Publicity Queen

As the owner of a small business it’s important to keep informed – your competitive edge depends on it.

Well a fantastic information resource for small businesses with big ideas is Australian Anthill.

Australian Anthill

Published: Bi-monthly

Price: $7.95

Available: Newsagencies & subscription

Circulation: 15,571

Readers: Business owners & professionals

www.australiananthill.com

James Tuckerman the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of this fabbo magazine has been kind enough to spend some time with me and give Publicity Queen blog fans the inside scoop…

PQ   What was the inspiration for starting Australian Anthill?
James Essentially, when we launched in September 2003, there were only two types of ‘consumer’ business magazines in Australia – big business magazines such as BRW, and little business magazines that focussed on the nuts and bolts of running a small business.

I wanted to create a business magazine that was targeted toward rapid growth businesses, companies with genuine global potential.  I wanted to create a new and vibrant business magazine for new and vibrant, ‘fast’ growth companies.  I wanted to help Australians understand that being entrepreneurial can be highly rewarding and that innovation fuels economies.

To do this, I needed to create a magazine that I thought would appeal to three core groups: entrepreneurs, investors and service providers.  In short, ideas, money and skills.

To build the appeal, it was my view that the magazine needed to be equally fresh and that if business can be fun, why can’t business journalism.

PQ Originally you were in PR, how did this help you in establishing the magazine?
James PR helped me to lobby, open doors and reach new audiences and this helped me to promote the magazine and importantly sell advertising space.

My PR skills also helped in relation to the development of editorial – I could isolate the most interesting angle even when the subject was otherwise uninteresting.

Finally, consultants in the PR world are required to churn copy and this helped me particularly with the first three editions of Anthill which I wrote from cover to cover.  I would spend my weekdays selling advertising, managing retail channels, organising subscriptions and looking after the general management of the business.  On the weekends, I would write stories at fever pitch – I couldn’t have done that without my PR background.

PQ In your opinion, what’s made the magazine so successful?
James In a nutshell, it’s the exciting content and the magazine’s unconventional personality.

Anthill provides an educational function but has also adopted a personality to reflect the attitudes of modern business owners who are young in mindset and vision, open and collaborative in their approach to commerce and fuelled by the process of creation, rather than mere wealth creation.

Well that’s it from James today, but in the next entry he’ll be giving us a sneak preview into the news hub of the magazine as well as the Editor’s contact details so that you can ring or email the magazine about your business.

So keep reading and spread the word among your friends who also want publicity – the next entry is too good to miss…

   Yours in publicity

As you know I’ve been espousing the virtues of using great photography to help you get publicity – I even brought in one of Australia’s best editorial photographers to chat with us (refer to Inside Information from an Editorial Photographer and Publicity with Pictures).

Well, you’ll be pleased to know that I practice what I preach (indeedy I do!) and that the publicity I got yesterday in MX, was largely based on the photo I sent with the media kit.

Here it is… (click on the pic if you’d like to see a larger version)

According to Roxanne Millar, who is the Fashion Editor at MX, she doesn’t normally include photos in the ‘Snippets’ section but she thought our photo was so good, she gave it a run.

  Yours in publicity

One of my publicity mentees, Geof Harland of VAT Refund, has become a guru in getting media contacts!

He uses such a simple approach, but it’s so outrageously effective that I’m going to share it with you (he said it was ok!).

Geof does a ‘google’ search to source media ideas on where to send his media info – he then sends his chosen media an email asking them who is the best contact for his news release.  As you’ll see from the screen shot below, he gives the media a little bit of background on what the release is about, and wella!, the media responds with exactly the right person for Geof to send the information.

(Just click on the image for a larger version)

How fabulous is this!

So, if you need to identify the best journalist within a particular magazine, newspaper etc, follow Geof’s lead and simply email them and ask them!

   Yours in publicity

I subscribe to soooo many e-newsletters, e-alerts & e-zines etc so that I keep up to date with what’s going on in the entrepreneurship, business and marketing spheres all over the world.  

And I came across this from Go-To-Market Strategies…

(n) mentor – a wise & trusted guide & advisor
(v) mentoring – a tool to nurture & grow people

Whether you’re a novice in sales and marketing, or a veteran with years of experience, having a mentor can drastically impact your success,  In fact, according to ASTD (American Society for Training & Development):

• 75% of executives point to mentoring as playing a key role in their careers
• productivity increased by 88% when mentoring was involved, versus only a 24% increase with training alone

With these stats, anyone can see the value of a mentor.  The more challenging issue is finding yours!

Well I was rapt when reading this!

Why you ask… because recently I introduced Australia’s first ‘Publicity Mentoring’ service and I can see my mentees getting similar results!

I think what they didn’t mention in those stats is how rewarding mentoring is for the mentor, not just the mentee.  I get a palpable thrill from mentoring because it’s the only opportunity that you can share your experience and knowledge in such a personal and helpful way – and I tell you that when a mentee gets publicity, I’m just as excited as they are!!

More power to mentoring is what I say!

 Yours in publicity (and mentoring)