Contacting Bloggers and Journalists: A How To
The nice thing about contacting bloggers and journalists is that the basics of reaching out to them are the same as if you were reaching out to a friend. First off, you want to personalize your greeting. You wouldn’t reach out a friend with a Dear (Insert Name Here) or you would have a very confused friend. You … Read more
5 Reasons You Should Show Personality in a Press Release
We have talked a lot about making sure that your press release is concise and easy to read and understand. Journalists, bloggers, and other writers don’t have a lot of time to read lengthy prose on your news, however, that doesn’t mean it needs to be a “just the facts” piece with no excitement to it. There are s… Read more
HARO Isn’t Your Only Tool For Finding Journalist Requests
If you’ve spent any time on our blog at all, you know how much we love HARO. It’s one of our favorite free PR tools. You just sign up, and 3 times a day, you get an email containing a huge list of queries from reporters looking for sources for their stories. It’s an easy way to find media opportunities and potentia… Read more
Don’t Ask Reporters for Interview Questions Ahead of Time
So you are being interviewed and you’re nervous. Maybe it’s your first time as a small business owner to sit across from a reporter. Maybe you’ve finally hit the big time and are facing the national media. Or maybe it’s a negative—maybe you have to have a press conference or interview about a crisis your comp… Read more
Why You Should Be Using Long-tail Keywords in Your Press Releases
It’s true, if you’re using press releases simply for search engine optimization, you’re “in them” for all the wrong reasons. However, that doesn’t mean you don’t want to use best SEO standard practices when composing them. And in this day and age, that mea… Read more
The Shocking Truths Behind “Viral Videos”
I can’t tell you how many stories I hear of clueless CEOs who go out to their PR team and tell them to “make us a viral video.” Not knowing how the web really works, they think it’s as simple as coming up with the most genius idea ever, filming it, and collecting the money from the Internet truck that pulls up to you… Read more
The New 10 Commandments of Press Releases
A lot has changed with press releases over the years, particularly in the last few months thanks to Google’s algorithm updates. While the press release is still alive and well, not to mention very useful, it’s undoubtedly in a period of transition. That’s why I thought it’d be a good idea to come up with a set … Read more
What NOT to do when a Reporter Rejects Your Pitch
Rejection isn’t something that most of us handle well. From the time we were kids and a little boy or girl we had a crush on shot us down, we’ve never gotten used to the painful sting and disappointment of rejection. And the fact is that any kind of rejection sucks. It’s not just in love. Rejection in your busine… Read more
5 Ways to Interact with Reporters on Facebook
Facebook is crawling with reporters, editors, bloggers, and other members of the media. These people often use Facebook as a way to find sources, generate story ideas, connect with the communities involved with stories, share their stories, and so on. In other words, Facebook is an important resource f… Read more
3 Ways to Get Media Coverage without Writing a Press Release
When you want media coverage, what do you do? You probably write a press release, send it out to a carefully culled list of reporters, and follow up with these reporters in hopes of getting your story covered in at least some of your target publications. While this is a popular way to score coverage, it is just … Read more