|
Now that your program is ready to air on MTN, you'll want to get as many viewers as possible. Here's a potpourri of ways to promote your show. CONTROLLED MEDIA: (1) Buy Advertising (2) Distribute Your Own Ad. In both methods, follow "who, what, when, where, how and why." Those key points apply to ads as well as news. Don't clutter up your ad with too many words and graphics. The only sought-after, effective, cluttered, wordy, hodgepodge medium is a grocery ad! Like the exotic fan dancer, show and tell just enough so your intended audience will want to see the whole show! Speaking of forms, a small card can be just as eye-catching as a large poster. And you'll want to put your ad where it will do the most good. Start in your own neighborhood at the place with the most foot traffic, such as the grocery, coffee shop or house of worship. All these establishments have a notice board. Ask before you post! And talk up your show with the clerks and your neighbors as well. Word-of-mouth is yet another form of advertising. Yet another form of controlled media is to create your own web site. "UNCONTROLLED" MEDIA: Let's face it, the only way you can really control the press/radio/TV is if you own a printing press or a radio or TV station. The most common way to summon news folks is the news release. Before you write, call up the news editor and ask what their requirements are for news releases, then follow their format exactly. That bears repeating: follow their format exactly. Follow the aforementioned criteria for all news: answer those famous questions that are the code of all journalists, as "invented" by the famous Rudyard Kipling -- who, what, when, where, how and why. You need not write your news release in complete |
sentences. Submit an outline form, which tells the editors and reporters about your upcoming program. Hold a preview screening and invite the news media. They might even show up! :) Stage a daring event. I'll leave that to your own creativity. Putting myself back in my news and editorial days, my colleagues and I naturally gravitated toward the news releases with the following characteristics: (1) catchy headline, (2) a tie into the hot news of the day, (3) interesting lead paragraph, (4) short paragraphs, (5) at least 12 point type face, (6) bold face, (7) all on one page, (8) contact name, phone number, address at top of release, (9) news release delivered in-person, (10) handwritten address on envelope. Regarding the last one, I'll bet you open handwritten mail first, even if it's junk mail! In this day and age of tight security, you may not get past the sentinels of the Minneapolis daily newspaper. However I've found the weeklies most receptive and most friendly. E-mail is okay. But call and/or follow up. Finally, proof your copy. Somewhere in an advertising and copywriting textbook you'll find an infamous ad for "shirts" with one of the letters missing. The ad, created by an advertising agency, went all the way through the agency and into the publication with no one spotting the error. Oh yes, "r" was the missing letter! Then again, the first thing you want to do in seeking publicity is get attention!!! Jim Stokes writes, directs and edits fantastic short (and long) movies, and presents them on MTN. |
