Online Press Rooms a Must for Publicity

By Joan Stewart
The Publicity Hound

Bart Baggett wants media people everywhere to know that he has appeared on some of the top TV talk and news shows in the U.S. and in prestigious magazines like Biography. So in the press room at his website, under a button titled "For the Media," he reprints the logos of media outlets where stories about him have appeared. What a great way to establish instant credibility.

Bart is a handwriting expert and has appeared on more than 1,300 TV and radio shows. Is it any wonder? He does a great job letting the media know how he can help them. His media room also features press releases, including two that are tie-ins to Valentine's Day and National Handwriting Week in January.

He also gives the media ideas on how they can dovetail stories on national news events to his areas of expertise. For example, on CNN, Bart analyzed the handwriting in letters sent during the anthrax scare. In other media outlets, he analyzed Timothy McVeigh's prison letters and showed how McVeigh's handwriting revealed a callous character. 

There's lots more you can learn by visiting Bart's site. He offers punchy testimonials from media people who love him. He supplies a list of questions for radio and TV interviewers. And he gives specific instructions on easy ways for TV and radio show hosts to obtain handwriting samples from their audience members so Bart can analyze them on the air. What media person wouldn't want to interview him?

Bart says he used another publicity trick that paid off handsomely. When he was interviewed by Biography magazine, he sent the magazine photos of what he looked like as a child. If magazines print childhood photos of celebrities, he reasoned, and they print his, he too will be viewed as a celebrity. Sure enough, the magazine did. And he got more space that he would have gotten had he not sent the photos.  

If you want media people calling you for interviews, you must build a compelling online press room and press kit. More than ever, media people often check out sources’ web sites before calling the sources. They want to see if you’re worth the phone call. They want to find out if you’re media-savvy. And sometimes they want to see what other media have interviewed you. If no one else has, why should they bother? 

You'll find hundreds of tips on how to build an online press room and press kit in the one-hour tape or CD called "Electronic Media Kits: How to Create Them, Deliver Them and See Instant Results," in which I interview publicist Bev Harris
of Talion.com. It comes with a downloadable handout of my favorite online press rooms built by Fortune 100 companies down and sole proprietors.

Also, make sure you have a compelling bio. Most bios I read are more potent than sleeping pills. For tips on how to jazz up your bio, see "Special Report #46: Tips for Rewriting Your Boring Bio."
 

Direct comments or questions about this article, including requests for reprint rights, to:

Joan Stewart
The Publicity Hound
3434 County KK
Port Washington, WI 53074
Phone: 262-284-7451
JStewart@PublicityHound.com