Dealing With Limited Resources

My company, for example, has exactly one person dealing with PR issues – me.

I do all the pitching, handle all of the inbound media requests, prepare all of the press releases, train all of our editors and analysts on how to speak to the media – and I actually do about 95% of the interviews myself. … Read more

Email Etiquette for PR People

I recently spent two hours purging my email inbox of old emails. The move was forced by my purchase of a new computer and a wish to cleanse my old computer of useless files. During the purge, which was the first such undertaking in over two years, I came across hundreds of press releases and emails from PR peopl… Read more

Is Your Client an Idiot?

Short answer: Yes.

Long answer: Probably.

I don’t know if the heat is getting to people or what, but lately I’ve been hearing some horror stories from PR people about their clients. In every case I’ve analyzed the PR person has been right and the client has been woefully wrong. Unfortun… Read more

How to Guarantee Your Press Release Won’t Be Read

On average, I receive fifty press releases each day. On top of that, I receive an additional 100 correspondences. My inbox is a disaster area. I have over 300 unread emails in my inbox from the past ten days and it’s likely that eighty percent of those are press releases. The question is: why do I read on… Read more

Public Relations and Journalism: More Similar Than You Might Think

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 o… Read more

Preparing for a Television Interview

Recently I appeared live on national television. (Well, it was actually cable, but that’s national now.) Using my experience as an example, this installment of PR Fuel discusses the pros and cons of television-based public relations. Hopefully you’ll be able to take away some tips about h… Read more