Free Content: What to Make and Why

Have you been wondering what to offer your customers on your website? What content would make them stay just a bit longer on your site? There are plenty of types of free content out there and the answer to these questions really depends on your audience. You know them best and could determine whether they mig… Read more

20 Redundant Phrases to Eliminate from Your Writing

I’ve always been a firm advocate for getting your point across in as few words as possible. Today’s readers are more pressed for time than ever before, and as it relates to PR, reporters are bombarded by pitches all day long, so the faster you can get to the point, the better.

Unfortunately, a lot of writers ha… Read more

How to Win Journalists and Influence the Influencers

I’ve said it before, and I’ll keep saying it over and over until the day I die. If you want your press release to truly succeed—if you want to set yourself up to have the absolute best chances to reach the masses—then you need to get in good with the journalists. Blindly approaching and soliciting them simply w… Read more

Persistent or Pushy? Following Up On Your Pitch

You sent your press release. Now what? Do you sit and wait, hoping the journalist takes notice? Or do you follow up and risk getting on their nerves in order to gain recognition? To help you make that grand decision, I’ve composed the dos and don’ts of following up:

Do … follow up by phone. If you’ve neve… Read more

5 Reasons You Should Always Follow Up On Your Pitches

Some media members have PR people believing they live by the motto: “Don’t call us, we’ll call you.” That’s why you might think that when you don’t get a response on that press release you sent out it must mean that no one is interested. Maybe that is the case, but maybe it’s not. The only way to know for sure is to … Read more

The 5 Basic Journalist Responses to PR Pitches

When getting into the business of pitching PR stories, you’ll eventually come to recognize common responses from journalists. From happy acceptance to disgusted confusion, they will run the gamut. It can also be tough to gauge exactly what they mean. Instead of taking years to discover them, though, ho… Read more

8 Types of Annoying PR People

I’m a PR guy, and I know a number of other PR guys and gals who I respect more than I can even put into words. But let’s face it. Our industry is plagued with some pretty annoying people. These are the types of PR guys who waste journalists’ time, overcharge their clueless clients, and use ridiculous PR speak, li… Read more

5 Ways to Come Up with Ideas for Your Next Pitch

If you’re constantly trying to get your name out there in the media, it can be very difficult to keep coming up with fresh ideas. It’s all too easy to fall into a rut where your pitches just become uninspired and totally ineffective.
Over the years, I’ve come up with a few key tactics that ensure I always have so… Read more

7 Simple Tips for Responding to HARO Queries

We previously covered the Top 10 Tips for PR Success Using HARO. By now, I’m going to assume that most of you have heard of and signed up for HARO. Just in case there are a few of you who don’t know what it is, HARO is an email list you sign up for to receive queries each day from reporters who need sources for their st… Read more

10 Things Journalists and PRs Hate About Each Other

If you’ve been in the industry for any amount of time at all, you know that some PRs and journalists get along as well as cats and dogs. This isn’t always the case, but the truth is most journalists and PRs have at least a few pet peeves concerning each another.

That’s why we’ve come up with this list of 10 things j… Read more