What’s a Media Advisory and Should You Use One?

Whether you’re a seasoned veteran who has written hundreds of press releases for your business or you’ve just finished sending out your first ever release, another press-related document exists that you might want to know about. It’s called the media advisory and depending on what you’re trying to acco… Read more

Should You Hire a PR Agency or Build an In-House Team?

As you continue to grow your business, you’re going to find that all the different hats you’re wearing are weighing you down to the point that something has to give. That means you’re going to have to find people to whom you can delegate responsibilities. In most cases, you will need someone to take over the P… Read more

Oops! The Writing Mistakes in Your Last Press Release

It can be frustrating when a press release you’re particularly excited about goes absolutely nowhere. But even if you’ve gone over the writing several times there are a few mistakes you’ve probably missed and that’s what kept it from getting picked up. Instead of getting mad or frustrated, let’s take a lo… Read more

Writing a Great Subject Line for Your Pitch

You have an awesome pitch, and now it’s time to send it by email to the reporter of your choosing. And while you probably thought composing the pitch was the hardest part, the truth is that you still have one of the largest challenges ahead — getting the reporter to open your email. How can you guarantee that th… Read more

Operation Mockingbird: How Much Can the Government Influence the Media?

In the early years of the Cold War, a secret American project called “Operation Mockingbird” began. This was a program intent on buying the influence of all major media outlets by recruiting and paying off news organizations and journalists. These men and women of the advertising world basically became … Read more

Dealing With the Media During a Crisis

Oh man. You just off the phone with your boss and are seriously flipping out. She told you one of the company’s warehouses went up in flames and the cause is a little suspect. There might even be some foul play involved. Worse, several employees were hurt in the fire, though thankfully none were killed.

Even a… Read more

5 Reasons You Should Always Follow Up On Your Pitches

Some media members have PR people believing they live by the motto: “Don’t call us, we’ll call you.” That’s why you might think that when you don’t get a response on that press release you sent out it must mean that no one is interested. Maybe that is the case, but maybe it’s not. The only way to know for sure is to … 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

Pick Up the Phone to Make Your Pitch

Press releases. We write them in an attempt to capture the interest of overworked journalists. If we do a good enough job (and with a little luck), they’ll pick up the story and run with it.

But is a written press release the only way to go about it? Is there anything we can do to supplement our PR efforts? You bet… Read more

The 5 Basic Journalist Responses to PR Pitches

When getting into the business of pitching PR stories, you’ll eventually come to recognize common responses from journalists. From happy acceptance to disgusted confusion, they will run the gamut. It can also be tough to gauge exactly what they mean. Instead of taking years to discover them, though, ho… Read more