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!

• Implicit media endorsements make you stand out from the competition.
• It’s not advertising; it’s building credibility.
• Maximize your exposure by posting it on your Web site and sharing it via social media.

A colleague of mine, who’s a former newspaper reporter, tells a story about a savvy attorney she knew. He’d tip her off whenever he had a particularly juicy case if she promised to include his name alongside that of his client in her story. Whether he won the case or lost it, people remembered his name and associated him with high-profile cases.  He’d figured out that having his name in the paper bought him something no amount of advertising could: credibility.

For anyone trying to build a business, sell a product or get their book into the hands of more consumers, the implicit endorsement that comes from being interviewed by the media is what I call “marketing gold.”

Let me explain.  Thanks to the Internet, you and every competitor you have, big or small, have the same chance to reach your potential consumers.  So, what makes one business, one product or book more appealing than another?  It’s endorsements from the media that make you stand out.  Let’s face it – if USA Today has chosen to review your book, or refer to it in an article, it gives reason to believe there’s something special about it.  If a doctor is quoted in the news about solutions to a particular health issue you’re dealing with – your instinct will be to check out him and his product first, because the media must consider him an authority to have quoted him.

When the media recognizes that you have something important to say, you gain credibility. This is the marketing gold I’m referring to: the endorsements from TV and radio show hosts, the editorial coverage in newspapers and magazines – and now, bloggers, news Web sites and followers on social media too. All these forms of recognition give others confidence you’re as good as you say you are. But, it’s upon you to use this “gold” as a critical part of your marketing to let people know these endorsements exist.

The return on investment usually isn’t immediate, which can be frustrating to people who expect a surge in business or a spike in sales with every media interview. That used to happen more often in the old days – I’m talking way back in the ‘90s – when a radio talk show host might chat with you for 30 or 60 minutes  and newspapers had twice as many pages to fill.  It became apparent that when a client’s message clearly addressed an urgent public problem, along with their expertise and solution-oriented content, they could hit the jackpot.

From January to April, an IRS expert who spoke of resolutions to IRS problems or gave on-air tips on how to prevent IRS abuses would always see a huge jump in book sales. Or, the health expert, who got on the air during flu season and explained why his health program would make them feel better faster would sell a ton of product.

But the old days are gone and here we are in 2012. Today’s talk radio interviews are brief – 7 to 10 minutes in the larger markets – and newspapers have no space for full feature stories on interesting entrepreneurs and writers. There are far fewer opportunities to grab an audience for a significant length of time.

So how do you grow your investment in PR?  Marketing your media exposure is a strategy that pays big dividends over time – but requires an effort from you.

• Your Web site should prominently display your endorsements: “As seen on CBS,” “featured in the Louisville Gazette,” “heard on WFLA radio.”

• Don’t forget to mention the media coverage to your Twitter followers and Facebook fans, too. The third-party endorsement will help you build more contacts, because people like knowing who the experts are and following them.

• Use the media you’ve obtained to help you gain more TV, radio and print exposure.  It serves as credibility for journalists as well and they will be more likely to want to interview you if you’ve already been vetted by other media professionals.

• Let your personality shine online and respond to journalists and followers alike with interesting commentary and insights – not pleas to buy your book or product.

Yes, it takes work, a strong theme and a message that resonates. But if you invest wisely, you’ll grow rich in marketing gold.

• 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.

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.

Marsha: You’ve worked in smaller markets like Lubbock, Texas, and Lansing, Mich., and the biggest, like New York, Washington, DC and Atlanta.  What differences did you see as a talk show host in smaller markets versus larger markets?

Alex: A small but dedicated audience can be even more valuable than an audience that’s five times as big but more likely to channel surf. Because of PPM (Personal People Meter, the ratings system that tracks listeners minute-to-minute) and the corporate structure of radio now, major markets are overrated.

Trust me.  I have many contemporaries in radio who know they were able to do a better show and conduct longer interviews in a smaller market because the ratings system is different. So, as a guest, you’re going to get more time to share your message and it’s going to be with a much more dedicated audience, since listeners have fewer talk shows to choose from.

Marsha: It’s clear when you watch TV or listen to radio, hosts are more intent on having listeners follow them on social networking sites, like Facebook and Twitter.  Having just come from the trenches, can you give us the inside scoop on the theory behind that?

Alex: Here’s what’s going on: Most radio stations now are basically Web sites that happen to broadcast. Just last Friday, Clear Channel Radio dropped “radio” entirely from its name! It’s now Clear Channel Media and Entertainment.

Talk hosts and DJs are trying to build social media connections with their listeners so they can market to them at any time – tell them about the next great guest, or contest, or whatever. They’re using Twitter, Facebook and Google+ to drive people back to the radio show’s Web site because the more traffic the station can move to the Web site, the more it can potentially charge for online advertising. It also wants those visitors to sign up for its listener club because, like any other business, building your in-house opt-in database is marketing gold.

Getting listeners to the station’s site has become so important the hosts get bonuses for those Web hits.

Marsha: So what are the implications of this trend for talk show guests?

Alex: The bigger the social media following someone has, the more valuable they are becoming to talk show hosts. All of the guest’s followers are potential new listeners and clicks to the station’s Web site.

If you, as a guest, have a good social network, lots of followers on Twitter for instance, the host will use that, which helps him and you. He might tweet to his listeners, “Hey, tune in on Tuesday when we’ve got @MarshaFriedman from EMSI coming in to tell you all about how to become an expert celebrity.” They go to @MarshaFriedman to check you out and before you know it, you’ve got a bunch of new followers.  Of course, the host hopes you’ll tweet that you’re going to be on his show so that your followers will tune in or listen online.

Marsha:  Another benefit of the online component is that it gives interviews a whole new life.

Alex: Yes! As you know, in the old days as soon as an interview was broadcast, it was over. You had to hope that the audience was listening at that exact moment to hear your message. But now, interviews can live forever. They’re streamed online, sent to people’s phones, captured digitally and turned into podcasts that people can listen to and share at any time. Hosts will use a great interview to drive listeners back to their Web site through social media. They might tweet, “What a terrific chat we had with @MarshaFriedman! If you missed it, go to www.(insert station name here).com and click to listen.” 

Marsha: So, Alex, what do we really need to remember about this new age of radio? What’s the takeaway?

Alex: The best guests not only provide great content, they also have a lot of social media connections. What every producer or host considers before booking a guest is what I call the three C’s of radio.

1. Content. The expertise you’re going to provide has to benefit my listeners.
2. Credibility.  When I Google you, does your name come up and do you have credentials to back up your content?
3. Connections. Is your social media following large enough to benefit me?

Marsha: OK, Alex, one last question. Will you promise to never leave EMSI again? I can’t take another shot through the heart.

Alex: I’ll make a deal with you, Marsha. If I ever get the radio bug again, I’ll stay if you’ll co-host a weekend show with me again. Deal?

Marsha: Hmmmm ……

• 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.

Alex and I actually go way back. He first came to EMSI in 2007 after working for CBS, Clear Channel and Genesis Communications. He’d worked as a host and also as an executive producer and program director in major markets including Washington, D.C., Detroit, and right here in Tampa Bay. He was with us for only a year before the radio bug bit again in the form of a great job offer from Atlanta.

You know I think of everyone at EMSI as family, so when he first told me of this opportunity, it nearly broke my heart that he wanted to leave us.  But, understanding the mindset of media personalities, I knew he wouldn’t be happy until he got it out of his system. So I encouraged him to go (and quietly sobbed into my coffee).

But I also knew we’d stay in touch and remain friends no matter where he went. I was right.  Alex returned to EMSI last September as our Senior Campaign Manager, now overseeing all of our clients’ campaigns.

I talked to Alex about how the changes affect talk shows and how it can affect you as a potential guest. Our interview ran a bit long so I’ll give you half of it today and come back with the rest tomorrow.

Marsha:  I know radio is going through trials comparable to what the newspaper industry has experienced, with mass layoffs. What do you feel is the impact on AM radio and the talk show format in general?

Alex:  There aren’t as many shows, Marsha, and the hosts that are left wear a lot of hats. Very rarely is a host just a host. He – or she – might also be a producer, which involves booking guests, updating the station Web site, interacting on social media and they might also be in charge of any number of other jobs, like promotions or production. Because they’re really, really busy, if you want to be a guest on their show, you’ve got to grab their attention quickly or you won’t even make a blip on their screen.  The way to do that is offer them an angle and a segment they immediately recognize as a perfect fit for their audience.

Marsha: I would imagine it’s overwhelming to some of the hosts who have to do all that and still focus on getting good ratings.

Alex:  Seems daunting, huh? Because prep time is cut short with those off-air responsibilities, hosts are really looking for topics and guests that will play to their target audience, be engaging and provide good content. They’re not there to sell someone’s book or product – their goal is to keep their audience listening so their ratings stay up.

If a guest helps them out by giving a great interview, well, they’ll likely return the favor by plugging the person’s book and even linking to it from their blog.

Marsha:  On the subject of ratings, we’ve seen big changes in how they’re determined. What do you think of the new PPM ratings system?

Alex: As you know, ratings used to be done through diaries, actually writing down what station or show you listened to over a period of time. Now though, most big markets use PPM – Personal People Meter – which tracks listening in real time with a device those being surveyed actually wear. Ironically, most everyone in radio, except the No. 1-rated station, will tell you those PPMs are inaccurate and that there is no real way to gauge exactly who and how many are listening. But hosts have to pay attention to them because it’s how they’re judged by management.

Marsha: So in the end, no one knows that audience better than the host. That’s one thing that hasn’t changed.

Alex:  Exactly! And no talk show host who is on the hook for ratings will book a guest who’s wrong for his show. Hosts know what their audiences want and they’re not going to invite someone whose topic has no interest for their listeners. If you’re booked, it’s only because that audience is a fit for you and your message.

Marsha:  When I first started this business 21+ years ago, the interviews we scheduled for our clients were an hour and sometimes longer.  Then we saw the interviews go to twenty to thirty minutes, and now they’re shorter than that.  What do you feel the reason is for this change in interview formats?

Alex: The new PPM system is tracking audiences minute to minute, counting the listeners tuning in and listeners tuning out. For radio stations, that means every minute counts. Now the average interview is seven to ten minutes in most cities and if you get more than that, it’s a blessing. But, we’re also seeing as little as three- to five-minute interview segments during morning drive time in the top major markets.  Think about it like this: the methodology for gathering radio ratings is a lot closer to how ratings for TV are tallied now.  How consistently do you see a 30-45 minute interview on TV?  Not often.  Expect the same with radio.  That doesn’t mean you can’t get your message out.  You just have to be more focused and to the point as a guest because hosts are being trained by their bosses to be concise too.  So, preparation and media training are a must!

Tomorrow: The difference between small audiences and big ones; radio and social networking; and a new life for “old” interviews.

• 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?

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.

After 21 years in the PR business, it has become increasingly apparent to me that it’s time to drive a new milepost into the ground.

While the media has been specializing in reinventing itself every few business quarters, the business of marketing has been slowly evolving, trying to keep up with the changes. Regular readers of this column have seen some phrases making repeat appearances, such as social media, email blasts, online news outlets and other terms that refer to some of the technological advances that have hit modern marketing communications. As each of these new areas of outreach emerges, our tactics as PR strategists are changing with the times.

Well, those changes have become a full-fledged evolution into a completely new paradigm, so I think it’s time we go back to the basics and spell out the new fundamentals of the modern-day PR campaign.

But let’s not start off with where things are going, but rather, where we started. Public relations began as an activity in which PR professionals leveraged free media opportunities on TV, radio and print in order to reach consumer and business-to-business audiences on behalf of their clients. In the early days, there were just a few outlets that commanded the lion’s share of consumer and business eyeballs. However, in today’s world, the media literally envelopes us, influencing how we interact with people all over the globe on a daily basis. It’s not just the influence of TV, radio or our local daily newspapers. It comes to us via our computers, in our email, on our cell phones, on screens located at the gas pump and even where we pour our morning coffee at the corner convenience store.

The media now numbers literally tens of thousands of mass and specialty outlets across every communication channel at our disposal. Those who run the media have gone from being a very elite and small fraternity, to numbering in the hundreds of thousands just in North America alone. One no longer needs to work at a network or a newspaper to be part of the mainstream media. Many bloggers and online columnists influence the opinions of millions as independent enterprises working from wherever their laptops can get an Internet signal.

To understand how to manage a modern-day PR campaign, it’s important to know what elements make up the modern media. It’s no longer just TV, radio and print. It’s far more than that:

• Network TV – Despite the popularity of cable news networks, the traditional evening network newscasts from NBC, ABC and CBS still hold the vast majority of the viewing audience. In 2010, more than 23 million people watched the big three nightly newscasts, compared to about 4.5 million who watched the evening newscasts on CNN, Fox, HLN and MSNBC. They are the gold standard and getting featured on those networks – whether it be morning or evening broadcasts – is one of the toughest “gets” in the PR business.

• Cable News – While they command a lower aggregate audience, cable news has become the place where expert celebrities and news figures are born. Getting on the radar screen of the big networks can be very challenging without starting here. One example is NBC anchor Brian Williams, who was a White House correspondent who transformed into an anchor on MSNBC’s The News with Brian Williams back in 1996. Williams would later succeed Tom Brokaw as the network’s news anchor.

• Radio – Back when this newfangled technology called television first gained prominence, everyone in the industry swore radio would fade away and die. But it didn’t. When the Internet came into view, everyone said radio would fade away and die. But it didn’t. When satellite radio was created, everyone said terrestrial radio would fade away and die, but it didn’t. It may morph and change as the decades pass, but it’s still here, and people who want publicity need to know how to get on talk radio. That Marconi guy was definitely on to something.

• Print – Ever since Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense” leaflets were published when our country was being founded, words on the printed page have commanded the attention of the masses and that influence isn’t going away. While you’ll read in a moment about the emergence of the Internet, you have to understand one thing. No matter how big online delivery becomes, the major print outlets will still have a role to play, because those are the organizations that break news. Print is the home of the mainstay of written journalism, the beat reporter. These are the people who know news is happening before anyone else, because they have relationships with newsmakers. When the government wants to leak a story to the press, they don’t go to The Huffington Post, they go to The New York Times or The Washington Post. These organizations still house the best journalists in the business and they are still the one place everyone wants to see their names in print.

• Online – More people get their news online today than in traditional print publications. I could flood you with statistics, but they would be meaningless against the backdrop of the current landscape that most people can see plenty well with their own two eyes. Coffee shops are populated by laptop, iPad and smartphone surfers. Millions of people get their daily news emailed to them every morning by a news outlet or aggregator. Others follow their friends’ Twitter updates to see what news is breaking right now. It used to be that newspaper reporters would sweat out the evening newscast, hoping they didn’t get beat on a news event that took place that day. Today, online news stories appear with a time stamp, so you know just how recently it was posted. It will likely be updated 20 times during the day before the evening newscast hits the air. Online news has not supplanted traditional print outlets with regard to the function of gathering the news, but it sure does deliver it faster and better, and to more people.

• Social Media – This is the newest entry into the media, but it has proven time and again that it is not a fad, but rather one of the foundations of the modern media world. It is a place where people come together not to read the news, but to share and experience it. It is a virtual water cooler where people go to talk about what’s going on, share opinions and join forces to use that information for the purpose of changing the world around them. It is also a place in which someone engaging in a PR campaign can reach out and communicate directly with people, without having to go through an editor or an interviewer. They can act, react and interact with the very people who may one day be a customer or a client.

Twitter and Facebook can also fuel the other elements of the media. People can use social media to drive people toward traditional media coverage about them or they can use social media as a platform to comment about other trends in the news. It’s a two-way communication that has few restrictions and endless applications. It is also fraught with pitfalls, because the anarchy of social media can easily come back to bite someone who engages the audience without understanding the culture of that community. However, while it’s applications in PR are still being explored and developed, its reach is without question. If you are doing PR, and you’re not using social media, you’re sitting on a stool with one leg missing.

That’s the way it all shapes up. The modern-day media is far more complex than it was 30 years ago, but the opportunities are far more boundless than they ever were before. People can start at the bottom of the media food chain and work their way up the ladder, because today there are far more rungs on that ladder than there were decades ago. The media also moves faster than ever, because the competition for attention is far greater than in the days where your choices for news were between Walter Cronkite, Harry K. Smith and David Brinkley.

By now, everyone knows that social media is a key component to any marketing campaign. At least if you’ve been reading these newsletters you do. But aside from the obvious benefits of outreach and awareness, there is something else you can be doing with your social networking campaign that can supercharge all of your efforts: build an opt-in email list.

I know from my own experience that social media marketing has enabled me to increase my email list by thousands, with those on the list continuously receiving my newsletters that carry my advice, tips and message.

My newsletter helps my social media contacts remember me and what I do, not because I am actively selling and promoting myself. Like my social media strategy, I use these pieces to add value to the lives of the people on my list. My formula is simple – if some of you like what you read, when you have the need and the resources and are considering using a PR firm, you might consider my company. And that’s it. What’s more, I know it works, because I’ve used this formula to build a thriving 21-year-old business that has grown in double-digit percentages every year for the last four years, even in the face of a recession and tough economic times.

Adding value for my clients is the real reward I have enjoyed by combining my email and social media marketing efforts. So how can you do this? Let me share a few actions that we find are successful.

Join Targeted Groups and Post Valuable Content. Within your social networks, wisely choose groups to participate in that are active and include your audience. You should post good content that adds value to the members to demonstrate your professional expertise and drive people to your Web site. Take care to make your headlines short and interesting. Making the headline a question is an effective attention getter, or use words that contain phrases like “tips for” or “strategies for.” Be sure to post a paragraph-long teaser in the discussion body, telling people what helpful information you have to share and include a link to your Web site where they can read it in full. Close with a question for the reader or a statement soliciting feedback. When readers comment, your post will remain at the top where more people can see it.

• Make Sure Your Web Site is “Opt-in” Friendly. Make sure your opt-in form is prominent throughout your Web site, with a message telling visitors that when they sign up for your list, they will receive helpful information as opposed to junk mail. You can also include incentives to help encourage people to opt in. E-books work nicely.
• Invite Everyone—But Don’t Pester! Every time you get a friend request or a new follower, send a message introducing yourself and include an invitation (with the link to your site’s opt-in form) to sign up for the helpful information you send to your list of people. If the new connection does not immediately respond, don’t message them again with a repeat of your invitation. If they weren’t persuaded through the initial invitation, you’ll have plenty of chances to win them over as they continue to see the wealth of information you have to share.
• Be Direct—But Not Too Often. If you have a helpful and valuable incentive to offer, occasionally post updates inviting your friends and followers to go get it! Keep in mind you are treading a thin line with this type of post, so make sure they are infrequent and are mixed in with many posts that are completely non-promotional in nature. You don’t want to be considered “that guy” who’s just there to promote to people.
• Be Consistent in Your Social Networking! The key to making points 1 – 4 above really work is to stay active in your networks and groups. If you are only an occasional visitor, you might as well “stay home.” In order to reap the rewards of these strategies, post often and wisely, and pay attention to your group members.

That’s how it all fits together. Social Media is not the next big “thing.” It’s now part of the foundation of a good marketing campaign, as intractable as advertising and public relations.