by Debra Mastaler

An article in our local newspaper caught my eye today; it was a short piece on how the public relations department in a neighboring County were going to offer a variety of new programming on their school and government cable channels. The article went on to say County administrators were interested in expanding local news coverage and pointed out how the school system was using YouTube to host its video’s.

Government cable…You Tube… expanding coverage… my link spidey senses got all tingly as the marketing ideas whirled in my head.   I immediately started thinking about the opportunities this might present a small business and headed over to the County site to see how and where to submit video content.  Here’s what I found on the Production Request page:

 

All York County Government and York County School Division offices, departments, agencies, governing bodies, boards and commissions are eligible to submit requests for programs, public announcements for cablecast or internal use, and/or requests for program production services to the Division of Video Services. Other individuals or groups are not eligible unless sponsored by an eligible user.

 

Ok so maybe not the dot-gov-link-gold-mine I had first envisioned but still, this may have link building potential through direct and residual links.

If your business caters to local government or the school division, look for sponsored programs and special events where local business people are called upon to donate goods and services. Video tape your products being used at the event and work with your government contact to have the tape included on the local cable channel. (remember, you have to be sponsored by a “eligible user”). Be sure to include contact information at the end of the video.

You can also send the same video to your local television stations for rebroadcast on weekends when news stories are slow and they’re looking for content. Never hurts to try!

If your school system or local government has a YouTube channel, start a dialogue and leave comments. There’s no link popularity to be gained but you’ll build plenty of community popularity as well as credibility.

Associating your business through in-direct links on local cable channels might not generate a measure of green through your toolbar, but it may help grow the green in your wallet! Pop over to your local cable station and see if there’s an opportunity to submit links either directly or through a sponsorship. You’ll be guilty by association in a good way no matter what you do!

 

Check out our small business news site.


Continue Reading: Guilty (in a good way) By Link Association

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