ACPR Blog

If you are running a small business, one of your aims for 2009 is likely to be to raise your business profile and reach more customers. PR is a great way to do this, and with budgets being tight this year you may want to do your own PR.

Writing a press release is straightforward: you can find a template to download at www.prbasics.co.uk. If you need an expert edit on what you have written, I offer a press release health check for £30. But, how do you get it to the journalists who can give you the coverage you need?

There are lots of press release distribution services, and journalism.co.uk have put together a summary of the cost of each of them, plus where they reach. Of course, they are doing this because they think you should use their service: I can’t tell you if it is better than the other services. I’ve tended to use Response Source myself which always gets me some coverage, usually from a publication I would not have expected to cover the release. I have also been trialling Beauty4Media for a client which has got sample requests from a range of publications. You should check out each site and see where they distribute to: Sourcewire, for example, is mainly for tech topics.

Use the ACPR media contacts database: the quickest way to get in touch with editors and journalists on national and local parenting magazines. Up to the minute data for contactcs at 20 national parenting magazines, 90+ local parenting magazines and 50+ parenting websites, plus journalists with an interest in parenting from other media. Don’t miss out on the best way to promote your baby or child business and generate valuable free coverage.

Publication has been suspended on Pregnancy, Baby and You magazine. In some ways this is unsurprising. Magicalia has acquired a number of parenting magazines in the last year and inevitably would pick out the weaker ones. However Pregnancy, Baby and You had developed enormously under the editorships of Claire Roberts and then Emma Hartfield. Let’s hope suspended does only mean suspended and it will be back soon.

If you want the fastest way to get to the people who can provide editorial coverage, get the ACPR parenting media contacts database. Up-to-date, this is the same database I use every week to promote my PR clients. With contacts at national parenting magazines in the UK and Ireland, plus details of local parenting magazines, parenting websites and journalists with an interest in parenting in the national media, this database can make your PR far more effective. Just £125, you will save hours of your time: the cost is far less than buying all the magazines and laboriously ploughing through to find contacts too. Pay electronically using our secure payment provider and the database can be with you on the same day so you can start promoting your business to the right editors right away.

www.findatvexpert.com gives experts who want to be considered for TV&Media opportunities the chance to showcase their expertise to the industry – and gives the industry a fast and easy way of finding experts to comment on a subject or be part of a show. TV&Media companies might go to the site to find a specific expert for a specific article or programme - or they might go to the site to browse through the photos and profiles and get the inspiration for a new series or the next ‘big thing’. (more…)

Miranda Levy, formerly of Grazia, is the new editor of Mother and Baby Magazine. Kyrsty Hazell joins Junior as Editorial Assistant, always a good person to start with for your PR efforts.

To find out more emails and addresses for contacts at pregnancy and parenting magazines and websites, buy the Parenting Media Contact database. It is bigger and better than ever, putting you in touch with the people who can write about your products and services.

Our most popular media contacts database, as used on a daily basis at ACPR is on special offer this month. Hundreds of up-to-the-minute contacts at 20 national parenting magazines, 90+ local parenting magazines and 50+ parenting websites, plus journalists with an interest in parenting from other media.

Using the database, you can reach the right people to get your business coverage with a few clicks of a mouse.

Just £75 until May 31. Normally £95. Buy it here.

“I am very impressed with the quantity and quality of media contacts. I can’t wait to get started using them.”
Julie Sherwood www.juliemarketing.com

Just a quick reminder that you have until 31 March to enter the competition to win a copy of Working Mothers - the perfect guide for anyone who needs a bit of motivation when juggling family and work. Simply email antonia@acpr.co.uk to enter.

You also have until 31 March to buy ‘A Guide to Promoting Your Business’ for £9.99 instead of the usual price of £15.

Since the last newsletter, we have also added a brand new database of contacts at crafts magazines. If you want to get in touch with women who love crafting, this database contains 29 of the UK’s most popular crafting magazines. Use the database to get in touch with craft magazine editors at the click of a mouse, and send press releases to the right people to get them in to print. Just £90 until April 30th - usually £100.

And don’t forget the brand new E-Book, The Beginners Guide to TV Interviews. Not just a guide, this great book by Joanne Mallon will help you get in TV in the first place.

Finally, I’m in need of a Scottish case study, someone who offers a service like freelance gardening, or dog walking, or laundry or ironing. This is for a feature in the Sunday Post. Please email antonia@acpr.co.uk if you can help.

It’s always nice when someone says good things about ACPR - and especially when they know what they are talking about. Marketing pro Julie Sherwood recently bought the parenting contacts database, and said, “I am very impressed with the quantity and quality of media contacts. I can’t wait to get started using them.”

Thanks Julie!