The reason I mention this isn’t a desperate cry for attention (honest) it is because it has to be one of the most common questions I get asked by people when they are looking for press coverage.
I’m talking about their business birthdays or anniversaries as we should call them.
‘Hey Greg, it’s our first year in business, shall we do a story?’ Maybe.
‘We’ve been open two years now. Does that make a decent angle?’ Mmmm needs work.
‘It’s 4 years now since we started, surely that’s good news?’ Well, yes for you but not for your audience. NB – this is always key.
‘It’s our 10th/21st/25th/40th/50th/100th etc etc’ – Better. Stronger.
You need to think like a Hallmark card. Nobody gets special cards for their 4th birthday or their 12th. You could maybe push it at 13 if you played the ‘lucky for some’ angle or 18 at a pinch but really you need to be offering two things here, INTEREST and USEFULNESS.
The very top thing to keep in mind is ‘so what?’.
That may sound harsh but if all you are doing is tooting your own trumpet you aren’t adding any value. If you aren’t adding any value you may as well just buy an advert as the editorial team will probably ignore you, as may your prospects.
So, have something in the pipeline to say, such as ‘and as part of our celebrations, we are launching a new/limited/exclusive/ etc or moving or expanding or hiring or pledging something’.
Ideally, you’d make a point of showing you mean business, are growing AND you can offer some value, be it in terms of information or straight up offers to lucky punters and/or loyal fans.
So if you have a business birthday coming up, consider how you can leverage by all means but have something to say other than merely flipping the calendar over, that way, you can have your cake and eat it.
| If you have a news story coming up that you are keen to refine or would like to pick my brains, let’s have a chat. |