There is an old proverb that goes, “Give a person a fish, and you feed them for a day. Teach a person tofish, and you feed them for a lifetime.” The same can be said about publicity. If you do publicity once,you’ll only get business for a day. However, if you do publicity with frequency and repetition, you’llbuild a business that will feed you for a lifetime.

There are several other ways fishing is similar to publicity. Here are a few:

Knowing What You’re Fishing For/Knowing Who Your Target Market Is:

First, you have to decide what you’re fishing for, then you go where they are. If you’re fishing fortrout, you would go to a lake. If you’re fishing for salmon, you head to a river. And, if you’refishing for mahi-mahi, you would gas up the boat for some deep sea fishing. The same is true for your targetmarket. Once you decide who your target market is, you go where they are. If you want name recognition in frontof business decision makers you would go to trade, industry or business association publications. Every markethas magazines and blogs they read regularly. Know your target market and you’ll get a bite every time.

Having the Right Lures/Position Your Expertise:

In a lake, you would use a bobber and lures to attract the fish’s attention. In a river or stream, youmight want to use a fly-fishing pole. On the ocean, of course you’d want to be fully strapped in with astrong line and reel. The same is true for positioning your expertise in a way the reader wants to see it. Youmay think that since Entrepreneur, Fast Company and BusinessWeek are all business publications you can send thesame press release to all of them. Consider their core reader: Entrepreneur says who they are in the title; FastCompany attracts the reader who wants new, now, next; and BusinessWeek is the old steady blue-chip businessperson. So, tailor your press release to the desired reader and you’ll have them jumping out of the waterfor you.

Using the Right Bait on Your Hook/Using the Right Content in Your Hook:

Whether you use a worm, eggs or chum depends on the fish you want to catch. The same is true for the content youuse to hook the media’s attention. If you don’t get the media’s attention, your target marketwill never see your content, so you have to present your content in the right way. So many people make themistake of presenting themselves as the story. What the media cares about is what you can do for their reader;who you are and why they should listen to you comes second. Press releases should not be advertorial orself-promotional; they should be educational, informational and content-driven. Lead with your unique stance orcontroversial opinion. Offer the media additional information on a story they’re already running, and they’llbe itching to take the bait.

Telling a Fish Story/Using Your Publicity:

Every fisher has a whopper of a story about the one that got away, but just as many have trophies mounted ontheir walls to prove their skills. The same is true with your publicity; you’ve got to tell a good tale— otherwise you might as well cut bait and walk away. Start an “in the media” page on yourwebsite. Nothing impresses a potential client more than knowing the media considers you the go-to source forinformation. Even if your business is just in the local market, don’t shy away from national press.Showing a local realtor you’ve been in a national real estate magazine will be just as impressive as beingin the local newspaper. Use the publicity you receive in your social media as well. If you’re a B2Bbusiness you would want to focus on LinkedIn, or if you’re B2C you could use Facebook, Pinterest,Instagram or others.

If you’re hoping to build business name recognition, increase market awareness, or boost sales, you firstneed to drop your line into the water. Wading in the mainstream media doesn’t have to be a scarysituation. Knowing who you want to hook, and having the right bait in your tackle box will land you publicitywithout much of a struggle. Regardless if you’re standing on the banks, using a row boat or in a trawler,it’s about positioning your content in front of your target market in a format they want to hear, thenjust sit back and reel them in. You’ll have a net full of media placements to use in your marketing for alifetime.

Russell Trahan is the owner and president of PR/PR Public Relations and author of Sell Yourself Without Saying aWord. For 20 years PR/PR has enjoyed a track record of getting 100 percent of their clients placed in front oftheir target market. For more information, please visit www.prpr.net.