Sometimes to get the PR ball rolling you’ve just got to get a little press. It doesn’t matter if that ends up being a mention in the neighborhood business association’s newsletter. Work every angle when you are just getting started and eventually you will start build up some steam.
Think about alumni newsletters (.edu links to your website are gold), business associations, community newspapers, industry newsletters, company publications. All of these places probably have some of your target market as readers and they also have other journalists as readers.
I have found that sometimes a little mention can lead to bigger things. Here’s a rather bizarre example. I was recently quoted in a Wall Street Journal article. While I love that kind of coverage I noticed that they spelled my last name wrong. As is their policy, they printed this correction the next day. That day I get a call from prospective business partner who happened to see the correction. You just never know with PR.
Get in the habit of creating a press release every month with some newsy item or announcement and send it to a highly targeted list of journalists as well as your best clients and prospects. Do this for a while you will find some interesting PR avenues may start opening up.
Don’t forget the online distribution services like PRWeb.com – they can drive some traffic and help build links back to your website.