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…)

How do you polish a tarnished image? For celebrities, a tearful interview or two will go a long way to help sway the court of public opinion. But for a company or organization, a tarnished image requires a lot more public relations polish than an appearance on Larry King. (Read more…)

So it’s time to put together a public relations/publicity strategy for your business or organization. The task can seem overwhelming. But if you break the job of public relations planning down into smaller steps, you’ll soon have it together. Here’s one way to put together an effective public relations strategy. (Read more…)

Public relations is not just blindly writing press releases or pitching journalists, but a comprehensive strategy designed to promote your business. The following steps should help you determine whether or not your company has developed a comprehensive public relations strategy. (Read more…)

When it was released in 2005, the Dreamworks film “Just Like Heaven” got mixed reviews but did pretty well at the box office, debuting at No. 1 with a first week haul of more than $16.4 million. Dreamworks’ budget for the movie, however, was called into question; the public relations strategy behind the movie was the reason why. (Read more…)

Presenting yourself–or someone in your organization–as an expert can be a critical aspect of your public relations strategy. However, there are some fields where just about anyone can say they’re an “expert”–or worse, a “consultant.” The media, and even the general public, has become increasingly skeptical of such claims. However, there are ways to overcome this skepticism, add credibility to your claims of expertise, and pull off a public relations coup. (Read more…)

Another dip into the PR Fuel mailbag produced a slew of interesting questions from readers. This time around we decide if public relations departments should have a hand in corporate blogs, how to get attention for an online press room, and other queries from the world public relations. (Read more…)

Recently I attended an interesting investment conference at Columbia University. The occasion brought together some of the world’s most respected money managers and financial industry professionals. I marveled at the fact that men and women who represented over $100 billion stood on stage at one point. I was more impressed, however, by the way the speakers and panel participants conducted themselves. Confidence is the key to public speaking, a major part of any public relations strategy. And confidence in public speaking was the message that Leon Cooperman drove home at the conference. (Read more…)

Consistency in public relations is important. Public relations consultants and corporate executives are often told to “stay on message” and not to stray from a script. Companies and organizations put an enormous amount of time and energy into hammering home a consistent key messages, be it through public statements, advertising, or simple branding. (Read more…)

I have one friend from the country of Georgia, and we were talking on the phone when President Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia appeared on NBC News to discuss the recent Georgian crisis. Saakashvili compared Russia’s current actions to those of its predecessor, the Soviet Union, in 1956 in Hungary and 1968 in what was then Czechoslovakia. (Read more…)