Transcript of Episode 7 - The Susanna Hutcheson Power Marketing Show

Podcast script for: Episode [ 7]

 

(Intro)
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(Welcome Monologue - recorded)

Welcome to The Susanna Hutcheson Power Marketing Show, brought to you by Power Communications, the #1 online copywriting service. I am Susanna Hutcheson and I’ll bring you tips, pearls of wisdom and techniques to increase your income by using unique methods of advertising and marketing. Join me each week to discover tricks of the trade that will help you develop your business and your brand. It’s never been easier to get a real education in professional marketing. This is truly a learning experience you won’t find anywhere else!

 

(Bumper Music)

 

Program Script: This week I want to discuss another sure way for you to get more exposure for your business and yourself. We’ll discuss a method that I use successfully to get people to my site and to gain credibility. It also affords me a way to get new clients. And --- it can do the same for you. So stay there and I’ll be right back.

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(Commercial #1)

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Program Script Continued: OK. We’re back. Very few online businesses use the effective marketing tool I’m going to discuss with you. So, if you start using it, you’ll have the competitive advantage. What is this tool? I’m talking about press releases. And, I’m not talking about just your average press release but an optimized press release.

 

Now, I can hear you say, “Well, we don’t do anything to merit a press release.” Well, you’re wrong. I often distribute two or even three press releases a week. And, I can assure you that I don’t do anything earth shattering.

 

Press releases can be about anything. You send one out when you get a new client. When you change a policy. When you change something on your Web site, get a new Web site, change anything in your business --- even add a new feature or a new page.

 

David Meerman Scott says in his fascinating book, “The New Rules of Marketing & PR” (and I quote) “Instead of writing press releases only when we have big news --- releases that reach only a handful of journalists --- we should be writing releases that highlight our expert ideas and stories, and we should be distributing them so that our buyers and find them on the news search engines and vertical content sites.” (end of quote)

 

Yesterday I distributed a press release about my firms decision to give 35% of its income to charity --- a 10% increase.

 

Today I distributed a press release about my current podcast that came out the day I’m writing this transcript of this show. Moreover, I use the right keywords so that the releases get in Google and other search engines.

 

These are things most online business don’t do. But you should start doing it right now. The sooner the better.

 

Let’s talk a minute or so about writing optimized press releases.

 

First, let’s talk about optimizing your release. Here are the steps to an optimized press release.

 

1.     Research keywords for your target audience/subject matter
2. Add keywords to the press release to create keyword-rich content
a. Add keywords to your headline
b. Add keywords strategically within your press release copy
c. Add keywords in links back to your site
4. Optimize the first 200 words of your press release copy

 

Sites like Google News and Yahoo News attract tons of traffic. There are essentially two ways to get your press releases included. You can ask the sites to consider your own press release directory as a source of news or find a website that has already been through this process.

 

Now, I have what’s called a Media Room on my main site. I link each of my press releases to that page. I also offer each release in a PDF format. You should offer all of your material in as many formats as possible.

 

But, you should do more. Just as you use an RSS feed for your blog or podcast, you want to have your press releases in an RSS feed too. That’s what very few people do. If you go to my site and link to powerwriting.com/pr.xml, you’ll see my RSS feed to my press releases. This way, the media or anyone who wants to keep track of my firm for any reason can easily do so.

 

David Scott tells us in his book that successful organizations are not focused on things like press clips and advertising awards. He says that successful organizations use news releases, blogs, Web sites, podcasts, and other content to draw visitors into the sales cycle.

 

Now, I won’t get into how to write a press release. But I will give you some of the basics.

 

You want the following in each release --- and don’t forget the optimization we discussed earlier.

• A compelling e-mail subject header and headline.
• A first paragraph that covers the five W's: who, what, where, when and why.
• Electronic contact information including an e-mail address for the press contact and Web site address of the company.
• The mention of key things you’re especially proud of --- things you or your company have accomplished that set you apart.
• A short paragraph at the end of the release containing background information about your company. Include your areas of expertise.

Everyone does the very basic things like put up a Web site and perhaps a blog. But there is much more you can do online to promote yourself and your business and most people simply don’t know about them or don’t do them.

I often get up at 4:00 in the morning so I can work a couple hours doing these extra things for my business. Is it a lot of extra work? Yes, it is. But I can tell you from doing it that it pays very big dividends.

Try it yourself. Start today using press releases to get your message out. But do it the right way. Use RSS. Build a small media room. Do all the extras that will set you apart.

If you do these things, you’ll find your business starting to take off. People will notice you and there’s no telling how far your marketing methods will take you.

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Closing:  (recorded)

Thank you for listening to today’s podcast. Don’t forget to visit my main web site powerwriting dot com. My blog is susanna hutcheson dot com. You can email me at powerwriter at powerwriting.com. You can always listen to any episode of the show by going to the podcast home at powerwriting.com/podcast.html.

 

You’re going to hear me say this in my show for the next couple of months: We’re taking a survey of our listeners, and we’d like you to participate. It will help us learn more about you – no matter how long you’ve been a listener or how frequently you listen to the show. So please take a few minutes and visit our Web site at powerwriting.com/podcast.html. You’ll find a blue listener survey button. Just click on it and complete the survey anonymously.  Oh, by the way --- I would appreciate your feedback. You’ll also find a Skype link to click. Just click on that and leave me an audio feedback message. Thank you!

 

In the next show, I’ll cover another exciting way for you to increase your income. See you next time. And remember, if you don’t take push yourself to the next level, you’ll never know what you could accomplish and how far you could go.

 

 (Outro)