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Recipe For Press, by Amy Flurry, is a DIY guide to getting publicity for your small business.
This is a great overview of how to pitch your story to receive press, especially from magazines and blogs. I was hoping for more information on how a service-based business could work to get press, but found most of the advice geared towards product-based businesses. Many of the tips could certainly be applied to any business type, but if you run a small, creative, product-based business, this book is aimed right at you!
If you are new to PR and are wondering how to get a start doing this work for yourself, this book should be a wonderful resource. More advanced readers will find it too basic. Amy shows that doing your own publicity is a lot of work, but that it can save a lot of money and give great results.
The book could have spent more time with an editor, as there were a few typos, and a couple of photos that look as if they were blown up from smaller versions and became blurry as a result, however, these things don’t detract from the value of the advice. There are some case studies of interesting small businesses that are fun to read and that show creative ways to get your business featured in books and online.
It’s easy to get caught up inside your business, without thinking of how to phrase the benefits of your product to your customer, and this book will help you see things from an editor’s (or customer’s) viewpoint, and help you perfect your pitch to be irresistible to an editor. The book provides an overview of photography, marketing materials, strategy, blogging, samples and giveaways, as well as helping you with the who, how, and when of contacting editors about your business.
Win a copy of the book
I have read my copy of this book very lightly and gently, and would love to give it away to one of our readers! To be eligible to win, please post a comment with either a tip or a question about getting press for your business. A winner will be chosen randomly on Friday, July 19.
UPDATE: the contest is over, and Brittany from the Home Ground has won! Brittany, I’ll be in touch about where to send the book.
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Thanks so much for the review. I would be curious to know/read how much time and investment would it be prudent for a truly fledgling business to make to grow? At the moment I’m just focused on making product so that I have something to promote but once I hit a good amount I’m confused as to what the next step should be.
Hi, Aeolidia PR helper-outer Jena, here- my two cents is that for as much time and investment as you put into your DIY PR campaign, you’ll get that much benefit out of it. The fledgling stage is the perfect time to start getting the word out so you can grow the business into one that can fly with ease. Once you have the products, and a vehicle to sell them on, you’re ready to start promoting! I’d start with dedicating 3-5 hours a week (or more, if you can!) to research media that might be right for you, learn more about what next steps to take and how to pitch them, to interact on social media, plan your blog’s editorial calendar, start hatching plans… all of it is marketing and all of it is energy that’s going to help you down the road, so the more you can give it now, the further it will get you! Good luck and let us know if you have anymore Qs.