Finding Something Interesting to Say

by David D. Menzies
So it's the start of a new calendar year, you've made it through the November/December holiday swing, your employees are back from multiple vacations, and you're diving head first into business development. Paying solid attention to the three pillars of business development support -- marketing, advertising, and public relations -- you are working on getting the latter pumped-up to generate some buzz. In a perfect world, you've already researched your particular industry media's 2014 editorial calendars back in October of last year to find targets for article pitching and are well on your way to finalizing your first two or three press releases of the year to begin that finely tuned dance with reporters and editors. If not, you still have time to find interesting subjects to share with prospects, customers, and the general public, even if you think you really don't have too much going on.


Here are some interesting, go-to ideas for quick-hitting press release topics that are good throughout the year:

* Hiring new employees - turnover and expansion are quite common regardless of the business.
* Physical plant expansion or relocation - have you turned a storage room into a training center? Grabbed an office next door for new employees? Or actually moved? Let people know about this kind of thing, it's legitimate news.
* Awards received by company or employees - anybody at your firm recognized by industry organizations, or maybe by some group they are involved in outside of work?
* Charitable organization donations - regardless of the amount, if your company has relationships with nonprofits, they generally are open to positive publicity to help with their fundraising.
* Launch of a new website - many businesses use the new year for new looks; promote yours, whether it's a complete re-launch or adding a blog, Twitter account, etc.
* New product introduction - if there's something available to customers you didn't have last year, that's news.
* Participation in community events - hosting a fundraiser? Running in a 5K? It's all good news to share.
* Promotional giveaways - whether it's an actual product or service or some type of t-shirt or mug, offering something fun or useful in return for registering with an email address is an easy way to add to your prospect pipeline, generate website visits, and get exposure for your brand.
* Participating in a tradeshow or conference - if anyone from your firm is attending or has attended an event, or if your company is sponsoring one or exhibiting, you should let folks know about it.

These are just some very basic, last-minute types of PR topics you can generate if you have nothing else planned. Once you get to thinking about it, you're bound to find ten times as many exciting things you have going on that would be interesting to your target audiences, and voila, you have the underpinnings of a legitimate public relations plan.

David D. Menzies is president of Innovative Public Relations, a PR and media relations consultancy. He is a 22+ year public relations professional with expertise in strategic messaging, publicity and branding. For more information visit www.innovativepublicrelations.com. Copyright © 2014 Innovative Public Relations, Inc.