The Importance Of Beating Your Own Drum

Understand that although promoting yourself may seem a bit uncomfortable, it's not only warranted, it's necessary. Steven Spielberg, Oprah, Bill Gates - all of these people excel in their fields, but why is it you know them by name? It's not the ads or commercials, or direct mail pieces that validate these people; it's the TV interviews, the magazine articles, the constant media coverage. Even Mother Theresa's publisher publicized her book.

Understand the importance of promoting yourself. If you believe what you do is important, then it is of equal importance to let others know about it, otherwise you're not serving your business, yourself, or the public. What good is it to offer a quality product, if no one is ever going to know it exists? What good is all of your hard work, if it's kept a secret? You may be an expert at what you do, but if it is not in some way brought to the attention of others, your career or business will assuredly fail.

Start thinking like a savvy business person, and a proud one at that. Effective public relations is an integral and extremely necessary part of any kind of business overview. People don't shy away when they hear that they need a business plan, an office, a phone, or business stationery, yet they often cringe at the thought of PR. Effective media relations should be as integral a part of your business as paying your bills, or buying your materials.

If you have trouble promoting yourself, keep in mind that your job is to get your message across. Your message is what you are working to promote. This isn't a beauty contest, but a campaign designed to educate and bring your message to the general public. You want to reach the largest audience possible, and the media is the most effective and expedient way to do it.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2006

For further information visit:
www.AnthonyMora.com

Twenty (and one bonus) Tips For A Successful Interview

Congratulations, you made it through the pre-interview, and the producer has booked you on the TV program. You have joined an elite group. This is what you've worked towards.

You've reviewed your wardrobe and dressed appropriately. If you're discussing a product or a book, you've made sure that you're taking along some extra samples (you have already sent copies to the producer). You're about to walk out to your car, you've given yourself plenty of time (keep in mind - if you're late, you're dead), and you are ready to drive to the station and experience your first interview. Before you pull out of the driveway, be on the safe side, take a couple of minutes (you've given yourself plenty of time, right?) and review the following checklist.

1. Review the two or three primary points that you want to get across during the interview.
   
   
2. Make sure you've checked yourself in a mirror before you go on camera. Is your hair in place? Is your tie crooked? Is your lipstick smeared? Give yourself the basic once-over.
   
   
3. Remember, you don't have to force the information; weave your points into the interview. If you spend your time forcing an issue, it will come out sounding strained and stilted.
   
   
4. Relax. You are there to have a conversation. Well, at least you want it to look like a conversation.
   
   
5. No slouching. Sit erect.
   
   
6. Focus on the interviewer. The camera and crew is part of the furniture as far as you're concerned.
   
   
7. Start off with your most important information. Interviews can be very short. If you don't lead with what's important, you may have missed your chance.
   
   
8. Breathe. People have a tendency to hold their breath when nervous, which only creates more anxiety. Remember to breathe.
   
   
9. Smile. I've seen more media opportunities ruined by people who have refused to smile during their interviews. Looking grave does not make you appear more profound, it makes you look dull and somber.
   
   
10. Listen. Don't anticipate questions. Don't think that you know what the interviewer is asking. Wait until the question is asked and then respond.
    
    
11. If you get momentarily confused, or lose your train of thought, that's okay. It happens to everyone. Take a deep breath and start again.
    
    
12. It's alright to ask the interviewer to repeat a question. The last thing you want to do is give an answer to a question you don't fully understand.
    
    
13. If the interviewer takes the conversation into an area you're not comfortable with, or tries to manipulate you into answering questions that you don't want to answer, remember you have control over the situation. Don't be forced into saying something you don't want to say. Be polite, and stay on course.
    
    
14. If a particular question throws you, or if you don't want to answer a specific question, deflect it. Acknowledge that it was asked, and then return to an area that you're comfortable addressing. You see and hear these types of responses every day around election time. An example of an appropriate response would be: "I certainly understand why you'd ask that question, but what's really important is...," now return to your agenda.
    
    
15. Don't recite a laundry list of information and sacrifice a good interview. We've all had teachers who knew their subjects well, but bored the hell out of us. That may work in school, because there's a captive audience, but you have no such luxury. You are there to interest as well as inform the audience.
    
    
16. Don't be vague or use trade jargon. Speak in easy-to-understand language.
    
    
17. Show the audience what you're talking about. Use a story or an account that illustrates a point, as opposed to just giving them vague ideas or theories.
    
    
18. Keep your information short, concise, and to the point. Keep it clear, short, and easy to understand.
    
    
19. When trying to make a particular point, be assertive but not pushy.
    
    
20. If having clients visit your store is pertinent to your business, mention your location. The viewers may love you, but if they can't find you, you're in trouble. Don't simply blurt out your address, but weave your location into the conversation.

Bonus: Relax. Have fun. You've worked hard for this - enjoy it.

For further information visit:
www.AnthonyMora.com

Why Media Training is a MUST

Several years ago we booked a client on the Today Show; neither he producer, the interviewer nor my client remembered to mention where he was located. His was a service business and it was important that the viewers knew whether his business was in Austin, Miami, Los Angeles or Fargo. But the interview came and went and no mention of location was made. The appearance helped build his business and establish him as an expert, but it had nowhere near the impact that if could have had if he had just once mentioned his location.

I had always thought that media training was important in order to learn how to distill and deliver one's message, but after that interview, I realized its importance was much more basic. If my client had worked with a media trainer prior to going on the show, he would have practiced ways to mention where he was based without making it feel shoe-horned, the information would have been second nature.

Since then I have become an avid media training advocate. If you're launching a PR campaign and have never been media trained - you need it! But even if you've appeared on the media before, or feel you're an old hand at doing interviews, chances are you'd still benefit from a media training session. If you are presenting a new topic, launching a new service or product, you need to work on the style, delivery and verbiage that best presents your new message.

Not all media trainers are alike, we exclusively work with Ann Convery, who has prepared clients for interviews in all major media such as CNN, 60 Minutes, ABC's 20/20, Fox News, MSNBC, The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Vogue, USA Today, People, Self, and other outlets

Her focus is on teaching clients how to best be themselves when speaking to the media. The last thing you want is to come off scripted or robotic. Ann teaches clients how to comfortably deliver the most information in a short amount of time. So if you're launching a media campaign, you need to invest in yourself. You want to make the best presentation possible, you owe it to yourself and to the media to be as well prepared as possible

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2008
For further information visit:
www.AnthonyMora.com

But I've Tried It - PR Doesn't Work

A magazine ran a story on you. You were confident that this article was going to be a big one, and you were prepared. You went so far as to add additional phone lines to handle the hundreds, maybe even thousands, of calls that you knew would be jamming your lines. So, the story came out and - nothing. Not a single call. As far as you know, not a living soul saw it. You are crushed. "That's it!" you yell, pounding your fist on the desk. "No more PR!" You've been spinning your wheels, wasting time and money, and for what? For nothing! You've had it. No more media. It doesn't work and you are a prime example that it doesn't work. You are the consummate illustration of a media failure story. Right?

Wrong. But, understandably, trying to explain that the preceding scenario is not the story of a media failure to clients who have had similar experiences is perhaps the hardest part of my job. If I were handling your campaign, I too would be disappointed that the article did not elicit the response you were looking for, but in the overall scheme of things, I'd think that article was a great tool for us to use in the future.

To be effective in this field you have to look at the big picture. Your short-term goals were not met by the particular article in question, but it affords you new, powerful ammunition to reach your long-term goals. It helps establish you as an expert in your field and separates you from your competition. It gives you yet another media tearsheet that you can use, another article that you can pull quotes from for your press releases and bios.

A prime example is a jewelry company we represented. The first article we landed them was in a small local publication. The article was great, but it resulted in no sales, not even one call. We took that article and sent it along with a release and some sample products to each producer at Oprah, and as it turns out, that article more than worked for them in the long run.

But if nobody saw it, what good can it do you? Plenty. It will help garner you more and bigger media interviews. Plus, you don't know who saw it. You never know. In five days, three weeks, or six months, you may start receiving calls. I've seen this happen over and over again.

Let's say you never receive one call as a result of that article. It's still valuable. You just need to work it. Become the story's distributor - and I mean distributor in the most basic sense - circulate your story, spread the word, mention the story in your biography and fact sheet, use it when pitching other stories, let other media outlets know that you were featured in the article. Duplicate it and use it as a press sample. Use quotes from the story in your mailers, newsletters, ads, and marketing to help you cement your existing client base. If you have employees, distribute it through your company as a form of internal publicity. If used correctly, you can turn this article into a most powerful marketing tool.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2008

For further information visit:
www.AnthonyMora.com

The PR Credibility Factor

Let's look at an example of how advertising and media placement differ. You're interested in buying a new car and just happen to be thumbing through a copy of Fortune magazine. You come across an ad for a car. The ad is pretty and glossy. It is a photo of a beach scene at sunset. The colors are more beautiful than those in real life. The photo has an attractive man and woman dressed in sophisticated evening attire standing by the car, which is parked in the sand, just beyond the reach of the aqua marine waves. The copy tells you that this car is the best thing to hit this country since sliced bread and that you can't exist another day without running out and buying it. The photo tells you that if you do by the car, you will be transported to that idyllic beach scene. You live in Cincinnati, Ohio, it is the dead of winter, and damn if that idyllic marine scene doesn't look inviting.

You continue to look through the magazine and come upon an article on the year's best cars. The article mentions a certain car (not the one you saw in the ad), and touts the car as being one of the most efficient, best-built, luxurious, yet cost-effective cars on the market. The article is simple, direct, and informative and is written by an expert in the automotive field. Which do you think will have the most impact on you, the ad or the article?

My guess is, after the Caribbean fantasies die down, the article will have the greatest impact on you. Why? Credibility. The ad may give you some basic information, but it primarily offers you a fantasy. The car is bright and shiny. It is parked on an empty, pristine beach. The sun is setting in the background. There is a sexy, tanned couple, in evening attire no less, standing by the immaculate, gleaming car. Nine times out of ten, you're not buying the car; you're buying the scene - the fantasy.

The article, on the other hand, raises your comfort level. You have been given objective
information on the car's effectiveness and quality. An expert has kicked the tires for you and given you a positive report. You have moved from fantasy to reality. The car featured in the ad may seem more sexy or romantic, but the one spotlighted in the article becomes real. It is a news story. Not only is it luxurious, it is dependable, efficient, and reliable. Remember, it's 20-below outside, reliable is important. It is this type of credibility or validation that cannot be bought in the form of an ad. It is the credibility factor that makes PR so effective.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2008
For further information visit:
www.AnthonyMora.com

PR Guarantees

Neither advertising nor media placement can guarantee a return. Advertising can guarantee what an ad will say, where it will appear, and when and where it will run, but there are no guarantees that that ad will generate customers, sales, patients or clients.

With media relations as well, there are no guarantees. When prospective new clients demand that I offer them a guarantee, I explain that the only guarantee I can offer is my track record. I can show media I've placed in the past and give an honest assessment of whether I believe I can put together a successful campaign for the clients or not. If a public relations company guarantees you specific placement or a successful campaign, I suggest you stand up, walk out and start looking for the exit. Because, in reality, there are no guarantees. But you can access what a company can do in the future by taking a look at their past track record.

There are some prospective clients who want me to promise them that within two weeks I'll have them on 60 Minutes or in Time. They believe that their pitch is a natural a slam dunk.” Well let me assure you, unless you have a breaking news story, or have a top notch celebrity willing to talk about your product or service – THERE ARE NO EASY PITCHES. Unless all the stars have aligned in your favor, every campaign needs to be worked, and your job is to understand that is part of the process. Each campaign has a life of its own, and you just can't predict how it's going to go. Nor is it possible to determine exactly how long it will take to start placing stories. Sometimes you land your first story in a couple of days, sometimes it takes a month.

I generally work on a six-month initial contract, so that it gives us some time to put together an effective campaign. Being both patient and prepared are two of the most important aspects of an effective campaign. If you pull the plug after one, two, or even three months, you'll never know what a real campaign could have accomplished.

For example, we worked on one campaign for three months, with little to show for our efforts. Needless to say, by the end of the third month, our client was more than a bit nervous. He had paid us a retainer fee for three months and had received very little in return. But he stuck with it. We formulated a new direction for the campaign, wrote some new releases, and by the end of the fifth month we had placed stories on CNN and NBC TV, as well as in Newsweek The Los Angeles Times, and various other media outlets. That's why it is so important to be committed to a campaign. If the client had stopped after three months, the entire campaign would have been for naught. If you offer the media good stories and you're professional, creative, and tenacious, eventually, you will get placement.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2008
For further information visit:
www.AnthonyMora.com

Recession-Proof PR

Hard economic times are, ironically, the best times to aggressively launch a PR campaign. When times are challenging, often one of the first decisions a business owner will make is put a halt to any and all marketing; where in reality, the most important time to market a service or a business is precisely during those slow periods. The Chinese symbol for danger is also the symbol for opportunity. If you're smart, you'll focus on the opportunity aspect. Think about it, when the economy is slow you, more than ever, want to reach your target market and separate yourself from the competition. Most business owners and entrepreneurs react in the typical knee- jerk way by climbing into their shell and waiting for business to improve. So these times offer even greater opportunities; while you competitors are in hiding, get yourself out there. Be creative. Think of ways to use the recession, or economic downturn as a part of your pitch. If you're targeting the high-end market, focus on the most expensive product or service you offer. Go against the flow and offer the media a different type of story. If you're targeting consumers that are being impacted by the economic downturn, come up with a unique cost-saving offer or market an unusual product or service. Each business will need a different approach, but keep in mind that doing nothing PR-wise during economic tough times, will result in just that – nothing.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2008

For further information visit:

www.AnthonyMora.com