Promoting A Business That Is Hard To Promote

Yes, PR people like to put a positive spin on things, but, honestly, some businesses are easier to promote than others.

However, the businesses that aren't the easy sells can make a good PR person rise to new heights.

There are three examples of clients I've had who may have not been the easiest sells, but I was able to promote them by using my creativity.

1. Client: A dog kennel based in a less populated city. To be fair, dog kennels are a hard sell to the media. Nobody says, "Why don't we have enough dog kennel stories?"

However, I felt strongly in the client and wanted to do right by them. One day, the client mentioned that customers from a nearby casino had boarded their dog there. I immediately got a brainstorm and suggested a partnership with the casino declaring my client it's official doggie concierge.

To their credit, the casino jumped at the idea. After some work creating a press release, we  sent it out and managed to secure placements in tourism publications, pet-oriented media outlets and even a TV segment.

It was a selling point to future clients.

2. Client: A fitness trainer in a crowded field. The media like good fitness trainers, but some, like my client, can be a difficult sell because he didn't follow trends and the media is all about trends.

We spent some time working on pitches, but the real success came when we decided to create a halftime workout for football games that would burn enough calories to allow viewers an extra beer or chicken wing.

This was the hook that allowed my client to stick out from the pack. As a result, we secured a segment with a top cable news station.

3. Client: A neighborhood bar that wasn't divey enough to be trendy and wasn't glamorous enough to be surrounded by paparazzi. The bar was cool, but that wasn't enough to inspire much media love.

How do you promote a great neighborhood bar? For us, we capitalized on the bartenders' sense of humor by promoting a segment of bizarre hangover cures used around the world.

Within ten minutes of sending out the release, we had booked a segment.

The moral of this story is that while some clients aren't easy sells, a little creativity can get their message across and you'll feel better about your success than the easy sells.