You Never Know Who's Watching Listening or Reading

What makes media relations so fascinating is the unexpected. It can result in totally surprising and unanticipated results.

I always start a campaign with certain objectives in mind. I have a target market I want to reach and I have some defined objectives that I want to achieve. But, because of the powerful nature of the media, I have witnessed some amazing results that neither I nor my clients envisioned.

I have seen companies and careers built in record time. I've had clients offered book deals, TV pilots, new business ventures, larger companies have offered buy-outs or mergers, and new avenues of financing have appeared. One client was offered complete financing on a new business venture after appearing on one talk show.

I'd love to say that I had intentionally masterminded it all, but I was as surprised as my clients when these offers and proposals came in. That's what makes it so fascinating. You never know whose watching or listening, and you never know where that last story or interview will lead you.

Still, the unexpected is the gravy. The primary job of an effective PR campaign is to stay targeted. That task is not quite as easy in PR as it is in marketing or advertising. Public relations is a more subtle, more stealth form of marketing. No one can guarantee that you're going to garner coverage on a certain date or on a specific show, or in a specific publication. But when you do receive coverage, you are the news, not an ad or a commercial.

That's worth repeating - you are the news! You are part of the reason that hundreds, or thousands or millions of people are watching that program, or reading that magazine. No other form of marketing can offer you that kind of legitimacy or validation, which is what makes media relations such a remarkable tool.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2006

For further information visit:
www.AnthonyMora.com

Why Be The Story?

You have been picked by the editor of a newspaper, or the segment producer of a TV program to become a part of a story in which you are to be featured or quoted. The media found you important enough to be interviewed and to represent your field. But why do you want to be the story? What good does that do you? Quite a lot. The following is a quick review of the top three benefits public relations can bring to you and your business.

1. Prominence By Association - Let's say you are being featured on an evening news segment; your interview could be placed in between an interview with the President of the United States and a feature on the newest medical breakthrough. What difference does that make? You've heard of guilt by association? This is importance and prominence by association. It is said that we are judged by the company we keep. You are now in the company of the newsworthy, and because of your association, you have suddenly leaped ahead of your competition.
   
   
2. Mass Communication - By being featured in the media, your business, service, or product will reach (depending on whether the story is local, regional, or national) hundreds, thousands, and possibly millions of people. You will not be viewed as a hard sell, as another ad to ignore, but as a communicator of information. You and your message will enter homes and businesses, not as an ad or commercial, but as a news story.
   
   
3. Validation - Anyone who reads, sees, or hears you interviewed or featured in the media will perceive you as an expert. Instead of being viewed as a salesperson, you will be perceived as an authority. When people seek you out, they will be seeking you out as a specialist, as someone who the media deems important enough to be featured in the press. You have avoided spending thousands of dollars in advertising and have gained two things no amount of advertising could ever buy you - validation and credibility.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2006

For further information visit:
www.AnthonyMora.com

Whatdaya Mean Pre-interview?

An associate producer from a local TV program called you. He is interested in having you appear on the show, but before scheduling an appearance, he would like to schedule a phone pre-interview with a senior producer. Pre-interview? What's a pre-interview?

First of all, congratulations. You've won round one. What it means is that the producer likes your information and is interested in having you appear on the program, but before having you on, he wants to make sure that you can deliver the goods.

Will you make a good guest for the program? Are you a good interview? And that is going to be determined by how well you do on the phone pre-interview. I can't emphasize strongly enough how important pre-interviews are. If you take them lightly and decide not to practice or prepare your information, chances are you're going to fail to impress the producer, and you'll never make it as a guest on the show. I've had clients lose national shows because they refused to prepare for the pre-interview. They figured that they'd dazzle them once they got on the show. It's like a comedian saving his best material for the Tonight Show. Well, if no one sees how funny he is, he's never going to get on the Tonight Show.

The pre-interview is of vital importance. Often it's more difficult than the actual interview itself. Remember, there are droves of people trying to get on that very program that's interested in you. If you don't deliver the goods, someone else will. So be prepared.

Make sure you understand exactly what the interview is about and what the media wants from you. Don't be shy. Ask questions. Make sure you understand exactly what the producer is looking for. The initial objective is to meet that particular story's needs. Once you've accomplished that, you can work on meeting your own needs. Find out exactly what they're looking for, so you can clearly discuss the topic. Find out if you are going to be the lone guest, if it's going to be a panel, or if there is going to be a guest representing an opposing view. Find out as much as you can.

If you have any facts or information that will help the segment, let the producer know, but don't just give him a litany of fact after fact. If necessary, during the pre-interview, keep a cheat sheet, have your information written out in front of you, but only use it as a reference. Don't read the information. It will sound like you're reading. Nail the pre interview and the segment is yours.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2006

For further information visit:
www.AnthonyMora.com

Finding Your Niche

Is your audience a mass market or a special niche audience? If it's a special niche audience, how is it defined: by age, by gender, by geographical demographics? Are your customers primarily men or women, urban or rural?

These are all extremely important questions. Do your homework. Take a look at your competitors and see how they market and who they market to. I'm not recommending that you do expensive demographic testing or studies, just use some common sense and get rid of any preconceived ideas you have. Try to step outside and look at your business as a disinterested onlooker would.

Although I believe that it is important to listen to your gut feeling, you have to walk a fine line here, be realistic, be cautions, get feedback from others, weigh all of the possibilities, and then make your decisions.

For example, let's say you've developed a new line of baby wear. Okay, who is your target market? Parents, and primarily mothers. Right off the bat, I'd say you could write off auto racing and golf-oriented publications as your primary media targets.

Where do you reach mothers? The most obvious would be parent and child-oriented publications (of which there are many), talk shows, local magazines, newspapers, TV and radio programs, and women's magazines. But study the various women's magazines; are all of them targeted towards parents of infants and toddlers? No. You want magazines that new mothers read. Seventeen or Teen should probably not be on the top of your list.

Okay, you have defined your message, and your market, and narrowed your target. You have done all of your preliminary work, work that most people tend to ignore. You have defined what you do, what your message is, and who your target market is. Now you are ready to launch an effective public relations campaign You're ready to learn to communicate your message not only to the person next door, but to hundreds, thousands, even millions of people across your city, throughout the country, and around the world.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2006

For further information visit:
www.AnthonyMora.com

What Is Your Message?

Okay, here's a tough one, what is your message? What is the central idea behind your business? Two or three people can run the exact same business, whether it's a clothing line, a dry cleaners, a law practice, or a skin care company, and the message behind each of the businesses can be completely different for each one. It is vitally important to understand what your message is and what you are trying to communicate to your prospective clients.

Take a few minutes and write a description of what your message is and what you want to communicate to your audience. Think of it as a brief mission statement that helps define you and your business. Doing this brief exercise can help give you a clear vision of what it is you want to accomplish.

This isn't always as easy as it wounds and the answers aren't always obvious. It may take some time and some soul searching. But it's important that your audience, clients, or patients realize that you are not just selling a product or a service, but that there is a message behind it.

It's important to define your message, yet, at the same time, this doesn't have to turn into a profound philosophical quest. People have a tendency to get awfully bogged down with this message stuff. I'm not necessarily talking about earth-shattering here. You're not answering that all-important question at the Miss America pageant. Just write a brief, simple, clarifying statement. What is it about how you do what you do that makes your business different and your company unique?

Some businesses may have messages that are more broad-based, such as helping the community or healing the environment, whereas others will focus on offering better quality or giving up-to-the-minute information. There are as many messages as there are businesses. This isn't a moral issue, so don't get overwhelmed thinking that your message has to be some type of grandiose statement. This is a basic, practical matter.

What is it that you offer that makes you special? Why should your clients or patients or customers come to you instead of your competitor down the block? Once you can clearly and succinctly answer that question, you'll be able to successfully communicate that to the media and your target audience.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2006

For further information visit:
www.AnthonyMora.com

Avoiding Follow-Up Suicide

I have worked to position my firm as a resource instead of a sales force. This is particularly important to keep in mind when calling producers or editors to follow up on a pitch. Go in with a bullying, used car salesman approach and you've already lost the battle. They don't need you and if you push them, they will make that absolutely clear. You might not find that fair, but this isn't about fair, this is about what works. I knew one person who used to call up editors and producers and angrily give them a piece of his mind whenever they ran a piece on his competitor's product. The sad part was that his product was superior to that of his rival, but, because of how he dealt with the media, he was avoided like the plague. No one wanted to do a story on his product, because no one wanted to do a story on him.

Don't waste your time trying to convince the media why you are right or trying to make a hard sale. Your objective is to meet their needs and, in turn, meet yours. And you meet their needs not by pitching a product or a service, but by giving them a good, compelling story.

If you are going to make follow-up calls, initially concentrate on your local media. The local press will usually be more open to your calls and pitches. Keep your calls brief (three to four minutes maximum) and be polite. Be up and enthusiastic. Don't spend your time explaining why yours is the best store or product in town, or why they will be missing the story of the century if they don't use your idea - everyone tells them that. Never beg or berate the media. You're calling to introduce yourself, make sure they have the information, and ask if they need any other corroborating information. Don't sound intimidated and certainly don't try to intimidate. Be upbeat and polite. Listen to the editor's or producer's feedback. If the person on the other line can't talk, acts harried, or says no, remember, chances are you caught him or her right in the middle of a story deadline. Don't push it. Politely say thank you and hang up.

If the person on the other line starts a dialogue or asks you questions, be open, keep the conversation going, but don't try to do a sales job. You are not there to sell anything, but to offer a great, appropriate story idea and to be a resource. Find out if there are any stories they are currently working on that you could help out with. Find out what kind of stories that particular editor or segment producer usually works on.

Your initial follow-up call is to make sure that your information arrived and was seen by the right person, and to introduce yourself. Keep the call short, polite, and very much to the point. Be courteous and quickly get off the phone. Although it is almost impossible to be effective by simply sending out press releases or media information, be prudent in the calls you make. Without follow-up calls, media placement is often a real crapshoot, yet the wrong kind of follow-up calls will knock you out of the game completely.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2006

For further information visit:
www.AnthonyMora.com