There are a lot of ingredients required for running a successful online business. You need to have a great product, the right niche, relationships… the list goes on and on.
But there are some parts of running an online business that seems to catch all aspiring internet millionaire’s eyes. Usually, these involve the “mechanics” of running a business. Product development, market testing, traffic generating, etc.
It’s a good thing, too – all these mechanics are necessary for business success. But they’re not all that’s necessary, which is where the problems start. There are other ingredients that are absolutely essential. And some of these ingredients enable success much faster than others.
In today’s article, we’ll be talking about one such ingredient: press.
The Credibility Catch-22
Why press? Well, there are a few reasons. But first and foremost, credibility.
Credibility poses a huge problem for people new to the business. You could have a great product and a great niche, but if you don’t have credibility, people probably aren’t going to buy your product.
If you’re anything like most people, before you buy a product, you look at testimonials. If a product has no testimonials, the odds of you buying that product probably decrease significantly. So it’s a catch-22. On one hand, you need credibility to sell products. On the other hand, you need to sell products to gain any credibility.
Press helps you circumvent this problem completely. If you gain exposure in the local or national press, you can display that fact to all who visit your site.
What product would you rather buy? A “money-making system” with zero reviews, testimonials or media spotlights, or a “money-making system” that’s been featured on The Wall Street Journal, Yahoo Finance, and Inc Magazine?
It’s a no-brainer. This happens all the time in business. Those with credibility and press mentions sell more products than those who don’t – it’s that simple!
The Press Funnel
But the press isn’t only good for credibility. That’s just the tip of the iceberg. With press comes interest. With interest comes traffic. With traffic comes buyers – It’s a big funnel.
First, you get featured in a local or national media outlet. Next, the people who read that feature will visit your website. If your website is high quality and delivers value, these people will likely return. Additionally, they’ll tell others about your website.
At the same time, any new visitors will see you’ve been featured in a credible news source. This will dramatically increase the chances they’ll take a look around and see what you have to offer.
So starting with one press mention, you get a landslide of benefits. This is incredibly powerful. In fact, some businesses have gone from close to broke to million-dollar companies thanks to one media mention!
And, let’s not forget – if you’re being covered by one media outlet, their competition will likely want to get a piece of the action as well.
Getting Coverage
So how do you get coverage? Well, the first step is to make sure you have something worth coverage. If you run a cookie-cutter business in a saturated niche, you’re probably not going to get any coverage.
However, if you take a completely new spin on a common idea (think the “snuggie”), now you’ve given people a reason to be interested.
The next step is to constantly build relationships and put yourself out there. Find all the top reporters and media companies in your niche. Put all their names and contact info in a spreadsheet. Follow them on Twitter, connect with them on LinkedIn, “like” them on Facebook.
When you get an opportunity to give them some real value, take it! Maybe a big change just happened in your niche and you’re an authority on it. You can contact a reporter immediately and give them your opinion on what just happened. Always be on the lookout for value-sharing opportunities.
And once you get the attention of a news outlet, push that attention like crazy. Tweet about your feature, post it all over Facebook, highlight it on your website – make sure everyone knows you’re getting coverage. This will build credibility and begin the process of the press funnel.
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