In the past several years I’ve attended seminars, webinars, and a couple of conference sessions about “advanced media relations.” You’d think after the first one I would have learned, or you’d think after spending dollar-after-dollar and hearing the same thing over-and-over, I would have figured it out: advanced media relations is a myth. Yet, I kept attending, focused on professional development and perhaps hoping that I’d find that magical key to making media relations easier. I didn’t. Continue reading
Tag Archives: public relations
The Funny Thing About The Media
The media never ceases to amaze me. In my 15 years in the PR business, I am still amazed at the impact news outlets have in influencing its audience. Moreover, it is still quite enlightening to see how the press decides what to cover in their news outlets. I don’t typically cite clients when I’m wearing my PRBC blogger hat on, but I’m making an exception with this one to share firsthand experience on what I’ve learned from rolling out a publicity campaign for a little bake shop in the Philadelphia area called Cupcakes Gourmet. Continue reading
5 Essential Characteristics of a Successful PR Pro
In order to be successful in the modern world of PR, there are certain essential characteristics that one must possess to fight adversity, capitalize on opportunities, maintain a positive image, encourage word of mouth, and build strategy. When initially coming up with the idea for this post, I jotted down 17 must have characteristics. Here are my top 5: Continue reading
Drop the Salesman Mentality
I love PR. I really do. Yet, as much as I enjoy working in PR, there are definitely some parts of the business that concern me, and frankly have me worried about the state of the business in the future. One of those areas is how some in PR seemingly view their jobs with a saleperson’s mentality.
That whole, “Hey journalist, buy into this idea NOW! You gotta jump on this now, because I’m going to go after the next living soul I can find who will listen to my spin!” Or my personal favorite: “You owe me big for this hit.”
Giant PR Lessons from the Super Bowl Champions
“We’re humble enough to prepare, confident enough to perform.”– Tom Coughlin, head coach, New York Giants
It goes beyond saying that I was on top of the world seeing the New York Football Giants come out the winners in Super Bowl XLVI. The story is well known: At 7-7, the Giants needed to win out to get into the post-season. Well, the rest is history, as Big Blue rolled their way to Indianapolis and defeated the New England Patriots for their second title in four years. Continue reading
Considering Making the Switch from Agency to In-House?
Determining the next move in your career path is a tough decision especially when changing from agency to in-house communications. While yes it is all PR and based on the same principles, strategies and tactics the daily work style, skill set and environment can be drastically different.
Often times the attraction to an agency is the multiple clients, the variety of industries, the camaraderie of other communications professionals and even the swank office. Agency PR pros are talking to media daily and don’t typically have politics to deal with since they don’t directly work for the companies they represent.
If you are considering leaving time sheets in the past, for stability, security and routine make sure the switch it is a fit for you and an answer to what you are trying to leave behind. The pros of working in-house does typically include better health benefits, more opportunity for advancement and fewer barriers to implement new PR programs. Continue reading
Apple’s Positive Earnings Report Creates Bad PR
Wait, what?
Last week, Apple released its fourth quarter 2011 earnings, posting a profit of $13.06 billion on revenue of $46 billion. Earnings per share were $13.87, far exceeding analysts’ expectations of $10.08 per share. Fueled in large part by their stratospheric sales of the iPad and iPhone, Apple’s monstrous quarter brought bright smiles to shareholders but also started to illuminate the spotlight on a not so glamorous side of their business: outsourcing labor to China. Continue reading
Why Journalists Need PR People
In these days of shrinking newsrooms, there is an increasing overlap between the worlds of PR and journalism. And old PR joke is reporters always hate PR professionals, until they need a job.
I have noticed that as journalism jobs are eroding, many reporters are turning to PR and public affairs positions with mixed results. There are so many unemployed PR practioners on the market, that there is fierce competition for these jobs. PR agencies are now looking for applicants who can do more than write well. They also have to be able to pitch, take pictures, do social media, and shoot and edit video. The video after the jump sums up my thoughts. Continue reading
Five Tips to Practice Effective Internal PR
We hear a lot about external PR best practices these days. Articles, blog posts, podcasts, books and a host of other references talk about “5 Ways Media Training Can Help You and Your Clients” or “How to Become a Reporter’s Best Friend” and “Five Ways Being in PR is Like Running a Group Blog.”
These are all excellent references for us to read and digest, identifying meaningful bits and pieces of the advice and observations that we can put into practice to become more effective PR practitioners. As I gaze around the PR digital ecosphere there is one thing that has always stumped me about the subject of PR advice – why isn’t there more written about effective internal PR as the foundation for external strategies?
Seems logical that if you can’t get a grasp on internal PR, external campaigns would be a lot more difficult to execute. Continue reading
Exploring the Value of PR for Startups
A series of opinion pieces last week by Dallas Mavericks owner and billionaire business mogul Mark Cuban asserting that startups “should never hire a PR firm” got the PR world buzzing with outrage. But does he have a point or is it too general a brushstroke to paint that PR can “never” benefit a startup? Let’s look at the tape.
But, before doing so, it’s instructive to take a deeper look at what, exactly, Mr. Cuban said. In an op-ed for Entrepreneur.com, excerpted from his latest book, “How to Win at the Sport of Business: If I Can Do It, You Can Do It,” he lays out his “12 rules for startups.” Rule No. 11 states:
Never hire a PR firm. Continue reading