Want Exposure for Your Product or Service? There are many opportunities for media and public exposure for your product or service. Workshops and receptions are sure ways to attract media attention and end users to attend your event. Media tours bring the press to you. Publicity gets the word out to large numbers of people, and cross promotions create a whole new story, with the added benefits of cost-efficiency and third-tier marketing payoffs. Workshops & Receptions Schedule a workshop, reception or round table discussion. Decide on a theme, contact speakers or panelists, and ask if they will participate free-of-charge in return for the publicity exposure and access to your invitees. Invite people likely to be interested in the product or service. Publicize the event, making certain you have enough lead lime to get it published. Be sure to have handouts or other materials that satisfy attendees that they have received value for their attendance. Media Tours Getting media to come to you is another way of garnering press coverage. Design a media tour around your new service or product, and select a convenient location. Invite only appropriate trade and business media. If you are an architect who wants press coverage for a new building you've designed, ask the owner if you can hold a reception in the lobby. This can provide a chance for the owner or owner's lessee to show off a retail space, and it demonstrates the architect's creativity to many potential clients. Publicity If you want publicity, read, listen to, and watch the media! Newspapers, television, the internet, and radio provide a wealth of information about new trends on which you can piggyback a news release or story idea about your service or product that you send to an editor. Imagine, for example, that you have invented a new product you want women to buy. Read media that reach that demographic market, paying keen attention to trends in how women are finding solutions to career and lifestyle challenges. Then, using the trend as a "centerpiece," design your media message to include solutions that your product or service will provide. Cross Promotions If you're looking for new story "hooks," you can create them by joining with a complementary non-competitive "partner" in a cross-promotion. For instance, if you market a hotel and want to attract meeting planners to tour your property, schedule a fashion show/cocktail reception at the hotel by partnering with a local department store. This type of alliance helps defray your expenses, while providing a reason to get the audience into your hotel. Contact: Somerville Associates