Stop … Yes, you!
I see you and what you are doing.
I see the amazing business you have.
The people you help.
The problems you solve.
I bet if I asked you if you have a story to tell you would say ‘no’.
I also bet if we spent 30 minutes together, I could find over 10 stories in your business you could share with the media because I know you have them (you just need a prod to help start the story digging process). Once you know what a journalist is looking for, then you will have stories on tap. I use a really cool tool called Content Creation Matrix to help pull out story ideas.
Sharing your stories
Either your personal stories or our business stories are the most incredible way to connect with your target audience. To engage them. To inspire them. To give hope. To provide useful information.
Stories can be shared using a blog, Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, article websites or … the most powerful platform for sharing a story – the media.
The key to getting media coverage is knowing what a journalist wants. You can get all fancy schmansy and complicated with your story but really, a journalist is looking for a good story that will engage THEIR audience. So the key here is KNOW YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE – match that with the right media outlet and you are onto a winner.
Do we have a problem?
But the age old problem with people sharing stories is most have no idea what makes a good story or that they even have one. Or they are far too modest to share. I had someone tell me this week they did not want people to think they are big noting themselves. This person had won an award for being exceptional at what she does but was worried people would think she was big-noting herself. Here’s my response – if you deliver your story with humility, authenticity and a genuine desire to make a difference, there is little chance this will happen.
Sharing an award win, from a marketing perspective, is good business sense. Getting a run in the paper is the ultimate in third party credibility – a journalist thought your story was good enough to share with their readers – and is social proof the service you provide is exceptional.
Tap into these
So … aside from winning an award, what other story ideas can you tap into.
· Be first to do something
· Sponsoring awards
· Working with the local community
· Major achievements – announcements of business growth and development
· Results of research carried out
· Milestones – 1000th customer, years in business
· Case studies – achievements of clients
· Seasonal ideas – things like Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Christmas – things that happen every year. Think how these days relate to your business
· Newsjacking – on the back of a news story or current trend/theme – think about what is being talked about now and how you might be able to tap into that – sporting events, elections.
· Solve a problem – look at the growth of articles on tips, hints, lists, # of ways to ….
Next thing …
Your next step is to put this into a calendar. If you would like at template, let me know and I will send you a generic one (with some examples) you can use.
The next step … SHARE YOUR STORY
PS … everything I said above, you can use to create other content – blogs, webinars, articles, infographics. The principles are the same.