Inspired? Would you like to see your name on this website and your book up on those bookshop shelves? This is where we bring you a round up of writing tips, ideas and hints.
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By Paula Gardner of www.doyourownpr.com You’d think that being approached by PR people almost non-stop would mean that journalists were a dab hand at doing their own PR, but sadly, it isn’t so. And I’ve spotted that one of the main reasons for this is that journalists and writers spend so much time being creative and communicating their ideas to potential publishers and publications. Inevitably this means that it’s easy to put the larger aspect of general promotion on the back-burner and leave it in the “to do when I’ve got time “ pile. However, even putting a little more effort into promoting yourself professionally can raise your profile and help you look much more credible – as well as boost your confidence and help you ask for more money……which is what it’s all about after all! So, here are Do Your Own PR’s top ten self-promotion steps for writers: 1. Get A Website If an editor doesn’t know you it’s nice and easy for them to click on your website link and check you out without committing themselves to anything. They can scan through work that you’ve written and had published, and if you haven’t yet been published in any quantity, it’s a great way of presenting yourself to look as though you have. You don’t need anything fancy and if actually getting a website together is making you fret then you can get a perfectly good off the shelf one at www.oneandone.co.uk for about a fiver a month – and have it up there within a day or two. 2. Niche It’s a traditional marketing tactic but niching yourself means that you can focus on a smaller area and become known as an expert in that area rather than trying to spread yourself thinly and be everything to everybody. The trick is to choose an area where your passion lies, and to obviously choose something that’s large enough and pays well enough to support you. I’ve learned this myself as when my first son Felix was born ten years ago I threw myself into writing for parenting magazines with a passion – I wrote for many of them including Junior and Pregnancy and Birth, but there just weren’t enough to sustain a regular income, and the parenting pages that seem to grace many of the women’s magazines today just weren’t there at that point. 3. Speaking If you like public speaking this is a great way to get known in your niche and meet others who work in that area that you can perhaps interview and quote in article. Being known as the woman who knows everyone who’s anyone in the diet and nutrition industry has helped one writer forge a reputation as a reliable and expert author for instance – and doing regular speaking slots has helped raise her profile and confidence. You can start off small with local schools perhaps; or join a group like Toastmasters if you’d like to get more experience of speaking – a skill which can only help you in the long-term in many areas of your life after all. 4. Blog Again blogging is a great way to raise your profile in one particular area and of course it’s a great way to keep those creative juices going. You can set up a blog for free at www.blogger.com which lets you play around with different backgrounds and colours too. 5. Testimonials Of course these should be on your website but also use them in your email signatures and scatter them throughout your blog. If you don’t have any make a point of contacting editors you’ve worked with and ask then nicely to put something together. One of my clients even writes it for them and asks if they are happy to put their name to it (good for time-pressed editors). Even if you’ve written something free and for the local newsletter it makes sense to get a testimonial out of it! 6. Up Beat Okay this is a bit on the psychological side but it still does come into PR. I have a group of writer friends who get together and moan – all except one of them – and guess who gets the work?! It’s my opinion that getting into the habit of moaning just turns you into a miserable old bag and who wants to work with one of those? 7. Network We’ve touched opon it just now but do make sure you know whom you need to know. Don’t be afraid of just whizzing off emails and introducing yourself – it’s fantastic how well it works and how easy it is. Even if you can’t immediately see an article in it take the time to meet people and forge relationships – it’s to see how many articles can suddenly come to mind after you’ve had coffee with an interesting person. 8. All the Bumpf. Easily overlooked but all the little things that make you look professional – like having an email address Julie@bestwriter.com rather than julie@btiterent.com; having a business card that doesn’t feel and look like a piece of toilet paper – and one that says what you do. Again, there’s no excuse www.streetcards.com are fantastically cheap and some are quite sexy too. Have an answer machine and use it – use your voice mail to say what you do and not just who you are. Paula Gardner is a PR and marketing coach and owner of www.doyourownpr.com. She also writes for many publications and websites and is the editor of www.chicklit.co.uk |
| Posted: 30/04/2006 20:42:34 |
Chick Lit > Writing Tips :: How To Do Your Own PR For Writers