When members of the Women and Girls Foundation of Southwest Pennsylvania traveled by bus to Albany, Ohio earlier this month to meet with Abercrombie & Fitch and complain about the retailer's controversial T-shirts, a reporter from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette rode along with them. The women were upset over sleazy T-shirt slogans such as … [Read more...]
How to get great radio publicity
Some Publicity Hounds sabatoge themselves and make it difficult for the media to find them, then wonder why they don't get publicity. For example, they give media contacts only their office phone numbers, forgetting that radio talk show hosts and newspaper reporters work around the clock and sometimes need to contact sources in the wee hours of … [Read more...]
Let’s Expose the PR Flunkies
One of the worst ways that PR agencies rip off their clients is by forcing new hires to make those idiot phone calls to journalists asking questions like "I'm just calling to see if you got my news release and if you know when it will be printed?" These calls infuriate the reporters. The company mentioned in the news release looks bad. The agency … [Read more...]
Research reporters with a “Reporter of the Month” club
If you don't have a big PR budget, you'll love this idea. In fact, it's so cool, I wish I had thought of it myself.
It's called the "Reporter of the Month Club" and Dean Rotbart, a former Wall Street Journal columnist, deserves credit for suggesting it. Dean is head of the TJFR group and [Read more...]
Getting to know reporters will help you learn how to pitch reporters
When blogger Connie Bennett comes across an article on the dangers of sugar, she posts an item about it to her Sugar Shock! blog. She links to the article, then takes an extra little step that will generate publicity down the road. She emails the reporter who wrote the article and mentions that she linked to it. Connie, a member of … [Read more...]
Travel writers complain about lazy PR people
For every PR person who grouses about a rude, inconsiderate journalist, there's a journalist complaining about a lazy PR person. And the writers are sharing their gripes online. Thanks to Publicity Hound Lori Lisi of Joshua, Texas for pointing out this interesting thread at a discussion board for travel writers. Their gripes include PR … [Read more...]
Tip off reporters to blogs
Many of the great ideas you read about here come from the many Publicity Hounds who read this newsletter and my audiences who hear me speak. When I spoke recently to the Virginia chapter of the National Speakers Association, I picked up another great tip. It's from Brian Kirwin, a consultant for Rourk Public Relations. His PR firm … [Read more...]
Voicemail messages that help the media
This morning I called someone and had to sit through a 45-second email message that about drove me nuts. If I had been a reporter calling her for an interview, I probably would have hung up and called someone else to interview. Here are three voicemail tips that will make it easy for the media to cover you: ---If you have a special pager or … [Read more...]
Tips for working with media photographers
I just received the latest issue of Marketer, the print magazine published for members of the Society for Marketing Professional Services. I'm a contributing writer, and my article on Page 17 offers great tips on how to work with photographers, excerpted from my ebook "How to Use Photos & Graphics in Your … [Read more...]
How to research reporters and other media contacts
As I was writing the previous tip about the "Coats for Kids" drive, I couldn't remember all the details. So I Googled weatherman Vince Condella. Here's what I learned about him within about 30 seconds: --He rides a Harley. --He's a "Seinfeld" junkie. --He likes guitar music, quality coffee and ice hockey. --He was named one of the 15 best … [Read more...]
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