South Salem, NY -- (ReleaseWire) -- 11/25/2013 --It's holiday time again, time to carve the turkey and sit down to a meal with the family to give thanks and the start of the Christmas shopping season. While everyone is taking some time off the week of Thanksgiving and Christmas, it is a great opportunity for financial advisors to turn to financial public relations to garner some financial media articles and to get on CNBC, Bloomberg and Fox Business TV.

Many people are away from the office, which means there's a diminished pool of sources for financial writers, editors and financial television anchors to interview. The chances have just gone up greatly for getting into financial print stories and appearing on financial TV. There are specific steps advisors can use to take advantage of the holiday season and gain name recognition, visibility, credibility and expert status to attract new business.

Has business grown in size or assets in the last few years despite the market downturns? Local press in the area would love to know about this feel-good story. Invite reporters from the local daily and weekly community newspapers to come in and see for themselves. Take them on a tour of the company and show how the firm has added staff or increased assets under management.

Too often, financial advisors bypass their local media in hopes of gaining national press, when, in reality, most of their business is local. Write a news release about the business that can be published as a news item. Include quotes from the head of the company and pictures. Send them all by email.

Have a strong opinion about certain investments or the direction of financial markets here or abroad? Or have supporting data and charts to back up your assertions? Take the initiative and voice your opinion by writing a letter to the editor in the media read by your clients. This sets advisors up as a thought leader and expert, building credibility with a target audience. We did this recently with one of our clients and his opinion was printed in the viewpoints section of a financial professional industry publication — one of his target audiences.

A byline article written may offer more space to voice an opinion on a given topic of importance. Send an email to the editor proposing a guest column that you will write on the topic. These usually are not very long, but longer than letters, maybe 800 words. Have a high-resolution head-shot photo on hand to send with the completed article. The email should provide credentials and brief bullet points of what topics the byline article will cover. Be sure to spell-check and proofread it and send it prior to the deadline given by the editor.

Here's a tip for finding out which stories financial magazines will be covering over the next 12 months and how to pick a topic to write about that is already being planned. Go to their editorial calendars online. Most financial magazines post them on their websites, often under the advertising section as part of their media kit. This gives an edge months in advance by knowing what financial stories they are covering. If there is a financial topic felt strongly about or are an expert on, why not contact the editor and offer to be a source or write a column on the topic? Reach out to the editor several months beforehand, because the lead time is usually that far out for monthly publications.

Weekly and dailies, of course, have much shorter time frames for stories, so contact them immediately if there is a story in the news you can talk about. This is a smart way to get some ink without having to write or think of a news hook. Offer to be interviewed. Another solid way to break into print is to be a source for a financial blog. Definitely think about taking advantage of this new media and post articles on twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook pages.

Already been quoted, or have written the letter or column for a publication read by a target audience, and now are wondering what to do with the articles now, merchandise them as much as possible. Get reprints to post to the company website and send them to existing clients as referral tools that they can give to their friends, family or business associates and to a prospect list. It's a good way to be in touch without directly asking for anything. It also becomes an educational tool that can be used as a reason to be following up with a prospect list.

Another valuable use for articles that includes the company is to get a foot in the door with financial television guest bookers and producers, particularly first timers that have not been a guest on financial TV. Those articles allow advisors to demonstrate expertise and show understanding of what the financial media wants. Financial channels like CNBC have arrangements with local studios to do remote interviews, which means interviews can be done locally.

Don't have the time or the inclination to write a letter or column, but feel strongly about an issue in the financial news and would like to get some exposure in the financial media, offer a reporter a one-on-one interview. Again provide background, website and bio to the financial reporter or editor and send along bullet points on a given news item.

Chances are better at getting on financial TV stations, such as CNBC, around this holiday season when fewer sources are around to be guests.

There are other holidays throughout the year that can become launch pads for financial media relations exposure as well. So, while others in the financial industry are off on vacation, take advantage of more financial media opportunities available to find the financial publications and financial TV networks that reach target clients and may result in attracting more assets to your business.

Bill Bongiorno is the President of Blue Chip Public Relations, Inc.

About Blue Chip Public Relations, Inc.
Blue Chip Public Relations, Inc., based in New York was founded in 2004 and continues its commitment to serve exclusively financial companies to help them grow through media coverage and plays a critical role in developing a company's public image and credibility. For more information, visit, http://bluechippr.com and follow at https://twitter.com/bluechippr and https://www.facebook.com/BlueChipPublicRelationsInc