Marketing Your Business - How to Start a Home-based Computer Repair Business - page 155

With a 100 percent customer service mentality, www.missionrepair.com is your onestop re-
pair service center with support for all makes and models of ipods, iphones, and macintosh
portable systems, cell phones, and gaming consoles.
mission Repair
19941 West 162nd street olathe, Kansas 66062 [phone]
[e-mail]
To reporters who answer to the editor, a story is newsworthy if they feel that the audience
will be interested in the topic. To uncover the newsworthiness of your business, think about
your target customer. Put yourself in his or her shoes; in my case I want to appeal to cus-
tomers who need service on items that I specialize in. What would make you excited, in-
trigued or interested? Now, think about how your business provides its services and meets
the needs of potential customers.
Remember our pitch-letter opening for donating to schools? You might think that being one
of several computer repair shops in your city might make it tough to be newsworthy, but
“Mission Repair is donating 5 percent of all repair profits to local schools” should make a
few business reporters stand up and take notice. In this case, the recent school cutbacks and
closings were a hot topic.What gets them excited and intrigued? The notion that Mission
Repair is giving money to schools to help ease the burden of budget cuts. What will interest
them? The realization that there's a small business willing to do its part for the good of the
community.
Notice that the pitch doesn't say, “Local business donates to charities” or “Ryan Arter,
small business owner, has a rebate program on iPhone repairs.” You want to pick an angle
that may have some relevance to a local or even nationwide problem, and offer a solution.
The skill of coming up with angles for stories is a craft on its own, and while my example
of donating to schools might not excite some reporters, it will catch the eye of others. And
it did.
The fact is that reporters need stories. Remember that you're just the person to help them
find those stories. It can be intimidating to call and speak to a reporter directly, but I've
done it and it's worth the effort. I've even been given the invitation to call reporters when
I see fit. Reporters are typically hurried and rushed, and they spend a lot of time answering
phone calls from people wanting to pitch them all sorts of ridiculous stories. However, it's
important to remember that they need you as much as you need them. If you are presenting
a useful story idea professionally and courteously, you'll be surprised at how fast they will
return to your business asking for more.