Press Releases

[Jay Blair]

As you develop your vermiculture based business and you reach the point of advertising, press releases to the local papers can easily be the first step to getting your business into the publics eye.

An important thing to bear in mind is that as with anything that will interest the local media is to highlight the unique aspects of your business. Luckily with vermiculture still not being that common of a venture this can be fairly easy if newspaper coverage is your goal.

An effective press release delivered to a local paper 7 to 9 days before you want your business profiled can often secure you a quarter page article in the locals feature section of the sunday paper.

The benefits of press relese media publicity can provide you with:

Opportunity to sell your product without advertising expense.

The ability to rise above local competition and establish credibility for your farm.

Increase profitability through unexpected opportunitiesresulting from the media coverage.

Provides potential clients with a close up of your business, establishes you as an expert on the subject and can rally community support behind your venture.

Of course whille this approach can be used with smal scale operations, it is more applicable to medium or large output worm operations.

If there is further interest in this advertising aspect, I will do more research and add to this thread.

[JudyA]

1. Make friends with the publisher/advertising manager and whoever else might have some influence. Send some FREE their way in terms of bait, information, a conversion kit to help them become wormers, etc.


2.After the first press release, there could be more on banner days like scheduling a demonstration for school kids which would have to be announced, then reported upon. Then, there could be a contest with bait being the prize. First the contest announce (biggest fish story?), then the winner report. These aren't exactly FREE, but less expensive than ad space. PHOTOS in black and white. Many newspapers also appreciate press releases being emailed to them as an attachment. They can convert it right into their documetns.

3.However, remember the publishers want their back scratched too, so we may have to buy some ads. After the first time, continued 'free' is the extension advertising we can add to the 'paid'.

Don't underestimate local radio. Our local chamber is using that for a Farmers' Market this summer. We have paid for some ads, but get an interview at least once a month and have made friends that puts a special personal 'glow' on the ad copy that they read. I write the copy for real estate ads with the same acquaintances and they get so 'good' with our ads it's almost puffing. Again, itls all been email except for the interviews. My husband does the interviews, is a new real estate agent who doesn't mind having his name and voice heard.

Some wormers made sure the guys at public radio (NPR) had a little worm bin to play with a couple years ago. They let it get gross, but they tried. And now, some worm mention turns up on NPR.

I'm reclusive and it's expensive. Do as I say, not as I do.

[Jay Blair]

One of the best advertising techniques for a small to medium commercial business is to set up a classroom introduction to vermiculture.

Two weeks before the classroom presentation, submit the press release with cover letter to the media, both print and television news.

With the Television news team if they accept, make sure they agree to unobtrusive school media center taping of your classroom presentation so as not to interrupt the class.

They can then interview you separately away from the class and splice in your classroom footage.

If you secure both newspaper and television news coverage, your worm biz has just canvassed hundreds of thousands of folks in a 50 mile radius for FREE.

[tt]

Press releases do work. But the interesting thing is if you get one paper or tv station (actually with me it was a radio station that caught the interest of the rest of the media)to cover you the rest jump on board.

Im doing a opening to my drop off center at the landfill this friday and the media is coming or at least they have been invited.
but I am also giving some free worm workshops on sat and sunday . A few of the papers want to cover that instead.

When i first started setting up my worms in the windrows at the landfill all the local tv stations plus ctv national came and both of the large newspapers . Plus i got front page on one of the smaller newspapers plus a couple of radio stations. Plus a french paper. So I really got a lot a press in one week. One day i did 1 radio station, 2 tv stations , 2 newspapers and it took 6 hours.

Word of month to the right conections and they email all their contacts this really gets the ball rolling. Having a web presense will help. Somewhere they can come at look or get info.

The only problem is you have to make the time to contact people and send press release and sometimes you just dont have time to do everything.