Indie Business Blog

Your New Career: Publisher

Embracing The Role That Makes Business Fun and Profitable

A few years ago, I worked with a client to help her launch an online newsletter. I'll never forget what she said to me as we moved through the process: "This seems like too much work, Donna Maria, I don't want to become a publisher." Since I was a journalism major in college, and since I have had a blog, a newsletter, a radio show, a magazine, etc., for years, I felt a twinge of guilt. After all, I love to write and talk, and putting information out there comes easily to me.

        

I explained to my client that all businesses are publishers, even if all they have is a single website page or a tiny business card. She resisted me and launched her business without any way of communicating with her target customers. I never saw her newsletter and last year, I noticed that she is no longer in business. There are a million reasons why people go out of business, and one of them is a refusal to embrace the notion that, to be successful, you must communicate directly and regularly with your customers. In other words, you must be a publisher. Here's why.

Flex Your Media Muscle

Save Time, Money and Take Control

The longer I coach Indie Business owners, the more I am persuaded that our success requires that we become our own best media outlets. We must become the news we want to be. While traditional media outlets and publicists can complement our efforts, ultimately, the responsibility rests with us to literally become the media on our behalf. After all, we have access to all of the tools needed to create interesting and informative content that can be delivered directly to our target audience.

          

Over the years, I have hired PR firms, done my own media outreach and created outlets of my own, including Indie Business Radio, my Twitter home and this blog. My experiences and the work I have done with thousands of Indies confirm my belief that, as great as it is to be quoted in mainstream media, at the end of the day, each Indie is his or her own best mouthpiece.

This truth is pointedly illustrated by the recent experience of my friend, colleague and Indie Beauty Network member, Jo Ann Hines, the Packaging Diva. (Throughout this article, "writer," "reporter" and "blogger" are used interchangeably, a testament to the ever changing and ever expanding media landscape.)

Media Matters

How to Matter to the Media

Over the years, I have worked with some great publicists, among them the late media powerhouse Paige Ebersole McMahon, Katherine Hutt of Nautilus Communications, Michelle Tenant and Drew Gerber of Wasabi Publicity and Marla Russo of Bella PR. These professionals understand the media, do great work and are devoted to helping their clients' businesses succeed. I have learned so much from the over the years.

         

But they can be pricey, so they don't work for all Indies all the time. Since Indie Beauty Network members often struggle to meet the demands of growing business while also wearing their own publicist hat, I launched the Media Leads Program to train Indies on how to develop solid media leads and contacts in a cost effective and efficient manner.

Here's what Michele Kepier, owner of Flower Peddler and a new Media Leads client, shared with me about her experience in the program, followed by some valuable tips to help you reach out the media with style and flair.

Become the News You Want to Be

This is the third in a series of posts inspired by my post about how blogging on a schedule can help keep blogging quick and painless. I posted an "interview" post on Monday and a "holiday/current events" post yesterday. I suggested a "new product or service post" on Wednesdays. But here's the thing. It's your blog, so you can change your schedule whenever you feel like it.

In my first law firm job, my goal was to become one of the first woman partners in the firm. My mentors advised me that, one of the things I needed to do to achieve that goal was to dress like a woman partner. In other words, appear to be what I wanted to be, in order to become what I wanted to be.

          

I thought of this when a recent article in my local paper reported on how presidential candidate Barack Obama uses technology to pursue his goal of becoming the next president of the United States. For example, on January 28, 2008, within a few minutes of President Bush's final state of the union address, Obama recorded a video response. The press was not there, no press releases were issued and there was no media frenzy to find out what Obama thought about Bush's speech.

No matter, because within minutes of recording the video, Obama's team loaded it to the campaign's YouTube page. To date, it has enjoyed 1,357,302 plays.

Think. About. That.

Barack Obama has millions upon millions of dollars at his disposal. The same technology that's available to him is available to you and your small business.

Do you have a YouTube page? Get one. And become the news you want to be.

If you enjoyed this post, you may also wish to subscribe to my blog feed to receive more great tips on using YouTube and other social media sites to promote your business.

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Indie Business, According to Thomas Edison

Did you know that Thomas Edison did not actually invent the light bulb?

Maybe you did, but I'll bet you don't know how he managed to take all the credit for it. This question intrigued me, so I got in touch with Dr. Blaine McCormick, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs at Baylor University's Hankamer School of Business, to get the scoop.

Using A Publicist To Get Media Attention For Your Small Business

Make Sure You're Ready, Don't Expect Miracles

I was a journalism/public relations major in college. As a result, when I launched my first business, I knew that I had to incorporate media outreach as a part of my marketing strategy. Yet, the first time I hired a public relations firm, I was terrified.

          

The fee of $250 a month was huge for my small business at the time. I had to pay it on the first of the month, whether or not I had been featured in even the tiniest media outlet the month before. Over the years, I've had the opportunity to work with many publicists, and interviewed many on Indie Business Radio. (Check the Resources at the end of this post to stream or download those interviews.)

Here's what some of my favorite media professionals told me I needed to share with you about using their services to get media attention for your small business.