The explosion of social media sites in the last few years has changed the way consumers learn about businesses. Let’s face it – today if your business is not a member of Facebook or Yelp, it is likely to be overlooked by many potential consumers. And if your business is without a website, you might as well be non-existent.
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If you have limited time to promote your web site, you may find that you gravitate towards "obvious" sources of web traffic – including pay-per-click, web page optimization and offline advertising of your URL. You would be making a mistake, however, if you do not regularly use press releases and public relations techniques to drive visitors to your web site.
The experience of my old college friend David Schwartz serves as a good case study to demonstrate the power of public relation. David is a solo practioner lawyer in San Diego and he has a number of interests outside the legal profession. Several years ago, David came up with the idea for a product that would eliminate the need for an indoor cat litterbox. He explains that cat owners frequently have to dedicate a bathroom or small room in their homes to the cat litterbox because of the unpleasant odors.
David built a prototype of what he calls the outdoor litterbox for indoor cats. It consists of a tunnel connected to a pet door, and an enclosed outdoor litterbox. Cats exit the home through the pet door, travel through the short tunnel into a small enclosed space where they "do their business." Since the litterbox remains outside, all the associated odors stay outside as well, allowing the homeowner to recapture his cat litterbox room.
David discovered that there was no similar product on the market, so he enlisted the help of a patent lawyer and obtained a patent for his idea, with the idea of licensing the patent to a pet product manufacturer. David found that potential manufacturing partners expected him to have a web site for his invention. At that point, David contacted me and I helped him put together a website for his invention – the Outdoor Litterbox for Indoor Cats.
Because David does not have a product to sell, he did not want to spend money on pay-per-click to drive traffic to his web site. Further, since his invention was new, keyword optimization would be something of a challenge. After discussing these options we decided that public relations would make the most sense for him to build a little "buzz" about his outdoor litter box.
About three weeks ago, I ran across an article by a humor columnist in San Diego who was looking for "offbeat" gifts. I forwared this blurb to David, who responded and ended up being interviewed and published. CNBC then picked up the reference and one of their reporters wrote about it.
Last week, David got a call from a talk radio station in Montreal, and he was interviewed on the radio for an entire 16 minute segment about his invention.
Note that all this free publicity has been generated in less than two weeks.
Now, David is looking into the possibility of manufacturing his outdoor litterbox independently. I can' t say for certain, but I suspect that the positive reaction David has received in print and on the radio has motivated him to take his business to the proverbial "next level."
Only time will tell if David will be crowned the nation's "litterbox king," but I know he is having fun with his invention and I am sure that this experience will open many new doors for him.
[tags] public relations, David F. Schwartz, free publicity, outdoor litterbox, cat products, doggie door [/tags]
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I have been testing an interesting service designed to increase my exposure to the media. The service is called ProfNet and it offers an interesting twist on the traditional method of seeking publicity through press releases. Journalists and free lance writers use Profnet to find experts to use for quotes and background in news stories and features. I am one of those experts. The journalists log in to Profnet and posts inquiries (and example post might read – "I am looking for an expert to discuss company policy on employees who cash out 401(k) plans early"). For a monthly membership, I receive three or four of these leads by email four times a day. If one of these leads relates to something I can speak to, I respond directly to the journalist by email to set up an interview. At sign up, I was able to choose several areas that relate to my areas of knowledge, so I do not get leads about subjects where I have no understanding. So far, I have been interviewed by PayPal radio and I have an interview with a free lancer who writes a bi-monthly column for the New York Times. I have only been testing this service for a little over a month, but so far, so good. [tags] Profnet, PR Leads, Dan Janal, public relations, publicity, Paypal Radio [/tags]
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