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All publicity is free publicity
How do you have the most impact with your press release? How do you ensure that your local papers give you the most exposure?
Getting free publicity is far easier than you may actually think. Start off by getting a good contact at your local newspaper - it's often better to deal with one named person than send press releases to the paper's editor.
Newspapers like stories and they like pictures. So rather than just send a bland "we go on air on Sunday" type affair, give them a particular interesting hook - "three generations of the same family on air", "former Radio 1 DJ to host special show", "poll reveals the favourite songs chosen by people in Acmetown". And every story you do - think about a picture… small children with face-paint on always make great front-page images; old bloke sat in studio doesn't.
If you are building up to an RSL then use a drip-drip approach; send a story each week with another nugget of information about the broadcast. Make sure it is newsworthy; an exclusive interview with David Seaman will probably make the grade, an exclusive interview with your local non-league football club goalkeeper won't.
Use problems as well as positive things to create stories - if you can't find a suitable location for your studio, or your equipment has been nicked, make sure these get some column inches.
Stunts are great - and often fairly easy to organise. A simple one that we did was to find out how many people you could fit in a Mini (we got fifteen), we borrowed a mini from a local dealer and got a great picture in that week's paper. But, bear in mind that a picture is nothing without some branding on it - so make sure everyone is wearing branded t-shirts, there are plenty of branded balloons and there are branding stickers all over the car.
Bear in mind the more quirky the stunt, the more likely it is to get picked up by other media. A page-lead in the Sun is worth two thousand times a page-lead of the local paper, but even a small write-up can work. Make sure you send your press release (and pictures) to places like Ananova.com and your local TV company and BBC website. Time these so that they hit the mass media after you have started broadcasting - if you do it beforehand you are going to lose people who try to tune in but can't.
Exploit the resources of the people you work with - make sure you use someone who is half-decent at photography so you don't just send in a snapshot; make sure you have a crisp copywriter who can create your news release.