I’m not talking about skilled PR professionals who have studied and honed their craft. I’m talking about writers, online marketers and virtual assistants who basically say anyone can help get someone publicity.

It’s just not true.

Most of these people chargge a very low fee to write a press release – and claim you get get meida coverage by posting on the various press release sites on the Internet.

You can’t. Media are really hanging out at those sites – and frankly, I’ve never heard someone got media coverage by posting on there.  I am sure someone has, but I have never heard a success story.

These people often point to ‘hits’ claiming that it means some journalists looked at the story. It doesn’t mean that at all!

Some people say the price is right to have one of these people write your release. I say, is it really?

A true PR professional will help you find the right media outlets, write the right story for those outlets, and help you when you get an interview.

After all, a press release without a strategy is worth nothing at all. You DO get what you pay for.

* Don’t get me wrong. I know there are some great press release writers out there. But there are too many who have no clue what they are doing.

Image credit: buelow, on Flickr

Post from: EveryJoe

Anyone CAN’T do PR*

Inquisix is a wonderful new startup which may have the answer to the ongoing problem of finding an online networking group that focuses on business and business development.

Listen in to find out how you can become of of this company’s beta testers.

Image credit: Inquisix.com

Post from: EveryJoe

Success Secrets: Startup Inquisix Helps Biz Development

According to several industry reporters, many companies are cutting advertising budgets, but not PR budgets. That’s because public relations is easier to measure.

Think of it this way:

Although advertising can produce measureable results, it takes a ton of impressions (meaning seeing an ad multiple times) for someone to usually make a purchase. Plus, most of the ads I am seeing today are really to enhance or remind people about a brand. (Think of all those big game ads we’ll be seeing soon enough!)

When one creates a publicity campaign, you can easily see  (and measure) the results with clickthrus on websites, people buzzing about it on social media, and people making purchases.

And with budget tights, people usually cut their branding efforts first, and go back to some basics.

What are you doing this recession? Advertising? PR? And what are your reasons?

image credit: birdfarm, on Flickr

Post from: EveryJoe

The PR industry is fairing well in the recession

I’m seeing such statements on many blogs and social media sites. But I wonder, is it really true? Or just some hype?

It’s easy to point to the latter. Times are tough and people are scared that their jobs may disappear (if they haven’t already). So having a plan B is always a good idea. But should that be starting a business?

Perhaps. If you are willing to do the work.

The many get rich with your own business ads are schemes: multi-level marketing/pyramid, or the how-tos offered often give you a taste of what you SHOULD be doing, but never the REAL secret sauce: how to make it really profitable.

Here’s why: ads and promotions like this tell you it’s easy. It’s not.

It takes a lot of hard work – probably more work than your typical job. And you MUST be willing to work long hours, including learning things like marketing, bookkeeping etc, that you may have never had to do before.

So is it possible to start a business in a recession? Sure, thousands have done it. But ask them how, and they won’t tell you it was easy.

Image credit: munny_makin, on Flickr

Post from: EveryJoe

Is Now REALLY the time to start a business?

And a new site has caught my eye. It’s called FastDue and I think it may help a lot of people keep their business running in tough economic times.

Post from: EveryJoe

Cool tool: FastDue

Hiring good PR counsel when you are facing a major problem is a good idea.

But I am not sure if this firm is really working on Blago’s reputation, or perhaps doing some major spin doctoring.

The public relations agency actually send out  a press release announcing the Governor’s media schedule for today. Huh? Since when is a media schedule news? It is only when you want tons of people watching… perhaps to taint a jury?

What do you think? What is really going on here?

I’m also curious if you would have taken on the Governor as a client?

image credit: Joey Harrison, on Flickr

Post from: EveryJoe

Crisis PR or Politico Spinning for Blago?

Listen in and find out.

By the way, the Monday Media Marketing Minute is changing & moving. I’m making it into a video minute & it will be hosted at http://www.thepowerpublicist.com

Can’t wait to see you there!

Post from: EveryJoe

Monday Media Marketing Minute: The Worst Marketing Plan Offence

And most of them have been completely off the mark for the topic I write about. I mean, just because you represent a new author who wrote a book about stress doesn’t mean a generic pitch will work for me. Tell me why it’s important to my audience, not everyone else.

You see, the difference between a good pitch and a bad pitch is all in the execution.

The pitches that are used are the ones that are newsworthy, media-friendly and arrive at opportune times. All three working together gives a PR person the best chance of media coverage and publicity.

Other tips for creating a good pitch and avoiding bad pitches:

• Forming lasting relationships with the media can be more effective than sending a non-targeted email pitch to an editor or reporter who has never heard of you. These emails are often treated as spam and discarded by the media. It’s not enough to craft one generic pitch and email it to all of the editors on a media list.
• Most successful PR campaigns depend on strategically maintained pitches that get re-pitched frequently. Using a release distribution system that gets your release pitched once is considered by many in the industry to be a form of bad pitching. With hundreds of pitches sent to media professionals daily, yours can get easily lost. Retool and repitch to the same targeted journalists.
• Match the pitched story to the needs of the media source and its readers and viewers. That means a little research on the PR person’s part, matching the story to the proper media source. For example, a bad pitch would be pitching a story about dogs to a technology editor (unless the dog happens to be robotic). A good pitch would be pitching the same story to a pet magazine.
• Time is money, the saying goes. If you pitch to a journalist whose time is short and deadline driven, you get only a short time to pitch a story to them. The rule of thumb is 10 seconds or less to grab their attention.

image credit: robsk102, on Flickr

Want more tips like these? Today is my birthday, and as part of the celebration, I’m giving away some gifts. Visit http://www.ThePowerPublicist.com grab birthday goodie bag that will help you with your publicity!

Post from: EveryJoe

Is it a good PR pitch or a bad PR pitch?

Exhibiting at trade shows brings new leads, the chance to meet up with clients and catch up with old contacts. However, in addition to sales and seminars, trade shows present many excellent publicity opportunities.

Follow the 8 tips below to ensure a successful and beneficial trade show experience:

1. Make sure the show is right for you. Not all trade shows and events have your customer coming through the door. Make sure you know exactly who is attending and that they are your target market.
2. Make a deal before you commit. Event organizers can – and do give booth discounts. Well organized events, at minimum, provide a list of attendees after the event so exhibitors can follow up. More organized events provide participant contact information before the event, as well as after. Other value-added benefits to inquire about include: being included in participant email distributions promoting the event, as well as an advertisement in the event show guide.
3. Write pre-show press releases which include a booth number. Get a list of the media attending from the organizer before the show and send a press release to them. Make follow up calls to the media and set up appointments at the booth for reporters to see what you’re offering. Smart companies work weeks, and sometimes months ahead, establishing strong relationships that can pay off big, long before the show is under way.
4. Research the competition. By finding out about other booths and what they have to offer, you can better strategically implement ways for you and your display to stand out. Use research results to brainstorm ways to make your booth and its products or services unique and appealing. In addition, some of your most qualified event leads come from networking with other exhibitors.
5. Make attendees work for their freebie. Giveaways are common at trade shows. But you can make your giveaway work for you by asking people to fill out a short survey to get it. Make the survey industry related and then announce the results at a press conference at your booth at the end of the tradeshow.
6. Speaking of giveaways, make yours meaningful to your business.. Don’t give something away for free just for the heck of it. Who cares if you collect 10,000 names because you ran a really cool promotion giving away a free iPod. If you’re a personal chef, what does an iPod have to do with your business? Nothing! Therefore, you’ve just collected 10,000 NON-qualified leads. Instead, as a personal chef you could try, “Fill out this survey to get your free copy of the special report “More Time and More Money: Using a Personal Chef to Get out of the Kitchen and Save Money on Your Food Budget”
7. Have business cards handy. Give out business cards to anyone interested in your work. This way, they will have your contact information at hand if they decide to pursue your services, or they can check out your web page if they are still considering.
8. Follow up potential leads in five days. Put your follow-up plan in place BEFORE your event. If you do not have a follow-up plan, then you’re wasting your time. Most of your sales will come after your event. At minimum, your plan could consist of a “Nice to Meet You Note with a Special Trade Show follow-up offer,” and adding your new prospect to your ezine.

The success of trade shows depends on exhibitors making the most of them. Many exhibitors don’t comprehend the enormous potential for publicity at trade shows, conferences, association meetings, and expositions. They spend a fortune to be at the shows, but they don’t capitalize on the publicity opportunities, which can impact their sales for the year.

image credit: *dans, on Flickr

Want more tips like these? Today is my birthday, and as part of the celebration, I’m giving away some gifts. Visit http://www.ThePowerPublicist.com grab birthday goodie bag that will help you with your publicity!

Post from: EveryJoe

Generating Publicity at Trade Shows

One of the first changes is the White House’s new website, which will serve as a place for the President and his administration to connect with the rest of the nation and the world.

Awesome!

They’ve also opened the site up to search engines, for the very first time. Great step!

They promise more communication, transparency and participation. Sounds good, but their blog is not open for comments.

That’s right. Although you can fill out a form, commenting on their blog isn’t available.

Communication and participation is a dialogue, not a monologue. Although it may seem like a petty gripe with all the big issues the new administration has to deal with, from a public relations standpoint, this may backfire on them.

Sure, I know it takes a lot of time to weed through comments, after all I write and manage three blogs. But it’s not like they aren’t already getting tons of email and letters, and someone (or many) are on top of that!

What do you think? Should the blog be open to comments?

image credit: aturkus, on Flickr

Post from: EveryJoe

An Obama Promise Broken Already?