When it Comes to PR Success - Be Patient, but Be Ready

By Anthony Mora

Synopsis: When it comes to PR, you have to be ready. Remember, don't unleash the power of the media until you're prepared to control it.

Although media placement usually takes some time, there are those instances that a press release immediately hits the jackpot. We have sent out a press release on a client at 9 a.m. and have had that client doing a live TV interview at noon that same day. You have to be ready. Remember, don't unleash the power of the media until you're prepared to control it. The often difficult part is whereas you need to be prepared, you also have to be patient. Make sure you have everything in order before you start. Once it's in motion, it's too late. And, if you're not prepared to do an interview, it could turn out to be a dismal experience. You'll feel depressed and embarrassed, the media will feel cheated, and you will have wasted an incredible opportunity.

So prepare. Review the image you want to convey - small town and friendly, authoritative, professional, humorous, avant-garde, formal and business-like - whatever. But make sure that your image matches your personality. If you are basically shy and retiring, don't try to come off like a rock star. It ain't gonna work. I always suggest media training to learn to project more, hone your message and become a bit more forceful with your responses. Keep your voice modulated. Be dynamic, but not frenzied. Your mission here is not to alter your personality, but to enhance it

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

The PR Release Is Done - Now What?

Synopsis: Now that the press release is ready to go - it's time to let it do its work, but first you need to do your work. Do you know the right contact to send the release to? Are you sending it to the right address, fax, or e-mail?

By Anthony Mora

Now that the press release is ready to go - it's time to let it do its work, but first you need to do your work. Do you know the right contact to send the release to? Are you sending it to the right address, fax, or e-mail? Are you sending it to the right editor or producer? Do you know whether that particular media contact prefers to receive snail mail, faxes or e-mail? If you are sending a business-oriented press release to a magazine, you don't want to send it to the beauty editor. So, take the time to do your homework. Study the masthead, which is located in the front of every magazine and lists who the various editors are and what sections they edit. Or better yet, call the magazine and ask who you should address the release to. There are companies that sell media information, but often it's worth taking some time and making phone calls. Editors and segment producers are constantly changing; it's a business in constant flux. Media lists can be very helpful, but keep in mind you still need to make the calls, chances are that many of the names and numbers on your lists are out of date, before you even receive them.

You don't have to approach all of the media at once. Come up with a select list that you want to approach, a list of your initial target media. You may want to start off approaching no more than ten or fifteen media outlets. If you are faxing, check to make sure you have the correct numbers. If you are mailing, confirm the address same with e-mailing. Also, invest a few dollars in stationery. After all that work, you want it to look as good as it reads, as it goes out the door.

Some media contacts prefer to receive short concise e-mail pitches. Others simply delete e-mails from unknown senders as they arrive. It pays to call and find out before e-mailing a particular contact. When e-mailing make sure that you never send an attachment. Add your information to the body of your e-mail. Too may media contacts have received viruses by opening attachments sent from unknown sources. If the media contact requests an attachment, by all means send it, otherwise, don't even consider it.

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

One Size Does Not Fit All

Don't rely solely on one press release to do all of your work. It's important that you modify the release to fit the needs of the media outlet you're pitching. Seldom do you have to write a completely new release. Your release may just need a few minor, but necessary, changes. For example, let's say you are sending your release to your local evening news and to a national women's magazine. The main body of the release may not change, but you will want to modify some of the text before sending it to the editor at the woman's magazine, to explain that your story has national significance and will be of interest to his or her readers.

It's important to understand who the audience is and direct your pitch towards the needs of that audience. Keep your releases simple, direct, and to the point. Just give enough information to pique their interest. For example, if you are a psychotherapist who has written a new book on how to make a relationship last, you don't want your press release to go into detail explaining exactly what the book is about, you want to list the problems your book will help solve and the questions it helps couples answer. Emphasize that you offer solutions to specific relationship-oriented problems. Your job is to establish yourself as an expert, as a problem solver. The media isn't interested in hyping your book, they're interested in stories that interest their readers, listeners, or viewers. If you simply state that yours is the best book in the field, no one will care. Make the release as easy to read as possible, keep a lot of white space on the page, bullets, boxes, anything to break up the page. Remember this is a trailer, a tease – give the media a story.

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

Press Conferences

Synopsis: It's important to know when to hold a press conference. If you think that a press conference is the way to go, nine times out of ten you're going to be wrong.

It's important to know when to hold a press conference. If you think that a press conference is the way to go, nine times out of ten you're going to be wrong. Although there are many types of press conferences, they are primarily utilized to give the media up-to-the-minute information on breaking news stories, or when a celebrity or well-known person is addressing a topical issue. Countless other types of press conferences are announced, but few receive any coverage. Breaking news stories, politically-oriented stories and press conferences often do go together. But keep in mind, when you are asking the media to be at a certain place at a certain time to cover your story, the odds are against you. You're story then is being set on a very specific time-line and is being forced to compete with every other potential story in your city, the nation and the world. If what the media considers a more urgent, or more ratings worthy news story breaks at the same time - you're out of luck. We have held some very successful press conferences. But we've also held some conferences that were passed-over because of a car chase in progress, a breaking murder story or a celebrity drug bust. There was one case
where two TV crews had arrived and were setting up to cover a press conference we had
scheduled, suddenly each producer was paged. Next thing I knew they were packing their gear and heading out the door. A fire had broken out at a local refinery and they were on their way to cover it. Needless to say, that was the end of that particular press conference.

In my experience most press conferences are ineffective, because the story or pitch usually does not warrant a press conference. Try to think like the media, play devil's advocate with yourself. If you were a harried producer or editor, and were pitched a story on your proposed press conference would it be of interest to you? If the answer is no, forget going the press conference route. Re-frame the hook and pitch it as a regular story.

If you are going to hold a press conference, hold it in the mid-morning. The later in the day you hold it, the less media you will draw because of deadline scheduling conflicts.

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

A Quick Public Relations Media Review

Synopsis: A quick overview on how to pitch the various media outlets.

Television: Remember to target your local media including cable or community college TV. Study the various programs, some are talk, others are news, and others are community-oriented in their scope. When sending a release to television news programs, allow three days to one week lead time. When sending information to talk shows, allow at least three two to four weeks. Study the last ten minutes of broadcast on the local news. That time slot usually features soft news and human interest stories.

Magazines: Look for special-interest publications dedicated to covering news in your field. These are magazines that are devoted to one particular field or area. When pitching a story to a weekly magazine, send your information out one month to six weeks in advance. If pitching a monthly magazine, make sure to get your information to the editor a minimum of three months in advance. If you are pitching a Christmas-oriented story, send it in August. Keep magazine guides in mind as potential media outlets. These are tourist-oriented publications that are usually distributed in hotels and in some restaurants.

Newspapers: When pitching the local newspapers, develop a hook that is local in its scope or is community-oriented. If you are pitching a daily or metro newspaper make sure to allow a minimum of two weeks. Although there have been countless stories predicting the death of newspapers, remember over one half of the country receives a daily paper. This is an extremely powerful, multi-billion dollar industry. When pitching a weekly or biweekly paper, allow a minimum of three weeks. Offer to write articles for trade, community-based or local publications, free of charge. Also keep in mind ethnic-oriented papers which are rapidly growing around the country. Don't overlook club newsletters, church bulletins, business association newsletters and small newspapers.

Radio: It is not a medium to be ignored. To pitch a story to a radio program, send your
information at least two weeks in advance. Many radio shows have call-in formats, so prepare to answer a variety of questions. If you have an 800 number, make sure and ask the producer if you can give it out over the air. Also make sure and leave your phone number with the station to give out to listeners who call in for information. If you have call waiting, remember to disconnect it before conducting an interview.

Newswire Services: Newswire services, such as AP, gather information and provide stories to other media. The stories are written by the service's reporters and transmitted to newsrooms around the country. Newswire services also have a daybook, which list the day's newsworthy events. Unless it’s breaking news, when pitching a story to a wire service make sure to send your information a minimum of two weeks in advance.

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

Press Release Review

Synopsis: A quick overview to review before sending your releases out.


The following is a quick overview to review before sending your releases out.

Remember to:

_ Define your message.
_ Keep your press release to one page. That is law.
_ Keep your release clean, crisp and easy-to-read.
_ Sell the story, not yourself.
_ Study the type of stories that the various media outlets need.
_ Pitch stories that meet the media's needs.
_ Modify your release to fit the needs of the various media outlets you are pitching.
_ Confirm the address and fax number of the media outlet before sending information.
_ Mail or fax your information to the appropriate media contact.
_ If you are announcing an event, be sure to include the place, time, and date.
_ Be creative, but keep your release simple, concise and to the point.
_ Have someone else proof your release for grammatical and spelling errors.
_ Be sure to cover all of the who, what, where, and when information.
_ Think in terms of headlines.
_ List your name and contact number at the bottom of the page.
_ Position yourself as a resource not a salesperson.
_ Allow plenty of time for your release to arrive.
_ Keep the release clean and mistake free.

& Never

_ Use a poor quality copy of a release.
_ Send out a sloppy release.
_ Send your release out until you are completely satisfied with it.
_ Cram it with hard-to-read small print
_ Try to be overly cute or fancy.

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

Style, Grammar, Spelling and All That Other Fun Stuff

Synopsis:
Remember, content is just one part of your release. The form, look, and style is every bit as important.

Before sending out a release, double-check the following: Is the form correct? Is the grammar and spelling correct? Is the release clean and mistake- free? If your release looks sloppy, if it's filled with spelling and grammatical errors, or if it's crammed with hard-to-read small print, no one is going to read it. You might have written a great release, but if you don't take the care to present it properly, it's useless. Make sure to avoid sending out poor quality copies. Also, don't try to be overly cute or fancy. Keep your typeface clean, simple, and easy to read. Include the most important information in the first paragraph. Send a personalized cover letter with the release. Make sure your release is relevant, timely, and, most of all, offers the media a story. This next one may seem obvious, but people forget to include it every day: always include your phone number along with your name, or the name of the person that the media should
contact.


Make sure your release is as easy-to-read as possible, and keep a lot of white space on the
page, use bullets, boxes, anything to breakup the page so that it's not just a block of words that no one is going to read. Most people will suggest that you double-space, but if you have to choose between double-spacing a release and writing a one-page release, keep it single- spaced. Just make sure to keep your typeface at least twelve point. Don't send out a release that's a thick block of words - go for light instead of dense.

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