I always love reading what other PR experts are saying, and I think it’s important to get outside opinions and to learn from others. With that in mind, I present you with 25 tips from 25 PR experts. Enjoy.
1. Joan Stewart – The Publicity Hound: Create your own holiday. Whether it’s a day, week, or month, this is a great way to generate print, broadcast and online attention for a cause, industry, or organization.
2. Paul Hartunian – http://www.hartunian.com: While visiting the New York State Fair, Hartunian was surprised to find only one award in an arts and crafts competition that had lots of outstanding crafts. He approached the competition and created two new prizes of $50 each. Such a gesture can create tremendous publicity and goodwill among local radio stations, TV stations, and newspapers.
3. Brian Solis – http://www.briansolis.com/2008/05/pr-tips-for-startups-directors-cut/ – PR Tips for Startups: No Two Bloggers or Journalists are Created Equal
Do your homework. Once you’ve identified those whom you’d like to work with before and after the news date, make sure that PR researches individual preferences for contact before they reach out.
This is about relationships and creating a value cycle from PR to bloggers, journalists and ultimately to the people we want to reach with our news. This hopefully isn’t the last time you’ll reach out to them, so work with them, their way, in order to earn the opportunity to collaborate again.
4. Rafe Needleman – Tip #131 Lullaby: If you’re pitching me on the phone, talk to me. Don’t read me the flippin’ press release. It puts me to sleep.
5. The Art of Apologies: Sometimes a sincere apology that is well communicated really does make it all better. Sometimes “sorry” can fix it. If your company has somehow caused harm to anybody, apologize and try to fix it.
6. David Meerman Scott – Top ten PR tips for small businesses: Don’t be egotistical. Nobody cares about you and your products. Your buyers care about themselves and solving their problems.
7. Nigel Morgan via Twitter: Build relationships with key journalists & bloggers, don’t stalk them!
8. Margo Bates via Twitter: Help people understand what you do: clearly explain how they will benefit from your expertise or service.
9. Joe The PR Guy via Twitter: Be consistent in your messages (or at least their theme).
10. Jeff Crilley via Twitter: The days between Christmas and New Years are the slowest of the year. It’s a great time to get publicity.
11. Stephanie Richards via Twitter: Don’t contact more than one journalist at a media outlet at a time so multiple journalists won’t unknowingly write the same story.
12. Tatyana Gann via Twitter: If you write Press Release to get customers make sure it is SEO press release and requires call to action and who used your product
13. Jon Hutson via Twitter: Tiger Woods needs some crisis PR advice: Tell it 1st, tell it fast. Never lie to/mislead the media. But keep it short
14. Rob Bailey via Twitter: If it doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t – never lie, exaggerate or mislead just to get coverage, big mistake.
15. PitchRate Twitter: When doing a TV or radio interview, always offer a bylined article for their website
16. Jay Conrad Levinson – Guerilla Publicity: Even if it’s a pain, always carry your products, brochures, or samples with you…Never miss a chance to show them, explain them, and respond to all questions and comments.
17. Deborah Hastie – Top 10 PR Tips in a Crisis: Write down your statement in bullet form and ensure it is accurate and to the point. Keep it to a couple of paragraphs if possible.
18. Alan Stevens via Twitter: Learn what makes news. Read the papers. Would your press releases appear in them?
19. Lizz Harmon via Twitter: Whenever possible, use specifics in releases – instead of “heavy” say “500 lbs”.
20. Amy Mengel via Twitter: Companies should “favorite” positive tweets about them. Great way to assemble 3rd-party endorsements.
21. David Mullen – Five Tips for Media Relations Success: Before calling a reporter, look at the last five stories she’s written. What does she cover? Is your story relevant to her? Is it relevant to her readers?
22. Steve Seager – Business Leaders and Social Media: You may find your team arguing that social media isn’t measurable. It is. Just like anchoring belay points in rock climbing, you can measure progress through linking your goals to specific actions and desired outcomes along the way.
23. Shannon Cherry – Are You Using Google News Alerts for Your Publicity?: Set Google News alerts for topics which relate to your industry and the products and services that your organization deals in. Don’t forget to create alerts for your own business and your name; it would be a shame to be covered somewhere and not even know it.
24. John Moran – Will IT spending impact tech PR budgets in 2010?: Tap into relevant communities rather than investing in building your own. Use tools like Technorati and Radian6 to track social media conversations and figure out where you need to participate.
25. Richard Edelman – PR in a World of Expression: Be Present and Consistent Everywhere: The average person uses eight sources of media each day. That same person needs to hear or see something three to five times from different sources in order to achieve belief. So we need to involve audiences consistently across all mediums, adapting the discussion and style to the specific medium.
What are some of your favorite PR tips? Who are your favorite PR experts? Let us know!.
This article is written by Mickie Kennedy, founder of eReleases (https://www.ereleases.com), the online leader in affordable press release distribution. To subscribe to PR Fuel, visit: https://www.ereleases.com/prfuel/subscribe/.