Would You Rather Be Rich or Famous? This is Not a Trick Question
by Mark Joyner, CEO, Aesop.Com

"Champagne wishes and caviar dreams..."

Our fascination with the "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" kept us riveted to the TV screen for 9 years as Robin Leach entertained us with mouth-watering glimpses of how the rich and famous live.

Most of us yearn for wealth and fame, and yet secretly believe that those commodities are beyond our reach -- that they are reserved for others, not us.

What if I told you that most of the rich and famous people in the world became rich and famous simply because they knew how to ethically influence the media? And what if I told you that if you could learn their publicity secrets, wealth and fame are yours for the asking?

The truth is, there is no method more powerful or less costly for creating fame or fortune than publicity

Publicity starts with a news release. The news release is one of the world's best marketing tools, but is also that wretched thing that often shatters the hopes of all who dare to seek publicity. But stick with me and I'll show you how to get the upper hand that will put you far ahead of all others who have tried and failed.

Most experienced business people have a story to tell about their attempts at getting publicity -- and it always ends with the same question: "Why do I even bother?"

The fact is that millions of dollars worth of publicity is available to anyone who knows how to get it. One person I know who has the best batting average at getting publicity is Paul Krupin. Paul's PR client list consists of the largest roster of rags-to-riches people and companies ever to be assembled in one place.

Paul reveals the sobering fact that 90% or more of the news releases received by editors end up in the trash. According to Paul, nothing annoys busy editors more than news releases that are poorly written. More particularly, there are 3 mistakes -- and these are serious, fatal errors that most people make with news releases.

1) Your news releases talk about you too much. They say me, me,
me -- or my product, my product, my product.

2) Your news releases are an advertisement. They sell, sell, sell.

3) You're sending your news releases to the wrong media.

Okay, so you've made some or all of these mistakes at one time or another. But don't worry, it's not just you. Most people fail to focus on the needs of the editor. They don't create information that is aimed at the editor's audience. So they fail to get the editor's attention, and ultimately fail to get publicity.

How then can you make sure that your news release does not end up as a statistic?

Your news release should be about one thing only -- news. If you have a newsworthy angle, it hooks the editor into reading every word of your news release. Make the subject of your headline sound as big and as startling as possible. You need to make a huge impact because you just don't know what other news releases you may be competing against at any given time.

Your product can then ride on the strength of the news angle. Use the soft sell approach so that your news release will not be regarded as an advertisement.

Never tell the whole story in your news release. Instead, generate a curiosity that must be satisfied. This is the principle of cognitive dissonance that I teach in-depth in 1001 Killer Internet Marketing Tactics. If you create dissonance in the mind of the editor with an unanswered question, the editor must resolve that conflict by seeking the answer; i.e., by calling you.

Before you send out your news releases, hand pick your target media with surgical precision. This is crucial. Getting publicity is not a numbers game. It's not how many copies of your news release you can broadcast at once, but whom you send it to that matters. The most well-crafted news release will be trash-bound if you send it to the wrong segments of the media.

Do yourself a big favor. Do not read those mediocre how-to books on publicity that are available everywhere. The only thing you'll learn from them is how to get your news release thrown into the trash. My theory is that a few decades ago, some misguided person from the school of "Those who can, do -- those who can't, teach" wrote a book on how to write news releases. Then someone else took the same myths and fallacies, and wrote yet another version of the book. Pretty soon, there was a flood of how-to books on publicity -- all rehashing the same old dreary methods that simply don't work.

Instead, study the PR campaigns of those who have been extremely successful at getting publicity. Study their news releases to find elements that you can emulate for your purposes. Find out the media targets they sent their releases to.

It is immensely easier, faster, and less expensive to learn, model, and achieve success by following in the footsteps of those who have been successful than it is to learn how to succeed by trial and error. Don't buy into publicity theory. Go with the hard facts -- those strategies that have been proven to work.

Paul Krupin is a guy who's made all the mistakes that can possibly be made in seeking publicity. As a result, he has amassed an entirely unique approach to publicity, most of which is light years ahead of all other information that you've read on the subject. Paul has emerged as one of the leading PR and Media Consultants, and has authored the definitive guide to achieving publicity, "Trash Proof News Releases."

Trash Proof News Releases