I have spent over 20 years in the marketing industry, but most of that time my focus was in the area of paid marketing avenues like advertising and direct marketing. When I opened my own small business marketing consulting firm eight years ago, I realized that while all those paid marketing tactics were great - meaning they worked - I also realized my ability to utilize them was limited.

Why? Because like most new small business owners, I didn't have the money.

I was just getting my business off the ground and I needed ways to get the word out that didn't involve a lot of cash.

That's when I turned to Public Relations.

What is Public Relations? It's the act of sending out information to the news media about your business in the hope they will write about your business in their publication. This gives you free exposure and very often it has a lot more credibility than advertising.

Here are 10 steps to help you use PR to market your small business:

(1) Identify who you are trying to reach - who do you want to be reading about your business so they will contact you for more information about your business?

(2) Look for media (newspapers, magazines, radio stations, television programs, and websites) that these people are reading and using.

(3) Make a list of all these publications/media.

(4) Research every publication/medium on your list. Become familiar with them. What news do they cover? What is their writing style? Do they have a regular column or section that covers your industry?

(5) Find out if there is a writer or reporter at each publication that covers your industry.

(6) Contact that writer or reporter and introduce yourself. Let them know who you are, what your area of expertise is, and offer yourself as a resource for stories or if they have questions or need information.

(7) Learn the accepted press release format and writing style and start writing releases about newsworthy events in your business.

(8) Create a plan to issue press releases on a regular basis to your media list. Just make sure the information you are sending is indeed newsworthy.

(9) If you do business on the Internet, considering using a service called PR Web (www.prweb.com) This will get your release out quickly to many sources on the web and can start to generate awareness of your business to a broader scope of media.

(10) Look for opportunities to use your expertise to write columns, or special features for the publications on your media list.

Public relations is a great marketing tool for small business owners and independent professionals. If you are committed to learning how to use it properly, and you use it consistently, it can get you and your business incredible exposure at little or no cost.

(C) Copyright 2006 Debbie LaChusa, 10stepmarketing