Online Business Strategies to Survive the Recession: Effective Public Relations

Public relations is really a broad category of free promotion you may do online. It includes press releases as well as any other newsworthy type of communications you may create about your business (i.e. video, radio, TV).

The best part of using public relations to promote your business online is that it gives you a lot more credibility than traditional advertising because it is perceieved as being newsworthy.

This is the element of your business you really need to focus on in order to be effective here: the campaigns you are creating are news; they are newsworthy.

The first thing you need to do is ask yourself: What is happening in my business that the press or my potential customers want to know about? Answering this question correctly is crucial to the success of your public relations campaign.

So, when you're first planning your campaign, decide what is news in your business. If you're really not sure, then I would recommend you take a look at a press release site like PR Web or a news site. Most newspapers don't tell readers that many of their stories are actually based on press releases. (It's a labor intensive process putting out a daily publication so newspapers rely heavily on press releases for news.)

Once you've decided what is news, then start constructing your press releases. Submit your press releases to the appropriate sites. To increase your exposure make sure that you include Google, Yahoo, and MSN news as sites you want your press releases distibuted on.

With Web 2.0, you may want to create what I call "mini stories." A mini story is a title, short description, and keywords for your main story. You post these on bookmarking sites like Digg, Propeller and others. This is another way to spread your news, and it builds backlinks to your website, raising your rankings in the search engines.)

Finally, as part of your PR campaign, consider video. Depending on the type of news you are creating, videos may be the best way to spread your news, especially if it allows you to demonstrate your product or illustrate something about your business. Videos are highly popular online, and your readers will love it. Submit your videos to video and news sites.

Just remember: think news and inform your visitors, as well as the press, about news in your business. Include a local angle to your stories and submit them to your local papers, TV, and radio stations. This will help you get more traffic and increase your credibility.

Like these tips? Then get your free internet marketing membership and increase traffic to your business. Sign up for your free 23 page Internet Marketing Tips Guide and discover how to increase your traffic and sales using only free internet marketing techniques.

Jinger Jarrett is the author of "Internet Marketing for Free, The GUIDE."

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