Guest Blogger: Dean Hunt
My name is Dean Hunt and I recently got DeanHunt.com featured in the biggest selling quality newspaper in the UK. What’s more, it was also featured in the top 1000 Alexa ranked online newspaper.
It was no accident that I got this free publicity, and Jack has asked me to show you exactly how you can do the same.
My Article: I will start this two-part case study by showing you my article. It is from the biggest selling quality UK newspaper (The Telegraph – 900,000+ copies sold per DAY)
You can see the online article here: Dean Hunt Article
For those of you who don’t know me, I am from the UK and moved to Spain three years ago. The term we use for this is “expat”…. anyway, I don’t want you to focus on the article just yet. I will explain the article in detail later. But this is simply proof that everything I am telling you is true.
Wouldn’t it be cool if you and your website were mentioned in something like the New York Times?
What effect would this have on your site or blog? What about the massive benefit this has on a person’s reputation and public image? Wouldn’t it be cool if someone does a Google search for your name and sees a national newspaper talking about you?
This is powerful stuff, you cannot buy this sort of publicity, so let’s see how I did it, and how you can do EXACTLY the same.
Note: There is a huge amount of advice and information in this case study, so Jack has asked me to split it into two chapters. Today I will be showing you part one, this will be the preparation stage of the process.
STEP ONE – Brainstorm
Ok, you want a story in a national newspaper or magazine… but what story?
It would be nice to just have our web address in big writing on the front page, but the world doesn’t work like that. We need to find news worthy story.
At this point we will have to brainstorm, so grab a pad and pen and do the following:
Decide what you want to promote – is it your website, your blog, yourself, your new product etc?
Go to PRweb.com and Google.com and type in related keywords
Look for news stories that are in this industry and see what types of stories they are. Also, look for ideas.Look for a UNIQUE angle
I wrote UNIQUE in large writing for a reason. It is essential you find something unique, something different that will help you stand out from the crowd.
My Example
In my article I am promoting my name, working online, and working from home. But I know that newspapers don’t like people promoting “Make Money Online” related things… so what did I do?
I focused the article on Expats and sent it to the “expat editor”.
My article still promotes me, my blog and my brand. I just disguised the promotion beneath the expat related story.
STEP TWO – Just Ask!
This sounds simple, but remember this… newspapers and magazines NEED stories. So they are keen to hear any stories you may have. Don’t be afraid, if you do not ask then you cannot get results.
I visited a few newspapers online and made a note of the contact email addresses. Then, I compiled an email like this:
“Dear editor,
My name is Dean Hunt and I am writing because I have a story that I believe may be of great interest to your paper.
I am sure you hear this all the time, so I would be happy to send you an overview if you are interested?
Thanks for your time, I hope to hear from you soon.
Dean Hunt”
I know what you are thinking… “Dean, this is not a very detailed email”, you are correct! That is my trick.
The goal of your first email is to get a response. I do this by using curiosity. I sell the story without giving details, and I try not to make it sound spammy.
Art of Negotiations
If the editor replies to your email and asks you for more information, you will have the upper hand in the psychological aspect of a deal.
He is now essentially asking YOU, not the other way around.
Your first goal is to get a reply from the editor or journalist, don’t worry about anything else at this stage.
STEP THREE – Wait
You have done the hard work now, so grab a coffee, get in your most comfortable chair and wait.
Monitor your inbox and wait for the replies from the newspapers to arrive.
—
Check out how Dean gets to the front page of Digg along with his other great buzz marketing tactics with his free guide “Web Traffic Orgasm!” Watch for Part 2 of Dean’s newspaper attention strategy coming soon!