The days of spending big budgets on advertising and media agents has long gone, particularly for the SME. Some of the traditional activities are still important and do have a role but that role continues to change to meet new media and technologies. Most of the smart marketers are now finding ways to talk to their target market directly, at a fraction of the cost of the traditional interruption techniques and through media agencies using editor only strategies.

Last week I was talking at the Norwich B2B exhibition about how I got into the papers by doing my own PR and I think it is worth talking about that in a little more detail. The activity I embarked on, was not about getting in the press as the primary objective, although that was achieved. It was about talking directly to my target and the media too, in case they were interested.

The key point that I want to drive home here is that the amount of activity I was able to undertake for myself, at no cost other than an extra 30 minutes a day work, was greater than my budget would allow any agency to do and was much more successful than I had previously experienced using agencies. Be aware though, to get the kind of coverage I did was not just a news release once a month sent to a couple editors! It was more than that, I based it on my belief that success is directly related to the amount of work I do, regular and frequent activity is the key.

It's been said many times before and will be said many times again, the harder you work the more luck you seem to have! Here is the kind of activity I did to get regular coverage in the press:

• Always concentrated on my market, with an emphasis on free information.
• Became the expert in the arena.
• Made myself available for comment to the press on related subjects.
• Created a reputation for saying what I felt regardless of controversy.
• Sent out one news release every week, sometimes more.
• Used notable headlines.
• Piggybacked on current stories.
• Used blogs.
• Talked people not products.

To get the full picture consider getting a copy of the guide to good business part 4, or give me a call I will be happy to help you further. Your comments are most welcome.