062 Mickie Kennedy - Marketing Power of Press Releases (and most are doing it wrong)

In our SaaS Fuel™ Expert Series, Jeff is joined by Mickie Kennedy. Mickie founded eReleases 24 years ago to help small businesses, authors, and startups increase their visibility and credibility through press release marketing.

Mickie shares how he started in the industry after finishing a degree in creative writing with an emphasis on poetry. He also discusses how anyone can create a survey using Survey Monkey and share it within 15 minutes to get media attention. Mickie also emphasizes the importance of creating relatable stories that people can identify with, even if there is no use case study available.

Tune in to learn some tips on brainstorming relevant questions for surveys that will attract media attention.

Key Takeaways

00:00:00 Navigating Japan As A Non-Japanese Speaker

00:03:27 Navigating The Tricky Subway System: Appreciating Those With An Entrepreneurial Spirit

00:07:26 Writing Experience As a Writer as A Launching Point

00:09:14 Fax to Email Transition

00:10:25 Importance Of Small Businesses In The Press Release Market And Tips For Success

00:14:18 Create Something With a Story that People Can Relate To

00:15:25 Be Honest and Vulnerable

00:18:30 Things That Would Be Significant or Newsworthy

00:22:46 The Benefits Of Conducting Surveys For SEO And Media Attention

00:23:41 Asking Pertinent Questions Works

00:24:36 Being a Contrarian On a Hot Topic Works Well

00:29:18 Headline & Quote: Press Release's Two Most Crucial Elements

00:29:49 What Makes A Good Quote?

00:31:39 Press Releases Should Emphasize Dates/Schedules

Tweetable Quotes

“You don't have to be a wordsmith to build a great quote. You just have to say something in a way that is really condensed and you know it would be a loss to paraphrase it.” - 00:30:42 Mickie Kennedy

“If everybody's saying the same thing, then maybe one of those people is going to get picked up. But if you're the dissenting voice on whatever it is, then you know you're much more in demand.” - 00:26:32 Jeff Mains

“Sometimes if the quote is powerful enough, they can build the story around it.” - 00:29:40 Mickie Kennedy

“And sometimes being first helps a lot, but that's the hard thing to do.” - 00:26:42 Mickie Kennedy

“But I like the ones that are surprising because those are the ones that people like.” - 00:22:27 Mickie Kennedy

“So don't be afraid of sharing your vulnerability and being authentic.” - 00:15:50 Mickie Kennedy

SaaS Leadership Lessons

1. Make yourself indispensable by including a great quote in your press releases.
2. Avoid certain dates or events when sending out press releases to maximize their impact.
3. Choosing the right timing and building a compelling story around your product launch are also crucial components of effective press release marketing.
4. Stand apart from your competitors to get media attention.
5. You need something that builds a story or shows how the story goes. Or says something in a way that is really beautiful, thoughtful, and all-in, while most people just stick to what they know.
6. The most fundamental aspect of a successful press release is providing sufficient information for a story to be constructed.
7. Putting out a press release about a survey or study you did in your industry is the smartest and most newsworthy thing you can do with a press release.
8. Make a page on your website with all the questions and answers. Then, choose two or three that you think are the most interesting, surprising, or intriguing, and use them to tell a story in a press release.
9. Have a question-based brainstorming. You are looking to ask contemporary questions. You should avoid asking inquiries that have no relevance to the present or future.
10. The title and the quote are likely the two most crucial components of the press release, however so few individuals recognize the importance of the quote. This is a missed opportunity to make a strong statement.

Guest Resources

Mickie Kennedy (LinkedIn): https://www.linkedin.com/in/publicity

Mickie Kennedy (Twitter): https://twitter.com/ereleases

Mickie Kennedy (Instagram): https://www.instagram.com/ereleasespr/

eReleases: https://www.ereleases.com/meet-us/

Resources Mentioned

New York Times - https://www.nytimes.com/international/

Ebay - https://www.ebay.ph/

Pez - https://us.pez.com/

Ink Mag - https://www.inkedmag.com/

Black Lives Matters - https://blacklivesmatter.com/

SurveyMonkey - https://www.surveymonkey.com/

Yellow Pages - https://www.yellow-pages.ph/

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/

Episode Sponsor

This week's episode is sponsored by a new SaaS pricing book that launches on Tuesday. It's called Software Profit Streams by Jason Tanner & Luke Hohmann. This book is not your standard biz book or a snoozefest on pricing. It's visual, interactive, well thought out, and beautifully designed. There are no walls of text. Straight up, this is the best book about pricing your SaaS that I've ever seen! If you priced like your industry, copied a competitor's pricing page, or just straight-up guessed to price your SaaS, you need this book! It releases next Tuesday, April 4, I'll have Luke on the show on release day. You can learn more at appliedframeworks.com and I'll link to it in the show notes and on SaaSFuel.com Software Profit Streams - check it out.

Small Fish, Big Pond – https://smallfishbigpond.com/ Use the promo code ‘SaaSFuel’

Champion Leadership Group – https://championleadership.com/

SaaS Fuel Resources

Website - https://championleadership.com/

Jeff Mains on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffkmains/

Twitter - https://twitter.com/jeffkmains

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/thesaasguy/

Instagram - https://instagram.com/jeffkmains