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Ask the PR Pro: How can I benefit from speaking engagements?

Speaking engagements can be very time consuming. With preparation and travel, a single speaking engagement can easily consume three days of work. So, are they worth the effort?

In our experience, the answer is “yes.” Delivering a good speech to a national audience at an industry conference or to a local audience at a business event boosts the credibility of both you and your company. The benefits of this exposure include:

  • Increased brand awareness among prospects.
  • Exposure to business and trade media, as well as industry analysts.
  • Introduction to potential business partnerships and vendors.
  • Enhanced stature with future employees.
  • A fuller list of accomplishments for industry and business award applications.

Next time, we’ll provide tips for snagging speaking engagements.

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Ask the PR Pro: Should I send out a news release in December?

As the holidays approach, a couple of things happen that cause marketers to reconsider making any important announcements:

  1. Reporters go on vacation, diminishing the availability of writers to cover a story.
  2. Executives go on vacation, and often don’t read their trade magazines and blogs that may cover a story.

That said, there are some good reasons to keep making announcements through the end of the year, with the exception of Christmas Eve/Day and New Year’s Eve/Day.

First, since many companies wind down their PR efforts toward the end of the year, reporters often are looking for good stories to cover and available executives to interview. It may be an ideal time to get a reporter’s attention.

Also, many executives still work during the holidays. Those who do often have more time available to read trade magazines, blogs and other sites. It might be a terrific time to reach your audience.

Finally, the slower pace may be a good time to announce unfavorable news that requires disclosure.

Remember, PR is about much more than sending out news releases. If you’ve been having a hard time getting a reporter to write about your company, consider reaching out during the week between Christmas and New Year’s. Before you do, make sure executives are available should a reporter wants an interview.

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Ask the PR Pro: What should I expect from my PR firm?

If you’re thinking about hiring a PR firm, you may wonder what expectations you should have for their performance. In addition to delivering on the PR plan that the firm creates for you, there are other things that you should expect from your firm:

  1. Senior leadership. There’s a practice among PR agencies of sending in senior level professionals to pitch the business, then staffing the account with younger, less experienced practitioners. While there is room for less experienced staffers on the team, clients should expect to have significant involvement from senior professionals. Before hiring an agency, ask for information about team members, as well as how much time each team member will spend on the account.
  2. Accountability. Clients should expect their agency to be accountable for reaching the goals of the program. This should include regular input and briefing sessions that include both the PR team and the client, regular written activity reports and clip books, and a quarterly review of goals and results.
  3. Proactive ideas. One of the reasons companies hire outside agencies is for fresh PR ideas. Clients should expect their agency to follow industry news, trends and current events, and to develop innovative ideas to secure coverage.
  4. Challenge. A PR agency should constantly challenge their clients to move beyond traditional ways of doing things. Clients should look for agencies that will push them to improve communication and are comfortable playing the role of challenger with all levels of management.
  5. Independence. While the agency will rely on good information from the client to fuel the PR program, they should work fairly independently. This means developing ideas and pitches, talking with reporters, securing interviews and bylines, and following up with reporters.
  6. Collaborative partnership.  Within the first six months of the relationship, there should form a trusting, reliable partnership that allows both parties the opportunity to present new information, challenge traditional approaches and suggest alternative strategies for reaching the common goal.
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Ask the PR Pro: Is it appropriate to thank a reporter?

Reporters are human, and like everyone they want to feel appreciated. It’s always a good idea to thank a reporter after an interview and when an article is published. But there is one caveat: If you’re working with a PR agency, let them do the thanking. This will create a degree of separation, which is important for many reasons, including being a buffer if a correction is needed, and so the reporter understands it’s best to call the PR person to request an interview or materials.

The best way to thank a reporter is by emailing a short note. Gifts of any kind are not appropriate and, at many outlets, it is unethical for a reporter to accept one.

Also, it’s a nice touch to remember reporters with a holiday card.

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Ask the PR Pro: How do I write a news release?

Journalism school teaches students to consider the “who, what, where, when, why and how” when writing a news release. This is good to remember, but even more important to a successful news release is knowing the audience.

Too often, company managers write press releases that are completely self-serving. When a client suggests a news release topic, we often ask: who cares about this? If the answer is “management,” then we suggest they reconsider.

When creating a news release, try to paint the picture about why the announcement is important to your audience. For example, instead of writing this self-focused opening:

Company A today announced version 3.1 of its ABC software for financial analysis.

 Try this:

Financial analysts looking for a quicker and easier way to develop and share spreadsheets, will benefit from the new version 3.1 of ABC software from Company A.

Some other tips for good news releases:

  • Keep them short. Most news can be conveyed in under two pages.
  • Put the most important information at the beginning of the release.
  • Use quotes from customers, whenever possible. These are more powerful than company quotes.
  • Link your news release to information on your website.
  • Include contact information for people who are reachable.
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As the PR Pro: Do you have strong media contacts in my industry?

This is one of the most frequent questions we receive from prospective clients. What we tell them is that this is the wrong question to ask. The better question is: “How good are you at building relationships with reporters who cover my industry?”

Journalists are constantly in flux. We once heard that at any given time more than 10 percent of reporters are moving from one job to the next. Not only do reporters join new media outlets, they also frequently have their coverage beats changed.

While it’s great to know a lot of reporters, it’s more important to be able to build strong relationships with the ones that matter. In order to do this, clients should look for agencies with a knack for packaging story angles that appeal to reporters and properly coaching clients to deliver stellar interviews. A reporter—even if he’s a friend—will not run a poor story.

Also, if an agency has a lot of reporter contacts in your industry, it’s usually because they already have clients in that industry. If that’s the case, the question then becomes: “Do you have clients that conflict with my business and how can you assure me that we won’t be competing for coverage?”

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Ask the PR Pro: Can we reuse an article that already ran?

One of the best things about public relations is the ability to reuse articles that have been written about your company and bylines that you’ve contributed to publications.

Here are a few ways to get more mileage from your media coverage:

  • Socialize articles by posting them on your Facebook page, Tweeting them and promoting them on LinkedIn.
  • Feature articles on your website. A good business website has a special tab for news coverage where people can quickly see articles written about you and your firm.
  • Write a blog about it. You may only need a quick couple of lines to introduce the subject, then you can link to the article in the blog. This also is another opportunity to Tweet your blog.
  • Include the article in your newsletter. If you send a newsletter to prospects and customers, include a link to recent articles. People feel good about doing business with someone who has been featured positively in the media.
  • Offer byline articles that have already appeared in publications to industry association newsletters. Make sure to provide the association with copyright information.
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Ask the PR Pro: My budget was reduced. Should I put my PR program on hiatus?

Despite good planning, sometimes budgets get adjusted midyear or a company loses a significant customer. If this happens, marketers look to trim back programs and public relations often is the first on the chopping block.

Before putting your PR program on hiatus, consider the following:

  • Reporters will notice. If your regular PR efforts come to a halt, reporters are bound to notice a sudden lack of outreach. Be prepared for a reporter to ask what’s going on.
  • Reporters may lose trust in you. This is especially true if you have regular column writing and blogging assignments that you no longer can fulfill. When it’s time to rev up your PR program again, those opportunities may no longer be open to you.
  • It may take a few months to get the program running again. Once you decide to start up your PR program, allow two to three months to get back on the radar with reporters. For example, a three-month hiatus actually is a five- to six-month hiatus in terms of results and coverage. If you rely on PR to generate sales leads, factor this additional time into your marketing plans.

If you must trim back, consider reducing PR instead of completely eliminating it. This will allow your agency to keep commitments and maintain a reduced effort, resulting in no real downtime and a smaller impact on your business.

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Ask the PR Pro: What’s the best newswire service?

There are three main news release distribution services: PR Newswire, Business Wire and Marketwired. There also are a few reduced-rate distribution services, such as PR Web.

All of these services allow you to distribute news releases to broad or narrow audiences and do a good job of indexing releases on major news outlets, such as Yahoo.

The major newswire services typically charge a flat fee per distribution circuit for up to 400 words, and then an extra fee for every 100 additional words. They allow you to choose a very specific distribution circuit (for example, by state or industry) and offer dozens of combinations. It’s possible to send large distributions or very targeted distributions. There also are add-on services for photos, SEO, advanced reporting and other things. Generally, SEO is the only additional service we purchase for clients.

The best newswire depends on your needs. Before deciding on one, consider the following:

  • What distribution do you need? Does the service have a specific circuit or will you pay for distribution you don’t need?
  • How helpful is the rep? A rep should be able to tell you how to save money while getting good coverage. For example, you may be able to send to a lower cost state circuit and still receive national distribution to Associated Press and other national outlets.
  • What services are included and which are extra? If you send photos or require enhanced SEO services, look for vendors that provide this for the least cost.
  • What security protocols do the services have in place? It’s important to go with a service with strong security, which prevents fraudulent releases from being transmitted.
  • Does the service offer proofreading? It’s always good to have another professional look at your news release to ensure it is typo-free and all the links work.
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Ask the PR Pro: I put out a news release. Why didn’t anyone cover us?

It can be very disappointing to spend a lot of time writing a news release only to find that no one “ran it.” Before we get into why the release wasn’t covered by the media, first understand that a news release isn’t a PR program. In fact, a release is simply one tool that can be used in a PR effort.

Read more about the value of news releases here.

There are several reasons a news release is ignored by the media. Here are the main reasons:

  1. Reporters don’t know you. It takes some time to cultivate trust with a reporter, so it’s not reasonable to expect a reporter to cover your first news release. Regular communication with a reporter–including news releases, meetings at trade shows, and article pitches–will help to establish that your company is here for the long run.
  2. Your release was self-serving. Technically, all news releases are self-serving because they announce company news. However, if your release doesn’t quickly tell the reporter why your news is important for his readers, it will be ignored.
  3. Your release wasn’t newsworthy. Before developing a news release, ask yourself: who will care about this news? We’ve known companies who put out releases saying they’ve got a new website. This isn’t newsworthy and it wasn’t covered.
  4. You’re targeting the wrong reporter. If you’re certain your news is important and you still aren’t getting covered, you may be sending your release either to the wrong reporter or the wrong publication. Go through your list to make sure you’re sending to the right people.
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