I have always been a big fan of using the media to help drive awareness about my company and, ultimately, sales. The logic is simple: most entrepreneurs do not have a massive advertising budget to go out and purchase ad spots. By the same token more people read stories than advertisements – so why are you not getting stories written about your business?

Getting good PR is always a hot topic and has been the subject of some of our most popular posts: Writing Press Releases For Your Business – Part 1 and Writing Press Releases For Your Business – Part 2

One of the biggest challenges in getting a good profile on your company is finding the right reporter at the right time who is interested in your story. A great new tool that I discovered that helps eliminate the guesswork is called PR Leads.

PR Leads is run by Dan Janal and it is a fantastic service for entrepreneurs. I decided to try it out after reading about it “The 4 Hour Workweek.” It costs $99 per month and you fill out a profile about your business, listing all the areas that you are an expert in. From there it is like magic happens. You get daily emails from Dan about opportunities reporters are looking for that are exactly up your area of expertise.

It was by using PR Leads that I got written up in the New York Times. One of the categories I selected related to small businesses and I received an email from Dan about a reporter who was looking to write an article for the New York Times on how entrepreneurs can make their companies look bigger. I immediately responded with a detailed answer and the reporter called me the next day. We did an interview and I was published in the New York Times!

It not only sent a lot of traffic to my site but it is something that I can use to help increase my credibility and sell more sponsorships (I put it right on my homepage so you can see it as soon as you land there).

I do not make any money from endorsing PR Leads but I wanted to share the resource with you because it has been so valuable to my business!

Evan Carmichael