The Guru recently received this inquiry:
   Dear Guru:

I see features and articles in newspapers and magazines all the time about corporations and their products. I would love to get coverage like this for my company. How do I go about it?

(signed) Seller of emergency preparedness kits.

Dear Seller:

If your market is local, just call the editors of the local newspaper or publication and send them an article about your products. You must realize that editors will only publish articles that are of interest to their readers, so it is important that your article be professionally written in responsible editorial style, and not sound like an advertisement.

If your market is national, it’s a whole different ball game. There are over 1500 daily newspapers, 12,000 community newspapers and publications, 6000 Internet news sites, and over 12,000 magazines. In addition there are over 200 news bureaus and wire services, and over 12,000 radio and TV stations.

There are several hundred free-lance feature writers, and over 25,000 subject specific features planned annually by the print media. For example, a magazine may be planning a special issue on summer travel, or on weddings, or on back to school. These special features could be grist for the public relations mill.

A serious problem in the past was how to reach these tens of thousands of media outlets without going broke. To write a press release, print it, mail it, enclose a photo, pay postage, address envelopes and the like, could easily cost $1 to $2 each. To send your publicity release to 20,000 media outlets could cost $20,000 to $40,000.

And then came e-mail.

Some marketing and public relations firms, like ours, have databases of the e-mail address of the media who have opted to receive their public relations material. The database contains over 80,000 different media outlets, with directories to assure contact with the appropriate media for your product or service, or news story.

The use of e-mail eliminates the cost of addresssing, postage, printing, photo duplication, and handling thereby making public relations affordable to anyone.

Getting press coverage in a newspaper or magazine, or on radio or TV, is tacit to second-party endorsement, unlike paid advertising. This type of endorsement, when properly merchandised can go a long way to help establish the credentials of your product and company and to position it against competition.

One company recently sold 35,000 copies of a $14.95 book via press releases. A manufacturer of industrial temperature controls generated 43,000 inquiries for its products in one year using press releases.

As good as it is, press coverage does not eliminate the need for consistency in paid advertising for many reasons. Publicity, while beneficial, does not afford the advantages of a good ad program. For example, your press release may not be published by the editor. And even if it is, you must get your message out on a regular basis, and you won’t achieve that with press releases. Once an editor gives you coverage, you are not likely to get another article on the same subject for a long time. In comes paid advertising. A good marketing program must include both.

(Editor’s Note: The Guru, Mort Barish is President of Barish Associates Inc, a marketing and advertising firm located in Gig Harbor. Contact the Guru with your questions at 253 857 0157 or mkbarish@comcast.net.).