They're history now. So much of the Internet craze was pumped up by marketing -- massive dollars thrown into advertising, before there was a sound business model -- much less any actual business.

 

They remind me now of a great bonfire on a summer's night, those ad blitzes. More and more logs tossed on, the sky lighting up, excitement soaring, as the blaze roared. In the morning nothing was left but a heap of ashes.

 

Too many dot-commers went all out to build visibility, but they forgot about credibility -- with their investors, with their clients, with anyone.

 

When done right, public relations -- in any industry -- is almost the opposite. It's all about credibility. Good PR will blaze away and flare up dramatically now and then, but it's more of a steady, ongoing burn than a spectacular, short-lived bonfire. It lasts -- because it is based on solid fundamentals.

 

In my last column, How Any and Every Firm Can Afford Publicity, I introduced the notion that the secret to good PR lies simply in effectively communicating the very same body of professional  knowledge that we use every day on the job. What we know and advise clients on taxes, personal finance, or running a business is 99 percent of what we need to get good publicity. Now, let's start looking at how.

 

Step one involves a bit of attitude adjustment.

 

As I said before, free publicity is not the same as advertising. With advertising, you tell the audience why your business is the answer to their prayers. You pick your words and shape your message exactly as you wish. Fair enough; you're paying the freight.

 

With publicity the media, by implication, tell your clients that you're worthy of their business. People assume that if the media cover you, you must be good. This credibility is invaluable, but it comes with a price: usually the media folks, not you, pick the words they print and how your story gets conveyed. Again, fair enough: after all, that's the whole reason you get credibility in the marketplace from publicity -- it's the media saying you're good, not you.

 

So the trick is to shape messages that get the media to cover you and prospects to call you. That's where your professional knowledge comes in.

 

It turns out, to your good fortune, that the media want the same thing clients ask you for every day: information, answers, and solutions. Think about it: clients want you to show them new ways to save money in their businesses and personal finance. For instance, to help them fund college educations. Well, reporters write about the same exact things all the time! Whether it's the business section, your clients' own industry trade press, or all the finance and investing media, they're full of advice and news articles your audience turns to constantly. And those articles are all built on the same foundation: information, interviews, and advice from experts. Experts just like you.

 

That's the big secret of free publicity. Learn how to reach those reporters, speak to them in their own language, and give them information they need, and you'll be the one reaping all that credibility-building publicity. Then you'll be able (I'll show how in future columns) to leverage that publicity into new business.

 

To win at this game, you have to be a tad more media-savvy and proactive than your competitor. We'll cover that here too. The good news: if you can master a few simple rules, you can get publicity just as readily as the giants in the field.

 

You see, good PR in the end is not just about getting that glowing profile on your firm. Sure you want that, but say you spend six months -- or a year -- working the media to land it. You'll get some prospect calls. But now what? Wait three years until that publication is ready to feature you again? No way! The key to meaningful publicity  is to create the steady burn -- to be in the media all the time, showcasing your expertise on topics that prospects care most about.

 

So, rule #1: the media don't care about you. Unless you're Britney Spears or Tom Cruise, they have zero interest in writing about you or your life. So forget about trying to convince them that you're the best, the biggest, the most successful, or whatever. Instead, learn rule #2: the media do care about what you know. Share it with them, and you'll be golden.
 
The next step isn't as hard as it sounds at first. You have to learn to think like a reporter. This does not require enrolling in journalism school, or changing careers. It just calls for common sense. You have to remember that reporters are real people  like you and me, with jobs to do and hassles to overcome. You have to approach them with the mindset that you are a resource to help them do their jobs more easily. Everyone -- reporters included --likes it when someone helps them get their job done easier. That's what you'll be learning how to do here in the months ahead.

 

And when the reporters start liking you, guess what happens? They'll start featuring you, again and again.

Return to Public Relations 101

NED STEELE, author of 102 Publicity Tips To Grow a Business or Practice, works with people in professional services who want to create a business development initiative and build their business. A former newspaper journalist and public relations firm head, he is president of Ned Steele’s MediaImpact. To learn more visit www.mediaimpact.biz, call 212-243-8383, or email him at info@mediaimpact.biz.