Stress Your “Value” in Holiday-Related Public Relations

Each year, the clock for getting out holiday-related press releases starts ticking earlier. Recent holiday seasons have proven to be ultra-competitive because of genuine fears that consumers would not be spending money like they had in the past. These fears push purchases back, causing retailers to discount more heavily in an effort to reduce inventories. So when it comes to holiday planning, it’s imperative that manufacturers and service providers push the value element of their products when doing public relations. (Read more…)

Six Consecutive Press Release Failures. Why Bother?

I have seen press releases generate tens of millions of dollars in publicity $399 at a time. If you don’t believe me, just visit: http://www.ereleases.com/testimonials/

Why didn’t your press release do the same? The likely answer is that you gave up, perhaps even after a single press release. (Read more…)

PR Quotes: How Being Controversial, Despite Being Wrong, Attracts Media Coverage

I follow the television industry. It’s a medium I devote about five minutes a day trying to follow largely by headlines and RSS feeds. Today I saw this headline and had to dig deeper: Big Media Sites Like Hulu “Anti-Consumer, Anti-Media Employees, Anti-America”? (Read more…)

Public Relations and the Technology Sector: After the Bust

At the turn of the decade, you couldn’t open a newspaper without reading a story about some high-flying dot-com or tech company. The coverage of these companies bled from the business pages to the feature sections to the front-page. And when the dot-com bust came, the coverage faded back in the opposite direction — the downfall of a tech company went from the front-page to a small mention in the business section. Coverage of the technology sector has stabilized, but it has also shrunk. Some newspapers eliminated entire sections or supplements. The media is still a bottom-line business; fewer ads mean less editorial space. Which makes public relations for tech companies that much more difficult. (Read more…)

Is a Press Release Your Best Public Relations Bet?

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…)

Putting Together Your Public Relations Strategy

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 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 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…)

Public Relations Basics: Tips for Your First TV Interview

August is supposed to be a slow month for me, one where I catch up on long-term projects that I’ve managed to ignore for several turns of the calendar. This past August I was interviewed on television four times, a public relations coup. The four interviews — on Bloomberg TV, the BBC, CNBC and CNBC Europe — went off without a hitch. I was well-prepared, well-dressed and ready to tackle the subject at hand. Looking back on last week, here are some lessons that I tried to remember before my interviews, as well as ones that I discovered after the fact. (Read more…)

Public Relations Basics: Preparing for a Media Interview

Recently, I was transcribing a very casual media interview; it was an amiable chat, even when the questions got tough. Listening to the tape, I was struck by my constant “um’s” and “ah’s.” I came to the interview well-prepared, and I still sometimes sounded as if I didn’t know what I was talking about. There are many potential mistakes even a seasoned public relations consultant can make during the most relaxed media interview. Your responses can be too rapid. (Read more…)

The PR Fuel Mailbag: Blogs, Online Press Rooms, Nosy Bosses, and 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…)