Relying on e-mail alone to communicate news releases to the media is Public Relations Malpractice. Pick up the darn phone and make a phone call, among other things, and you’ll separate yourself very rapidly from the PR pack. Sending e-mail is among the easiest acts anyone can perform. So is deleting that very same e-mail. […]
A microblog today, echoing what I shared via the Inside Edge PR fan page and via the Inside Edge Twitter account: The purpose of a news release is NOT to stroke the client’s ego; among other things, it’s to gain placement in the media, which helps the client attain goals. All the better to let […]
My first story for pay, more than 25 years ago, was on Chris Lapriore, a two-time state tennis champ from my hometown of Marshfield, Ma. One of my first stories for the Daily Northwestern was on Matt Akman, the school’s #1player in 1987. Here’s my latest tennis piece, a news release on Robert Stineman, a […]
There’s a reason why telephone numbers are only so long. When it comes to retaining a series of digits, we tend to max out at four. Likewise, do you think of your social security number as a 9-figure monster, or a three-figure beginning, a two-digit middle, and a four-figure finale? The same is true in […]
Last week, with A Winning PR Recipe: Timely Stories, I touched on the importance of being timely with story ideas to the media. And usually, all you need are a few weeks’ advance notice to ensure the currency and relevance of a story pitch. But you also have to keep your eye on longer lead […]
Sometimes, I’m called upon to write satirically. Always, it’s a blast. Check out the current media outreach about Michael Issac’s campaign to create the “Office of Cook County Comic.”Michael, who goes by “The Cook County Comic,” came up with the fantastic idea last week, as the election season heats up. I helped flesh it out […]
Some stories require nuance and a delicate mix of elements to make for a promising pitch to the media. But others have a recipe no more complicated than making ice. They simply teem with timing. A news release on how to safely shovel snow isn’t such a hot idea in July, but in the Chicago […]
I have a weakness for alliteration. Actually, it may be more apt to acknowledge an affinity for alliteration in my assignments. So when an aspiring journalist recently asked me to answer some questions about the “Art of the Interview,” a pair of P’s popped to mind. To make the most of our interviews, I told […]
Whenever I am asked for tips about breaking into journalism or public relations, one piece of advice that I emphasize can be applied to just about any endeavor: the importance of showing your value, not merely talking about it. And over the course of more than a decade of self-employment, I have learned that winning […]