As entrepreneurs, we spend a lot of time second-guessing ourselves.

We try a host of different things to publicize our business. We tweet. We blog. We send endless pitches to the media. We plow through even the most boring networking events.

Inevitably there will come a day when you look at everything you’ve done to promote your business and want to throw it all in the trash can and start over.

Your blog sounds lame. And the fact that no one is commenting makes you feel even more lame.

You just spent hours crafting new pitches for the media and following up on old pitches and now are waiting breathlessly for someone to call or email you back. And then…nothing.

You scour your Twitter feed and try desperately to think of something intelligent or pithy to say in 140 characters. And then no one responds except someone named “xxxstaciexo”

Somehow all of your hard work now looks like a pile of poo.

However, when we go crazy trying to change everything in a desperate attempt to make something…anything…work, we can often make it worse. We stop doing things without knowing if they really ARE working. We pick new ways to market our business just because someone else told us we “have” to try it.

And while we navigate deeper into this mess, we aren’t putting any more money in our pocket.

So, what do you do when your publicity efforts are in the sewer?

Create a Plan that Sticks

I get it. You’d rather stick needles into your eyeballs than have to sit down and plan.

But hear me out.

Planning can actually be fun. But you have to create a plan that you can stick to.

I hear from many folks that they wish they had more time to pitch, or to write a book, or to blog, or to attend events. A good first step is to identify where you are spending your time and if you’re spending it efficiently. I like to make a list of all the tasks I do during the day. Do it for one day, or for a full week.

Then you’ll start to identify pockets of time that you might be wasting, or specific tasks you can outsource to free up more of your time.

Now make a plan of action – which marketing and publicity activities will you try in the next three months and how much time do you want to devote to each? This way you can chart out ahead of time how much time you’d like to invest for specific tasks (example: 5 hours per month for blogging, 10 hours per month for media pitching, etc)

Find Out What Really Works

You should have some formal process to measure all of your marketing and publicity efforts. At its most basic, you should ask where your customers heard about you – whether they are buying online or if you have your sales staff asking in person or on the phone. Also, check your website analytics monthly. Where is your traffic coming from? Which pages of your website are they reading (and which page are they leaving your website from)?

Having a measurement system in place to align with your individual marketing strategies will help keep you on track.

Get Help

It sucks doing it all alone. And it can be tough to run things by family and friends (who love your business, but can’t be your only customers).

Plenty of well-intentioned fellow entrepreneurs will share their success strategies, but that doesn’t mean those strategies will work for YOUR individual business.

That said, I’d love to help get you out of the weeds.

WORK WITH ME FOR FREE

I LOVE working with small business owners and get all giddy hearing about your business. As soon as I hear your challenges, my brain starts popping out ideas like fresh-buttered popcorn.

So, this week, I’m hosting a deliciously-awesome contest where you can win a 45-minute phone consultation with me (a $250 value).

All you need to do is post a comment below describing your biggest publicity or marketing challenge. Please also share your business name and website link (if you have one).

I’ll pick FIVE lucky winners by next Tuesday, May 3rd. WE HAVE CHOSEN OUR WINNERS! THANK YOU ALL FOR ENTERING!

Ready to try your luck at a private coaching session with yours truly? Post your comment below for a chance to win!

As much influence as new media has on our society, it still kinda baffles me that blogs are sometimes treated as the bottom feeders of media.

I often field questions from entrepreneurs that are completely awestruck at the possibility that their product can adorn the pages of a glossy magazine. Or, I see the stars swirl around in their eyes that, maybe…just maybe….one day….they could share their sage wisdom with Meredith Viera and the Today Show audience.

But when I talk about using blogs to publicize their business, they look at me like I’ve just handed them poop on a stick.

“What’s wrong?” I say.

Oh, I’ve had a bunch of blogs cover my business, but I got no sales. Bloggers are just looking for free stuff anyway. Plus I can’t afford to send them samples or waste my time writing guest posts. Enough with these little guys, I’m ready for the big leagues.

Sure, this can be a sound argument depending on an individual and their unique business situation. I don’t believe there is a one-sized fits all publicity approach for every business.

But, personally, I have great success guest posting for other business blogs and I can attribute tens of thousands of dollars in revenue to this strategy. And this blog is all about sharing what can work, and allows you to make the decision to use or not to use. Sharing is caring ☺

As I said, online publicity is a very specific strategy and, like anything else, can work well if implemented properly.

A friend of mine (an author) just chalked up a huge publicity campaign for her book where her motto was “no outlet is too small.” She wrote guest posts, participated in interviews, and sent review copies of her book to anyone and everyone that was interested.

This turned into “six degrees of separation” publicity – her coverage on hundreds of blogs led to an eventual Today Show appearance and write ups in several major magazines. These editors and producers either found her through a blog that they personally enjoyed, or heard of her from someone that read about her in their favorite blog.

Sure it took time. Sure it meant she had to foot the bill to send review copies to these folks. But these blog placements helped her become extremely well connected, and while her direct-pitching efforts to the ‘big guys’ were proving fruitless, these media folks respected the opinion of bloggers enough to book her based on their recommendation.

The point – you never know WHO is reading WHAT and WHO is influencing WHOM.

And if you want to play a bigger game, it can be a smart strategy.

If you’re up for it, read on.

HOW TO FIND BLOGS

There are tons of ways to find blogs that will cover you. You’ve probably heard a bajillion people say to check Alexa rankings or use specific blog search engines. These are all great ways, no doubt. But, as always, we rock things a little different over here in my joint.

1. Look at the websites for major magazines that appeal to your target customer. Lots of them have blogs (which should be an obvious target for you) BUT many of these sites also list their favorite blogs. For example: Martha Stewart has a “Blogs I Like” section on her site. Shoot, if it’s good enough for Martha, it’s probably good enough for you. ☺

2. Set up Google Alerts for people or brands that are either your competitors or that reach a complimentary audience. Find out who is covering them. Maybe they will want to cover you too.

3. With blogs, size doesn’t always matter. If a blog has thousands and thousands of readers, that doesn’t mean it’ll be a slam dunk for you. Look at the comments section of the blog to see if people are actually providing feedback.

4. Find blogs in a specific niche. For example, I do publicity consulting for a number of industries. But I’ve written guest posts for blogs that reach specific verticals – like medical, pets, bridal, and crafting communities. Even though these blogs don’t have a ‘big’ reach in numbers, the niche audience and content matched so well that I gained plenty of new fans.

HOW TO PITCH TO BLOGS

1. If you’re a product-based business, always make sure they actually feature products on the blog before you pitch something. If they do, check their About section, their Contact section, and/or look for a Review Policy section. Most blogs that accept product reviews or features list the information on how to pitch to them somewhere on the site.

2. If you’re pitching a guest post (where you would write a post for their blog with a link back to your website), make sure they accept guest posts. Many blogs that accept guest posts will have a “Contributors” tab or a “Guest Post” tab or button with more details. Or just comb through old entries and see if you can find any.

3. Read the blog before you pitch. You don’t have to read every single post, but read enough to know the subject matter, tone, and format of the posts.

4. Show the blogger you care! Comment on their blog. Share your favorite posts on Twitter and Facebook.

5. Take as much care writing a pitch for a blogger as you do for a national magazine, TV show, or other outlet. Many bloggers don’t respond because they get blasé pitches that treat them like the sewer rat of media. Not cool.

What’s your take on blog publicity? Have you tried any of the suggestions above? Share in the comments below!

Congratulations! You've managed to score some sweet publicity coverage. Now that you have a blog review, or a TV appearance, or a magazine write-up, or a newspaper article in your back pocket, will customers come flocking to you in droves?

Not exactly.

While you may see an increased amount of traffic, or even an increased amount of sales, your job doesn't stop here. Check out these 5 simple ways to explode your PR coverage.

Brag About It

Come on, you know you want to! Don't be shy about sharing your coverage with customers, family, friends – really anyone who will listen! At the very least, you should post the coverage somewhere on your website. If you want to be an A+ student, then for each new piece of press you get you should:

• Blog about your coverage
• Send an email newsletter with links to the coverage
• Post it in your online press room
• Use the logos of your press coverage on your homepage with an "As Featured In" blurb
• Share it on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn
• Hang it on the wall or display (if you have a physical store location)
• Include it in your email signature

Send it to Retailers

If you have a product-based company, send a copy of the coverage to your retailers so they can share it with their customers. This works especially well if you have a magazine placement. You can send the actual page you were featured on in a clear plastic frame so they can put it next to your product on the shelf. Also send electronic versions in case they want to post it on an e-commerce site next to the image of your product. This is important to help your retail accounts boost sales, and increase your wholesale orders!

Ask for Comments

If your coverage is online (and most things are posted online these days) there will likely be a comments section underneath where folks can post feedback. Encourage your 'peeps' to go and post a comment under the coverage. Remember, the media is looking for an audience just as much as you are. If your blog post or newspaper article generates a lot of comments and feedback, they may be more apt to cover your business again in the future!

Testimonials

Use quotes from the coverage you have and use it in your offline and online marketing. How cool would that be to have the back of your business card read "The best skincare I've ever used – Glamour Magazine."

Welcome the Audience

When you get a press mention, you will likely have at least one person visit your website or come to your store to inquire about your business. Make them feel welcome! If you know you're going to be featured in a major outlet, like Redbook Magazine or the New York Times, post a welcome note on your homepage:

"Welcome <media outlet name> readers!"

Then include a call to action depending on what the coverage was.

"To purchase the product featured in the article, click here"

"If you enjoyed our tips, contact us to set up a consultation"

You get the drill. Make it easy for customers to buy from you and you'll be much more satisfied at the results of your press coverage!

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You pitch a magazine here. Send a sample to a blog there. Get a call to do a radio interview.

Before you know it, you have a jumble of notes on tiny scraps of paper, important information contained within emails that – OOPS – you forgot to save, and your whole publicity system has turned into a big, hot mess.

Try this organization system that's so simple and easy-to-use, it will have you weeping with joy.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD A SAMPLE SPREADSHEET
**this sample spreadsheet is in Excel format

INSTRUCTIONS:

• Start with a blank Excel file (or other spreadsheet program that you prefer)
• Add a column for "Outlet Name" – name of the outlet you are pitching
• Add a column for "Contact Name" – name of the person at the outlet you'll be contacting
• Add a column for "Contact Title" – job title of the person you are contacting (important because there may be multiple producers for one show, or multiple editors at a magazine)
• Add a column for "Email Address" – email of the person you are contacting
• Add a column for "Phone" – phone number of the person you are contacting
• Add a column for "Address" – address of the person you are contacting (important if samples are requested)
• Add a column for "Website" – website of the outlet you are contacting, great for keeping on top of their latest news
• Add a column for "Pitch" – this is where you will write the date and title of your pitch. For example: 1/26: Valentine Gift that Makes Hearts Pitter Patter
• Add a column for "Sample" – for product businesses, this is where you can note the date the sample was requested and sent (those without a product can leave off this column)
• Add a column for "Follow Up" – this is where you will note all of your follow up, phone calls, emails, etc so you can keep track of how often you are following up and what happened during your last contact
• Add a column for "Placement" – if you're lucky enough to score a placement, make sure to write the date and description of the coverage here!

Keeping all of your press outreach organized into one simple spreadsheet makes your life easy, and you'll quickly feel like a bona fide PR pro!

How do you organize your press efforts? Was this spreadsheet helpful? Leave comment below!