Boy, are you missing opportunities!

So here I was at a high-tech conference, talking with one of the speakers.

Having invested thousands of dollars in travel, display, and collateral, as well as hundreds of hours developing his presentation, he was understandably disappointed in not finding many business opportunities there.

Together we reviewed his website, where we found two articles about his firm in the Newsroom section.

“How often have you sent out press releases to the industries you do business with?” I asked him. His response: “Twice.”

I now knew two things:

• Trade publications were interested in news about this company; and

• The company wasn’t talking about themselves enough.

When it comes to public relations efforts, most company owners trip over themselves trying to get free coverage by the business and consumer press.

They typically forget about or are ignorant of the industry media outlets that would love to write about whatever they’re doing.

Reaching out to these professional business-to-business (B2B) journals might open commercial accounts that are larger and more profitable. If only they knew about you.

Over a single cup of coffee, this gentleman easily identified six industries from which he wanted customers. We immediately found 3-6 media outlets from each industry and additional research turned up more later.

This made for a simple solution: send out a press release to industry A’s media in May, industry B’s media in June, etc. Repeat the cycle every six months.

Like other businesses, the internet has devastated the trade media community. Staffs are stretched thin, resources are tight, and well-written materials without cost get noticed…and published.

Effective press efforts go beyond sending out accurate, solidly-written stories. It’s critical to follow-up with editors, columnists and bloggers to ensure they received your release.

You want to determine if you should adapt the story to suit their needs.

Don’t forget to ask if they want photography or artwork and to generally answer questions.

In short, like any marketing effort, a trade media press campaign needs intelligent planning, professional implementation and thorough follow-through.

Making trade media outreach part of your marketing mix should be a no-brainer. You’ll expand awareness of your company, increase professional buzz and improve sales prospects.

Where I come from we call that a big success.

With that said, I wish you a week of profitable marketing.

Are there other marketing tools you’re missing? Find out at www.askmrmarketing.com.