Throughout my career with this magazine I have often been asked to speak at events to educate security professionals about the value of having your name or your company’s name appear in SECURITY SALES & INTEGRATION, as well as how easy it is to do so. As I extend this message beyond the confines of a trade show this month, those are the two points I will expound upon: the why and how of placing you or your business on the trade media map.

First off, why bother? After all, everyone is busier than ever and time is at an extremely high premium. Believe me, I get that. But the payoff from this type of exposure and publicity absolutely justifies the effort. Whether it’s for yourself, a colleague, your company or the industry itself, the value stems from leveraging the magazine’s platform of higher visibility to share knowledge and convey information.

The elevated presence of being featured in SSI can establish you as a respected authority and professional within the industry, thereby making you and the company you represent more sought-after by potential business partners, suitors, clients, show organizers, other trade and mainstream media outlets, talented jobseekers, etc. It’s also a great way to get standout employees recognized for their quality work and have them experience the associated morale boost. In addition, it provides the perfect vehicle for contributing to the betterment of the industry by teaching others what you know and have discovered.

How can you get involved? It’s really easy and the range of required enterprise runs the gamut. You can submit information or other materials on either a frequent (recommended) or occasional basis; you can decide on what works best for you. In some cases, you or someone else within your company, or an outside media professional, will need to organize the information in the form of a press release prior to submission. In other instances, you can simply work directly with SSI‘s friendly editorial staff to get the word out.

Those new to publicity seeking are often unsure of what constitutes news, and if they have news, how to package it into a press release format.

Determining what’s newsworthy is more common sense than anything else. Legitimate contenders include: hiring/retiring/passing of key personnel; selling or acquiring a business; expanding facilities or opening/closing locations; partnering with another company; winning an award; settling a lawsuit; landing or completing a major project; earning accreditation or certification; etc.

When communicating such news, the key is to do so in a concise way in which the most important information is clearly identified in the header and first paragraph. Make sure the sentences are short and easy to understand. If possible, include a quote or two and at least one high-resolution photo. Before you ship it out, double-check the facts, and have it proofed for typos, proper grammar, punctuation and other possible errors. The release is a reflection of your business, so you want it to project professionalism. When it’s ready, the preferable delivery method is E-mail.

Of course, getting into the pages of SSI is not confined to news. Along with news sections, specific editorial avenues open to you include:

• Security Exchange — Letters to the editor
• Industry Pulse — “Hard” news
• Bulletin Board — Personnel and company news
• Hot Seat — Short Q&A on a hot topic
• In the Field — Company profile
• Feature articles — Business and technology topics
• Case Studies — Installation project profile
• As I See It — Guest commentary
• Building Your Business — Management article

SSI wants to be your messenger. Allow us at least the threads of your stories and we will do our best to spin them into gold.

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