Texas salon Endless Sun Tan received some great local recognition and publicity when their city’s newspaper reported on the salon being featured as November’s Smart Tan Member of the Month.

“Anything is possible if you put your mind to it,” owner Madison Wirtz told the Victoria Advocate. “You have to believe in your business and support your customers. They will support you back. Without them, we wouldn’t be here.”

The article provided some positive attention for the salon, showing their community that Endless Sun Tan is a business worthy of national recognition and also telling them why.

“All of the salon’s tanning beds are brand new, offering four levels of UV tanning at different prices, Wirtz said. The salon also has a smartphone app that allows customers to see which beds are being used. If a bed is busy, they can reserve the bed, and the app will let them know when it’s ready. Providing the ultimate tanning experience to her customers is Wirtz’s top priority,” Kathryn Cargo wrote for the Advocate.

In the digital age, there are so many ways to connect with potential clients, but this article is a good reminder of the enduring value of good, old-fashioned local media. When you have an event, reach a milestone, do something good for the community, or anything else noteworthy, don’t miss the opportunity to let local media know about it. It’s an easy and, more importantly, free way to expose your business to thousands of potential customers.

You don’t have to be a professional; you can find templates to help you write press releases to send to local media or even just reach out to reporters and develop a relationship that will make it easy for you to let them know when you have something going on.

Create a targeted list of newspapers, online publications and blogs that your target customers are likely to peruse. Don’t waste your time on media outside your immediate area. Keep it local and don’t overlook the value of smaller, independent newspapers, newsletters and blogs.

A large part of the value of PR firms is their contacts, but at the local level this isn’t really necessary. Just identify the content creators, look for their emails online, and reach out to them with news about a special event, product or human-interest story.

Click here to read the article from the Victoria Post.

Click here to read more about November’s Smart Tan Member of the Month.