Get Your Promotion in Shape for the Holidays: Marketing for Holidays and Beyond Starts Now

The holidays are upon us, once again, and as retailers try to get in gear sooner each year you can never start planning too early! After all, more than 70 percent of all consumer goods sold in the U.S. are sold in the fourth quarter of the year. For marketers, it’s the opportunity to meet and expand sales projections, and set the stage for the New Year. Read more on getting your promotion in shape for the holidays →

How Much PR Should You Have? Persistent and Consistent is Key to Success

I’m always asked the question about how long a good publicity campaign should last. Invariably in the media business, more publicity is always better. Still, the question is a good one, and it bears answering.

To do that, I want you to think of the consumers you’re trying to reach as a quiet pond in the wilderness. If you want to make the pond ripple, throw a pebble in it. Big rocks make more waves than small pebbles, but even so, the ripples eventually end if all you’re doing is throwing in one rock at a time. Read more on how much PR you should have →

How Familiar (and Unfamiliar) Holidays Can Drive Your PR Campaign

As the dog days of summer wind down, I think it’s only appropriate that I tell a dog story of my own.

It starts with a client of mine who is a dog crusader with a cause. She’s written seven books about it, and just released a new one. Her passion, as if you haven’t figured it out by now, is animal rescue – specifically dogs from animal shelters. It’s a reasonably narrow cause, but she has been getting a great deal of attention, and October is going to be even bigger for her. You see, October is national Adopt-a-Shelter-Dog Month, sponsored by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA). For our client, it’s a month made in heaven for her message. Read more on how holidays can drive your PR campaign →

So I’m Launching a PR Campaign – How Many Sales Will I Make?

Understanding the Real ROI of PR

If I had a nickel every time a CEO or marketing executive asked me how many more sales they’d make by using PR, Bill Gates would be jealous of my island-sized yacht.

In order to answer that question, however, it’s important to understand the fallacy on which it’s based. So, let me ask you a few questions. Read more on the true ROI of PR →

Tips for Your Online Book Promotion: It’s Not About the Technology, It’s About the Customers

When I started working with authors on their publicity campaigns, the landscape was reasonably simple. Arranging phone interviews on talk radio shows, appearances on TV and getting reviews in major newspapers and magazines drove consumer interest. Everyone bought their books in bookstores and the only people interested in the Internet were some computer geeks.

Boy, have things changed. Today 44 percent of ALL books sold in North America are sold online at Amazon.com. What’s more, e-books now account for nearly 30 percent of all of Amazon’s sales. Read more on online book promotion →

When is a Good Time To Start Your PR Campaign? How About NOW?

“What may be done at any time will be done at no time.”
– Scottish Proverb

Okay, don’t ask what the Jewish grandmother from New York is doing with a Scottish proverb. My chief strategist found it for me, and it fit the tone of my message today. Read more on when is a good time to start your PR campaign →

Planning on Booking Your Own TV Publicity?

There’s More to It than Just Sending Out a Press Release

In the past few months, I’ve covered a lot of ground with regard to how to do your own public relations campaign. I’ve explained how to make yourself or your company appealing to the media, how to write pitches and why articles work better than press releases.

But I haven’t yet explained some crucial elements with regard to orchestrating a PR campaign and more specifically with regard to landing TV appearances. Radio and print publicity definitely require attention to details – but the number of logistical issues you have to deal with for TV exposure is far greater. Read more on how to book your own TV publicity →

6 Tips for Getting Booked as a Talk Radio Guest

You may have heard me say this over and over – but it’s a fact: Talk radio is a great avenue for getting your message in front of a wide audience. With such an abundance of shows airing on terrestrial stations, online stations and satellite radio, and covering such a wide range of topics, you’re sure to find many that will be a good match for your message.

So how do you get on the air? Here are six tips designed to get you talking: Read more on 6 tips for getting booked as a talk radio guest →

Want to Get on TV? Follow a Daily News Routine to Increase Your Chances

Over the years, I’ve always advised my clients that if you want to get in the news, you have to watch and read the news. I know it sounds a little like “bumper sticker” advice, but it’s really not meant as a sound bite. In fact, we use a practical application of that advice every single morning at our agency.

It’s actually a very simple list of easy steps that anyone can do, and it can get blockbuster results. Read more on a strategy to get on TV →

How Steve Jobs Can Fix Apple’s iPhone PR Snafu

Let’s see how many cardinal rules of tech product launches Apple can violate in a 30-day period.

1. They released a new, bleeding-edge device behind enough hype to make the next Harry Potter movie look like a Mary Kate and Ashley video – only the darn thing wasn’t completely cooked, yet. Consumers generally understand that new releases may have their share of minor glitches here and there, but with the iPhone 4G release, it was suffering from reception problems. Now, I’m not a tech geek, but when you release a phone that doesn’t get good reception, I’d call that a primary issue. It’s like when you go to a KFC a half hour before closing, and they tell you they’ve run out of chicken. Come on! The “C” on your sign stands for chicken! How do you run out of it? (I wouldn’t be so upset about it if they didn’t put that “secret ingredient” in it that makes you crave it!) So, cardinal rule #1 – when you release a high priced, high hyped new tech device, you have to make sure it, you know, works. Read more on How Steve Jobs Can Fix Apple's iPhone PR Snafu →

When it Comes to Talk Radio, You Can’t Judge by Size Alone

Back in 1962, Avis Rent A Car began using the advertising slogan that is still in use today – “We try harder.”

The slogan was a nod to the fact that Avis was the second largest rental car company behind Hertz, and that as a result, they would always make an extra effort in a desire to overcome the competition. It’s a reasonably universal sentiment, as small corporations around the world employ the same tactic to provide better service or more flexibility than the market leaders. And the same can be said of talk radio. Read more on why you shouldn't judge talk radio shows by station size alone →

How Can BP Improve Its Public Image?

It’s the big, greasy, sloppy elephant in the room. It’s been talked about on TV and radio and in print until I – and many of my colleagues – am sick to death of hearing about it. It’s the question of how BP can revive its public image.

If the record is broken, why am I trying to super glue it back together and play it? Well, someone asked. I received an email from a college student participating in his local Public Relations Student Society of America meeting, and he asked me what I thought. It caught me off guard, because there is so much they have done wrong with regard to their media relations efforts, I was concerned I wouldn’t know where to begin. Read more on how BP can improve its public image →