Smaller companies dont always have the budget - or inclination - to retain a PR hotshot to tell the world about their business success, but that doesnt mean they arent a ready source of news.

The problem is its often dull news which is ignored by all except the industry press and quite rightly so in most cases. If you land a contract, you issue a press release. If you take on a new senior sales rep, you issue a press release. Attending an exhibition? Press release, natch. These are simply announcements that you are doing what you do, that its business as usual.

With a little lateral thinking, however, you could be issuing press releases throughout the year which present topics and subjects thatll have editors from all disciplines chasing you for the full story. Below Ive presented just five brainstormers to get the creative juices flowing.

Your Survey Says...

Even though I know nothing about your company, the odds are that you have the time and resources to carry out a survey which could get you some coverage if its implemented and reported properly.

Concentrate on your niche, whether thats your industry or expertise. Keep it relatively simple, but ensure the final results have the potential to grab headlines. For example, if youre a butcher, you could ask 100 people if they would give up bacon if their partner issued an ultimatum. 4 Out of 10 Choose Bacon Over Marriage is going to get an editors attention!

But be honest about your methodology. If youve simply polled a handful of your colleagues, dont try to pass it off as a six-month research project.

Some journalists wont touch a survey story with a barge poll unless its been carried out with the kind of planning that goes into a Nasa shuttle launch, but others might find it useful, particularly if its a fun subject and doesnt take itself too seriously.

Your Opinion Counts

Surf the major news sites - try Google News for starters:

http://news.google.com/nwshp?hl=en&gl=us

Ask yourself what you or your boss would have to say about the main news stories of the day. Or perhaps a current event impacts directly on your industry. Pretty soon youre going to have a story to tell.

A property solicitor in Scotland did this and the resulting story is great - heres the intro:

Scottish property solicitor criticises Gordon Brown's tax U-turn.

A leading Scottish property solicitor has criticised Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Browns decision to abolish without notice the exemption for deprived areas from Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT), saying that the measure would have an adverse impact upon the commercial property market in Scotland.

Full story: http://www.clickpress.com/releases/Detailed/542005cp.shtml

Your Opinion Counts 2 - Straight to the Editors Desk

While serving as editor of business magazines in the past, there have been times when PR companies have contacted me following publication with some kind of gripe regarding coverage of their company or client.

Disgruntled PR people are often being beaten hard with large sticks by CEOs and senior management who just dont get media, so their persistence is somewhat understandable.

But 9.98 times out of 10 the PR exec is simply not going to get what they want - some kind of full-page, front-cover apology and glowing testimonial signed by the publisher himself printed with a photo of the editors public execution.

Every time I let them down I did say: Write in - were always keen to receive letters to the editor. Id guess one in 20 actually went ahead and did so, but you know what? If every one of them wrote in I would almost certainly have printed them all. Good editors embrace transparency - if you disagree with them or their reporters theyre likely to print your letter.

Happy Birthday

At the very most youre 364 days away from some company milestone and if you put your mind to it you may find a few anniversaries just around the corner.

Dont limit yourself to the xx years since the company was launched, how about the anniversary of the companys first profit, a look back at the day the company took on its 10th employee, or the date a key contract was secured.

Then tell the tale of how your company has developed since this date. Be sure to include some drama, the good times and the bad, and plenty of meaty quotes from the most senior talking heads.

Make a Date

Hunt for an angle based on some future date that is covered in one way or another by local and national press.

Browse some of these major online almanacs for inspiration:

http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory/
http://www.scopesys.com/anyday/
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/archive.html

What youre doing here is following the Happy Birthday strategy, but looking for external hooks on which to hang your news release.

Local newspapers in particular like to keep an eye on the calendar, so if you can provide your neighbourhood newspaper with a story, photo opportunity or news release and photo package related to a particular event, celebration or holiday, you could get some great quality local coverage.

Only Five?

Trawl the internet for reasons to write a press release and youll come up with dozens of lists. Some of them provide 30 plus reasons to issue a release, but the vast majority of them require you to have done something. They are reactive reasons, rather than proactive.

The reasons given above can be put into action today - you dont have to wait to secure a new contract or make a high-level appointment to get ink.

You might not have known you were sitting on those news stories, but theres no time like the present to tip off the press that you have them.

Copyright 2005 George Hopkin