The Public Relations Balancing Act: Access Vs. Privacy

For public relations professionals, preserving a client’s privacy can be difficult when you’re also trying to cater to the needs of your press contacts. Recently, my employer changed its guidelines regarding how much access clients will have to our products. (Read more…)

Public Relations Basics: Speak Slowly and Carry a Big Stick

One of the joys of writing PR Fuel is that it helps me think through my own public relations failings. By putting ideas down on paper — OK, a computer screen — I’ve helped improve my own public relations skills immensely. That’s part of why I’ve come up with a set of rules for dealing with reporters during phone interviews. Hopefully, I can follow them. (Read more…)

PR Web Detective

During the last week of 2006, when things were slow on Wall Street, I spent some time surfing around the web, playing public relations detective for my company. I was on the lookout for two things: 1.) people or companies infringing on our copyrighted material, and 2.) people writing things (good or bad) about my company. What I found should send public relations professionals to their search engine of choice immediately, just in case they think no one is writing about (or stealing from) their company or clients. (Read more…)

Public Relations Basics: Tips for Your First TV Interview

August is supposed to be a slow month for me, one where I catch up on long-term projects that I’ve managed to ignore for several turns of the calendar. This past August I was interviewed on television four times, a public relations coup. The four interviews — on Bloomberg TV, the BBC, CNBC and CNBC Europe — went off without a hitch. I was well-prepared, well-dressed and ready to tackle the subject at hand. Looking back on last week, here are some lessons that I tried to remember before my interviews, as well as ones that I discovered after the fact. (Read more…)

Public Relations Basics: Preparing for a Media Interview

Recently, I was transcribing a very casual media interview; it was an amiable chat, even when the questions got tough. Listening to the tape, I was struck by my constant “um’s” and “ah’s.” I came to the interview well-prepared, and I still sometimes sounded as if I didn’t know what I was talking about. There are many potential mistakes even a seasoned public relations consultant can make during the most relaxed media interview. Your responses can be too rapid. (Read more…)

Beware of Public Relations “Swag”

When it was released in 2005, the Dreamworks film “Just Like Heaven” got mixed reviews but did pretty well at the box office, debuting at No. 1 with a first week haul of more than $16.4 million. Dreamworks’ budget for the movie, however, was called into question; the public relations strategy behind the movie was the reason why. (Read more…)

The PR Fuel Mailbag: Size Matters, Press Release Confusion, Finding a PR Firm, and More

The PR Fuel mailbag once again runneth over. I’ve taken some of the more interesting letters I’ve received over the past few months and answered readers’ questions about the world of public relations. Newbies and vets alike should find the following Q&A helpful in navigating the day-to-day world of PR. (Read more…)

Public Relations Strategies: Positioning Yourself as an “Expert”

Presenting yourself–or someone in your organization–as an expert can be a critical aspect of your public relations strategy. However, there are some fields where just about anyone can say they’re an “expert”–or worse, a “consultant.” The media, and even the general public, has become increasingly skeptical of such claims. However, there are ways to overcome this skepticism, add credibility to your claims of expertise, and pull off a public relations coup. (Read more…)

Press Release Distribution for Maximum Media Pickup

Bernetta writes:

I’m old and new in the business. That is, I was in the business for a long time and have been away from PR for more than seven years. I believe folks are emailing press releases today rather than snail-mailing them. Is that correct? And if I don’t have the budget to use your service, what is the best way to get my press release out?

Mickie responds:

The best way to distribute a press release is to take your newsworthy announcement and put it in the hands of the five or six key media who cover your industry. That isn’t easy for most people. (Read more…)

The PR Fuel Mailbag: Blogs, Online Press Rooms, Nosy Bosses, and More

Another dip into the PR Fuel mailbag produced a slew of interesting questions from readers. This time around we decide if public relations departments should have a hand in corporate blogs, how to get attention for an online press room, and other queries from the world public relations. (Read more…)