Getting media coverage.

Every week one of my clients asks me, "how can I get my business in a national consumer pet magazine?"

Well, that's a pretty big question. But it's not an impossible task...not if you have a great product or service, think outside of the box, be creative and have a unique take on what and how you provide to your customers and potential customers, have something people want, and let people know about it.

Over the years I have met with many editors of many national, local and regional consumer and trade magazines. Editors know their audience, they know what the next 'big' thing is, they keep up on trends in their industry, and they know what types of sources can help them with their articles. And they are open to new ideas.

It's the job of your marketing/pr person to get to know your media, understand their needs and make sure your business, your product, or your service is presented to the media in a way that helps them accomplish their goals. Thus, putting you in the right place at the right time.

Here's a good example:

This month Dog World Magazine includes a feature article entitled "It's Easy Going Green." A great article discussing the many ways you can reduce your dog's carbon paw print on the environment, and reap the benefits of a healthier and happier dog.

Lucky for me, I am one of the main sources of the article. But is it really luck?

Now really. It's a culmination of lots of social media promotion, lots of research, and lots of hard work. Rewarding and wonderful work, I might add!

I began my Raise A Green Dog blog about a year and a half ago, when I started getting many, many questions about the safety of dog food, toys and a dog's environment. I grew up 'green.' And, I've been as green as possible all of my life. So living green is second nature to me and writing about it was came easily.

The blog launched in October 2007 and very quickly began increasing in traffic. Why? Because the information contained in the blog was something people were hungry for. They needed information, they needed resources, and they needed help. And I was happy to help through Raise A Green Dog.

So how did I end up talking about a dog's carbon pawprint in Dog World?

When the writer was looking for resources for her article, she Googled 'green dog,' and up popped my blog on the front page of Google. I was in the right place at the right time because I had done the things I mentioned earlier - have a great product or service, think outside of the box, be creative and have a unique take on what and how you provide to your customers, have something people want, and let people know about it.

But the best part to me is...I'm hopefully helping lots of dog lovers have a healthier, happier pup and environment.