Have them call you: How to build a sexy PR Page and get yourself out there.

There is no more underused, and effective, tool than using Public Relations in your marketing effort. Whether you’re just a casual blogger or a a business mogel, there’s no doubt that getting your name in front of a PR agent can be one of the fastest ways to effective exposure at a large scale.

Often the hardest part of PR is not necessarily being “good enough for PR people”, but actually getting your name there and — this is the biggie — having them want, and know how, to contact you.

Because the truth is that PR staff at firms are as busy as you and I are. They, too, have deadlines and intense timeframes to work in, and so if they can’t find out immediatately why they should ocntact you and how they can, they’re going to vanish from your site. Fast.

Now, being a copywriter, I’ve seen and studied all of the different types of copywriting you get: from super-short catalogue copy all the way up to very, very long sales-letter copy. PR-type copy comes somewhere much closer to catalogue, yet it’s important to understand the difference that most public relation writing has to the rest of the family of copy types. PR writing is a bit like the odd uncle at family reunions — it’s not like everyone else, but a part of the whole family nonetheless.

So here are 5 key steps to building a sexy PR page so you can get your name, and yourself, out there!

1. Do the discovery.

Before you start to write you PR page, you need to know what you’ve got. Makes sense, right? You can’t even begin to start telling a PR agent why you’d be a good choice for their TV station, Radio station, newspaper, etc.

So obviously, take some time out of your schedule (ha!) or keep a pad with you and try to jot down all of your achievements that you’ve done, all different people you’ve worked for and other important facts like your previous work experience, specific awards you’ve been given and, most importantly, your previous exposure, if any.

Once you’ve gotten as much as you can down, the next part is to actually pick the relevant parts. After all, you might have been Valedictorian or champion of the netball team in college, but is it relevant? It’s pointless to rattle off everything, regardless of any filter. It’s your responsibility to filter down the important stuff. There might be a lot, there might be a little. But ultimately, you simply can’t just tell them everything about yourself and expect to get contact by a PR agent of a business because you happened to get the “cutest 8th grader” award.

2. “Read the question.”

Remember when you used to take exams and all the exam guides said, over and over again, “Read the question thoroughly so you don’t start telling them everything you know about the subject”?

Well in a similar fashion, you’ve got to the same with your PR page.

What is the intent of your PR page? What do you want out of it? General exposure? Articles written about your business? An interview on your local news channel? A national one? Before you even start putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard), it’s vital that you get this clear in your head. Clarity always brings in better results, so getting crystal clear on WHAT you want out of what you’re doingis very, very important.

3. Give them an incentive.

In all copywriting the SINGLE most important thing is benefits.

If you aren’t showing them why it would be a good idea for them to call you? Oh hey, look at that! They won’t.

Now, of course it is always important for you to keep to factual stuff (step 5), but that doesn’t mean you should refrain from framing everything you’ve got to show them as benefits.

So feel free to tell them the benefit of the agent showcasing your business on your local TV station. Explain how your business caters to a special audience (if it does) and how businesses like yours could add a new flavour for their station’s demographic. You could talk about how you pioneered a certain system or how website is known for its specific style of writing.

Whatever you have going for you (your “features”) it’s deathly important that you turn them into benefits.

So, the fact that you get 300 unique visitors a week made 80% of other moms could translate to “Because my website receives 300+ hits a week, 80% of which are mothers, this means that [yoursitename].com can be a useful platform for mother-minded companies to advertise on and showcase their products successfully”.

4. Call, call, call: but politely.

Every heard of “call to actions”?

Simply put, they’re snippets asking the reader to take action.

Now, when it comes to PR, you have to make it as easy as humanly possible for them to get in contact with you right there and then.

The fastest way to to do that? Phone number and email topping and tailing the page. If it’s long, one in the middle. Make them stand out (box them if necessary), and try not to have too much text around them. So, such as a quick:

[Your name]‘s quick contact details:
Phone number: [your phone number]
Email: [your email]

Now, note that there isn’t an obvious “call to action” there. And there’s a good reason why: politeness. PR agents already have an intention on contacting you if your PR page is decent enough, and so the call to action is implicit by putting the details, rather than the call to action being explicit (like having “Phone me now…”).

This is very, very important. You can ask for them to get in contact with you, for sure. But as soon as you start telling them to do something? Eh. Wouldn’t you find that a bit frustrating? Especially if you’re a small business with little experience in PR, trying to command an agent to call you is, frankly, rude.

If your business is an empire then, well, do what you like. Put a giant red box around it and put arrows to the details. You’re trading on your reputation, then, and you can get away with more forceful behaviour.

But when you’re a start-up (or with little exposure in the media), it’s always the best idea to say your “Please” and “Thank you”.

5. Check your tone at the door.

It can be easy when you’re tooting your own horn to go from “Oh, I’m just this little business owner that sells shoes to people…” to “I have the BEST flats in the WORLD that ALL self-employed people in my ENTIRE COUNTRY own!!!!!!”.

And that’s why you have to check your tone at the door. As soon as you start to get overly self-inflating, PR peeps start to get a few question marks over your head. After all, these people get exposed to a lot of businesses, and because of that they’re pretty good at whiffing out hyperbole.

So when you’re writing your copy, try to keep to the facts you have. Impressions. Unique page views. Get wise on your analytics service and be transparent about the information they have on your websites/business. If your objective (step 2) is to attention from TV PR agents, tell them what you’ve done in the past, your experience in your field, who you have worked for, how many people you have trained, and people who have showcased you (such as other TV channels, magazines, etc.).

Keep it as factual as you can. There’s NOTHING wrong with making yourself sound “good”, but you have to keep yourself in check. Don’t let yourself suddenly start shading outside of the lines. It might feel more comfortable to start with by boasting your ass off, but it will most definatley harm your PR potential in the long run. It’s a fine balance between why they should hire you (step 3) and facts and figures. Try to get a ration of about 70:30 — 70% facts, 30% benefits.

And that’s about it!

Writing a PR page doesn’t have to be hard, but a good one does take a little bit of time.

Just follow the above steps and, if you’ve done your homework in the past, you should start getting some lovely emails from PR agents looking to give you some delish opportunities!