In order to be successful in business, people actually have to know about you. You'll need to find ways to get your name out there to drive in consumers. The media, both the news kind and the social networking one, are great ways to promote your business if you go about it the right way.

Writing and distributing press releases
Content you write yourself is a great way to drive traffic to your business. By sending out press releases to the media, you'll be able to garner attention for your product or service. If your release is written well, it may prompt a journalist to contact you to write an actual article about how you can help consumers as opposed to a press release promoting yourself.

How do you go about writing and distributing a press release, though? The most important thing is to attract the reader's attention, according to Entrepreneur. Make sure you still get the information out there, but present it in an exciting way. If you beat around the bush too much, you won't get anyone to read your release. The most important details should go at the top and become less crucial on the way down. You should also work both paid and free distribution services into your financial plan, the source explained. This will allow you to reach a wider audience.

Creating free publicity
Press releases are nice, but they won't always be the easiest or cheapest way to get yourself noticed. Social media provides a nice gateway into the consumer atmosphere. Create accounts for you and your company and get to work. The only way to draw attention to yourself is to be active on your pages. One of the best ways to attract attention is to contact celebrities or well-known businesses via social media, whether that's promoting your product or getting into a heated discussion with them, CEO of BodeTree Chris Myers wrote on Entrepreneur.

If social media isn't your thing, become the go-to source for industry-related topics. The media always need experts to comment on what's happening in the news, so become that person. This isn't the opportunity to promote yourself. You should stick to providing background information, according to the source. If you want to know more about a topic, don't be afraid to reach out for that reason as well. As long as you're in contact with journalists, you'll be in the back of their minds when something related to your business comes up.

Publicity may seem hard to come by, but if you take the proper steps to promote yourself and your business, you're heading in the right direction.