| by Diana King
Public Relations Manager, Active Parenting Publishers
Itıs not too early to
begin promoting your upcoming class schedule! To reach a
greater number of parents, community leaders and
educators, be sure to include your local media.
1. Create a simple
news release.
See the Promotion
Guide included in your program kit for examples. (The online
promotion guide for Families in Action can
easily be adapted to suit your needs.) To increase
credibility be sure to include your professional
credentials and information about the sponsoring
organization.
2. Research the names
of newspaper reporters who cover parenting/lifestyle
issues in your community.
Also call local radio and TV stations for the names of
programs that
include interview segments about community issues. Ask
for the name of the person who books the guests or
produces the segments--this is not the program host. The
guest booking coordinator or producer is the key person
to reach in this case.
Also find out who
compiles the Calendar of Events listing for the
newspaper/radio/cable TV. In most cases this will be
different from the person who writes feature stories for
the newspaper or books the guests for an interview
program.
3. Address and mail
the news release to the appropriate reporter, guest
booking coordinator or producer.
Send a separate copy to the people who handle the
Calendar of Events. Do not count on your release being
shared by several people in the same media organization!!
4. Follow up with a
phone call to the reporter, etc...about one week later.
Donıt let too much time elapse or the release will
surely be lost! Basically, you want to confirm that
he/she received your news release. This is also your
opportunity to explain why parenting education is
important in your community and why it should be featured
in the media.
Here's a brief
script with talking points--
Often it is difficult to reach these busy people and you
will need to
leave a voice mail message. Write down the points you
want to make so
your conversation or message is complete.
"(Reporter's name),
this is (identify yourself). Last week I sent you
a
news release about the parenting education
classes I will be teaching at (name of school,
church, community center, etc.) in September. I
wanted to follow up to see if you received the
news release and if you might be interested in
featuring parenting education in an upcoming
story/TV/radio program. One of the issues we are
all concerned about
today is violence in our community and schools.
Parenting education
teaches Moms and Dads how to improve
relationships in their home and techniques for
raising responsible children who do not resort to
violence to solve problems. Since many (name of
newspaper/program)
readers/viewers/listeners are interested in
parenting issues, do you
think you could feature parenting education in an
upcoming
(article/program)? Again, my name is (repeat your
name) and you can
reach me at (phone number)."
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5. If a
reporter/guest coordinator/producer is interested, they
may also want to interview an official with the
sponsoring organization (i.e. school principal) and
parents who have taken the class.
Be prepared with the names of an official and 3-4 parents
who would be comfortable talking about their experience
(be sure to talk to the official and parents first!).
Some parents may be willing to talk on a "name
withheld" basis because of sensitive family issues;
be sure to indicate this to the reporter.
6. The reporter/guest
coordinator/producer may ask about sitting in on a class
or sending a camera crew to videotape the class.
This can result in great publicity for your program.
However, be sure to clear this with the sponsoring
organization and tell class participants ahead of time so
that parents who do not want to be identified can sit out
of range of the camera, etc.
7. List your classes
on the Active Parenting website.
This service is free, and you do not have to have
your class details finalized to be listed. Click
here to see examples and post your own information.
If you have questions
about how to publicize your program, please call or
e-mail. And please mail copies of newspaper stories,
video segments, etc., that appear in your local media.
Diana King, Public
Relations Manager
Active Parenting Publishers
1955 Vaughn Rd. NW, Suite 108, Kennesaw, GA 30144-7808
800-825-0060
diana@activeparenting.com
Reprinted from Leader magazine.
Copyright 2001 by Active Parenting Publishers, Inc.
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