I wasn’t surprised to lear Jeff Battcher was once an athlete. As the Director of Media Relations for BellSouth, Battcher often had to display the grace and skill that we’ve come to expect from athletes. Whether it’s taking a handoff and plowing through the pile to score a touchdown with a journalist or coming out of the bullpen and putting out a fire, Battcher’s job required he patience of a veteran athlete, if nothing else. (Read more…)

There’s an old joke among journalists: “It’s okay. If I lose my job, I’ll just become a public relations flak.” Believe me, every journalist has thought about it more than once, especially when freelance writing wasn’t paying the bills. After all, what company or public relations firm wouldn’t want a former journalist on the payroll communicating to the media? This point was driven home when I recently attempted to email a journalist friend. To my surprise, I couldn’t track him down. And guess where he turned up. (Read more…)

We all know the Oscars, the Emmys, and the Grammys. But there are plenty of other awards ceremonies taking place this year. Various organizations run annual awards programs recognizing the work of public relations firms. Winning these awards can bring additional visibility to your business, help you win and retain clients, and bolster the enthusiasm of your workforce. For the individual, being part of an award-winning team or campaign can help you earn a promotion and more money. (Read more…)

Of all the subsets of public relations, community relations is perhaps the most perplexing. That’s because the term encompasses so many different types of activities. When budgeting for public relations, how should you decide where to focus your community relations dollars and energies? By going back to the basic steps of planning any public relations effort. (Read more…)

When choosing the right public relations agency for your business, you first must determine your goals. Do you want to enhance brand awareness? Establish solid media relations? Drive customers to your business? All of the above? The answers to these and other questions will help you determine what size public relations agency can best serve your needs. (Read more…)

Public relations professionals take note: Crisis management is not the mastery of spin, but preventing a PR nightmare. Read the following tips from communications consultant Allan Bonner, a specialist in crisis management and media training, and then ask yourself whether or not your company or PR firm is prepared for the crisis the just might be around the corner. (Read more…)

The news media can make a president. It can also make a president resign. It can mean success or failure for you, your product, event, or business venture. Yet many people simply aren’t prepared to deal with the media.

Some of the most successful people shake like a leaf when confronted with a television interview. The biggest fear is being misquoted. (Read more…)

Last week, I stumbled upon the website of Kaydon Corp., a maker of ball bearings and industrial shock absorbers. The company is not very well-known, but it has a market capitalization of about $1.5 billion and it churns out more than $400 million in sales annually. Kaydon’s website, on the other hand, looks like it took all of ten minutes and $5 to create. (Read more…)