Secrets of Getting Free Coverage in Your Local Area

Buying a full-page ad in your local newspaper would cost more than most resume writing businesses could afford. However, if you got your local newspaper to cover you for free, that's exactly what you might get: an entire page (or at least a portion of a page!) dedicated to you.

Here's how to leverage the power of the press to get massive free publicity in your local area.

Pay Attention to Subsections
People often make the mistake of only trying to make "The Big News" (i.e., the front page of the paper or the front page of the Careers section). When you're trying to get attention locally, often it's better to focus on smaller sections.

For example, instead of trying to get an article in the Careers section, you might try to get a story in the "Money" or "Business" section. (Plus, you'd be attracting the attention of readers who aren't necessarily looking for a new job right at the moment.) Or how about trying to get a story in the "Living" section about a client who made a career transition in order to spend more time with his kids?

Each newspaper uses a different name for their various sections. Look through the various local papers and pick the sections you want to try to get stories in.

Don't Just Target Newspapers -- Think Magazines

Large cities often have magazines as well as newspapers. For example, San Francisco has the "7x7" magazine, dedicated just to San Francisco. New York, Chicago, Boston and many big cities also have similar circulations. My hometown -- Omaha, Nebraska -- has a couple of different city-oriented magazines, including Omaha magazine. The same company also publishes magazines called "Omaha Home" and "B2B Omaha."

Do a Google search of your city + magazine and see if you can find publications that are city-oriented in your area.

Reaching Out to Journalists
Remember that newspaper editors need to fill pages. Find the editor or journalist who's responsible for the specific section you're targeting. Try to pick people who've written about similar stories in the past. Then, send them an email pitching your story. Wait about 24 hours, then contact them by phone to follow up. Add them to your news release distribution list.

You might not land the story your very first try. Keep coming up with interesting angles and soon enough you'll get your first mention in the newspapers. Publicity begets publicity -- the more you're quoted, the more you'll be asked to be a part of future stories.

For more information on how to get free coverage for your careers industry business -- including sample news releases, dozens of story ideas to pitch, and more -- check out the Feed the Media Special Report (available to Bronze Level members during the month of September on BeAResumeWriter.com).

New Year, New Marketing Ideas

January is traditionally the busiest month for resume writers, according to the Resume Writers' Digest Annual Industry Survey. So if your phone hasn't been ringing (or your emailbox "binging"), here are some ideas to help you attract new clients right now.

• Re-evaluate your marketing plan. Wait. You do have a marketing plan, right? A written document that outlines your vision for your resume writing business, your goals and objectives, who your ideal target customer is, and the "5 Ps" (what Products/services you'll offer; your Pricing strategy; your Place/distribution plans -- i.e., whether you'll work with clients in person or virtually, or both; how you plan to Promote your business, and People involved -- you, and/or subcontractors or virtual assistants who will serve your clients). You'll also want to outline the marketing tactics you plan to use (including your marketing budget) and a schedule for implementing the tactics.

Every few years it is necessary to take a look at your marketing plan with new eyes. If you're not as busy as you'd like to be, you should evaluate your marketing plan every few months. What are you doing now? What's working? What's not? How can you revamp your existing marketing tools (articles, blogging, public speaking) and employ some new ones (social media, teleseminars/webinars)?

• Become a social networker. Speaking of social media, Twitter and Facebook are becoming valuable tools for a lot of resume writers, who have used the social media sites to position themselves as expert resources for clients, recruiters, and the media.

• Advertise your business on your personal Facebook page. I came across a resume writer last week who just made the announcement that she was no longer going to post any business-related posts on her personal page. Huge mistake! Facebook has just changed their algorithm again, and it's resulting in less visibility for Business Pages. The new "Subscribe" feature also makes it easy for "non-friends" to follow what you're up to -- and posting business content on your personal profile is what they're usually looking for! Post links to new content on your website and other promotional links that friends and family can view and share. But don't neglect your fan page for your resume writing business. It's still a valuable tool. Encourage current clients to sign up and tune in for special information or offers that they won't find anywhere else.

• Don't neglect offline tools. For many resume writers, a significant portion of your business is still local. Just because more and more clients are finding you online doesn't mean that you should neglect offline tools, like direct marketing, flyersm and promotional items.

• Video marketing. People love to watch informative videos online. You can take what you know and turn it into a visual presentation that immediately gives new clients a picture of who you are and what you do. I am loving doing "Desktop Demos" -- on my Mac, I just use QuickTime and a USB headset/microphone to do a quick video. It saves as a .MOV file, and I upload it to YouTube so anyone can view it. Easy!! Check out this video I did last week on how to use BeAResumeWriter.com's Pass-Along Materials.

If you have an iPhone, it's also easy to record and upload a video to Facebook. Possible topics: share job search tips, give an update on the job market in your local area (who is hiring; who is not!), walk people through a before-and-after version of a fictionalized client's resume....

• Create a press release. Are you about to offer a new service or product? (LinkedIn profile development, your new career membership site, salary negotiation coaching), Create a press release that will attract new clients to your business. Use a press release service and be sure that your content is SEO optimized. (Want more ideas on how to use the media to attract new clients? Check out the recording of my teleseminar on "Feed the Media" in the Free Level Resources section of BeAResumeWriter.com. Not a member of BeAResumeWriter.com? Click on the "Become a Member" tab and apply for your free membership)

• Take a fresh look at your website. Are you making it easy for prospective clients to understand how they should work with you? You need two things on your website: A clear "call to action" that tells clients exactly what you want them to do to start working with you (call? send their existing resume?) AND you need a way to capture information about folks who visit your site but aren't ready to start working with you yet. (A free report delivered via autoresponder usually fits the bill.)

These are just a few ways you can attract new clients for your resume writing business.

Resume Writers Resource

The careers industry has professional associations. We have conferences. You even have a trade magazine (that's me!). And now resume writers have an independent company that will help facilitate success, Resume Writers Resource …

Kathy Sweeney, NCRW, CPRW, CEIC, CCM has built her company, The Write Resume into a well-recognized brand -- and now she wants to share her expertise with other resume writers. Of course, Kathy has been sharing her secrets for attracting media attention and cultivating lasting client relationships for years. Her presentation on "Enhance Your Business Visibility and Increase Your Revenue" in Scottsdale in September 2006 at the NRWA Career Conference yielded tons of ideas for me. During her time as NRWA President, she mentored countless new and "emerging" resume writers. Now she's offering her services to the industry.

"The more you put yourself out there, the more your name will become known."
-- Kathy Sweeney, 9/15/06

One of the most exciting services offered by Resume Writers Resource (from my perspective) is the Press Release Writing Service. Even if you don't want to become a household name or have your company featured on the AOL home page, you will be amazed at the amount of business a single article written about your resume writing services can offer. For about the price of 1-2 resume projects, you can attract a dozen new clients ... ones who aren't just looking for the lowest-priced provider, either.

(The next Special Report from Resume Writers' Digest will give you actionable ideas on how to generate publicity for your business. But if you want to save some time, or don't want to wait for the report, contact Kathy.)

Kathy is also bringing affordable teleseminars and webinars to the industry. Her first offering, "The Nuts and Bolts of Implementing Interview Coaching Into a Resume Writing Business" will be offered tomorrow, Thursday 2/14/08 at 3 p.m. Eastern. The cost is just $25.

Kathy's experience will be a valuable "resource" for the careers industry, so be sure to sign up for her e-mail list to be notified of upcoming events.

Publicity Ideas from TV Shows

Sometimes you can generate publicity by tying your concept into a television show. With the new season of television underway, there are new opportunities to find this connection.

Back in 2003, I wrote a news release based on "Cupid," a television show airing that season. (The press release website I submitted it to no longer exists, unfortunately.)

Called "Looking for a Job is a Lot Like Looking for Love," the news release highlighted the similarities between the resume screening process and the television show.

The show was designed to help single gal ("Cupid Girl") Lisa Shannon find and marry her perfect mate. Helping her screen out "the losers" were her two friends, Laura and Kimberly.

In the first two episodes, Lisa and her pals auditioned hundreds of prospective suitors. Each had just 30 seconds to make an impression and advance to the next round. I pointed out how the same mistakes that sunk some prospective suitors would also hurt job seekers trying to make a good first impression.
Look to the media for current themes and trends you can piggyback onto for your news releases.

Wondering about Lisa?

MSNBC had an update: She picked a mate on the final show (Hank Stepleton), but the pair declined to be married live on TV, turning down $1 million. Instead, they said they wanted to get to know each other off-camera, and from what we’ve heard, they followed through with that.

In 2003, after the show aired, they moved to Chicago — Hank’s hometown — together. In August of 2004, they were still together, having moved to LA, although they weren’t yet married or engaged. But the summer of 2004 was the last we’ve heard of them.