National Clothesline

Recently, I was contacted by a decorative stone paving company to write a press release highlighting some of the upscale driveways, patios and pool decks they offer to the area ’s more affluent home owners.

Since it is a large firm, I asked the owner for a company backgrounder to familiarize me with his business and help me get the project started. Unfortunately, he had never written one, so I was completely on my own to gather facts and organize data, which added to the final cost and pushed back his intended release date.

A company backgrounder is a resume for your business and, like a personal resume, it is written in a standard, widely recognized format containing all the information vital to understanding your business.

Unlike sales literature and advertising, the backgrounder tells the company’s story in an objective, journalistic style. But, like every piece of communication about your company, it should be developed and written with an eye toward marketing the business and selling its service.

The backgrounder is used to summarize your company’s goals and objectives and list any significant accomplishments. It describes when, how and by whom the company was founded. And it tells the story of the company ’s influence in the industry and within the community.

The main purpose of the company backgrounder is to inform the press about your business. In addition, however, it can also be used to inform new employees, ad agencies, consultants and potential partners or lenders about your business. It also provides a foundation for producing other documents like brochures, press releases and articles.

If you’re ready to lay the groundwork for all of your future marketing endeavors, you can begin right here and now … with your own company backgrounder. Don’t be intimidated. It’s not a daunting task if you just take it one step at a time.

To begin with, an “inverted pyramid” construction is used in which the most important information goes on top and the details are placed at the bottom.

The first paragraph should contain the five W’s of any news story: who, what, when, where and why. In addition, the first paragraph should also summarize what the business is all about. Try to make this part as interesting as possible in order to draw the reader into the rest of the copy.

The following simple outline offers an overview of how a backgrounder should be organized.

The Opener. This first sentence should be a summary of what your business does. For example, ABC Cleaners is a full-service drycleaning firm which is focused on meeting the changing needs of busy professionals by offering daily, on-demand pick up and delivery service to north shore area residents.

The Body should describe your services in more detail. First, give an overview of the various services and then focus on the benefits each service provides including what problems you are able to solve as well as any other special needs your company is able to fulfill. Testimonies from satisfied customers often lend credibility to your company so use them. These can be included in the body copy but be sure to keep them short and succinct.

In this section you will also want to include information about the owners of your company, including their education and experience.

The Close. The last sentence or two should offer the reader further information and possibly something free such as “no charge” for trying your service. Even though it’s not sales literature, the company backgrounder, like every marketing document, should end with a call to action, including a telephone number and the name of a person to contact.

As is the case with any kind of writing, getting started is the most difficult step.

First, sit down and map out a plan. Make a list of actions to be accomplished starting with research. Collect any written information available about your company. If you ’re the owner, add your resume or biography. Gather articles you’ve admired about the industry. Don’t forget to get testimonies and quotes together that will help to promote your business.

Next, make a rough outline. Using the opener, the body and the close format, fill in each section with specific information from your research notes as well as ideas off the top of your head.

From your filled-in outline, write a good first draft, organizing the information properly and getting down the approximate wording. After your final draft, have someone proofread your backgrounder. All too often we miss our own errors because we see what we mean to write, not what we actually wrote.

If you were to write up a marketing wish list right now, one of the top three entries would probably be “more money for advertising.” I’ve never seen a cleaner yet who didn't wish for that, and usually for very good reason. But many cleaners get so stuck in a poverty mentality that they fail to recognize and capitalize on all the no-cost marketing opportunities that are available to them

Among the very best of those opportunities are feature stories in magazines and newspapers. When it comes to getting your cleaning business noticed, few things are more effective than a good feature in the local paper. After all, editorial content is read more thoroughly than advertisements are and it ’s free.

Whether your cleaner communicates regularly with the news media or not, you will find that producing your own company backgrounder is a valuable exercise. It will help to organize and clarify your thinking about the company and its mission, its service and its target market. And that is the first step toward an effective marketing effort.