South Dakota Communications Work:

Getting started as a communications professional and writer in a new area often requires doing a little “pro-bono” work to get started. This spring, I had a chance to donate some of my time to the Kingsbury County Cattlemen’s Association. The group donated $2,500 to the new Cow-Calf Unit to be built at South Dakota State University. They made a large donation relative to the group’s size – and I thought it was definitely something to be proud of. I saw this event as a chance for me to get my own press clippings from here in South Dakota & help their organization get some positive press. So, I volunteered my writing and photography services & sent in a press release to several local and regional papers.

Results:

The De Smet News & The Lake Preston Times ran part of the release & the photo that I submitted.

I also submitted the release to The Green Sheet Farm Forum, based out of Aberdeen. The Green Sheet is a staple in South Dakota farming and ranching homes. Farmers literally search through the entire paper column by column. It is a good resource for news and to find equipment or hay for sale. Using some contacts I made with their staff while working as a marketing intern with Land O’ Lakes, I was able to get the full release printed in this paper as well!

The advertising manager at The Farm Forum tells me they have 39,000 paid subscribers but they estimate 100,000 total readers when accounting for larger households. I was very excited to see that the story ran in three papers. I think it was good strategic placement for the Kingsbury County Cattlemen’s to be recognized in local papers within their county and in a larger arena through The Farm Forum.

Getting my first press release published here in South Dakota was a great experience and I’m looking forward to doing more communications work in the area.