• Have a marketing plan before you need it.
• Consider your options, resources and budget.
• If you don’t have an audience, start building now.

I hear it almost every day from all sorts of prospective clients, including some very savvy business professionals:

“I’ve written my book (or developed my product) and I need your help with marketing it.”

So, I ask, “What’s your plan? How much have you budgeted for it?”

Plan? Budget? They’ve been so immersed in pouring heart and soul into their dream, they’ve given no thought to how they’ll share it with the world when it’s done. The best time to start thinking about marketing is long before the book is written or the “fibbajiwijit” is built.

If I’ve just described you, don’t worry, you can start now. But, as you’ll see from the tips below, you’d already be off to a running start if you’d been thinking about marketing months ago.

If you’re still writing, designing and dreaming, consider these a few more things to squeeze into your weeks. Then, when you’re ready to launch, all systems will be set for takeoff.

• Consider your market. Who will your book or product appeal to? On the surface, your how-to for new college grads on writing resumes might also have great suggestions for laid-off professionals looking for work for the first time in decades. Conversely, an inexpensive time-saving gadget for busy parents may be the perfect tool for college kids on a budget. Get creative! Solicit ideas from friends, too.

• Now that you know your market, how can you best promote your book or product? Will you buy advertising, look for speaking engagements, try to whip up interest from the media? You might hire a publicist or contract with your publisher to handle PR, or go old school and put together a promotional tour. Research the options that appeal to you and find out how effective they are in terms of meeting your goals. If you’re considering contracting with professionals to help you, get references from people who’ve had successful marketing experiences.

• Identify your resources. All of the above cost money; some options are less, others more. Look into the ones that interest you and get an idea of their price. How much can you afford to spend? Should you start setting aside money now? Is there an organization or business that would benefit from sponsoring you? A physician, for instance, might get financial help from a pharmaceutical company in exchange for standing behind a product. A gardener might find an ally in the local landscapers association.

• Build a following. Do you have a database of people already interested in what you have to say? If not, turn to social media and start building it now. The more of a following you have, the more potential audience you’ve created for your marketing message. Big numbers will also turn heads when you try to get speaking engagements or guest spots on radio and TV talk shows. Having a following is everything. The organizations and media that book you for an interview are also hoping all those followers will either buy tickets or stop by their website.

Marketing is too important to be an afterthought, so think about it long before it’s time to get started. Yes, I understand the effort that goes into writing a book or creating a product. I know it’s hard to think about anything else! But if you’re pouring years into that baby, you probably want to share it with the world. And that takes planning.

Article at a glance

• Relax and treat the host like a friend
• Dress in solid, darker colors
• Be an expert guest, not a salesperson

Making your first television appearance as a guest on a news or talk show can be one of the most thrilling, and nerve-wracking, events in your publicity campaign.

Let’s face it – we think TV, we think celebrity. It’s exciting. Ever spot the anchor from your local TV newscast dining in the same restaurant as you? Did you grab your companion’s arm, point, and say, sotto voce, “Look!”?  (Yes, I’m guilty, too.)

As much as TV can be a shot at junior stardom, it’s an equal opportunity to fall flat on your face – at least, that’s the fear many people have. That’s why I’d like to introduce you to Russ Handler, our TV Campaign Manager at EMSI.  Russ has some tips to offer from his years of experience as an on-air traffic anchor and producer for a major-market news station:

• Take some time well before the show to prepare what you’ll be talking about.  You’ve only got about 3 to 5 minutes, so you want to make the most out of that on-air time.

• The way you look is critical, because your appearance affects how the audience perceives you.

• Avoid wearing white clothes, which tend to wash out on camera, and tight-patterned fabrics, which can make the picture flutter.  Solid and darker colors are usually best, but simple patterns like stripes or polka-dots are okay if the pattern’s not too tight.

• Avoid shorter skirts, shorts or turtlenecks and loose jewelry around the neck or wrist.  The microphones are sensitive and may pick up clacking beads and bracelets. Remember that your footwear may be visible, so make sure your shoes are in good condition and reflect your professionalism.

• Ignore the cameras. Instead, have a friendly conversation with the hosts as if you’re sitting with them in your home.  The more relaxed you are, the more competent you will appear and the more the audience will warm to you.

• During the interview, if the host motions for you to look at a monitor, it’s because the video or graphics being displayed is what the audience is seeing on their screen.  You should comment on what the viewers are seeing and, if appropriate, use this opportunity to convey your message.

• Make sure to bring a copy of your book or a sample of your product to the station.  Before the segment, talk to the producer and ask whether you can display it during the interview.  It’s always a good idea to bring extra product samples or books as gifts for the host and producers.  If you’re an author, an autographed copy of your book is also a nice touch.
• Keep in mind that it is NOT the hosts’ responsibility to mention the title of your book or product or where viewers can buy it, so make sure to mention that at least once – but DON’T turn the segment into an infomercial. If you have a book that’s sold on Amazon.com as well as a personal website, mention Amazon; viewers are familiar with it and will be more likely to remember it.

Before you walk into the studio, remind yourself to be informative, animated and expressive. This is your moment to shine, so go for it.

I hope Russ’s tips help make you a star on your first – or next – TV appearance. Don’t be surprised if the next time you go out to eat, you see diners pointing at you and saying, “Look!”

Last week we lost a legend, boxing coach and trainer Angelo Dundee. As most of you know, he was the cornerman for world heavyweight champ Muhammad Ali.

Although I still don’t understand this about myself, I’m a huge fan of world championship boxing — and boxing doesn’t get huger than Ali!

He was one of the great athletes who relied on “Angie” to advise him in the ring. Neither Ali nor Sugar Ray Leonard, both powerful and gifted, were crazy enough to think they could win all by themselves.

And yet, look at how many of us make that very mistake!

I published Celebritize Yourself in the spring of 2009. At the time, I’d been in PR for nearly 19 years. My book was a how-to, based on my experience, for building yourself as an expert in your field – an expert celebrity, if you will.  Part of the method in my book is how to get lots of media exposure and how to be a great guest.  Hello!? Of course I didn’t need anyone’s help with media for Celebritize Yourself! And even if I thought I did, how foolish would that look – the PR expert getting help with her PR?

But the reality is, we all need a coach. Ali and Leonard needed Coach Dundee. Giants quarterback Eli Manning needed Coach Tom Coughlin on Sunday. Tiger Woods has a swing coach and he had a life coach, his dad Earl Woods. Judging from the way things turned out after the elder Woods passed away, Tiger still needed a life coach.

When I set out to develop my media message for Celebritize Yourself, I found it a much bigger challenge than I’d expected. What comes completely naturally for me in helping clients was not at all natural when it came to my own book. Spending months immersed in writing will do that to a person. I became so involved in writing, I had a hard time stepping back and objectively assessing the options.

So I called my good friend Lee Habeeb, who is a media coach to many of the stars of talk radio: Michael Medved, Mike Gallagher, Dennis Prager, Hugh Hewitt and Bill Bennett.

Lee readily came to my rescue – and assured me that getting some coaching for my own book promotion was not only quite all right, it was essential. We spent many hours discussing critical messages he saw in Celebritize Yourself that I never would have spotted on my own – being too blinded by the trees to have any view of the forest.  We worked on sound-bite answers and alternate ways to get my message out.  He shared experiences from his days as Executive Producer of The Laura Ingraham Show, when guests would be cut short because of how boring they were or their infomercial approach. All good lessons from a pro.

So often I’ve heard writers and entrepreneurs, some of whom have spent years on their projects, say they plan to “handle the marketing” alone after they’ve finally finished. That’s like entering a crowded playing field wearing blinders. When you’re so close to what you’ve created, when you’ve been living with it in your head for so long, it’s difficult to see the full spectrum of marketing angles and possibilities.

Your novel about brothers fighting against each other in the Civil War could also make you the perfect person to talk about patriotism, family, fraternal bonds and the importance of standing up for personal convictions.

Your supplement for joint pain could be a springboard for a Valentine’s Day talk radio discussion of enjoying romance despite chronic pain; it could become an article with tips for exercises to supplement the supplement; it could even turn into a story about active grandparents.

After you’ve poured heart and soul into a book, product or business, at the very least, get some coaching from friends who know your project, or fellow writers and entrepreneurs who have had their own successes.  Best of all would be finding people with experience in the media. Brainstorm the possibilities for publicizing your effort and you’ll soon see the potential for angles and messages that are far greater than you might have imagined alone.

If you’ve set high goals and you’re serious about the results, consider hiring a professional. It worked for Muhammad Ali!

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.

But, there are still those first couple of interviews to get through.  To address this problem with my clients, I have them coached by my staff beforehand.  As many of us have had careers in the media we know what to expect and, more important, what the interviewer expects.

When it comes to coaching clients for print interviews, that job goes to our Creative Director and Writer, Penny Carnathan, who has worked as an editor and reporter at major daily newspapers for more than 30 years.

Having logged thousands of interviews, Penny knows what makes a great one great.  And, by the same token, what makes an interview a flop.  I asked her to share her five best tips for not bombing your first time out – and for making sure at least some of what you say gets published.

Here’s what she gave me.

• Do NOT try to pitch, sell or promote your book, product or business: Yes, it may be the reason you’re granting interviews, but if you want to sell something, you should buy an ad. The journalists are looking for you, as someone with a particular expertise, to provide content for their readers. That may be adding another voice to a story with multiple viewpoints.  Or it may even be sharing your  story – how you reinvented yourself after being laid off, or how you managed to write a novel while raising 13 kids. Either way, the goal of the journalist is to write an article that’s useful, informative and/or entertaining. Your goal is to get media exposure: your name and the source of your expertise in front of thousands, perhaps millions, of eyes.

• Try to speak clearly and at a moderate pace: Whether the reporter is taking notes with a pen or a computer, it will be difficult for him or her to keep up if you get excited and start talking very quickly. Not only might he miss some of the brilliant things you have to say, he may (gulp!) make an error that becomes a misquote in the story. Speak at a conversational speed, and if you really want to be a big help, offer to spell any less-than-obvious names you toss out. A good reporter will double-check the spelling, but you’ll save her time by giving her a starting point.

• You don’t have to answer immediately, and you don’t have to answer every question: Most of us would be hard put to respond off the top of our heads to, “What was the most pivotal moment of your life?” If you can’t, don’t. Ask the reporter to give you some time to think about it. By the same token, if you don’t feel qualified to answer a question, it’s far better to be honest about that than to take a stab at a response that makes you sound, um, unqualified. Remember, you’re in control. No one will think less of you if you politely decline a question for which you have no answer!

• Take your own notes before the interview: You likely have a good idea of what the reporter is writing about – and if you don’t it’s perfectly acceptable to ask what the gist of the story is. That gives you time to prepare relevant comments. If they’re looking for tips, list a few on paper in case you draw a blank. That will also help you plan ahead so you can speak concisely and get to the point quickly. Personal anecdotes always add color and interest to a story. Think about whether you’ve got a good short one (short is appreciated!) that will illustrate your point.

• Be prepared to email a high-resolution photo of yourself: Print publications cannot use the low-resolution photos that look so sharp online; the files are too small to reproduce at any decent size on paper. Most require an image that’s 300 dpi (dots per inch). Keep one of yourself at the ready to send via email, if the reporter asks, as soon as the interview is over. Not having it – or not knowing what a high-resolution photo is – could mean a missed opportunity to get your name, book title and face in front of a big audience.

Sound easy? You’re right, it is. So relax and enjoy your interview. Before you know it, a Google search of your name will produce dozens of publications quoting you and mentioning your book, product or business.  That may lead to even more requests, all of which builds your profile and your audience.

• 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.

The failure rate for strategic business plans is right on par with that for New Year’s resolutions, which is a discouraging 88 percent.That doesn’t mean your marketing plan, or my diet for that matter, is doomed. It simply means we both need to be more committed and disciplined.

As withdiet and exercise, consistency makes all the difference in marketing and public relations.  These strategic actions build credibility, image and brand, which are critical to your success. If you put your marketing plan in a drawer and don’t take time every day to use it by reaching out to your readers, customersor followers, it won’t reach its potential.

It takes small steps every day. Sound familiar?

Large organizations with dedicated marketing teams have an advantage: They have peoplewhose only job is to make sure their name is out there in a favorable light. They are just like those movie stars with personal trainers and private chefs – they don’t have to drag themselves to the gym each day because the gym comes to them.  They don’t have to come up with delicious low-cal recipes; their chef does it for them. The rest of us have to do it all ourselves.

If you’re running a business, big or small, the daily fires that need to be put out – increasing revenues, getting vendors paid or managing logistics– all take precedence over marketing and public relations. That telephone call to the reporter can wait till tomorrow, right? You meant to get on Facebook and reach out to your fans there, but you can do that in the morning. You opened a Twitter account and sent a tweet last week; people surely will start following you soon.

Sorry, that’s just not enough if you truly want to be successful in building a name and a brand for yourself. If you believe that marketing is the foundation of every successful business, as I do, then it can’t be set aside for another day. Little Orphan Annie was wrong: There isn’t always tomorrow.

If you’ve taken the time to set your goals and budget, and even draft a marketing plan, then daily implementation is a must. Here are a few ways to accomplish that:

• Assign responsibility: Who is going to manage your daily conversation with the public? If it’s you, accept that it’s your job and set aside time each day (even if it’s only a half-hour in the morning or time late at night) to reach out to your key constituency through one of the many platforms available to tell your story.
• Set measurable goals: There are great analytic tools to track traffic to your website and interaction through social media. Use them and check them constantly. Like that bathroom scale, they’ll keep you honest on how well you are sticking to your plan.
• Admit that you can’t do it alone: If you look at your plan and honestly say to yourself, “There’s no way I can do this!” then find someone who can. A good marketing and public relations professional will work with your budget and the return on investment will be a good one.
• Keep your plan in front of you: If you put it in a desk drawer or filed it away on your computer, it will be forgotten.

Some businesses launch with great fanfare and hope that the resulting media attention will carry them through. But it won’t. They have to work to keep the media spotlight on them, in order to stay in the public eye.  If they step off the playing field for even a short period, some other business or expert will be sure to replace them.

Marketing is building and maintaining an emotional relationship with your customers and your community. That takes place over time and with consistency, so they get to know who you are, the special qualities you possess and why you are important to their lives.

Staying out in front of your audience takes discipline and some willpower. But just like that daily trip to the gym and a healthy eating plan, if you keep at it, by the end of the year you’ll have a lot to show for your effort. And remember, whether it’s an exercise regime or a marketing plan, you may realize you just can’t do it all on your own. Then it’s time to call in a professional. They’re not just for movie stars.

• 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.

Their loss was my gain. Penny Carnathan, an award-winning reporter and features editor, is now our Creative Director/Writer. She brings to News and Experts not only her talents, but her insights on how newsrooms have changed in recent years. Just four months ago, she was the person on the other side fielding our press releases and story pitches. As the editor in charge of the Tribune’s Sunday features section, which included a books page and its food section, she decided which releases to pursue and which to ignore.

Penny says the many layoffs changed the way she and other editors do business — the Trib’s 2011 cuts were two of so many, she lost count. I say that means we have to change too.

I asked Penny to share in her own words what the changes mean and how we can leverage them. Here’s what she said:

With fewer reporters and lots of empty pages to fill, editors are doing more planning ahead to ensure they have content, for both their features and their “breaking news” pages. They no longer have the flexibility or manpower to jump on “dailies” that don’t involve a police officer being shot or a house burning down. Tempting as it might be, they likely can’t follow up on an “urgent” notice about today’s Make-a-Wish holiday shopping spree.

• Plan Ahead. If you want your event covered, let the newspaper know about it two to three weeks ahead of time.

• Help Out the Reporter. Provide local interview sources – local is a priority for local papers – so the reporter doesn’t have to spend time tracking down “real people” for the story. For instance, to pitch a story on a Special Olympics event, you would ideally line up a local athlete and parent who are ready and willing to be accessible to a reporter. Better yet, line up an athlete with a touching story. If you’re an author, get creative. Think about the businesses who can benefit from your strategies and get one on board.

• Make It for a Good Cause. If you’re hosting a special event, including book signings, find a way to make it charitable or a service to some greater good. Newspaper editors are more inclined to cover events if they benefit others. Again, take the reporter legwork out of the process by finding a beneficiary who can talk about what the event means to him or her.

• Pictures in a Snap.  Offering good quality, high-resolution images gives you another leg up; photojournalists are being laid off too.

Understanding the time and staffing crunches newspaper staffs face make you a respected and appreciated source of content.

One last note, Penny says it’s worth the time you take to research who does what at the publication you’re targeting. Newsrooms are reorganizing and that means they can be a bit chaotic. Stay on the phone until you find the person who knows for sure who should receive your information (often more than one person). The payoff is well worth all that time repeating your story over and over again.

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.

That’s a major mistake for anyone engaged in or thinking of engaging in a media campaign. The holidays are exactly the time to pop the clutch and put your campaign into overdrive.

The reason is obvious. Although many assume that nothing of any consequence really happens over the holidays, what it really means is that fewer people are competing for those guest interviews on radio and TV and in print. This opens up an opportunity for you to jump in and compete for that media, with fewer of your competitors in that mix. Let’s face it, the media still needs people to interview to generate content.  So, if your competition is not in the game over the holidays, this is the perfect time for you to step in and get the coverage.

Because, even though many companies tend to run silent during the holidays, the media doesn’t. In fact, as we sit there on Christmas morning wondering what store is still open when you’ve run out of aspirin, the media is one industry that doesn’t ever shut down.

During the holidays, turn on the TV.  While CBS might be running reruns of Two and a Half Men, of course, the evening news isn’t running a repeat. And, what about CNN? They still report the day’s news just like any other day.

Same thing holds true for the print media – on Christmas morning and the day after Christmas, your newspaper is still delivered to your front door. And you can bet Yahoo! isn’t recycling content from November.  No, they’re aggregating news from all over the world that was written on Christmas day.

The media works every day of the year – Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, Halloween, Yom Kippur, Purim, Kwanza and yes, even Arbor Day. 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. Every day. And their need for content, combined with your competitors’ need to relax, can result in excellent press coverage for you.

You can deck the halls and sing the songs and eat the food that will no doubt be the inspiration for at least one or two New Year’s resolutions. In the meantime, though, consider celebrating the holidays by making them productive. Get yourself in front of the media while your competitors are guzzling eggnog. After all, isn’t success the best holiday gift you could give yourself?

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.

Big radio stations in big markets are more and more being ruled by Arbitron ratings, which can now track audiences in increments of about 3 minutes. This phenomenon is making the days of 10- and 20-minute interviews in many major markets a thing of the past. They do still take place, but in fewer and fewer places. However, stations in smaller markets tend not to be as slavish to these format structures, enabling their hosts to conduct more substantive interviews.

As it stands now, in the bigger markets many shows schedule 5- to 7-minute interviews.  And, some are starting to do even shorter interviews, 3.5- to 5-minute interviews, which is the same format as the guest interview segments on TV. We’re seeing that more and more in the major markets.

That’s where smaller stations in smaller markets can be a great fit, because a small station with a smaller, but more loyal, audience can really deliver the goods. They can afford to have a guest on for 10, 20 and sometimes 30 minutes, and the audience will be more attentive and responsive listening to guests they like. In addition, while the majority of big-market stations and nationally syndicated shows have phased out listener call-in segments, many smaller market shows still have listeners calling in.  And that’s where a guest on a roll, who can grab the interest and attention of the listeners, can have a segment last way beyond the original length of the scheduled interview.

So, while the idea of appearing on shows on big stations in big markets still stands as a primary guideline in PR, there are places on the radio dial where big doesn’t necessarily mean better. Sometimes, there is nothing better than a small, dedicated audience who listens to a long-time, well-loved local broadcaster. If you ignore those opportunities, you could be missing out on some premium media interviews.

Lastly, it’s critical to understand how effective the Internet has become in extending the audience reach of stations and markets, both big and small. Today, in order for any radio station to be competitive, they have to have a strong Internet presence and simulcast their shows online.  As well, today most hosts are blogging to build and maintain their audience numbers, and when they have a good show, they’ll create a podcast of it.  Hosts are not only promoting your appearance on their show, but if you’re a good guest, they promote it through all their social networks, their blogs and podcasts.

Why does all this matter? Because the whole reason you do radio is for the quality of communication. This is why many people still prefer picking up their phone and calling someone instead of emailing them or texting them. It’s why we still have face-to-face meetings with our business associates and clients. It’s why we do conference calls. And it’s also why we call our relatives to wish them a happy birthday instead of just tweeting them. It’s about the quality of that communication. The sound of a human voice can communicate passion, intent, emotion and sincerity. Can you imagine what history would have been like if FDR had written his “we have nothing to fear but fear itself” speech as an op-ed in The Washington Post as opposed to having given it as a radio address? Could Orson Welles’ “War of the Worlds” have scared as many people if it was a short story instead of a radio play?

We do radio to provide a greater quality of communication to our audiences. So, you can play the numbers game if you wish, but if you do, you’ll miss the whole point of doing radio in the first place and the ghost of Marconi may well come and haunt you for it.

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.

For someone seeking to promote themselves or their business, this question the media asks themselves, “who really cares,” is absolutely paramount, because it reveals one of the most critical and common pitfalls in the PR business. That is, the idea that promoting yourself should be all about you.

The hard fact is that if the media doesn’t already know who you are, they really don’t care about you. They don’t care about your book, your Web site, your company, your product or just about anything you are selling. Of course, their advertising director would love to sell you time or space, but that’s advertising, not PR.

So the key question becomes, how do you get the media to care about you? The answer is you have to demonstrate to them that your expertise and your message will add value to the lives of their audiences.

Now, a lot of self-help authors will think that should be easy, but it’s not. It’s not so much about the fact that you may have helpful advice to offer, but rather that you have different and more insightful advice than the last person in your field who pitched them for an interview.

What’s more, it’s not just self-help folks who have something to offer. We actually have several clients who have written memoirs whose life experiences offer tremendous value to the media’s audiences. Several were survivors of domestic and child abuse, with one of them having been kidnapped by a family member. Their stories put them in the unique position of offering advice on how to recognize domestic abuse, how to prevent it and even how to make children safer from abduction by estranged parents and even strangers.
In those cases, we received a resounding response from the media to talk to those individuals.

Another one of our clients is Michael Uslan, the executive producer of the Batman franchise of films. His memoir detailed his decade-long battle to get Hollywood to take a serious Batman film, well, seriously. His message of perseverance in the face of ridiculous odds resonates with anyone who has ever had a dream they wanted to fulfill, so the media devoured – and is still devouring – his story.

In each of these cases, the media campaign wasn’t about a book or a product or a person – it was about what each of these people could offer the audience as a result of their experiences and expertise. Their advice, backed up by the power of success or the lessons of defeat, was what attracted the media. They didn’t have interviews or outreach that touted their books or their companies, and they certainly weren’t actively trying to sell people anything. They offered themselves as experts in their fields with something of value for the media’s audience. They didn’t sound like an infomercial pitching a product, nor did they sound like a celebrity on a late night talk show telling people to buy their book or watch their movie.

They offered something of themselves for the benefit of others, which is a great way to earn the trust of those media consumers. More than that, they weren’t trying to promote themselves. And here’s the irony that I love so much about the media – in actively not trying to promote themselves, they actually achieved a greater degree of self-promotion. People listened to them, came to like them and wound up becoming interested in what they had to sell, even though they weren’t actively trying to sell it.

Back to answering the media’s question of “Who really cares?” – the secret is to remember the one driving truth of life in the media. It’s not about you. It’s never about you. It’s always about the audience and what you can do for them.

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.

Here are some ways the different elements of a 4 dimensional PR campaign fit together, kind of like a marketing Rubik’s cube.

Print/Online – I put print and online in the same category because they both encompass written articles, and just about everything that appears in print is repurposed online, so written articles have a dual impact. Most importantly, every article or column that includes a mention of you, your book or your company will eventually appear online in such a way that they will turn up as a search engine result on Google and other news aggregators. For this reason, print/online interacts beautifully with just about every other media.

For instance, when your PR firm pitches you as a guest for TV and radio interviews, some of the more enterprising producers will Google you to see if you are a reputable person in your field. The more articles that pop up on Google or Yahoo that feature you as a source, the more likely they are to recognize you as a credible expert and want to schedule an interview.

In addition, your articles are great fodder for social networks. While you don’t want to be too commercial or promotional in your tweets and Facebook updates, there is no harm in tweeting a link to a news story that might be of interest to your friends and fellow networkers. If you’re featured in it, that’s just a bonus. Every time you get an article that pops up online, you can circulate the links on your social network and drive more views, which also drives your credibility with your peers.

Radio – for so many reasons, this is one of my all-time favorite mediums. One critical reason is that talk radio is a place where you can typically have a more in-depth conversation about your topic than other mediums allow. And now that the vast majority of stations are streaming live on the Internet, the promotional value is endless. For one thing, you can alert your social network followers as to when the interview will occur so they can hear it live. If they miss that exact day and time, most stations archive shows on their Web site, so people can listen whenever it’s more convenient. Before the Internet, shows just disappeared into the stratosphere after they were recorded.

Also, technology is such today that you can download a radio interview off the station’s site (or you can ask the producer to do it for you) to post on your own Web site and distribute to your social network followers.

Another added value is that stations record, podcast and distribute shows via their own social network connections, so this becomes another layer of promotion for you. In fact, just a few minutes ago, we found that an interview we scheduled for one of our clients on America’s Radio News Network (one of the fastest growing networks in the country) featured his interview on the front page of their Web site – an additional avenue of promotion for you.

At the end of the day, telling your social media followers when you’re featured in the news and on the air, makes you more credible to them and will help drive more followers to your social network and your Web site.

TV – TV, as with radio, used to be a fleeting experience, because once the interview aired, its influence was over. Now, many news stations will keep links to your interview active on their Web site for a short period of time after the interview took place. Of course, you always want to obtain a digital copy to post on your Web site, extending that appearance’s shelf life and also for the viewing of decision makers in other mediums who may be vetting you for potential coverage. Nothing screams credibility like an online video of you appearing on a TV show.

Today, some TV producers are even asking potential guests if they have a large social network following, because that makes them more attractive as guests. If you have 10,000 followers, your outreach to let them know about your appearance could drive bigger ratings for the show you’re on. The key thing is to get access to a digital copy and leave plenty of breadcrumbs in your online footprint for people to find them.

Social Media – While building your social media connections has its very own reward, it can also help drive readership, viewership and listenership to every piece of your PR campaign, helping to grow your numbers and brand you as an undisputed expert in your field.

So, when you approach PR, don’t view it as a flat, one-dimensional experience. Put on those 4-D glasses (if they don’t make them yet, they should), change your perspective and watch the results of your PR campaigns grow exponentially.