By Alan Dodson, “Wedding Wizard”
One of the challenges of being a small business, which most DJ companies are, is marketing and advertising. There always is more month left at the end of the advertising dollars. So one of the ways to get your name out there is to utilize free advertising in the form of public relations acknowledgement by your local media. Here are some ways to do that:
1. FIRST: Get to know the local media people and you can increase your chances of something getting written about you. Keep your eyes open and learn who is reporting on what and where they are finding their stories. A lot of reporters are very active on social media, and you should be too! Watch for their posts and repost or retweet their posts and COMMENT on them, it will get you noticed and they will learn your name and your company and what your area of expertise is.
2. BE RELEVANT: Pay attention to the national news stories and be the “local” face of a breaking news story that is relative to your business. Big celebrity wedding or party, offer tips on how to make a local wedding or party like the celebrities have. Share your knowledge even to people you know will never be your clients, but they will remember you.
3. FIND A PARTNER: Ever notice how certain brands partner with a big box store. They BOTH get promotions, even though the store is much better known. Find organizations and charities on a regional level and provide entertainment for some of their events for FREE. You will get mentioned in the marketing and advertising they do. Many times the PR person for that organization can assist you with contact information for other opportunities for promotion.
4. DO SOMETHING CRAZY: The top PR people are always utilizing something a little wild to draw attention to what they are publicizing. It may be breaking a Guinness world record, or just something as simple as a snowball fight in July. Just make sure that it is relevant to your business and conveys the image and message you want to convey. You may want to do this in conjunction with a charity fund raiser that you are helping with. It will make YOU stand out!
5. BE LOCAL: Most of your business is from your local area. Find out if there is an organization that is dedicated to supporting local businesses. It could be as simple as a local website, or a connection to a local TV station (like in my market), but this is a great place to start. If nothing like this exists START ONE!
Here are some ideas to use.
a. REACH OUT to the local chamber of commerce or welcome wagon organization, get them involved. Building local business is generally part of their charter.
b. BRANDING is important, create a name and logo and associate it with your own.
c. CONNECT with other business and enlist their help to create the buzz and drive customers to all of you.
d. SPREAD THE WORD online and offline. Set up a Facebook group, do some direct mail, create stickers for businesses with the logo and message to shop local.
e. CREATE AN EVENT like a shopping night “one night only” or for a “limited time” and provide entertainment and music for the event. Local press LOVES covering these types of events. Just make sure that you are the Master of Ceremonies for the event and that YOU are the one that the press should talk to.
There are some quick ideas to get your own PR Machine in gear. Do them all or just start somewhere, it will help.
