Can Media Coverage Build An Online Business? You Bet It Can!

As someone with expertise in media relations, I've been asked if media coverage and publicity can build an online business. The real question is whether what happens offline really matters online. And the answer is unquestionably, "Yes!"

Here are ten reasons why media coverage can help your online business grow:

  • Every one of us, even if we spend four to eight hours a day in front of a computer screen in our underwear, still lives in the real world. Our opinions, desires, priorities, and decisions are heavily influenced by television, radio, books, magazines, and newspapers. Every business, online or offline, can benefit from positive media exposure.

  • Almost no business can afford to be absent from the Internet these days; even a local real estate agent gains a competitive edge from having a web site. By the same token, an online business gains a strong advantage by having an offline presence. Online and offline marketing of all types support each other.

  • Search engines won't bring most web site owners business. I just did a Google search for "books", and found about 85.2 million entries. Ninety-five percent of searchers will likely click on the first two (Amazon.com and BarnesAndNoble.com), most of the others will never get to the second page of the searches. This means that 85,199,990 web site book sellers cannot rely on search engines. How about searching for the word bookstore? Still almost seven million entries, and guess who the top two are?

  • You can't cheat the search engines. Try a search for books and carpentry. The odds are much better, with only 106,000 entries. That still means 105,990 web site book sellers will rarely be found. How about books and promotion? Almost two million entries. If a million carpentry book sellers are reading this article, five are smiling. The rest will only smile with an offline presence, such as a great article in their local newspaper or a call-in show on a radio station half way across the world.

  • The media can create interest in your product or service if they feature you as part of an interesting story. Online or offline, that's what media coverage does. A good story is gold.

  • The media is just starting now to wake up to the exciting things happening online. Timing is everything and this is the time.

  • The media are now working increasingly online. The online and offline worlds are converging more than ever before. Articles that appear in local papers, industry magazines and even commentary on radio broadcasts find themselves on the Internet. That can often mean powerful links to your web site. Publicity offline means promotion online.

  • If you are running a contest, placing a new interactive program on your site, winning an award, taking donations for a charity or doing anything noteworthy online, it is of interest in the offline world. The media can act as a funnel for people who spend less time than you and I do in front of a computer screen.

  • In the mainstream media, you are trustworthy. If they see it on TV or in the newspaper, people believe it. (Funny, they SAY they don't trust the media, but their actions speak louder.) Since web marketing is about relationships and trust (That is your strategy, right?), you can build that relationship with people who are only now getting online or who may not even be online for another couple years. By the time they are ready to buy from you, the relationship has already begun because they have carried your offline credibility (that's the biggest value of media coverage) with them onto the Internet.

  • In the mainstream media, you are real. I know many people who still don't buy anything online. They simply do not trust someone they cannot see. Sure, you might be honest, but how do they know? You could disappear into the ether tomorrow. While bricks-and-mortar stores can close just as fast, there is an impression that they are more real and more permanent. You can increase your realness and permanence through a media presence, and thereby increase your customer base.

    Media relations is not always easy and not everyone can make it. You have to have something interesting to tell and have a creative way to make it newsworthy. But it is a low-cost way to drive traffic to your web site. And you may not need to get onto the front page of USA Today to succeed. You may simply want a mention in a few niche magazines where your targeted traffic can be found.

    So if you don't like the idea of being a million entries down on a web search, or even 60 entries down, consider a low-cost, effective alternative ? the media. With the right angle, media relations and publicity can expand your engine faster than search engines.

    About The Author

    After a decade and a half as one of Canada's top consumer advocates, often conducting over 600 media interviews each year, David Leonhardt is sharing his knowledge with others. Pick up a copy of his special report "Get In The News!" at http://www.TheHappyGuy.com/publicity-self-promotion-report.html

    amabaie@phastnet.com

    In The News:

    • pen paper and inkwell


    cat break through


    Managers: PR More Than Tix and Plugs?

    You bet! And in three ways vital to you as... Read More

    10 Secrets to Free Publicity

    Public relations is popular because it is very cost-effective and... Read More

    The Key to Great PR

    The Key to Great PR is PerseveranceBy Paula Gardner of... Read More

    A PR Question For Chinese Managers

    As the practice of public relations in China continues to... Read More

    A Company That Doesnt Need Public Relations?

    Really? You mean there are NO perceptions and behaviors peculiar... Read More

    PR Failure Defined

    I define public relations failure this way:key audience perceptions are... Read More

    Austin?s Annual Charity Event with KVET

    In my travels around the country while building my business... Read More

    The Feeding Tube for Your Business

    There are a lot of things that make a business... Read More

    Mind Your Own Business!

    And the best way to mind your own business is... Read More

    Can Your PR Do This?

    Can your PR do something positive about the behaviors of... Read More

    Why Do You Want PR?

    To get someone's name in the newspaper or a product... Read More

    The Worst PR Mistakes

    For a business, non-profit or association manager, they could be... Read More

    Getting Free Publicity with Radio Interviews

    Imagine that you are a radio producer. You have to... Read More

    PR: How Sweet It Is!

    The public relations goal and strategy make sense; the message... Read More

    Why Not Juice-Up Your PR?

    Say, from tactics like special events, brochures and press releases... Read More

    Your Financial Planning Clients May Hold the Key to Free Publicity

    Every reporter, from the cub at the small town paper... Read More

    When Managers Play the PR Card

    The payoff for business, non-profit or association managers can be... Read More

    Media Training - Essentials for ALL Office Professionals

    Often the first point of contact the media has with... Read More

    How To Write A Killer Press Release

    One of the primary tools still used by PR professionals... Read More

    How to Keep PR Working for You

    Managers in the non-profit, association and business worlds need to... Read More

    Financial Planners Garner Free Publicity by Making it Easy for the Media

    Would you advise clients to buy a stock based on... Read More

    Marketing-Minded Financial Planners, Dont Hold Back Information From the Media

    Some financial planners think that they shouldn't share their top... Read More

    Why News Releases Fail

    Sorry about my otaku with this issue (otaku = more... Read More

    Public Relations: Power Tool for the 21st Century

    I address this article to businesses, associations, non-profits and public... Read More

    10 Ways to Get the Media to Love You

    So you've put yourself "out there" with a public relations... Read More

    Managers: Paying for PR-Lite?

    As a business, non-profit or association manager, your public relations... Read More

    PR: Short Form for Managers

    Experience tells me that too many business, non-profit and association... Read More

    Much Ado About A Lot!

    I say public relations can be a matter of survival... Read More

    How To Get Zero Cost Publicity For Your Business Part 1

    Would you like to expand the volume of your business?... Read More

    What Is Best Practice Public Relations?

    Why, public relations that stays true to its fundamental premise,... Read More

    Is PR All About Image? NO!!

    That's like asking if advertising is all about type faces... Read More

    Do You Have Issues?

    Every organization has issues that could affect its operation. The... Read More

    Get PR Off the Bench

    Something that results in your most important outside audiences doing... Read More