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• 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!

• 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.

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.

• 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.

Best To Let the Media Determine That

In my role as the head of a PR firm, one of the most common misconceptions I see has to do with the superlatives people choose to describe themselves. Now, I’m not referring to how the media positions someone, but rather how someone seeking PR wants to refer to him or herself.

I once overheard my senior strategist, Tony Panaccio, having a conversation with a client about what their tagline should be. It went something like this:

Client: So, what should I call myself?

Tony: I’m not sure what you mean.

Client: Well, when I identify myself to the media.

Tony: Well, your name is Jim, right (not the actual name)?

Client: Yeah.

Tony: So, why don’t we stick with that? It’s short, concise and happens to be, you know, your name.

Client: That’s not what I meant. I was trying to think of something catchy.

Tony: Okay, how about “James?”

It went on like that for a bit, until Tony was able to explain to the client that it’s not kosher to try to “name” yourself to the media.

Taglines can work well for people who have their own radio or TV shows, but for those just breaking into the spotlight, it actually has the reverse effect than intended. The media is a cynical, somewhat sensitive league of professionals, not unlike Tony, actually. When they see a name they’ve never seen before with a tagline they’ve never seen before, it strikes them as odd and out of place. In fact, many will turn their noses up at those self-made designations.

We often get folks who want to attach all kinds of superlative descriptions of themselves in their bios like “genius,” “brilliant,” “guru.”  The point is that those in the media will come up with the nicknames and catchy taglines as they see fit, once they have come to understand that person’s experience is real. They are the ones who get to determine who the gurus are and not the prospective gurus themselves.

Further along those lines, some have tried to attach the terms “groundbreaking,” “innovative” and even “spectacular” to describe their products or their books. The problem is that the media feels they are the ones who will determine if someone or something fits those descriptions. When people are positioned that way as part of a pitch or an article, it can be offensive and it immediately raises the question as to the validity of that designation. That’s why using superlatives about yourself in order to establish your credibility, typically results in exactly the opposite effect.

That’s why I don’t call myself anything like “The PR Mechanic” or “The Marketing Maven,” as others in my industry call themselves. It’s not for me to make those calls. It’s up to you and the media to determine that I’m deserving of some kind of title to show my expertise.

In the meantime, feel free to call me Marsha. All my friends do and you’re far more likely to get my attention.

For the last month or so, what began as a small group of protestors on Wall Street has become a national phenomenon. Satellite protests have popped up all over the country and the media is abuzz with coverage and opinions about the movement.

Whether or not you agree with the protesters, the thing that’s interesting to me as a PR person is how the story has grown and where its initial push began. The way it has grown is just another proving ground for why the Internet has become such an important source of news and why people executing PR campaigns should sit up and take notice.

In the beginning, the story really existed only on the Internet, with blogs like The Huffington Post providing most of the coverage. Print outlets and wire services were unusually silent on the protests, with even the New York Times – whose offices are not far from the site of the protests – abstaining from covering the picketing.

But, as the Internet buzz grew, broadcast outlets like Fox News and MSNBC began to spend airtime on the protests, with their coverage growing in size and scope the day after the Occupy Wall Street’s new Web site published the loose-knit group’s political manifesto.

There are varying viewpoints on why some mainstream outlets chose not to cover the protests, and the arguments from both sides are politically charged and greatly divergent. Some say the influence of Wall Street kept the mainstream media from picking up on the story, as most major media outlets are public companies or owned by public companies traded on Wall Street. Others say that the initial protests weren’t news, because they involved so few people and their message wasn’t clear or coherent. My opinion is that most major news organizations are pressed for time, space and resources, and they make choices on what they will cover based on how significant they believe the story will be to their readers.

Given the fact the protests were small at first, I can absolutely see most national and business news outlets choosing not to bother with them, because back then it was a risky bet. To me, it’s not a question of politics, but rather a cost-benefit analysis. Do enough of our readers, listeners or viewers care enough about a few dozen people demonstrating on Wall Street that we need to spend time and resources covering that story? Moreover, if we do cover it when it’s that small, will we be seen as having a political agenda to our coverage? Since many print outlets tend to skew just a bit to the liberal side with their editorial pages, I believe there was a real sensitivity to the idea that these outlets would be criticized for helping a small group of people gain a national voice when they might not have deserved one.

So, what changed big media’s minds? The Internet coverage drew more eyeballs and helped bring more people to the protests. By the time big media turned around, their question was answered for them, because the Internet coverage was drawing people to the story and protests, growing the movement’s numbers and influence to such a point that the large outlets had no choice but to cover them.

For those of you who read these columns for advice on your own PR efforts, my point is this: The Internet is NOT the second-class citizen of the media. It changes minds, it influences people and it is becoming the place where major media looks for its next big stories.

I can’t emphasize strongly enough the value of online coverage in today’s world.

In some ways, it is more influential and in many cases, it leads to more traditional coverage down the road.

Since the early days of consumerism, there is one catchphrase that is still difficult to deny: you get what you pay for.

In the PR business, I’ve had experience – as have some of my clients – with the free or low-cost press release services that seem to have proliferated all over the Internet. In fact, if you Google press release services, you’ll find a wide variety of them. Moreover, a reasonable number of them can deliver on the promise of getting your press release picked up by a good number of Web sites with hits that will show up on your Google and search engine profile. And, once in a while, a release on these services may indeed garner the interest of one or two sizable news outlets.

However, the question you have to ask yourself is, “What does that really get me?”

My view is simple – good PR isn’t just about the numbers. That’s what advertising is about, and in advertising, nothing is free. You get what you pay for, so if you want a lot of eyeballs and impressions, you’d better have a big budget. In PR, however, numbers is only one part of the story. If it was just about the numbers, then why would anyone want to do PR? Where’s the added value?

PR delivers the one element advertising cannot – credibility. When a legitimate news outlet features you or your company in their pages or as a guest on their shows, it acts as a tacit endorsement of you. It’s third-party verification that boosts your brand, as well as your positioning as an expert in your field and a respected source of information. It makes you attractive as someone other people may want to engage in business, whether it’s to buy your product, buy your book or hire you as a consultant. So the next question is, “Do press release services deliver that value?”

First, let’s examine how it all works. Most of these press release services have content aggregation agreements with other search engine optimized Web sites that do little more than provide visitors with press releases. The vast majority of the placements garnered are not typically with highly respected news outlets. That’s not to say that on the odd occasion a press release service can’t deliver that kind of exposure, but rather, it’s not really set up to do so. You see, with most major media outlets, there is a level of follow – up and response necessary to bag the big hits. But, these services don’t provide a PR person to follow up with anyone. They simply take your press release and distribute it. That’s all.

Now, a PR professional would not only have the industry know-how to understand the needs of the media outlets who respond, but they would also write the press release in such a way as to cause a response in the first place. That’s something else the press release services don’t do – they generally don’t write the release for you. Some might offer that service, but it would cost a lot more than the standard distribution service, sometimes into the hundreds of dollars.

So when it comes down to it, these companies are not set up to serve the needs of the media.  They exist to serve the needs of clients who pay them to distribute their press release, in the hopes of getting some media coverage. If it does, that’s great. But if not, then all that’s been achieved is the placement of the press release on a variety of Web sites that, by and large, wouldn’t qualify as legitimate news media. (I define “legitimate media” as media that generates revenue from advertising.)

For someone who has little to spend, it’s not a bad start. And, it’s not that these services are deceptive in their practices. They’re not — they don’t promise more than what they deliver.

But, don’t confuse their actions with that of a real PR campaign.  A press release service is not comparable to engaging a professional public relations firm. PR is not about hits on a Google listing. It’s not about accumulating a lot of listings in search engines.  PR is about penetrating the din of the media to become well-known and well thought of as a company, a thought leader or individual with valuable information, products or services to offer the consumer.