Keeping Up on PR News
You may have noticed that I get PR news and insights for you from a lot of different places around the web. How do I find these valuable nuggets, you might ask? I like to think of it as “walking my beat.” Here’s my basic routine: Read PRSA’s daily email, Issues and Trends. I believe [...]
Best PR Vodcasts and Podcasts
If you’re looking for your free PR advice in video or audio form (as opposed to text), here are two of the best you should check out: Doug Simon’s DS Simon Vlog Views: Doug is a veteran New York video producer who has made the move into online video and decided to show off his [...]
Good Writing is a Recession-Proof Skill
If there was one thing, one thing that I could change about the PR industry, it would be the poor writing skills that are rampant in PR. It must be something about the people who are attracted to PR as a profession, because nothing else explains it. For an industry in which good writing should [...]
How to Get Great Local TV News Coverage
The Internet may have changed everything, but let’s face it, most Americans still get a lot of their news and information from local TV news. And the principles of getting local TV coverage remain the same: Keep it simple and direct and relevant to the day’s news Make sure — MAKE SURE — you have [...]
Planning a Layoff? Better Plan a Blog Post, Too
There’s no hiding in the Internet era, especially if you are a company with a tech-savvy employee base. According to a very interesting article in today’s New York Times, companies are now being forced to write blog posts about things like layoffs as soon as they happen: Blogging about staff cuts is particularly prevalent in [...]
Pitching National TV Shows? You Better Bring Your A-Game
It may look easy, but creating a smooth-running, entertaining national news or talk show is super-stressful. Simply producing TV is hard, and producing it to compete on the national stage is daunting. The people who rise to that level of the media are talented, tough and hard-working by definition. So if you want to get [...]
How to Get to the Top of Search Rankings
Want to be on the top of the search rankings when someone’s looking for your product or service? Who doesn’t?? If so, you’ve got to use search engine optimization strategies when designing your web site and posting content. It doesn’t happen naturally. What are the proven techniques? Sally Falkow posts an excellent primer called, “How [...]
What Makes a Good Interview on “Fresh Air”
Fresh Air on NPR is probably the most desirable radio talk show placement, particularly for an author. You get lots of time, and host Terry Gross will engage you at a level that will really let people get to know you and your point of view. Naturally, therefore, the competition to get on the show [...]
Fighting a Recession With Word-of-Mouth Marketing
Is there any cheaper marketing strategy than word-of-mouth? You get people talking, and they go out and sell your product or service for you. Perfect for recessionary times. Of course, it’s not nearly that simple or necessarily that effective, but it certainly can be a frugal way to stretch your marketing budget. So as my [...]
Bad Journalistic Skills Are the Flip Side of Bad PR Pitches
The bad PR pitches highlighted in yesterday’s post about the new Dear PR Flack site are half of the equation. What about the other: bad reporting and writing skills? Just as in any profession, there are some good journalists and a lot of mediocre ones. And just as in any profession, the good ones tend [...]