A press release is undoubtedly important when it comes to drumming up publicity for your business. But should it be the *most* important part of your public relations strategy? A press release may not even be the best way for your company or clients to get publicity for a new product or an important announcement. The following four ideas may actually be more effective than a traditional press release. (Read more…)

Recently eReleases let a few customers go. Fired them. It was sad to do but in the best interests of the company, staff, and resources. One customer, lets call him Willy, has always been “high maintenance”. Willy would ask for advice and send in press release ideas and drafts for us to review. (Read more…)

It’s perhaps one of the longest running questions in public relations: How do you deal with a journalist who has an agenda? Some journalists do have agendas; columnists are paid to comment on the news and provide opinion, not just report the news. Even in traditional reporting, sometimes a personal agenda seeps into a story. Just as every public relations consultant has their own style, background, level of intelligence, gifts, resources, etc., so does every journalist. (Read more…)

My forte as a journalist was reporting bad news. Whistleblowers, inside sources, gossip–I loved it all. I got a tip, tracked it down, and then the newspaper splashed a big, nasty headline on my story. Sometimes, even my editors would have been surprised about how I got my scoops. (Read more…)

You’ve just concluded the best media interview of your career. A very prestigious publication interviewed your CEO. You did everything by the book. You feel good, your CEO feels good, and the reporter obtained everything needed to write the story. You can’t wait for the article to appear. (Read more…)

Blacklisting journalists who write negative stories about your company is tempting, but all it accomplishes is building conflict between your company and the media. One main goal of public relations is to build bridges, not burn them. (Read more…)

When I was a journalist, I once wrote a negative news story about a major company, and unfortunately there was a slight problem. I was given a quote by the company, which addressed the issue at hand in a very roundabout way. I included the quote in my story, but it was subsequently eliminated during editing. (Read more…)

It should have been a slam dunk. I spoke to the reporter for close to 45 minutes. He asked me a dozen questions, and I backed up my answers with solid data. I fired off a message to my boss, letting him know that this killer story about our company would hit newsstands two days later. But the story never ran. And it turned out to be my fault. What stopped this potentially great bit of publicity in its tracks? (Read more…)

On October 28, 1906, the Pennsylvania Railroad issued what is believed to be the first press release. The release was the idea of the company’s outside public relations counsel, Ivy Ledbetter Lee, and it revolutionized how companies and organizations delivered information to the public. And modern-day public relations professionals can still learn plenty from the story of that very first press release. (Read more…)

Many public relations professionals may find it hard to believe, but it’s okay to turn down a press opportunity. And I’m not talking about opportunities where you may get sandbagged by a reporter. I’m talking about a press opportunity that looks good, at least on the surface. (Read more…)