No matter how clever and quick on your feet you are, eventually you have to face the dreaded thing that threatens to dismantle every business: the mental block. You could be going through a perfectly solid plan, every step of the way a success, when suddenly you can’t come up with any answers to a certain aspect of your campaign. Read More
Despite what the Insane Clown Posse claim, scientists have known how magnets work for quite some time. The cool thing about a magnetic field is that it’s technically stronger than the gravitational field. If you hold two magnets in your hand while standing up, the magnetic field keeps them together versus one plummeting to the ground! ICP is right, it IS like magic! Read More
You know what they say about best-laid plans – not everything works out for the best, no matter how hard you try. You could literally come up with the best PR idea in the history of the known world, and due to any number of factors, it might still backfire at some point. It’s not necessarily anyone’s fault, times change and good ideas go bad. Read More
I recently came across an article that asked if spelling and grammar mattered in press releases. The author makes the argument that “it doesn’t really matter how it’s written, it’s about what’s in them.” She goes on to say that most of your press release will end up on the cutting room floor anyway when the reporter turns it into a story. Now, she wisely points out that spelling and grammar make you look professional and carry some importance, but she concludes that misspelled words or misplaced prepositions aren’t really all that important in the end. It’s more about the story. Read More
Earlier this year, Greg Smith, a Goldman Sachs executive, quit the company and wrote a scathing op-ed in the New York Times as part of his resignation, saying that the firm was using unscrupulous business practices and ripping off its clients. This led to a feeding frenzy and a full on attack against Goldman Sachs from the media and the general public, creating a major headache for the company and causing significant damage to its brand. Read More
You’ve written a press release, but now what? How are you going to get it seen? While you might be thinking of going the route of using free or low press release services, there are many reasons to avoid this strategy. What about emailing your press release to reporters? Good idea, but chances are that you don’t have a contact list nor do you have relationships with the reporters you need to target. Read More
What’s harder than getting your story picked up by the media? Figuring out what angle to approach it from in the first place! Discovering a truly unique idea can cause a real brain meltdown sometimes, especially if you’ve written tons of them on the same subject. They can really start to run together, and when that happens you (and your readers) lose interest. Read More
So, you’ve rocked the heck out of your PR internship, but now your internship is coming to an end. Before you walk out the door on your way to never making the company another pot of coffee or taking any more minutes for them at their meetings, there are 5 things you should do. Read More
A media advisory alerts the media, in a concise manner, to upcoming events (like a press conference). Think of it like an invitation that answers only the important questions: Who, What, When, Where, and Why. Read More
As I’ve already discussed on this blog, many press conferences are unwarranted. The truth is that many of you reading this right now have never hosted a press conference before. And there’s nothing wrong with that. Press conferences are not the backbone of public relations, and in most cases, there are far more effective and efficient means of communicating with the media and getting your message out. Read More