Media Networking Tips

May 4, 2009
Public Relations Basics: Mastering the Media Interview

Your press release did its job. A reporter calls and wants to talk about your business. Now what? You need to build a relationship with the reporter, and the primary way you’re going to do so is through a media interview. (Read more…)
The PR Fuel Mailbag: Dealing with Clients, Analysts, and Journalists

Once again it’s time to dip into the PR Fuel mailbag and answer some reader questions. This time around we look at how to climb the public relations ladder, corrections, unethical journalists, and more. (Read more…)
May 1, 2009
Public Relations Basics: Keep Your List of Press Contacts Updated

A few years ago, Wired magazine editor-in-chief caused a ruckus when he announced he was banning public relations consultants from his email inbox. “I get more than 300 emails a day and my problem isn’t spam, it’s PR people,” Anderson wrote. “Lazy flacks send press releases to the Editor in Chief of Wired because they can’t be bothered to find out who on my staff, if anyone, might actually be interested in what they’re pitching.” And that was only the start of Anderson’s tirade against public relations professionals who keep sloppy, out-of-date lists of press contacts. (Read more…)
April 30, 2009
Maintaining a Healthy Balance in the Public Relations/Journalist Relationship

It took me a few months to figure out her modus operandi. For four years, she called me once a month. It was always on the last Friday of the month, and always before lunch. We would chat for a few minutes I would ask a few questions; she would skirt around the answers. She would pitch me a story or two; I would sigh and act disinterested. Maintaining relationships with journalists is critical to long-term success in public relations. The journalist/public relations relationship must be fostered with trust and then fueled with consistent communication. Here’s a case in point. (Read more…)
April 23, 2009
Strengthening the Relationship Between Public Relations and Business Journalism

Surfing the web this morning, I came across an interesting interview on Talking Biz News with Hope Heyman, a senior vice president at Edelman (http://weblogs.jomc.unc.edu/talkingbiznews/?p=2096). Heyman has been in the public relations business for more than 25 years and she also worked as a business journalist. The interview touches on a number of facets regarding the relationship between public relations practitioners and business journalists, and Heyman’s insights should be required reading for any PR department or newsroom. (Read more…)
April 21, 2009
PR Media Coverage

It’s easy for public relations firms to overestimate the impact of media coverage. Unless you land your client on the cover of Time or the front page of the New York Times, it can be disheartening to see how little impact a single piece of media coverage brings. My own history with media coverage is an example of how difficult it is to quantify the benefits of media coverage in the public relations world. (Read more…)
April 2, 2009
Everything Journalists Want to Know About Their Public Relations Contacts

Since entering the world of public relations, my workday has changed drastically from the time when I was a professional journalist. Becoming a public relations consultant has altered how I deal with the media and how I deal with internal public relations at my company. (Read more…)
April 1, 2009
Public Relations Tips: Protecting Your Brand and Working with Investor Relations

Part of protecting your company’s brand is ferreting out which public relations opportunities are being presented by questionable companies. Recently, I turned down the opportunity for one of our company analysts to give an interview to MN1.com, an online video company that covers the stock market. By weighing, and rejecting, this opportunity for seemingly easy publicity, I saved our company from a public relations nightmare. (Read more…)
March 24, 2009
Public Relations Tips: Targeting Your Technology-Related PR

Countless business-oriented magazines have failed in the past few years, and the column space now available for technology companies looking to garner some publicity has become golden turf. Newspapers have slashed technology coverage; many long ago cut their weekly technology or business technology sections. So where can public relations professionals turn for a technology-friendly face these days? (Read more…)
March 23, 2009
The Public Relations Dangers of Being a “Third Party”

Being a third party can sometimes lead to public relations headaches. Earlier this year I helped a journalist on a story about a company that shall remain nameless. I helped the journalist analyze some data and provided him with my perspective on what the data meant. I’ve done this hundreds of times over the past few years and this particular time was no different than any other — until the story was published. (Read more…)