You Finally Landed a Print Interview

5 Tips for Making the Most of It

Getting media exposure means putting yourself out there. It might be chatting live on the air with a radio talk show host, taping an appearance for TV, coming up with posts for social media, or being interviewed by a print journalist.

The first couple times can make you apprehensive, but trust me, that disappears quickly. You realize the interviewers tend to ask the same questions, so there are few surprises. You figure out your best sound bites and the responses that get a nice chuckle, and you polish those up.

Read more on you finally landed a print interview. →

Why Your Marketing Plan is like A New Year’s Resolution

Article highlights:

• As with diet and exercise, consistency makes all the difference in marketing and public relations.
• Four realistic tips for daily implementation of marketing plans.
• Discipline and willpower are keys to weight loss and winning marketing plans.

If you sat down at your desk the first workday of the New Year, and vowed to do something bigger and better to market yourself or your business in 2012, you certainly were in good company. There’s nothing like the fresh start of a New Year for motivating us to tackle what seemed to be an overwhelming task last year. But, unfortunately, the odds may be stacked against your well-intentioned plan.

Read more on Why Your Marketing Plan is like A New Year’s Resolution →

Radio Stations – They’re Now Web Sites That Also Happen to Broadcast – Part 2

Article highlights:

1. How radio stations have married social media and traditional media into entertainment powerhouses.
2. Why social media is important if you wish to be a guest.

Yesterday I introduced you to Alex Hinojosa, former full-time radio personality and current Senior Campaign Manager at EMSI. Alex was working as a talk show host/executive producer in a major market, Atlanta, when I lured him away in September of last year, so he has an up-to-the-minute understanding of the changes radio has undergone.

I asked him to explain those, and how they affect people who use radio appearances as a core part of their marketing strategy. Here’s the rest of our interview.

Read more on Radio Stations – They’re Now Web Sites That Also Happen to Broadcast – Part 2 →

No Shock – Talk Radio’s a New Game! Part 1

Article at a glance:

• Why radio interviews have gone from one hour to today’s norm of 7 to 10 minutes.
• How radio stations are rated and what this means to you.

Last week I introduced you to our new Creative Director, Penny Carnathan, an award-winning former newspaper editor who shared tips for getting press coverage in this era of changing media. I got such great feedback, I thought I’d introduce you to some of the other members of our team who can share similar insights about the media.

I’ll start with Alex (“Dro”) Hinojosa, who spent 15 years as a talk radio host, as he’s got some excellent insights into this industry, for those looking to use radio to get their message out. As with newspapers, it’s a new age in the world of talk radio.

Read more on No Shock – Talk Radio’s a New Game! Part 1 →

Changing Newspapers Demand Changing PR

Story at a glance:

• Massive layoffs have changed the way newspapers do business; they’re now even more short-handed and time-crunched than ever.
• Newspapers need quick-turnaround content to help fill pages.
• How to position and pitch yourself to editors, so you can be featured in the news.

Back in October, I was a beneficiary of the sadness sweeping newspapers across the country — more than 20,000 layoffs since 2008 (and that’s a conservative estimate).

Here in Tampa-St. Petersburg, one of our two major dailies, The Tampa Tribune, laid off about 30 veteran reporters and editors in June, in a desperate effort to balance its books. It didn’t work. The paper laid off 165 more employees just last week.

Read more on on Changing Newspapers Demand Changing PR. →

The 2011 “How We Learn From Others” PR Awards

Five of the Year’s Best Lessons From the Wild World of The Media

Article Highlights:

• Arnold Schwarzenegger’s head-on diffusion and Anthony Weiner’s denial and implosion.
• Lindsay Lohan’s cry for attention.
• Herman Caine’s affair denial that cost him his campaign and Newt Gingrich’s upfront admission that made the issue a non-starter.

Should auld acquaintance be forgot – and this year, there were a few that some media figures would certainly like to.

Now is the time the media looks back on the most significant stories of the year. Since we work with the media, we like to look back on the most significant stories in terms of PR. As comedian Jeff Foxworthy says, “You can’t fix stupid,” but what we can do is learn from others’ mistakes (and successes) to make better PR choices for ourselves.

Read more on on the year’s five best PR lessons from the wild world of the media. →

How Does the Mainstream Media Use Social Media?

Three Ways Social Media Affects What You See, Hear and Read in the Media

You don’t have to do a lot of research to see that the mainstream media uses social media every day. Every major news anchor has a Twitter account and many of them have Facebook fan pages with thousands of followers who receive regular updates on that anchor’s activities and interests.

CNN’s Anderson Cooper spends several minutes every night asking viewers to connect with him on Twitter and Facebook. Ed Schulz of MSNBC’s The Ed Show runs interactive polls on a nightly basis connecting those using social media back to his evening show. Every major host or anchor has a social media presence in which they not only promote their appearances, but also seek feedback from their audiences.

Read more on how the mainstream media uses Social Media. →

Is 2011 the Year of Social Media?

Two Ways We Know Social Media is Here to Stay

When it comes to the media, it takes a lot to really amaze me.  It’s not that I’m a cynic. It’s just that I’ve been professionally involved with the media for over 21 years and I’ve seen its evolution. I’ve lived through the days when press releases were Xeroxed and sent in the mail with a postage stamp, through the times when the fax machine was king and finally into the age of the email blast through an electronic database. And while I’ve marveled at these technological advances that increased a PR professional’s speed and reach, none of them really floored me.

Until now.

Read more on It’s so powerful, I’ve never seen anything like it before and probably won’t see anything as influential in our lifetime. Read more... →

Decking the Halls Doesn’t Mean Slowing Down

While Your Competitors Guzzle the Eggnog, You Can Be Getting the Media

And now, the season begins.

In the office, everyone is hanging around the coffee machine longer and enjoying holiday deserts.  Outside the office, people are caught up in the holiday parties, shopping, food, family gatherings, and enough reruns of holiday programs that they are replaying the Grinch song in their head. They spend a little more time online surfing eBay for gifts and writing emails to associates hoping to put any real work off until January 2.

Read more on The media works every day of the year. They need fresh content every single day of the week. Their crews may change and shift, their lead people take vacations while second stringers fill in for them. But every day, they broadcast, print, publish and distribute the news. →

How Small is Too Small?

Why Small Radio Station Interviews Can Be Just as Good – If Not Better – Than the Big Ones

There is no question that the activity of public relations is primarily a numbers game.

The predominant viewpoint is that a campaign that reaches a large audience is typically a successful campaign. But when you delve beyond the surface, you may be surprised to discover that there are still instances in which smaller can actually be better.

In radio, that is very much the case these days.

So much has changed in the world of talk radio, where the power of the station isn’t as relevant as it used to be, primarily because of three key elements: ratings, formats and the Internet.

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Want To Promote Yourself?

The Secret is that it’s NOT all About You

Sometimes the harshest truths are the most important ones.

In public relations, one of the most important truisms revolves around the primary question that the media asks itself as it evaluates the potential stories it may cover: Who really cares?

They ask that question not out of rudeness, but rather out of a genuine desire to serve their audiences. Now, as consumers of the media, we may argue some of their choices of stories (I’m completely mystified with the media’s fascination with the cast of the Jersey Shore, but that’s just me), but we have to remember that the media’s revenue comes from the size and scope of their audiences. If they believe their audience wants to hear about a particular person or story, you can be assured they’ll cover it.

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What is a 3-D PR Campaign?

How the Different Elements of Your PR Campaign Work Together

With all the movies coming out in 3-D these days, I started thinking about how a good PR campaign also has its own 3-D elements. Well, really, there are four types of media outlets today – TV, radio, print (offline and online) and social media – so you really need a 4-D strategy (a point I am sure I will be arguing online at some point with a smart-aleck physicist who takes issue with my science).

In PR, unlike movies, 4-D is the only way to go. I mention this because people frequently ask me which of the four media outlets I think is better. I try to explain that each one is effective in its own right, however, as the media feeds off of itself, the most effective PR campaign will include using all elements in a strategy that leverages a 4-dimensional approach.

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