The promotion of business news should never be confused with search engine optimisation (or SEO), which is designed to get websites noticed by search engines. Business news regarding your organisation will be read by actual human beings (in other words, potential customers).
Become an Expert
The most effective way to promote your business news online is to establish yourself as an expert on a particular topic. If you can achieve this, reporters will contact you and cite you as an expert in their articles. The articles will be placed online and other writers may link to your articles as a source.
Getting reporters to cite you as an expert is actually easier than you might think. Reporters are often asked to write articles about topics about which they know little or nothing about, but they make themselves sound more knowledgeable by citing an “expert.”
Contact Reporters
If you have special knowledge on a topic or industry, let reporters know. One way to contact them is to look at their articles. Many websites and news blogs list email addresses for reporters and editors in the articles or somewhere else in the website. Just send them an email telling them you have special knowledge.
A solicitor might emphasise their knowledge of industrial contracts while a dentist might emphasise their knowledge of a specific kind of gum disease. So keep contacting reporters and get established as an expert. Make sure the reporter lists your business name in the copy and try to get him to include a link to your website in the article.
Create a News Event
One dirty secret of the news business that outsiders don’t realise is that there is often little or no news to cover. Reporters often run around looking for enough “news”. Businesses can take advantage of this by creating a “news event” for reporters to cover. This will get your business’s name out online.
A dentist might offer free treatment to less fortunate children for a day. A popular blog or website might be eager to cover the free treatment because it is an opportunity to get photographs and/or footage of cute kids.
Also, try holding the news event on a slow news day, such as Saturday.
Send Out Press Releases
Whenever anything new happens at your business, you should send a press release to all the relevant online media outlets. A well-written press release, particularly one with a photograph attached, might be picked up and placed in a newspaper. Or a reporter or writer might use it as a “source” for an article.
If you are looking for an Online PR Agency, check out PR Fire.
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