Right as rain: want to get your business on the media's radar? Start rainmaking

Entrepreneur, April, 2005 by Kirsten Osolind

April is for rainmaking. Rainmakers bring in business bucks and romance the media to raise ink. The simple secret of PR rainmaking? PPT. (Ironically, it's also an abbreviation for precipitation.)

* PLAN SOUND TACTICS. Tailor your story to each reporter, and realize that they buy your story for their reasons, not yours. Imagine yourself as Thor (or Thorette).Thunder and lightning make rain showers more interesting. A thunder-and-lightning bolt PR resource? Bill Stoller's Publicity insider (www. publicityinsider.com).

* POLISH PRESENTATIONS AND KEY MESSAGES. To be an effective rainmaker, you must communicate your messages quickly and clearly. For inspiration, register for the No Sweat Speaking teleconference on April 14, sponsored by the International Association of Business Communicators (see www.iabc.com, and click on "events"). Full Frontal PR by Richard Laermer is also a perennial favorite.

* TRACK YOUR RESULTS. Monitor your rainmaking as you would a weather report or storm tracker. Clipping and media monitoring services can be bank-breakers. Some alternatives? Google alerts. And TracerLock (www.tracer lock.com) will track your company's media coverage for an inexpensive monthly fee. Be sure to measure marketing and media ROI.

KIRSTEN OSOLIND is CEO and founder of re:invention inc. (www.reinvention inc.com), a Chicago-based marketing consulting company.