Welcome. Thank you for joining me. I created this course because I know firsthand how publicity published stories can help businesses drive sales. Let me share a story. I once publicized a small bakery in Chicago, I convinced an online media site to review her pastries, including her chocolate chunk cookie. As a result of this glowing review, nearly 40 customers stopped by her bakery the following week.

Some lived in the neighborhood and didn't even realize the bakery had changed ownership. Other local media saw the post and wanted to review her pastries, too. Then Steve Delinski ABC is hungry hound wanted to taste test the pastries for himself. And in addition to this post, he also shot a short broadcast segment in our bakery. She was grateful for the coverage and I was happy for her. For small and mid sized businesses published stories can cost effectively launch a business, generate awareness and get customer traction.

My goal for this course is to empower you To be your own publicist, and get press coverage for your company, your products and yourself. I'll do that by sharing practical tips and tools you can use right away. A little bit about me. My name is Rob Lynch, and I'm a 20 year veteran of the public relations industry. I've worked for large global PR agencies, small, creative boutiques, and I did a stint on the corporate side handling all of the PR for trans Union's b2b divisions. I've consulted for a decade, my bread and butter is executing publicity campaigns for small and mid sized businesses, their products and their people.

I still use the same techniques I learned on the first day of the job. Tell the right story to the right reporter at the right time, lather, rinse repeat. I'll share some of those same techniques with you. Here's what to expect from this course. I'll provide a definition of publicity. So we're all on the same page on what it is, and then I'll discuss why publicity is still relevant today.

I'll share some of the misconception Surrounding publicity, and the obstacles to securing stories. I'll share what makes news and show you how to build your target MEDIA list. And I'll share with you how most reporters like to be contacted. I'll offer a template for crafting your company's story. I'll show you how to craft your pitch. I'll share some example pitches from my career.

And I'll talk about following up with reporters. By the end of this course, you should know how to write a pitch to introduce your company to reporters, bloggers and television producers. What is a pitch? A pitch is the tool we use to entice reporters to cover our story. It's typically an email, sometimes a phone call, and it includes a specific call to action, set up an interview, review our product, attend our event, meet at a trade show. It is just enough information to pique a reporter's interest.

It's the equivalent of a movie trailer for a movie. It has the most important information, but not all the details. And because it's less than For more than a press release, you can be more creative. Thank you again for joining me. Let's get started.