Public Relations Tips: June 2007

How can you blog without making your legal team freak out over your content? I have lived with legal sign-offs for years and it is one of the hardest elements of marketing. My recommendation is that. Here's the way that I look at legal counsel in marketing, it is counsel and it is to be taken that way. And so what I have learned over the years is that the best way to handle this is to go to the legal team and say "We need your most open-thinking lawyer to be on the blogging team." And then don't be willing to just give in to every single thing that they say. I will tell you that it's not unusual to have, should I say, heated discussions, in legal offices with the lawyers who say "You can't do this" and to hear a manager say "What are the ramifications if I do this?" and they say "It's this, this and this." And the manager then says "That's an acceptable business risk." And then they do it or don't do it.
The best way to handle this is to go to the legal team and say "We need your most open-thinking lawyer to be on the blogging team." For more great information on how to make blogging work for your company, read "Business Blogging Results."
http://101publicrelations.com/bloggingresults.html?utm_source=prideas&utm_content=business_blogging_results

Posted by Dan at 07:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you can get free ink by writing "How To" articles, you want to be sure to make the most of the space they give you. Give the article some meat, and a plug for your company, even if it is only 500 words.
For example, here is something that might be written by a veterinarian about how to keep pets safe during the summer:

 Keep water dishes filled. If your dog or cat is allowed outdoors, it's a good idea to provide water dishes inside and outside.
 Open your car windows several inches. If you must leave a dog or cat in your car while you run into a store, make sure you are gone for no longer than 5 minutes. On sweltering days, parked cars can be deadly, even when the windows are left open.
 Keep animals inside the car. Don't let your dog or cat ride with its head sticking out the window. This can cause ear infections. The animal also could be thrown out the window if you hit a bump or make a quick turn.
 Exercise animals with caution. Don't force dogs to run or go for long walks during hot weather.

Longer articles offer more leeway. But to learn more about how to make the most of your article specifications see Special Report #6 "How to Write "How To" Articles That Position You as an EXPERT"

Posted by Dan at 01:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Want to write a successful crisis communications plan? Make it useable.

A crisis communications plan should work regardless of who is running the show. Anyone should be able to pick it up and run with it in your absence or if any of the executives involved are unavailable for comment. One safety net here is your list of back-up spokespeople. You can also ensure the plan stands on its own by making it very clear and logical. You can include:

1. Names and contact information for people who need to approve big decisions
2. Instructions on where to find press kit materials
3. A copy of this report

Although there is a lot of content to contend with, your crisis communications plan doesn't need to be overly complicated. It should also be flexible enough to deal with things that you can't foresee. You will want to refresh your plan every year or two to ensure that all of the information is current and accurate. And finally, once it is polished, be sure to share your plan with your co-workers so everyone is prepared to act when the crisis hits

Effective tips and techniques for creating a successful crisis communication plan can be found in Crisis Communication Planning: Organizing and Completing a Plan That Works
http://101publicrelations.com/crisis-communication.html?utm_source=prideas&utm_content=crisis_communications

Posted by Dan at 07:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Is a squeaky voice hindering your communication? You can improve your delivery by improving your pitch.

The high-pitched voice is a handicap for anyone in business. It is irritating and lacks authority. Although it is usually associated with women, I have worked with many men who have high-pitched voices.

Take a small breath and, as you exhale, say "ah ha" as though you were surprised at something someone said. Then try "um-hum" with lips closed as though you were questioning something someone said. Both of these phrases will cause your voice to settle to its true pitch level, the level you want to work toward.

To determine the pitch level at which you are currently speaking, say in your natural voice range, "I am going to lower the sound of my voice." As you say the phrase move your voice into a singing tone at the same pitch level. This is the pitch level at which you are currently speaking. If it is a significantly different pitch level from the "ah-ha" or "um-hum," you will want to work toward matching your pitch to the pitch of the two phrases.

If your aim is to establish your voice at a lower pitch level, repeat the above sentence, lowering the pitch one tone each time you say it until you arrive at a pitch level close to "ah-ha" and "um-hum." If you think your voice is too low, reverse the exercise, gradually moving it, tone by tone, to a higher pitch. Experiment with this exercise until you arrive at the pitch level that sounds best in your voice.
Valuable solutions to public speaking and vocal improvement can be found in Building the Power of Your Voice: How to Improve Your Voice to Command Attention & Move People to Action
http://101publicrelations.com/voicepower.html?utm_source=prideas&utm_content=voice_power

Posted by Dan at 07:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

What is one of the top reasons that someone is not chosen to be on a talk show? If you area nutcase on the air, the producer will lose their job. What constitutes a nutcase? You may think it's a positive trait to be enthusiastic (and it is), but anyone who is overly zealous about his passion is considered a nut. Bestselling author and screenwriter Richard Price talks about this phenomenon as "The dangerous thrill of goodness." He says, "What happens is you can get very excited by your own power to do good." Don't get carried away by this thrill.

One way to tell if you're being too zealous is that you're hammering your point at top speed with the energy of a locomotive pulling that toot lever non-stop. I remember a man calling me up about how he was single-handedly taking on Starbucks - who, he felt, had done him wrong. He wanted me to promote his cause. While this could have been a great David versus Goliath type story, he was long on emotion and short on facts. Some statistics or figures would have tempered his mania. But he also never checked in with me to see if he had my interest. By talking loudly and barely pausing for a breath, he appeared to be a man who wouldn't take direction well. His single-mindedness was off-putting, not engaging.

When you're talking to a producer speak for 30 seconds or so and then check in by asking, "Is this the kind of information you're looking for?" Listen for other verbal cues, such as encouraging grunts, or "uh huhs."

For more great tips on how to make sure that you're the one being interviewed on a TV talk show, read "Secrets to Get TV Talk Show Hosts to Book You As Their Guest."

Posted by Dan at 01:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here's a tip when you're writing briefs for publicity. Let's get started and talk about briefs. I think they're absolutely terrific, and editors do too. If you want proof of that, just pick up any national magazine from any newsstand that you go past. Flip through those pages and count the number of really short articles that you see in there. I'm talking about things like little 3-inch fillers to short, little quizzes, to even really short articles. And by that I mean articles that are no longer than about 400 words. That's even a bit too long to be called a brief, but many magazines still use those.

Briefs also include resource boxes. Newspaper and magazine editors love using resource boxes to accompany longer stories. Those of you who have books out may find your books or websites eventually in those resource boxes, if you go about it correctly. Offer your briefs for free. Don't be like the typical freelancer who's looking to be paid a freelance fee. You can get some fabulous publicity for your efforts if you give it away. That's the best way to get published. I know some freelancers who think that goes against their grain, and that's fine because that's how they make a living. But to those of you who, for example, are trying to sell books, that's difficult. If you can give away the information, you'll be more attractive to editors. For more tips and great ideas on writing briefs, read Briefs, Fillers and Quizzes: How To Write Them and Why Editors LOVE Them

Posted by Dan at 01:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Do you want more free publicity? Give free classes and demonstrations through adult ed programs, at schools and colleges, or at your own business. Participate in online discussion groups and offer lots of helpful advice. Use a signature file in your e-mail that explains what you do and how you can help solve people's problems. Link to your web site.

Send news releases regularly about new products and services, events, contests, awards, open houses, new employees, promotions, and speaking engagements. Write "how-to" articles for newspapers, magazines, trade publications and newsletters, and offer lots of free advice. It helps establish you as an expert. Get onto the speaking circuit. Speaking to community groups and trade associations is a wonderful way to "create the buzz" about your business or non-profit. For more ideas on how to get free publicity, read Briefs, Fillers and Quizzes: How To Write Them and Why Editors LOVE Them
http://101publicrelations.com/briefs-fillers-quizzes.html?utm_source=prideas&utm_content=briefs_fillers_and_quizzes

Posted by Dan at 07:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

When sending a pitch to a national public radio show you can do it electronically or you can do it on paper.

We do most of our pitching with paper, simply because we publish books, and when we send out a physical book-a hard copy of a book-we just slip in the paper press kit with it. We do not usually just send out a press release because really that only skims the surface. We normally would also include a one-page bio of the expert, the author. We would include a Q&A with the author, one where we've sort of provided them with the questions, and they've written the five- to seven-sentence answer for us. We would include any reviews that the book has received thus far that sort of helps support our claim that the book is important, or the book is well-written. We put all of that together. Usually we will get a plain, blank folder that you get at Staples, and other times it is a fancy print folder. We will put all of that information in there, and send it via mail.

There is a lot more great information where this came from and you can find it in the Audio Transcript, How to Get Booked on National Public Radio.
http://101publicrelations.com/nationalpublicradio.html?utm_source=prideas&utm_content=npr

Posted by Dan at 01:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In order to get on National Public Radio it is not always necessary that you have a lot of national exposure in the past. Some first time authors and experts can get on national public radio for their first national exposure.

I publicized a book called "Coal: A Human History," about a year ago. And it was written by a woman named Barbara Freese based out of Minneapolis, and it was her first book. She was the former Assistant Attorney General of Minnesota, a lawyer by trade. And it was about the history of coal and its effects on the environment. She did a year's worth of research on this topic, went to coal mines in China and various places in the U.S., and just really did her homework, and made herself an authority in the field. I was able to get her on nine National Public Radio shows, two of which were nationally syndicated. One of them was the Morning Edition show that so many people listen to as they are driving to work each day. So it is possible for a first-time author, or an expert of some sort who perhaps has not had a lot of national exposure, to get that kind of exposure at NPR. NPR is sort of an equal opportunity place if you have a good pitch, a good topic idea and you are well-spoken and well-credentialed.

In order to find out more great information like this visit How to Get Booked on National Public Radio.
http://101publicrelations.com/nationalpublicradio.html?utm_source=prideas&utm_content=npr

Posted by Dan at 08:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

When you are pitching to a person in order to get on national public radio you probably will either do it over the phone, mail, or email. There is a right way and a wrong way to go about this.

If you're pitching to the person "live" on the telephone, it is quite possible that they will say, "Well, let me look at the material" or "Do you have some material that you can send to me?" And if that is the case, and you sent them by mail, you should not just count the number of days it takes to land on their desk. You should give it a few days after that so that they actually have time to look over the material, crack the spine of the book open. Also, if you sent an email or something by mail, you should not assume that they are going to contact you if they're interested. You should initiate that contact. If a day or two goes by and you have not had a response to an email, it's perfectly appropriate to send them another one, so long as you have a little fresh information to supply.

You can find a lot more helpful information like this in How to Get Booked on National Public Radio.
http://101publicrelations.com/nationalpublicradio.html?utm_source=prideas&utm_content=npr

Posted by Dan at 01:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you are writing a letter to the editor you need to make sure that you have someone else look over it for you.

I think it's important that a second set of eyes reads it. If you're writing something, sometimes you can get too close to it. I know as a former columnist myself, I used to fall in love with certain passages and that's why I need my editor to look over it and say, "Well, this is really well-written, but it's kind of redundant. You say it a second time, and you don't need it. I think it's real important as you're writing the letter or the op-ed piece, to ask yourself, "If I took this out, would it really harm it? Is it necessary for the logic of the idea I'm trying to express?" If you can take it out and it reads perfectly OK without it, then you don't need it. Throw it out.

You can find more great information about writing letters to the editors in How to Use Newspaper and Magazine Editorial Pages.

Posted by Dan at 07:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

What's the difference between pitching to the print and the radio/TV media? Here's the thing about print. I actually think they're almost a little easier, because you can keep going with them. They have constant, ongoing deadlines. The nice thing about radio producers is there are 10,000 radio shows looking for 4,000 guests. Well, I think that's great news. They always need people who are good with topics and certain things to talk about.

So again, you can keep pitching them. It just has to be at a certain level, even faster, like talking more in sound bytes. The thing I really caution people about in pitching radio and television producers is that from the moment you are speaking to them, it's an audition. For more great ideas on how to get publicity, how to follow up, and how to promote your story, read "Failproof Ways to Follow Up After Sending a News Release or Pitch Letter."
http://101publicrelations.com/failprooffollowup.html?utm_source=prideas&utm_content=fail-proof_follow-up

Posted by Dan at 07:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Although many publications will accept photos in electronic format, even in this electronic era, you can't rely completely on electronic photos, for two reasons.

"Posting an image to the Web does not mean that you never have to produce a print again," says C. J. Martin, Aerospace Communications Director at NASA. "What looks good on your desktop monitor may not have enough resolution for a publication to use. Really high quality images mean really huge digital image files. Be prepared to offer a transparency or 8 x 10 glossy" so the publication can get the quality it needs. Otherwise they may not be willing to use your photo, even if it's great art."

Martin also explains the second reason why you'll still need old-fashioned, printed photos. "Many editors still use hard copy prints to screen for what they want to use, and then go to a digital product afterwards." If you don't include photos with your pitch, some editors won't be interested -- even if your publicity material lists links to photos on your web site. They're used to looking at something they can hold in their hands, and they're not comfortable with viewing art on a screen.

Photos are cheap. Publicity is valuable. Send the photos!

For more great tips and advice from the expert on how to get your publicity photos published see David R. Yale's "How To Get Publicity Photos In Newspapers, Magazines, And On TV"

Posted by Dan at 07:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Compelling professional speaking starts with inflection.

The voice that lacks inflection speaks on one tone and sounds robotic, monotonous and dull. The speaking voice has a natural range of 5 to 8 tones. It is important to use these tones as you speak to add variety, interest and color to your voice and what you are saying.

Both Henry Kissinger and Robert Dole speak in monotones. Their speech is completely devoid of inflection.

In "My Fair Lady", Henry Higgins used a xylophone to show Eliza Doolittle how to develop inflection. He first played the sentence below on the xylophone and then had Eliza imitate the pitches. It was the most direct way to bring inflection into her voice. You can do the same on the piano with any sentence. As you read the sentences, notice how the voice rises and falls.

kind come.
let
How of you to me

Once you get the idea, try using inflection with other sentences. It adds to your personal style, making you sound so much more interesting than if you say everything on one pitch.
Learn more ways to improve your voice and spoken professional image with Building the Power of Your Voice: How to Improve Your Voice to Command Attention & Move People to Action
http://101publicrelations.com/voicepower.html?utm_source=prideas&utm_content=voice_power

Posted by Dan at 07:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A crisis communication plan can help you maintain control during a company crisis.

There are two key elements of any crisis plan:
1. The crisis plan itself (how your company will deal with the issue at hand, to minimize loss and downtime.)

2. The crisis communications plan (how you will communicate with the press and the public about the crisis that is occurring.)

Many companies prepare one without the other. Unfortunately, both are vitally important.

Keep in mind that most company crises never get reported in the press. Sometimes that happens because the story was not newsworthy, but oftentimes is happens because the company handled the situation skillfully enough that it never became visible to the press.

Other times, a crisis may be significant enough that it is both newsworthy and gets attention in the press. But that attention either lasts for a very short period of time, or it is so well handled that the company grows as people see how well they handled the crisis.

A key element in making sure that this happens is the development of a crisis communication plan in your organization.

Don. K. Crowther provides valuable crisis communication planning skills in his manual Crisis Communication Planning: Organizing and Completing a Plan That Works.
http://101publicrelations.com/crisis-communication.html?utm_source=prideas&utm_content=crisis_communications

Posted by Dan at 07:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you are going to pitch a story you may want to consider they day you pitch it on. The day you choose could mean a lot for whether or not your story gets published.

The best time in terms of burying the story is also the best time to irritate the media and perhaps provoke their greater interest, which would be after their deadline on a Friday afternoon, because they're always suspicious of bad news release that late. At the same time, the best news days categorically tend to be, for routine news, Tuesday through Thursday. So with all that said, I would identify Monday as the day that tends to be very busy, and therefore maybe your story gets lost in the shuffle, or buried in the shuffle, versus a day that would either provoke suspicion or be more wide open for news coverage.

There is much more great information like this that can be found in How to Keep the Media Wolves at Bay.
http://101publicrelations.com/mediawolves.html?utm_source=prideas&utm_content=media_wolves

Posted by Dan at 08:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

What will make someone open your media kit when they have five other ones in front of them to look through? That's a great question. What would make you open mine? I'd say some kind of a fun, little thing that you would attach to the front of it or a fun, little message that might be on a sticker that would ask me a question that would pique my interest and spark my curiosity and make me open it. What wouldn't make me open it is a fancy, glitzy media kit with gold embossed letters on the front. Too many companies and organizations spend far too much money on pretty media kits. I would entice them with a sticker that asks a compelling question or with some kind of a little prize or a give-a-away inside the media kit. That's what would make me open it.

Here's another tip for you that I saw done recently. They sent out a media kit and there was a CD attached to the front of it that they had made very inexpensively and the reporter's picture was on the label of the CD and it said, "Information for," and the reporter's name. They just pulled the picture off the website and they put it on the label. The reporter loved it and thought it was hysterical that they took the time to do that. It really only took them about 10 minutes to do it. For more great information and tips on how to create media buzz for your event, read "How to Create Media Buzz When Promoting Your Special Event."

Posted by Dan at 01:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you get invited to an editorial board meeting there are a lot of things you should do to prepare. A couple of them are:

1. First, do your homework and decide beforehand the key points that you want to get across to the board. It may be just three or four major points. You don't want to go in and give them a full, long-winded explanation of everything you can think about on this particular issue or your organization. Just go in with a couple of key points.

2. Ask how many people from your organization they will agree to meet with. I have seen people from organizations come to editorial board meetings with six and seven people from their company and it's just overwhelming. I generally would tell people that if you're coming to meet with us, bring two other people with you-a total of three people from an organization.

Doing things like this will greatly help you. You can find more information like this in How to Use Newspaper and Magazine Editorial Pages.

Posted by Dan at 10:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

No matter how much experience you have with the media you still need to be sure and prepare a lot for crisis situations.

I can't over-emphasize the value of preparation, both for media training and practicing key messages. A lot of people think they're good with the media until it comes to a crisis. Some people are great for routine interviews and can't do a crisis interview. The only way you know that is by testing them under media training.

Crisis communications-you wouldn't necessarily have a different crisis communications policy, but a crisis communications plan-actually provides the detailed procedure for responding to crisis and delineates how that differs from responding to routine, positive news.

You can get much more information about how to deal with reporters and work with them in interviews, whether crises or not, in How to Keep the Media Wolves at Bay.

Posted by Dan at 01:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)