Start Spreading the News! Get Media Recognition in 2013
The start of the New Year… Congratulations, you’ve made it another year in the financial services industry. As the New Year rolls in, I’m sure many of you are taking the time to plan out how 2013 is going to look. Perhaps you’re scheduling your workshops for the year, advertising campaigns, client appreciation events, award trips, you’re child’s or grandchild’s high school or college graduation, family vacations and holiday trips, etc. As you take the time to plan for success for 2013, take a moment to include planning your fame too. Make 2013 the year you become part of the news and gain media recognition utilizing the following strategies.
Calendar Based PR
While you’re looking at your calendar for 2013, take note of the holidays and calendar based events. New Years, Valentines Day, April 15th (tax day), May – when high school and college students approach graduation, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, the “back to school” season in August, Labor Day, National Long Term Care Planning Week, National Retirement Planning Week, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas… What should these days mean to you? Opportunity. The media regularly runs stories that tie into holidays or season specific times of year. How can you get your services spun into a holiday story? By creating a media campaign that ties into the calendar event. For example:
- New Years Retirement Resolutions – Ten Tips for obtaining Financial Fitness in 2013
- A taxing time for Retirees – Ten Ways Retirees can Reduce their Taxes in 2013 and beyond
- Back to School – but have you started saving for their college education? Ten Tips for College Planning
- National Retirement Planning Week – Have you done enough to prepare? Ten Tips for Planning your Retirement.
Plan campaigns like this on your calendar. Alert your media two weeks prior to a holiday. Give them a catchy tie –in, or valuable advice that pertains directly to the holiday. Let them know you’re a local resource who can assist in their efforts. Provide them with content, but also ideas of additional questions that you could possibly answer for them in an interview. Give them your contact information, and be available should they utilize it!
Special Events
Still doing workshops? It’s an educational event. Some communities might be open to running your workshop details in the community calendar, or on their news program. Create a media advisory about the event – list the WHO, WHATS, WHEN, WHERE & WHY. Give five bullet points of the information that will be covered at the event. If you’re having it at a community center or for a special interest group – that can be news too. I’ve found that niche workshops are very effective – for example, having a workshop at an assisted living facility, inviting people from the community to attend to learn their options for affording in-home health care, assisted living, or nursing home costs. Or so is having a comprehensive financial and retirement planning course at a local college. Also effective is when you’re serving a community need. For example, if a major company in your community is downsizing, 401k rollover workshops for affected employees is news worthy. Let the media know, perhaps they’ll even attend?
Self Development
Planning on bettering yourself this year? Do you have that scheduled? Are you pursing your CFP this year or joining the National Ethics Association for example? Plan a media campaign to follow up. Local media will almost always highlight “Movers and Shakers” in the community. This is also a good opportunity to let your local media know who you are, what you do, and how you help the people in your community. Perhaps they’ll highlight you in the community or business section of the paper; or perhaps they’ll find your accomplishments so interesting that they’ll do a feature on you? Things like this happen, if you make contact with your local media.
Also, don’t forget the power of awards and recognition. Think of a few award opportunities that you might be a good candidate for. Does your local Chamber of Commerce have award opportunities? What other local groups award local businesses owners/executives? Think about the financial services industry – they are dozens of ways to receive recognition and awards. Put these award and recognition opportunities on your calendar, be sure you apply for them, and if you get it, let the media know! These are all good ways to build on your fame in 2013.
Put it on your calendar
Make 2013 the year you work with the media. Plan your success. If success is what you’re after, then don’t stop at traditional ways to reach your goals. Public Relations can help propel you to a greater level of success in 2013 and beyond.
