How to effectively use press to promote your business
Introduction
I?ve been active in adult since 2003, started in live cams at the age of 22, running two studios while still a college kid. In 2005 I got me a gig as a ?go to guy? with Big Sister Media and worked with the company both in house and remotely for four years, before turning independent at the start of 2010.
May I add I also held mainstream jobs before and during my adult business time (related to commercial law and IT sales). My original college education is technical, about to finish a degree in International business next summer.
Besides publishing in AVN, XBIZ, YNOT, I also had a chance to work with plenty of mainstream media outlets, such as NY Times, Bloomberg, Getty Images, Time magazine, National Geographic and even the ?Hostel II the movie? Hollywood crew, where I prepared the questions and interviewed Eli Roth, closest I ever got to Hollywood so far.
Not going to elaborate about mainstream press experience though, since very few of you will ever have a chance or interest to work with mainstream press.
Enough introducing, let?s get down to business.
As a foreword, before you ever lay a word down?
Get out!
Forget your degree in marketing, get out and talk to those that you need to sell to, talk, talk and talk and read till you understand how do they think and what do they need.
If you were born poor such as me (had a single mother income to care about two kids, talking about communism that turned into broke pseudo capitalism in 1989), chances are you might have a good understanding for people that need to economize with money.
If you need to sell to people that actually have money to invest, again you need to spend with them lots of time to get into their mindset and examine their business (one of the first things for me personally was to learn how to dine in high end restaurants without choking myself with shrimp shells ? thanks XXXJAY).
While a quote from Scarface ?Don?t ever underestimate the other guy?s greed? is in general a very good life advice, what I?m trying to get at is that you need to examine the other guy?s business and figure out the practical problems he has to solve on daily basis, those problems you?re going to help him with.
This is no rocket science, but you need to keep your eyes open, your mouth shut and don?t you ever dare to think that you?re smart enough to sell to someone with no practical experience with their business and their needs.
That won?t work, this is B2B marketing, your future clients always think twice.
In other words, if you are about to announce a new set of promo tools you?re talking to webmasters, at that moment you need to be a webmaster. If you?re about to announce say a new B2B service you?re talking to business owners, you need to turn into a business owner, that is looking for your service.
As simple as it sounds, in many cases this is exactly the very essential problem.
Especially many corporate ?experts? with their MBA tattooed on their forehead that live caged with their ?likely minded? crowd are usually true experts in complicating anything that actually makes sense.
Let?s move on.
Don't get overly creative
Unique Selling Proposition is a term invented by a famous advertising executive Rosser Reeves, in short:
1. Each advertisement must make a proposition to the consumer
2. The proposition must be one that the competition either can not, or does not offer
3. The proposition must be so strong that it can move the mass millions (to pull over new customer to your product)
It makes all the sense in the world. In contradiction, it happens often that I get to read extremely sophisticated texts that don?t say anything at all. Just check a couple billboards on your way to work or when you walk outside, some of them just seem like as if creativity completely took over the subject.
Basically, without knowing the brand itself, you may end up wondering:
- What are they trying to sell you?
- What are they trying to tell you?
- Is this a philosopher going insane or someone that is actually supposed to make a living?
And if you asked 10 different people you would most likely get 10 different answers.
If you guessed, that these are also usually businesses that are (or were) so huge, stable and branded already, that they can afford disrespect to common sense, you?re right.
That?s not your case though.
Points being are:
Briefly and to the point
Value your reader?s time, the attention span in the third millennium is shorter than ever and it will only get worse.
Don?t you EVER let the reader wonder what the hell are you are offering.
Be as specific as possible
There?s nothing more odd, boring and overplayed than vague phrases such as ?better? ?best? ?great?. While you can always moderately exaggerate, you have to be as specific as possible.
If you just shout ?I?m better than the other guys?, it has zero informational value. Moreover - chances are you?re actually not better, and even if you are, by constantly shouting this around, you?re doing nothing at all to persuade the guy who reads your text about it.
Be specific, what do you have to offer, what is measurable AND interesting about your offer ? be exact.
Use a simple language
This is not only an alibi for my English. Get that message out without forcing the reader to translate / simplify for himself, sophisticated style belongs to novels - not to a sales text.
Try to catch the attention as soon as possible
Remember, if you loose the first two sentences you have most likely lost your whole press release.
Every single word must be focused on selling the product
This is a piece of advice that changed my life - always keep that in mind, re-read your draft many times before you publish it.
Once again - every single word must be focused on selling the product.
Retail is about detail
This is Sam Walton?s advice ? a guy from Arkansas that made billions of dollars.
Your offer must be very well thought out, this is exactly what will make your offer stand out at the end, so take your time. Also, give it for a review to someone you trust and who?ll give you a honest feedback.
Find your uniqueness
What is unique about you or your business? Nothing ?
Take another look cause you don?t try hard enough, there?s ALWAYS something unique!
This doesn?t even necessarily have to be an aspect your competition is lacking, but more likely than not, you?re about to find something they don?t market or talk about in public, and that?s definitely high on the ?uniqueness? scale. You basically need to come up with something that will be interesting enough for the reader to remember your offer, this can be your niche, your history, your sales record, unique brand name etc.
Don?t spill all the beans at once
Do you have news or accomplishments you are dying to share? Don?t do it!
At least not at once.
Make a plan, unless the offer or news are time limited, divide it into a suitable number of separate press releases to come out say once a week.Your name or your company brand needs to be constantly seen to gain the trust and attention it deserves. Don?t loose that opportunity.
Always include deeper url?s when publishing online
Not only your main url, but take the extra time to show samples of what you?re talking about, saving time of people that are making you money is mutually benefitial.
Always double check your text with the publisher
While there are some extremely talented people (and extremely charming ? paging Kristen Kaye) that work in adult media, they?re not experts on exactly your business, so whenever you do an interview or submit a press release for an approval, always double check the approved version with the editorial. Make sure it doesn?t contain any factual disputes or lacks your initial intention.
Example:
This is a press release I put together recently for MaDalton, the owner of
Amazing Content , one of the smartest people in adult and a great friend of mine.
Note the editorial changes in both cases:
AVN RELEASE
XBIZ RELEASE
Recommended reading:
?The 22 immutable laws of marketing? ? Jack Trout, Al Ries, 1993
?Differentiate or Die? ? Jack Trout, Steve Rivkin, 2001
?My Life in Advertising and Scientific advertising? - Claude Hopkins ? this is the single best book related to advertising I can recommend, this book changed my life and is a must for anyone serious about effective copywriting. Hell I shouldn?t even be giving you a tip on this book since I'm about to loose a part of my competitive edge.
In addition to that, pretty much any autobiography of a successful entrepreneur I read does too. Don?t be afraid to branch into exotic industries, this will increase chances you?ll think outside of the box next time you need it.
A final sentence?
Don?t you ever be lazy to think.
Thanks for your patience, Thanks Jill and GFY.