4th Quarter Publicity = 1st Quarter ProsperitybyTodd F. Brabender-Spread The News PR, Inc.As the year starts to wind down, many businesses and entrepreneurs aremaking plans and budgets for the year 20... 4th Quarter Publicity = 1st Quarter ProsperitybyTodd F. Brabender-Spread The News PR, Inc.As the year starts to wind down, many businesses and entrepreneurs aremaking plans and budgets for the year 2003. Those plans could includeanything from setting up goals for new products to preparing marketing,sales and PR/publicity campaigns. When it comes to your publicity plan, WHENyou launch your campaign can be just as important to what and how youlaunch.HOLIDAY PUBLICITY OPPORTUNITIESIf your product/business lends itself to increased holiday sales, the nextfew weeks are a perfect time to get a publicity campaign launched - giventhe right media targets. Many holiday issues are already been laid out formagazines, and many other media outlets are feverishly seekinginformation/pitches on innovative stories for the holidays. Some mediaoutlets even reorganize or beef up staff around the holidays to allow for anincrease in stories on products. Have your publicist help you take advantageof this increased media opportunity.PLANTING PUBLICITY SEEDS NOW FOR 1ST QUARTER RESULTSSome business owners may be of the mindset: "I think we'll wait to launch apublicity campaign until after January 1st." The problem is -- if you waitto launch your publicity campaign until the first of the year hoping for aquick media interest blast in January, you may be in for a quiet month. Keepin mind most media outlets have editorial lead-times of a few weeks to 6months. Also what some entrepreneurs don't realize is this. Because of theincreasing number of publicity pitches media outlets receive, anything yousend out is subjected to what I call the "media digestion period" - simplyput - that is a period of time (sometimes weeks, sometimes months) that ittakes media outlets to:#1) see/understand your release and decide if they are interested;#2) find space ime in their editorial calendar to place the article/newsstory/show segment.The potential placement is also directly dependent upon how quickly andefficiently your publicist or PR agency can help the media secure theplacement. Media relations is crucial. Your publicist's job is to make thereporter/editor/producer's job as easy and as effortless as possible - whichwill lead to quicker and more numerous placements for your business.When it comes to publicity pitches, the facts are: placement is totally upto the discretion of the particular media outlet; and very few mediaresponses are immediate. I have in fact had media outlets respond evenbefore the media release seemed to settle in the fax machine tray.Conversely, I also had one media outlet that responded 17 months after apitch. (I had to ask the reporter what the YEAR was on the release!) NOplacement is guaranteed, but you can definitely increase the odds. Even ifyour product/business if a dead-on perfect match for a media outlet'seditorial profile, you are not guaranteed placement without some hard workand media relations. That's why timing of your publicity pitch is socritical. Have your publicist get your pitch to the media, allow theeditorial staff to digest it a bit, and strategically and professionally"rattle the cage" over the next several weeks to generate as many placementsas possible.What we are trying to do is plant seeds in media outlets' editorial gardenso they will bear fruit -- in the form of articles/show placements --continuously over the next several weeks and months. Like the plant thatcomes from a seed, publicity placements can also grow roots and lead toother arterial media placements in other media outlets. Given the righttending, the publicity seeds you plant over the next few weeks will indeedgerminate and you'll reap a wonderful harvest for your business well pastthe first quarter of next year.---------Todd Brabender is the President of Spread The News Public Relations, Inc.His business specializes in generating media exposure and publicity forinnovative products, businesses, experts and ventures.http://[email protected](785) 842-8909 Article Tags: Quarter Publicity, Media Outlets Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com