Posted in Internet Marketing Systems	April 23, 2007

Take the information you have, profile your customer base and become an expert news-source.

By Adam Sutton, Managing Editor, Mequoda Group LLC

There is nothing like free publicity. It is easy on the bottom line and draws more users to your website. It’s fantastic. Its only drawback is that free publicity can be difficult to generate—until now.

Scott Brueggeman, Socrates Media senior vice president for marketing and editorial, said he uses CompleteLandlord.com’s marketing database to do more than target his customers. He uses it to create press releases that get picked up by major news organizations, earning him free publicity.

By surveying some of the 50,000 subscribers to CompleteLandlord’s email newsletter, Brueggeman learned some surprising facts about his audience, including that:

• 67% of them are over age 45
• 60% have full time jobs in addition to landlording
• 17% are accidental landlords who got stuck with property

“The press loves that type of data…Data that helps explain trends or profiles of groups. We share that information with the press, and that helps position us as the voice or spokesperson for our topic,” Brueggeman said.

On March 12, about a month before tax season ended, CompleteLandlord released a tax planning press release equipped with press friendly statistics and a free report. After submitting it to free distributors like PR-Inside.com, dozens of major news companies ran the story, including Forbes.com, LATimes.com, Breitbart.com and the Seattle Times. The story reached millions of readers. All Brueggeman had to do was take information he already had, repackage it and send it to the press.

You can also click here to watch an interview with Brueggeman on Forbes.com.

Following Brueggeman’s example, complete these steps to create a statistical picture of your audience to attract free press:

1. Develop a list of questions to profile your audience
2. Subscribe to a survey service, like Survey Monkey
3. Tabulate the percentages that describe your audience
4. Draft press releases with a timely angle (election season, holidays, etc.)
5. Submit it to press release distribution services (many of which are free)
   

If you do this correctly you will simultaneously generate news stories, learn more about your customers and position your business as an expert source for the press.

To learn other ways to find your target audience and drive them to your website, read the Mequoda Making the Most of PR and Earned Media special report. In it, Mequoda Managing Director and Chief Information Architect Don Nicholas lays out a replicable program for using PR and free products to drive targeted website traffic, build email newsletter circulation and increase revenue.

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If you do this correctly you will simultaneously generate news stories, learn more about your customers and position your business as an expert source for the press.

To learn other ways to find your target audience and drive them to your website, read the Mequoda Making the Most of PR and Earned Media special report. In it, Mequoda Managing Director and Chief Information Architect Don Nicholas lays out a replicable program for using PR and free products to drive targeted website traffic, build email newsletter circulation and increase revenue.

Recent Internet Marketing System Tips

2 Guiding Principles for List Building
posted in Internet Marketing Systems | April 20, 2007

University Health Publishing Named Mequoda 2006 Publisher of the Year
posted in Internet Marketing Systems | September 29, 2006

Back to the Basics: Five Steps for Creating User-Centric Products
posted in Internet Marketing Systems | September 25, 2006

Aspire Media's Interweave Press Acquires GEMS Group from Primedia, Inc.
posted in Internet Marketing Systems | September 7, 2006

University Health Publishing Launches Next Generation Mequoda Marketing System
posted in Internet Marketing Systems | July 28, 2006