Hospitals throughout the U.S. are pampering patients like never before. You can now recuperate after your heart bypass or gall bladder removal in upscale units with suite-sized rooms, gourmet meals, high-thread-count sheets, attentive security, and smiling staff ready to cater to your every whim. A Forbes magazine survey of the [Read more...]
Think graphics when pitching
Maps, pie charts, bar charts, illustrations, clever photos and a whole host of other graphic elements that can help readers or TV viewers better understand your story can be part of your pitch to reporters. But don't suggest graphics right away until you know whether the reporter is interested in your idea. If the reporter bites by saying … [Read more...]
Don’t blame the reporter for inaccuracies; check first
Reporters get blamed enough for inaccuracies in news stories--sometimes rightly so.
Most Publicity Hounds don't know, however, that mistakes in print and broadcast stories are often caused by other people in the newsroom. So if you don't like what you see, don't call the reporter and start screaming into the phone. Find out who committed … [Read more...]
Do homework before hiring a publicist
One of the most frequent complaints I hear from Publicity Hounds is the one about what went wrong when they hired a big PR firm, or a lousy publicist. The nightmares sound like this. Whopping monthly retainers but few media placements. Fresh-out-of-college graduates with little PR experience assigned to major accounts. Sweet-talking publicists who … [Read more...]
Buckle Up Florida campaign gets ideas galore
Jennifer Marko of Tampa, Florida wantes to know how to promote the "Buckle Up Florida" campaign designed to encourage people to use their seatbelts. Here are a few ideas. From Dan Limbach of Oak Park, Illinois: Give an unusual twist to the concept of the "cutest baby" photo contest. Ask people to submit the most unusual, cutest or most … [Read more...]
When being cute works and can result in publicity
Cute headlines on news releases. Cute lead paragraphs. Cute story
pitches.
It's enough to make a reporter gag. Unless, of course, they crave
cute. But how do you ever know?
When pitching a story or sending a news release, err on the side
of caution. Don't send anything that smacks of cute to reporters
who … [Read more...]
Photos on CD help TV reporters illustrate your story
Publicity Hound Brad Wilson of East Greenwich, Rhode Island, passes along a handy tip on how to make TV reporters love you. Give them a CD of photos they can flash on the screen during news or feature stories, even if they already have the film footage they need. Nineteen-year-old Brad recently returned from a 2,650-mile hike on the Pacific Crest … [Read more...]
How to avoid being misquoted in media interviews
The next time you think a reporter misquoted you, ask yourself if you were indeed misquoted. Or did you say something dumb to the reporter that found its way into print? And now you regret it?
Jill Henry, a contributing writer at the Springfield Business Journal in Springfield, Missouri, wrote to me about how sources who claim reporters … [Read more...]
Use computer worms, viruses for publicity
A virus has infiltrated my email, and about two dozen messages, all written in either German or Dutch, keep pouring into my emailbox. I'm sure some kind of virus has plagued you. The next time that happends, see if you can get some publicity from it. In the days after major worms hit, I read story after story about local businesses that are … [Read more...]
Piggyback off the weather
The spring's unseasonably cold weather here in Wisconsin--complete with wool socks, furnaces at full blast and hot soup for lunch--is a good reminder about one of the easiest ways to gerate publcity--by piggybacking your story idea off the weather. After sweating through a week of 100-degree temperatures a few summers ago, Publicity Hound John … [Read more...]
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