Public Relations Tips: September 2009

A press release service is a company separate from your own whom you will submit your press release to and is then responsible to see that they are distributed to the media. Press release should be important to companies because they are the greatest way to establish credibility with the media and the public in general.

Press releases will win hands down every time over advertising the company itself, or the company's new product. Most consumers are so well scripted in advertising that they know of the hype that goes into making a company look good. Because of this they are less likely to believe the hype and discredit is as an overblown production of a simple product. However, unlike advertising, press releases when picked up are reported by journalist, broadcasters, and members of the press that have nothing to do with the company outside of having used their product. For this reason consumers are more likely to listen (and hopefully eventually buy) from an outside source.

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Why would someone want to submit a press release online as opposed to mail, fax, or telephone? Because most journalists and editors use the internet every day and it has been said that over seventy five percent of journalist get their press releases online. So in short, someone who is submitting a press release is going to hit a much larger audience (and thus consumer base) if they submit online.

There a different ways to submitting press releases on line. There are many companies that will take your press release and submit to hundreds of journalist and editors for you. If you own a company and you submit several press releases a year it may be worth it to hire one of these middle man companies. These companies would submit them quickly and have people on hand to make sure that it gets done, thus greatly lessening your work load.

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At the top of each press release a person submits they must include their personal contact information, including, name, company they are representing, email, phone, and fax number.

A press release in general needs to be two to three pages long, double spaced. A press release needs to be long enough to explain a person news and information but not contain so much information as to bore the reader. The editor or reporter who receives the information needs to be the one to write the story, the person writing the press release is simply giving enough information to create a desire in the reader to research or follow up with the story, or for themselves they are creating an opportunity to be interviewed about the story.

The person writing the press release will want to put something like, "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE," at the top of the press release so that the reader will know this information is time sensitive.

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A good press release is going to start with your personal information right at the top so that the reporter knows immediately who you are, who you work for, and how to contact you. You want your personal information to include first your name, second the company you work for, third your phone numbers (personal line, fax line, and cell), fourth your companies web site, fifth your email address.

After making your name, company, and contact information clear, you want to type in your headline. It is important that your headline is clear and easy to understand. Make it straight to your point and don't add a lot of hype or fluffy words that are going to keep the reporter guessing at your meaning. For example if your company is releasing a new product simply put, "ABC releases new weight loss formula, XYZ." Keeping your headline clear and simple helps the reporter to see quickly what your purpose in writing is and to know quickly whether or not they are interested.

Your first paragraph is going to be very important. This is where you introduce the product, or announcement, and grab your reader's attention. Again, keep this paragraph clear, concise, and to the point. Do not try to sell your reader on the product, you are simply trying to gain their interest in using the product. Expand on your headline and put key information in this first paragraph.

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It is important when contemplating how to distribute your press release to not only know how wide spread of an audience you are trying to reach, but also to know the different options for distributing your press release. There are many different options, the best of which depends largely upon whom you are trying to target.

An immediate option for getting your press release heard is to hold a press conference. If you are considering a press conference it is important to keep yourself well organized. With holding a press conference you are not only presenting your materials, but also yourself. You will want to be able to meet your audience in the eye and to speak confidently about your subject. Because of your need to appear so knowledgeable on the material you are presenting, you will need to know them well before hand. When holding a press conference you generally will not have a lot of time to prepare, because of this you will want to ask others to go over your material and give you quick feed back so you can present the material the best way possible.

Another option to distributing your press release is probably the oldest in the book and that would be snail mail. In this day and age snail mail is not usually preferable only because you could present your materials so much quicker through other avenues. Snail mail (or regular postal mail) can be the best option though if a photograph is needed to capture your story. It is perfectly acceptable to send a photograph, and to present it in it's optimal form, snail mail may be the best option.

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It is extremely useful and definitely beneficial when writing a press release to have contacts. You will need those contacts, whether journalists, editors, or publicists, to turn your press release into an interview, an article, or a broadcast.

People who write press releases for a company and do so often are most likely going to have a few contacts. If the company is more locally run and less nationally run they are most likely going to have a few journalist contacts from the local county newspapers. These journalist contacts will be useful when trying to get your press release into the paper. You will be able to submit the press release to them, and if they already are familiar with you they are more likely to take the time to read it.

The down fall of having only journalist contacts is that most likely you are going to know only a handful. If your company ever desires to take itself from the local to the national level, you are going to need to contacts to help promote that business through the use of press release.

A great way, and probably the best way, to expand your list of contacts whom will be receiving your press release is to find and hire a publicist. A publicist is someone who already has hundreds of contacts in the broadcasting, newspaper, and even magazine businesses. By hiring that publicist you are hiring their contacts and opening up for yourself a much broader range of journalist, editors, and live reporters.

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What is a press release? Do you need one? How can you use them to get publicity? First, a press release is a statement or an article that is sent to different branches of the media. A press release can be sent to editors at your local newspaper, to your local news stations, radio stations, networks, and magazines.

There are several reasons to send a newspaper, TV station or network, magazine, or radio station a press release, either by fax, e-mail, snail mail, etc. Perhaps there is some event, like a sale at your business, or the release of a new product, that you want to announce to the public. This would be a great time to send out a press release. There's another reason to send out a press release. A press release is a great way to get a reporter or editor's attention. Sending a press release with just a few choice bits of information might get the editor or reporter to call you for an interview. An interview might mean a bigger story, more print or air time, and more publicity. If your company has just completed a big medical study, for example, then you'll want to send a press release to media outlets so that they will give your study-and your company-more publicity.

You always should send out your press releases before the event that your press release is announcing. Sending out your press or news release beforehand will give reporters time to actually respond to your press release, call you with questions, and even perhaps prepare an article to publish on the date of the event that your news or press release is announcing. You might want to embargo your press release so that the information is not release until after the event concerned.

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The majority of companies, corporations, and organizations prepare and offer press kits. A press kit, sometimes referred to as a media kit in the business sector, is a packet of promotional material pertaining to a person, company, organization, or band, that is distributed to the media for promotional uses.

Press kits are usually prepared by a company's or other entity's public relations specialist or publicist. The release of a press kit may coincide with a new product or event. For example, Kennedy Space Center offers press kits before the launch of a new space shuttle. They may also be prepared for a trade show, company merger, or news conference. Many companies, organizations, bands, authors, or other persons or groups prepare press kits as a manner of routine, so the media may always have access to promotional material. This is very useful if a magazine, newspaper, or other media decides to feature an article or story on a particular company or group.

Usually, a press kit, or media kit, may include the following:

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The field of public relations can be competitive, but an undergraduate degree in public relations can open doors to those who would like to work in the PR field.

Majoring in Public Relations
A major in public relations will generally have about 60 credits. These include a strong core of classes that will introduce the student to the field. In addition, a number of specialty courses or emphases may be required after that. Students who major in public relations can expect to take a number of classes, including a variation of the following:

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The lines between marketing and public relations are sometimes blurred. While both work to promote, there are significant differences between the two.

Marketing
Marketing deals primarily with product awareness and promotion. Those involved with marketing work to promote a specific product or service a company or organization offers. Marketing professionals will concern themselves with the products the company provides, the customers and their needs, and are working to anticipate what the next product will be or how to promote it.

A marketing approach will work to sell a product rather than an organization by taking into consideration demand, competition, and how to get more people to purchase services or products.

An effective marketing plan will accomplish the following:
-- Define a target market in order to know who to promote the products towards.
-- Identify the customers and competitors. Knowing competitors and their strategies will help a company to stay ahead by remaining competitive.
-- Outline a strategy for attracting and keeping customers as well as identifying change.

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A blog is an online journal established by individuals and/or companies that can be accessed by internet users. The word blog is derived from the term "web log". Blogs are normally simple websites that allow individuals to post daily written entries and/or photographs on a variety of topics. Visitors to a blog can post comments pertaining to blog entries or graphics. The words blog and blogging may also be used as verbs, and indicate that a person has created their own, or is editing, their own blog.

Blogs originated as online journals, or diary-like personal accounts. As blogs evolved, individuals have used them as a tool not only for personal accounts, but for the circulation of information or personal interests. Many individuals have found fame and/or notoriety through their blog. Currently, there is estimated to be over 10 to 50 million blogs worldwide, a portion of which may not be actively edited.

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Public relations is a vital area of concern for any company, organization, group, or prominent person. The vast majority of such entities hire public relations specialists to oversee their public relations. The role of a public relations specialist is to act as a liaison between their client, and the media and public. They build media relations, promote their client, and essentially, try to make them look good in everyone's eye.

While a public relations specialist will have a large variety of duties to perform after being hired, his or her client will most likely have an idea about how they want their public relations handled. A public relations specialist must establish an excellent working relationship with their client, in order to understand their goals, needs, and the way they wish to be portrayed. A public relations specialist may have some free reign, but he or she must first okay it with their client.

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How to Answer Tough Questions
Inevitably, an interviewer will ask the publicist a set of tough or unfair questions. A publicist must prepare to answer such questions in advance. These questions are designed to probe the topic and the client deeper and perhaps even trip the publicist up, causing them to say too much or appear confused.

Tough or difficult questions normally work in the following ways:

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Public relations are a crucial aspect of any company, organization, or prominent person. These entities must maintain relationships and contact with the media and the public. A public relations specialist, or publicist, is hired to manage public relations for a company, group, or person and help their client appear in a positive light. It is the publicist's responsibility to acclimatize their client with the media and public, and vice versa. A publicist must manage and strategize successful public relations, perhaps in the form of press releases, press kits, special events, and public participation. A publicist may need to act as a spokesperson for their client, or even act as a mediator between their client and the public.

Occasionally, a publicist must do "damage control". If his or her client received bad publicity, or is caught up in a rumor, scandal, or legal action, a publicist must attempt to salvage the client's reputation. During such instances, the media will want to understand the occurrences and report on them. They may make arrangements for an interview to be conducted with the company's public relations specialist. However, while interviews do frequently occur, they may not always be as a result of a public relations crisis.

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A public relations specialist has many duties he or she performs for their client. Maintaining positive relationships with the media and the public and portraying their client in a positive way are two of the largest responsibilities a career as a public relations specialist entails.

However, a public relations specialist must eventually deal with bad publicity that becomes a public relations disaster.

Public relations disasters may come in a variety of forms:

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PR, the abbreviated term for public relations, is the means for an organization to present itself to the public in a positive light.

The purpose of PR is to interact with other people and organizations. Those who work in PR try to show how the company helps the public through its goods or its services. PR has the opportunity to showcase the events and accomplishments of an organization. PR uses several different methods to connect with the public. These methods include
- Television
- Radio
- Newspaper
- Internet
- Other print media

Many organizations have a PR department within their organization to accomplish the task of maintaining a positive image in the public eye. There are also many companies that are PR firms. These PR firms act as representatives for other organizations that they have taken on as clients. The PR firms do for the companies what PR departments do in other organizations: they communication between the public and the organization to project a good image. The PR firm wants the public to understand and accept the organization.

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What is a pitch letter?
A pitch letter is a brief letter that is written, usually by someone who works in public relations, to accompany press releases. Press releases are sent to the media by an organization to alert the media about developments within the organization that is newsworthy. A pitch letter is usually never longer than a single page.

What is the purpose of a pitch letter?
The purpose of a pitch letter is to catch a journalist's attention. Think of it as a sales tool. The pitch letter should be written in a way that acts like a teaser to create interest in the story that the organization wants put in the news. It should be the appetizer before the main dish.

How should I format a pitch letter?
A pitcher letter can be formatted as if it were a regular business letter.

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In this day of in demand public relations specialist, hiring a public relations specialist, or even a public relations firm, can get very expensive. If you do not have the means at this time to take advantage of public relations firms there are low cost and even free options available on the internet.

One option is simply renting space online to put up your own web site. On this web site you can include information about your company, upcoming news and releases. You can also make it available to your employees to post their articles and news to. After creating your web site you will simply need to create traffic flow to the web site. You can do this through putting key words in search engines. The more key words you put in the more people you will get to your site.

By constantly posting, and allowing your employees to post company news and events at your site you will get more traffic to your site from people interested in what you have to offer. If you are to post articles talking about exciting changes or product releases there is a good probability that you will be able to attract people also interested in your product to your site and if those articles are readily available those people can then make them available to their public, thus giving you publicity.

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In this day and age, the internet is an essential tool for businesses. The internet is an excellent tool for publicity as it is so widely used today. These days, consumers will often first check out a business's website for information before even picking up the phone to call them directly. A website is also useful because it allows people to contact the business. For this reason, it is important for the success of a business to have a website.

History
The history of online publicity began with global PR firm Edelman Public Relations, which was the first public relations firm to go online with a website in 1995. Now, virtually every business has a website.

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What is a non-apology apology, when should you use it, and how can a non-apology apology work for you? This article will go through the definition of a non-apology apology and when you should make use of it.

A non-apology apology is basically making a statement so that it seems like you're apologizing, but you're not admitting any kind of guilt. Probably the best politician ever at making the non-apology apology was Bill Clinton. All of us remember his apologies during the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Clinton apologized for hurting his wife, for hurting his family, and for offending people. But did he ever admit that he had actually done something wrong or anything illegal? Not on your life. If Clinton had admitted guilt while making an apology, then chances are he wouldn't have made it all the way through that second term.

A good way to make a non-apology apology is to just apologize for offending someone. Or you can start a non-apology apology with the words "if I was wrong" or "if I hurt someone" or "if I appeared to do wrong" or something along those lines.

The benefit of a non-apology apology is that it makes you look like you're really sorry for doing something wrong. This wins you points in the eyes of the public and in the light of the news media. Apologies of this sort are a great way to make you look repentant and like you really are going to change your course. Celebrities are great at this non-apology apology, and they have to be. They offend a lot of people, and they make a lot of mistakes, especially when drunk. The non-apology apology is a great way to save face without becoming too embarrassed.

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We've all heard people say it: "no comment." They say it when they walk out of the courtroom and run past all of those reporters: "no comment." They say it at the end, or the middle, of a news conference, when the president doesn't want to answer a particularly sensitive question: "no comment." They say it when a scandal has occurred within their company, and they're afraid to give away too much information: "no comment."

So let's say that a scandal has hit your company. Maybe some misinformation has been let out. Maybe a study went wrong. Maybe you had to recall a product. The point is, there's sensitive information out there and the story that the journalists write can go either way. Should you say "no comment"? Most of the time it's not appropriate to refuse to comment. Not commenting will give the news media the impression that you are hiding information. There's no better way to make yourself look guilty or inappropriately involved than saying "no comment". Saying no comment also makes you look like you don't want to cooperate with the media. And if you're considered to be uncooperative by the media, then you're in big trouble. To a large extent, the media is in charge of your image. And if they decide that they don't like you, then you're going to have to fight hard to get that corporate image back where you want it.

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Many times PR people claim that they work they do can not be accurately measured because PR work only produces intangible results, which means you are not going to be able to see or measure any of benefits that your PR campaign has had. But the truth of the matter is that these people are just being irresponsible and are not claiming any kind of responsibility for their work. Many times you will see this answer come up when the group meets to discuss how things are going or if the company has not seen any kind of an improvement in their bottom line. What usually happens is that the PR people claim that you can't really measure what they are doing because the market share is always shifting so you can't accurately measure it. But you can take one guess that even if you are not seeing the results that you want to be seeing these people still want to get paid.

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News, whether obtained from television, newspaper, or the internet, keeps citizens informed and up-to-date on local and world conditions and occurrences. Thousands of incidents occur everyday that have the potential to be reported on the news. However, not every story that may seem newsworthy is reported on.

Every potential news story that finds its way to the headquarters or offices of a news station or newspaper must compete with thousands of other stories that have the potential to be released on the news. A story must be considered newsworthy before it can be considered worth reporting on or publishing.

The editor of a newspaper or producer of a news show must ultimately decide which stories to publish or air and which to drop. Some stories can be relegated to a different news day, but news that is not current is not newsworthy. The editor or producer will consider several factors and apply them to a story before deciding if it is newsworthy.

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News, whether obtained from television, newspaper, or the internet, keeps citizens informed and up-to-date on local and world conditions and occurrences. Thousands of incidents occur everyday that have the potential to be reported on the news. However, not every story that may seem newsworthy is reported on.

Every potential news story that finds its way to the headquarters or offices of a news station or newspaper must compete with thousands of other stories that have the potential to be released on the news. A story must be considered newsworthy before it can be considered worth reporting on or publishing.

The editor of a newspaper or producer of a news show must ultimately decide which stories to publish or air and which to drop. Some stories can be relegated to a different news day, but news that is not current is not newsworthy. The editor or producer will consider several factors and apply them to a story before deciding if it is newsworthy.

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So you want to know about newswire services and what newswire services can do for you? Here's some basic background on newswire services: what and who they are. Also included for you are some publicity and public relations tips on how to use newswire services for your public relations, publicity, and for maintaining and controlling your corporate image.

There are lots of different news media outlets out there. There's the print media services, which includes newspapers and magazines. Then there's broadcast media. Broadcast media includes TV stations, TV networks, and radio stations and networks. Then, of course, there's the Internet. The Internet is becoming the most popular place for customers and the general public to get news about current events, to shop, to get product information, and to communicate with each other about different products, companies, etc.

Now, when you read your local newspaper, you might notice a small tagline, or a credit at the beginning or the end of the article. This tagline or credit might say something like "Associated Press" or "contributed by Reuters" or something along those lines. Associated Press and Reuters are newswire services. A newswire service, which is also called a news agency, or just wire services, is a company made up of journalists who research and write articles on loads of different things. Those articles are then bought by different news media outlets, like your local newspaper, or The New York Times.

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What Is a Newswire?
A newswire is a wire service that electronically transmits up-to-date news to the media, government agencies, and occasionally the public. A newswire is typically a network of journalists or reporters that supplies information to a variety of media outlets, including magazines, television and radio broadcasters, internet news sites, and newspapers. There are many newswires throughout the world.
In some communist or authoritarian countries, such as China, the newswires are heavily controlled by the government.

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A news release, also called a press release, can promote a persons company or business farther than is possible for advertising alone. A news release will be sent out to journalist, broadcasters, and other media outlets that will hopefully want to follow up on the news release with a story and for that reason they need to be simple, clear, and concise.

A news release should never be more than one to two pages long. A news release that is too long will not be appealing to a member of the media who is looking for some good news to report on or make a story out of. Any news release should be able to be wrapped up by the person writing it in one to two pages.

A news release must also be simply worded. A person who is turning in a news release does not want there reader confused with fussy or glittery words. They do not want the reader to have to guess at the point of the news release. Rather they want to use small and simple words that are formed together to state a clear and understandable objective or story.

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A news release is something that an author, a company, a politician, a celebrity, etc., gives to the media in order to get their story out. A news release proposes to have something important, something newsworthy, to say to the public. Generally a news release is faxed or mailed to the appropriate media outlet or outlets and is designed to be easily understandable and to get the maximum amount of information across as memorably as possible.

News releases play an important role in the art of public relations. Public relations, simply put, is the art of starting and maintaining pleasant, open relationships with the public. Businesses and important political and entertainment figures often employ public relations experts. In a world where information is communicated immediately and where nothing stays news for long, the public relations expert finds him or herself constantly on the go, constantly trying to keep their client in the public eye in a way that is both pleasing and informative to the public.

When thinking of news releases, there are a few things to keep in mind, including the following:

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A newspaper is an excellent source of publicity for an event, business, or promotion. Newspapers are read by millions each day, either online or via that actual paper delivered to the doorstep. The good part about it is that using the newspaper for publicity is free.

Publicity differs from advertising in that publicity contains some newsworthy piece of information in it, rather that just an announcement that a sale is going on. For example, a newspaper would be more likely to feature a story about a group of Girl Scouts who raised money for a homeless shelter instead of just an ad asking people to donate to the Girl Scouts - the first example is newsworthy and would make for a good article; the second is merely an announcement that would cost money to advertise.

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The news media is something that we all encounter every day. The news media is especially important for people who are involved in public relations. People who are in charge of publicity, of writing articles, sending our press releases, over their corporations image, and acting as a public relations representative need to be particularly aware of the news media and what it is. Knowing what the news media is is the next step to knowing how to work the news media to your publicity advantage.

The news media does exactly what its name says: the news media presents news. Because it is concerned with news, it is different than the entertainment media, the sports media, etc. There are several different parts of the news media, depending on the medium, or form, of communication. The most common news media outlets are:

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We've all seen news conferences. All kinds of people hold them. When celebrities are caught on camera doing something stupid, dumb, or offensive, they have to hold a news conference so that they can apologize. When athletes win, lose, or, again, do something stupid, dumb, or offensive, they have to call a news conference in order to explain why they've been taking steroids. Politicians hold news conferences to insult their opponents, to talk about how great their own legislation is, or to apologize for doing something stupid, dumb, or offensive with one of their aides. Companies will call news conferences in order to announce new products, to recall products, or to explain or issue apologies.

A news conference is an event which is aimed at the news media. Generally, a statement is issued first, and then journalists are allowed to ask questions which the spokesperson or the celebrity/politician/businessperson will then answer. Occasionally, like when something particularly embarrassing has happened, no questions will be allowed.

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