, or an idea about your restaurant. Joan Stewart, a.k.a. The Publicity Hound, shows you how to use the media to establish your credibility, enhance your reputation, sell more products and services, promote a favorite cause or issue, and position yourself as an employer of choice. She publishes "The Publicity Hound's Tips of the Week," a free ezine on how to generate thousands of dollars in free publicity. Subscribe at her website at http://www.PublicityHound.com and receive by email the free checklist "89 Reasons to Send a News Release."
MORE RESOURCES:
|
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Using Publicity As A Creative Marketing Tool Publicity is an important and often overlooked tool of creative selling; and a more cost-effective way of reaching your target audience than advertising. With the inherent third-party endorsement of the media implied in every editorial story, a news or feature article in a newspaper, magazine, or on television or radio, is an infinitely more credibly-perceived communications message than an ad or commercial. Writing a Press Release: The Medias Dirty Secret There's a dirty little secret about press releases that the media doesn't want you to know. The fact is, most of them travel directly from the sender's computer to the reporter's trash box. A Guide to Optimizing Public Relations Content This guide to "SEOing" your PR efforts can help you get high-ranking search results for your press releases, marketing white papers and ezine newsletter content. Whether you are managing PR efforts for several online companies or just one website, you've probably wondered how you can increase your sites (more importantly, your work) overall impact in the Web community. Your Organization: What Role PR? As a manager, does your current business, non-profit or association public relations effort concern itself primarily with radio and newspaper publicity? Or does it concentrate on a specialty area like financial communications or trade relations? Or, possibly, it deals each day with sales support or government affairs?Actually, maybe your PR effort should concentrate on delivering what you really need?For example, PR that really does something positive about the behaviors of those outside audiences that most affect your organization?PR that uses its fundamental premise to deliver external stakeholder behavior change - the kind that leads directly to achieving your managerial objectives?And PR that persuades those important outside folks to your way of thinking, then moves them to take actions that help your department, division or subsidiary succeed?What fundamental PR premise are we suggesting as your new action blueprint? People act on their own perception of the facts before them, which leads to predictable behaviors about which something can be done. When we create, change or reinforce that opinion by reaching, persuading and moving-to-desired-action the very people whose behaviors affect the organization the most, the public relations mission is accomplished. If Your PR Cant Do This, Bag It! As a business, non-profit or association manager, why continue a public relations effort that doesn't deliver the key external audience behaviors you need to achieve your department, division or subsidiary objectives?Time for a change. One that will base your PR effort on a fundamental premise that makes sense. Media Training - Essentials for ALL Office Professionals Often the first point of contact the media has with an organisation is with the front desk or receptionist. Although designated people within a company may have the training and skills needed to interact with the media, the first point of contact within an organisation can make or break a journalists perception of the company and may impact on how they report about your business. Public Relations - Defining Your Organization from the Inside Out What do your customers say about your company?Would you let your major competitor control your sales strategy?Public relations is an inevitable consequence of being in business. Whether you like it or not, your corporate image evolves with every interaction with clients, investors, competitors, and even between your own employees. 10 Secrets to Get Your Press Release Noticed It's difficult enough running the day-to-day aspects of a business, let alone trying to drum up new business as you go. But according to Shannon Cherry, APR, even if you have additional staff helping to get the word out about your products and services, location and prices, delivery and sales support, news releases can make your company grow faster. The Worst PR Mistakes For a business, non-profit or association manager, they could be fatal, coming as they do in four bitter flavors.Mistake #1 - You limit your PR activity pretty much to placing product and service plugs on radio and in newspapers. Public Relations Primer, Part II: Five Dos 1) Package your story. Two critical elements will help you do this: Knowledge and Creativity. HELP: I Need a Press Kit! A press kit is an essential press relations tool. While it can be used to support a special event or promotional activity, it is most helpful in strategically positioning an organization or product. How To Get Radio-Active PR For Your Non-Profit Cause: Part Two of Three FIVE WAYS TO GET ON THE RADIOHere are five basic methods of fitting your group into the programming at radio stations:1) Spot messages2) Feature stories3) News4) Interviews5) And becoming a reporter.Here are details on each method. Does the PR Blueprint Work? Managers, please take a minute and read two sentences: People act on their own perception of the facts before them, which leads to predictable behaviors about which something can be done. When we create, change or reinforce that opinion by reaching, persuading and moving-to-desired-action the very people whose behaviors affect the organization the most, the public relations mission is accomplished. Online Business Press Release Writing Tips And Ideas Press releases are one of the most cost-effective ways to get promotion for your online business. Many entrepreneurs ignore this type of promotion because they don't know how to write a press release. 13 Publicity Ideas for Retailers If you're trying to promote your store, but you don't have a big advertising budget, relax. There are lots of ways to get in front of the audience you want to reach by using free publicity. What Many PR Users Ignore Simply that the behaviors of their most important outside audiences rank pretty low on their list of things to worry about. And this despite the reality that, properly cared for, those behaviors can affect whether or not those managers achieve their managerial objectives. Ignore PR at Your Peril! If you do, it means:you don't value tracking the perceptions of important outside audiences whose behaviors could sink your ship:you don't care about setting a public relations goal designed to correct misconceptions, inaccuracies or rumors that can hurt you;you care even less about strategies to get you from here to that PR goal you already don't care about;and you certainly don't value the persuasive messages you need to convince your key outside audiences that their damaging perceptions of your enterprise are dead wrong.Man, that's risky and an awful lot not to care about!Actually, I don't believe you don't care, and I don't believe you're really ignoring public relations. Public Relations: Why it Works The short answer is, it works best when its fundamental premise is the guide, which insures that the primary focus of your public relations program is the behaviors of your most important outside audiences. Not less urgent matters like personalities, communi- cations tactics or administrative concerns. How to Get $1000 worth of Advertising for $60 ©2004 Jeffrey DobkinSixty dollars doesn't go a long way in buying advertising space. But if you spend it creatively, you can get over ten times that value in newspaper or magazine lineage. When Managers Play the PR Card The payoff for business, non-profit or association managers can be a real assist towards meeting their department, division or subsidiary objectives.Playing that public relations card means they've decided to pursue their objectives by reaching, persuading and moving those outside audiences whose behaviors most affect their organizations, to actions those managers desire.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |