© 2006 Dream Merchant Dream Merchant • 2309 Torrance Blvd. #104, Torrance, CA 90501 (310) 328-1925 email: Jkm316@aol.com
Ready to Promote Your New Product? Think About Maximizing Your Free Publicity.
By James F. Riordan
PART TWO
If you think creatively, you can stage promotional events that maximize your publicity, educate your target audience, and sell product, while costing you very little. For example, one of my clients obtained rights to market an innovative drawing pad that utilizes a patented plastic grid which slips under a sheet of paper on the pad. It guides your pencil to enable you to draw a perfectly straight horizontal or vertical line on the paper without using a ruler. Previously, the product had been sold only at trade shows in foreign countries where it could be readily demonstrated to prospective customers. My client's goal was to sell the product through stationery stores in this country.
In order to get the sales rolling, we needed to come up with an inexpensive yet effective promotional event to call attention to the product in the areas where it would be sold. I suggested a drawing contest. The contest would be held in a local shopping mall, which had a stationery and art store. The store would be required to buy a minimum order of the product in return for being mentioned on local radio and television stations. The event would receive FREE local television, radio and newspaper coverage, since the drawing contest was free to enter and paid a $100 prize to each of three age categories--pre-teen, teen, and adult.
The media would be given advance notice of the contest in the form of a PSA or "Public Service Announcement." The contest goal was to draw the best "dream home of the future" in the allotted time frame of 15 minutes, and would be judged by a prominent local developer, who agreed to judge the contest in return for being mentioned in our contest publicity. This promotion would cost my client only three hundred dollars out of pocket, plus his time and energy to put it together, and it would accomplish the following in each location.
* Generate lots of publicity for the product* Educate prospective customers about the product and get them to try it
* Build goodwill for the company through the cash prizes
* Educate local contractors and developers about the product
* Make prospective customers aware of the store where they can buy the product
* Generate instant "impulse" sales of the product
You may be able to obtain lots of free promotion in the form of "New Product Releases" to magazines and newspapers. Most specialty magazines and newspapers have a section that announces the introduction of new products on the market. To take advantage of them, you'll need to prepare a "news release" extolling the features, benefits and cost of the product, and send it to the editor, along with a glossy black and white photo of the product, preferably an 8 X 10, but you may also be able to get by with a 5 X 7. Digital images are sometimes acceptable, as well.
It is a good idea to send a free sample of the product to the editor if you can afford to do so. If you are able to afford only a few free samples, send them to the magazines with the highest circulation. You can decide which magazine and newspapers you want to contact by reviewing all of the "periodicals" that are currently being published and which feature articles on products like yours. A research librarian can help you find those publications.
Another great source of free publicity is a new product announcement in an applicable trade journal. To find out all of the trade journals which may be beneficial for you and your product, visit the library and find a copy of BUSINESS RATES AND DATA. You will find thousands of Trade Journals conveniently listed by industry, so it's easy to find the ones of interest to you. Most industries have at least three or more trade journals. The listings in BUSINESS RATES AND DATA will give you the addresses and the editors' names and phone numbers.
Yet another excellent form of publicity is to enter your product in design contests, especially those that will be publicized. A good example is the Industrial Designers Society of America annual design contest. You can find the organization online at http://www.IDSA.org
Your product may generate free publicity from press, television and radio media. Many of them are looking for stories such as yours, and you can invite them over for a demonstration by calling the program director, news director, or editor. You should have a "hook" or reason why the public will be interested in it. You should try to develop a hook that is tied to current news events, or features or those that affect a local resident or business.
If you have a suitable product, you may also be able to trade some of your products and services for advertising. I have done this many times with radio station "contest giveaways," where one product per hour, or per day, is given away by the station in return for mentioning the product and its availability.
You should also save any video footage, audio tapes, photographs, and articles so you can use them later in your sales demonstrations and product presentations.
NEXT ISSUE: More on Product Promotion
The above article was taken from James F. Riordan's classic book, HOW TO EVALUATE THE POTENTIAL FOR SUCCESS OF A NEW PRODUCT OR TECHNOLOGY. Riordan's highly-acclaimed, 36-point system is a valuable tool for inventors, product evaluators or anyone interested in the invention process. Each section is followed by a comprehensive questionnaire that can be used to evaluate your product.
The highly-recommended book can be ordered through the Dream Merchant, 2309 Torrance Blvd., Suite 104, Torrance, CA 90501. The phone number is (310) 328-1925.
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