Have you ever wondered how the business magazines and papers fill
all of those sections called “People in the Know” or “Movers and
Shakers” and so forth? The fact of the matter is that every day,
these publications are waiting for you to send them your news so
they can fill their publication!

One quick and extremely simple strategy to get your name in one of
those sections is to send out an announcement. Announcements are
basically very short press releases. They are great visibility
builders that you can write in four sentences or less! They create
general awareness of who you are, and you can send these out up to
once a month and increase your visibility to your target market and
also to the press.

There are four basic components of an announcement:

Your name
Who you are – your company
What you’re announcing (new product, service, client, speaking
engagement, etc.)
A short bio (if there is room)
Remember that these are around four sentences or less. Topics can be
just about anything: a new product or service, an appointment to a
board, a new client, a speaking engagement, an award for you and/or
your business, a joint venture, a new certification, a renewal of a
certification, national press coverage you receive or an event you
hold. Really the topics are limitless!

Once you have your announcement, look in the publication itself to
find the name of the person who coordinates the section you are
targeting. Alternatively, you can go on the web site and find the
contact information there. Email is generally the best way to
communicate with this section of the publication. Put your
announcement directly in the body of the email. Do not attach it in
a Word document or PDF. It is not likely that your announcement will
be opened.

Here is an example of an announcement I recently sent out that was
picked up by local business paper. I’m including my entire email so
you can see how I do this:

Dear “Name”,

Please consider the following for publication:

Meredith Liepelt of Rich Life Marketing and Diana Long of The Life
Design Institute announce and congratulate the graduates of their
program called “Business Breakthrough Series.” The 15 graduates
include Barbara Herbst, Linda Wisler Luft, Judy Hansen, Molly
Fanning, Deborah Gnann, Yukiko Bates, Barbara Brannon, Becky Frisk,
Lora Hanna, Diana Gibbens, Julie Friend, Tami Cecil, Sandy Brader,
Barbara Wayman and Roberta Kayne. Graduates successfully completed
the 12-week educational workshop designed to provide women
entrepreneurs with marketing strategies and business guidance to
significantly grow their businesses. More information can be found
at www.businessbreakthroughseries.com.

Thank you,
Meredith Liepelt
And I include my signature line here.

Keep in mind that the news for your announcement can be up to a year
old! Take 15 minutes today and brainstorm about any news you have
that you can offer to your local papers and magazines about you and
your business. Write up a few and have them in queue for the coming
months and see how many times you can get mentioned in the press!