Securing headlines for your business

Jessica Pilkington of BuzzPR - proud sponsors of Spark - has these top tips:

Bill Gates put it brilliantly: “If l was down to my last dollar, l’d spend it on PR.”

But, if you want todo it for yourselves, how do you go about getting valuable and positive coverage for your business?

Here are some top tips to help you on the way.

1. Press release: Get the press release bang on and you’ll boost your chance of coverage.

Journalists are busy people so provide them with a story, well written – no more than 1-2 pages long – and a good pic and you’re half way there.

2. Google Alerts: Keep track of press by logging on to www.google.co.uk/alerts Key in your company name and any competitors or sectors you want to keep an eye on and online coverage will pop into your inbox on a daily basis.

3. Twitter: Get into the habit of searching for the hashtag #Journorequest on Twitter.

Journalists across the UK and beyond make daily requests for stories, products and opinion pieces.

You could strike lucky.

Start following key journalists as well – great for building relationships.

4. Research: Build your list of media contacts free by using an online database such as

www.journalisted.com or www.mediauk.com

5. National news: Keep abreast of the news even before it happens and log on to

www.foresightnews.co.uk for daily updates, or follow them on Twitter @ForesightNewsUK

Join the Spark community and enter the business competition launching in April, with a prize fund worth over £40,000, here www.sparknotts.com