Viral PR & Fortune Magazine

Viral PR & Fortune Magazine
So a lot of people have been writing in and asking me how I managed to garner a full-page feature story on my Expertizing workshops in Fortune Small Business Magazine.
I’ll ‘fess up all to the subscribers of my free Expertizing newsletter on getting more media attention for your book & biz in next week’s issue (Sign up now at PublishingGame.com so you don’t miss it!).
But here I wanted to come clean (and if you haven’t seen the Come Clean ad it’s worth a peek) about the value — and necessity — of meta publicity, or viral PR.

1. Getting a full-page feature in a major business magazine has been great for my book sales and business. But Fortune Small Business doesn’t go to everyone in the world — their subscribers number a paltry million people. So here’s what else I did to spread the word:
2. I put up a mention of the Fortune coverage at both the PublishingGame.com and Expertizing.com websites.
3. I mentioned it on all the writing, publishing, and promotion listserves I frequent.
4. I sent out a press release detailing the coverage.
5. I added the press release to the media page of the Expertizing.com site.
6. Based on the press release, I got several additional requests for articles on Expertizing (including from Steven Covey’s Sales and Service Excellence newsletter) and many interviews with other publications, including Bulldog Reporter’s Media Relations. (These, in turn, will generate other sales.)
7. I’m expanding on some of the details of how to get big stories like the Fortune feature in my online syndicated column which goes to thousands of ezines and websites monthly, including this one.
8. I wrote a letter to the editor of Fortune, to see if I could also wangle my way into next month’s issue.
9. And I included it in my publishing blog at http://www.PublishersMarketplace.com/members/PBJPress/

So when you think you’ve exhausted all the media attention you can, think again. There’s almost always some more meta-marketing to be wrung out of your PR.
Fern Reiss is the author of The Publishing Game: Bestseller in 30 Days (book promotion), The Publishing Game: Find an Agent in 30 Days (traditional publishing), and The Publishing Game: Publish a Book in 30 Days (self-publishing). To consult with her on your book project ($300/hour), contact her at Fern@PublishingGame.com. If you like her articles, and would like to find out more on how to be quoted by the national media, be sure to sign up for her complimentary PublishingGame/Expertizing email newsletter at The Future of Publishing - January 15th, 2009