35 Public Relations tips

1. Catch the media's attention through great photos When you're sending photos to the media, the more interesting the photo, the better your publicity!This means that anyone who will be interviewed should have an above-the-shoulders, high quality photo.Also, if you're being interviewed, you should ask for what are called "environment portraits."These are photos of people in your business or organization doing what they do best-working.Have workers and employees in photos with the tools of their trade.Take these photos yourself.Any local newspaper will be more than happy to publish them, especially because they don't have a large photography staff.Also have both interior shots and exterior shots of your business or organization.But avoid clichéd "talking on the phone secretary" shots or "working on the computer accountant" shots!Sending these photos to the media when you plug your story will make them more eager to publish your story and give you publicity, because they won't have to do nearly as much work if you are providing all of the information for the story.
2. Don't forget the graphics!
   Whenever you are submitting a press release to a newspaper or a TV station, make sure that you include your graphics!Including your graphics means that you need to have photos of anyone that your press release is about-whether it's about promotions in your company, any new hires, any awards that have been given, or any retirements. Also, if you are submitting a press release that involves any kind of complicated issue, include graphics that can help explain the issue in visual terms.Any pie charts, bar charts, or other graphs or graphics are great for conveying messages to viewers.Also, news media outlets love it when you submit your own graphics, because then it saves them both time and money when it comes to putting a story together.You should always at least offer graphics along with a story, so that reporters can use the graphics to understand the situation.
3. Be kind to the media outlets
   Far too often, businesses and organizations are way too uptight about photographers from magazines, newspapers, or the TV news taking pictures of the company or the organization.Often-too often-people within the company demand to see the negatives of any pictures taken.Or perhaps they demand that they have the final say on any photos that are used by the reporter and published in the newspaper, magazine, or used on the air.Also, many times CEOs or managers demand free copies of any of the prints that are taken.All of this prima donna behavior, however, will come back to haunt you.Instead of improving your publicity and protecting your company, you are creating bad publicity for your organization.Few reporters will be prone to give you good and fair coverage.You are also jeopardizing your chances of ever being covered by a particular publication ever again.So be gracious to the media, and hope that they will be kind back.
4. Never skimp on the quality...or the convenience
   Everyone knows how important it is to make photos readily available for anyone who is searching for information on your company or your organization.Because the majority of these searches for information are done online, you need to have a good website with a section devoted to the media.This Media Room will have all of the resources that the media needs-recent press releases, contact information, general information about your organization, etc.But you also need to have photos in your Media Room.And these photos need to be high quality.Otherwise, when a reporter prints your photos off to use in a newspaper, they will turn out grainy and fuzzy.Make sure that when you scan a photo into your computer, it is at least 300 dpi dots per inch).But also make sure that your photos are not too large.Nobody wants to sit around waiting for an enormous photo to download.Make your photos high quality, but make the data file small enough that looking at your photos is convenient.
5. Skip the ribbon cutting
   So you've scheduled a ribbon cutting ceremony for the opening of the latest expansion of your business.Perhaps a new franchise is opening, and you want to celebrate.So you invite the media, of course.Or do you?Actually, the media, whether it's a newspaper, a magazine, or a TV media news outlet, hates going to dull and boring ceremonies, such as ribbon cutting, check passing, or ground breaking.After all, all that's happening is that you're putting a shovel in the dirt.So instead of using these boring clichés, go for something interesting.Post a plan of your new building, rather than a ground breaking shot or a ribbon cutting shot.Have photos of your employees actually working and engaging in day to day tasks.These types of environment shots are much more interesting to the media than staged events.So loosen up and be natural.The media will love it.
6. Ace your interview with transitions
   Do you happen to have a major interview coming up?Have you landed an interview spot on the nightly news or some other news show?Has a reporter from the local newspaper contacted you for a story?Or perhaps a journal that is important in your field or a magazine-local or national-wants to use you as an expert on a particular issue or wants to do a story on you and your organization or your business.If you have an interview coming up, then one of the most important skills you can learn is how to bridge, or transition, from one question to another.This is how you can field dangerous questions and move onto safer ground.Try using phrases like, "That's an interesting question.I see your point, but also there are other issues..."Words like but and also, after acknowledging the question and the point, can help you control the interview.
7. Control the audience's attention
   If you have a major interview coming up, then you need to be able to develop skills and techniques that can help you control the direction of that interview.That's right-you can control the direction of the interview and what topics are discussed, instead of being at the mercy of the reporter.Also, if you are giving a presentation to an audience, you need to be able to let the audience know what points are important, and where their attention should be going. You can help guide attention away from trouble spots and towards the areas and the subjects that you want to emphasize.You can control the audience's attention through certain key phrases.These phrases are likeflashing red light over your point.You can use phrases such as "The most important thing for you to remember" or "The key point here" or "The really important issue is"...
8. Conquering the offensive reporter
   Sometimes reporters really want a story.They know who they want to talk to and they know the information that they want.But sometimes, it's not to your advantage to let the reporters have whatever they ask for.If you have a large story, such as an expansion, a large scale lay-off, or any other sort of crisis, you need to be especially careful about talking to reporters.You should have strict guidelines not to talk to any reporters other than your official line. However, sometimes this isn't enough for reporters, and they become offensive in their search for the story.If this happens, you need to keep your head and act in a professional manner.Have the head of your company or organization write a polite letter to the legal department of either the newspaper, the magazine, or the TV news organization for which the reporter works.Politely inform them of the behavior of the reporter, and ask that such inappropriate behavior will be stopped.Chances are that this type of response will land you an apology-and better coverage by the media.
9. What to do when they get the story wrong
   Recently you have been in contact with the media over a particular story involving your company or your organization.You carefully provided all of the reporters with extensive facts and pertinent information.You give the reporter graphs, interviews, and data that correlates the information.So you open up the newspaper, expecting to see a certain story, and....it turns out that the reporter has completely twisted the facts and changed the story around.Are you really all that surprised?Well, you should always protect yourself against this type of situation.Make sure that you keep records of all of your attempts to set the record straight.Keep copies of any written corrections that you send.Keep record of any meetings that you have with the reporter.Meet with the editor, and keep a record of that meeting.Finally, if the media outlet refuses to recount, then move on.Many times the public and your customer base will realize that the media outlet is being vindictive and pursuing their own ends.
10. Don't rely on the media...create your own message
    Too often, businesses and organizations depend on the media for all possible outlets for releasing information or stories about what is going on with the company.However, this is a risky way to approach your public relations.The media is an independent animal, and does not like to be controlled.You can provide all of the objective information possible, but it is still subject to the whims of the reporter and the editorial board.So create your own media outlet.Create your own advertorials where you control the message.You do not have to specifically quote any stories that you feel have misrepresented you; instead, just put out a message that you want your potential and current customers to hear.Putting forward objective sounding advertorials can help create an image of an impartial and honest, yet victimized, company or organization.More often, your core customer base will believe you instead of the media, which is almost always seen as being biased.
11. Make your feature lead worth using
    Everybody says that reporters hate feature leads that are included in press releases.Well, the reality is that reporters simply hate badly written and banal feature leads, which lands most feature leads in that category.Well written feature leads can be a fantastic introduction to your press release, and are adored by reporters.Look at the press releases that you've sent out recently.How many of these press releases began with "Today ... announced that ..."All that this says to reporters or to anyone else is: boring.Their brains will immediately turn off.Instead, begin your press release with a catchy hook.Start with a short story or ask your readers to imagine a situation that really grips their imagination.A feature lead that's like this will immediately draw the reader into the rest of your story.A good feature lead can also help your customers feel a more immediate connection to your business or organization.
12. Focus...carefully
    When you are working up your press release, you need to very carefully decide what is going to lead your story.Choosing the right aspects to emphasize can make or break your story; it can also decide whether or not your story will be accepted by the media outlets that you really want.So what you need to do whenever you release a story or a press release is decide what the key elements and the key benefits are...to the particular audience member or reader that you are aiming for.Begin your story with the benefits that your advances in technology, your expansion, your restructuring, or your exploration will bring to your key customer base.This benefits lead will immediately draw people in to the story.It will also let them know right away what the key elements are to your press release.This will help them immediately identify what they need to focus on and why the press release's information is worthwhile.
13. Here's a tip: use a tipsheet
    Tipsheets take the idea of leading with the benefits and expanding it even more to only listing benefits.Tipsheets are a fantastic way to introduce ways to use your company's product, whether that product is a manufactured product or a service.If you offer services, a tipsheet is a fantastic way to provide an example of the types of services that you can offer and the quality of the services that you can offer.Your tipsheets can include Top 10 Lists, How-to Lists, Top 5 lists, and more.Your tipsheets can be related to the products that you offer.If you run a packaging center, you can offer tips on how to package things efficiently and safely.If you own a catering company, you can offer tips on how to make dinner parties enjoyable.If you own a scrapbooking company, you can offer tips on how to create great scrapbook pages.Post these tipsheets on your website, submit these tipsheets to media outlets, and send out these tipsheets in your newsletters.
14. Spice up your subject line
    If you are sending information and stories out to media outlets or potential customers via email, then your subject line is your first line of attack.If you send a hard copy to various media outlets, or to reporters or customers, they will have to interact with your story at least a little bit-they will have to pick up your story and glance at it before they decide whether or not they are going to throw it away.But if you are using email, then your subject line is going to determine whether or not your story is actually read.Create provocative subject lines that imply controversy or excitement.Boring subject lines such as "monthly update from . . ." will automatically result in a quick press of the delete button.But a subject line that invokes a hot topic, that makes people interested without giving away too much information, will get your email recipients to open up the email and peruse your story.
15. Write a bio, not a resume
    If you are serious about your public relations, then with every news release, press release, story, interview, and more than you conduct, you hand out a bio of your executives or your directors.You also have these bios posted on your website in your Media Room where your media kit is.Take a minute right now to read over those bios.Do you feel like you just finished reading over a resume?Did you get any sense of the personality of your executives and directors?Or instead do you only know where they went to school, have a vague idea of what their areas of specialty are, and then remember your mind trailing?It's time to rewrite those bios.Don't make them too chatty and casual, but include some details that will invoke human interest.Tell a little story.Loosen up your style, and include pertinent professional information while bringing out the personality of your executives.Boring executives mean a boring company.
16. Don't forget the humanity
    When you are sending press releases to the media, or if you are trying to promote a story about your organization or your business, you need to make sure that you keep the human element of the story up front and central to your story.Too often the human element and the way that events or expansions or developments will actually affect human beings is forgotten when news is published.You should start your story with some sort of human interest.This will bring readers into the story and will let them know how it affects them.For example, if you are sending out a press release notifying people about a new clinic that your organization is spearheading, you can start out your press release with a story about a person who had a difficult time finding treatment for a simple disease due to a lack of insurance and the ability to pay.
17. It's time to go on a tour
    A good way to get great publicity and to invite the media into your company or your organization is by organizing a tour to introduce the media and help them know more about your organization.Inviting media members into your organization will help you build strong relationships with members of the media.This means that you need to organize meetings with strategic members of the media so that these members of the media who will be covering any story related to your line of business or work.A tour is a great way to talk to different members of the press and different analysts on a one-on-one basis.This interpersonal communication helps build trust between you and the press.Bringing the press and important analysts into your offices lets them know that you are invested in making sure that they are treated well.Having the press on your side, and having analysts who appreciate what you are doing, is key to getting the publicity that you need.
18. Make sure you have a qualified tour guide
    If you are going to be inviting members of the media into your business or your organization, you want the best person possible to be conducting that tour.If you have analysts shooting questions at you and you don't know how to handle those questions, or how to transition from possible danger areas to subjects that you want to focus on, then you won't want to be the one guiding this tour.First impressions are absolutely critical.This is why it is best to have an expert conducting the tour, someone who knows the absolute best way to introduce the best side of your organization to the people who will be carefully scrutinizing your every move.If you are going to conduct the tour yourself, you need to talk to a public relations coach about how to put your best foot forward-during the entire tour.Either have your public relations specialist conduct the tour or come up with a game plan with a public relations specialist or coach so that you can improve your performance through greater preparation and experience.



19. Fit the format to the audience
    So you are organizing a meeting to introduce new products, new services, or plans for expansion or restructuring to a group of key and important contacts.If you are going to be traveling around and meeting with different people around the country, you need to make sure that your meeting format and your presentation style is adaptable and flexible enough so that you can change depending on the people that you will be presenting to.If you are meeting with different members of the press and different analysts in different places across the country, then their needs and their interests will be different.If you are also going to be conducting teleconferences with members of the media, you need to be able to pick up on what their concerns and interests are so that you can fulfill their expectations and give them the information that they need.Also be willing to conduct phone briefings so that you can be more able to work with analysts and media who work remotely.
20. Don't let the cat out of the bag too early
    The press lives off of exciting and fresh information and news.If the news has already been out for a while, then the members of the media simply won't be interested in it any more.Reporters live to break a story or to be the first one to introduce a product.If you are conducting a press tour and going to a number of different major metropolitan areas, you need to keep your news under wraps.If you release too much information before hand, then no members of the media will show up to your news briefings and your meetings.If you release a white paper or a datasheet, either by faxing the information to different news outlets or by posting it on your website, then you have already given the media exactly what they need.Work with your management so that you can coordinate the release of news and information.Keep your information under wraps and it will keep the press and the media ready for more.
21. Don't underestimate the importance of training
    If you are going to go on a press tour, you need to train and to prepare adequately for the tour.Before you begin your tour, you should sit down and work with an industry analyst.The industry analyst can help you understand what the best position will be for you to take, and how you can best present your position and your message.Also make sure that you hire a public relations specialist who can help you and your spokesperson work on the most effective ways to deliver messages.Working on your public speaking will only make you more successful on your tour.Also, make sure that you put together a question and answer sheet for either yourself or your spokesperson so that you can be prepared for a number of questions about your news release, the company, funding, competitors, and anything else.Come up with a quick and concise presentation.
22. Come up with a comprehensive public relations plan
    You need to sit down and come up with a public relations plan so that you can always have a battle strategy when it comes to releasing important news and when it comes to interacting with members of the media and with current and potential customers.Sit down with a public relations specialist or the head of your public relations department.There are several important aspects of your public relations plan that you need to make sure that you have in place.Come up with definite objectives for your business.Then decide on your positioning.This is where you determine how you want your customers to perceive your company.Do you want people to know your business as the best deal in town, the best quality in town, the least expensive service in town, or the most customer friendly business in town?And finally, come up with the key messages that you want every audience member to come away with.These are the main facts about your business.
23. Develop public relations strategies that can help you achieve your public relations plan
    Now that you have come up with the concepts that are going to form the core of your public relations plan, you can develop the strategies that will help you achieve those different goals that you have for your business.There are two different aspects of your public relations strategies: the first is your strategy, and the second is your tactics. Your strategy is how you accomplish and achieve your company's objectives.If your objectives are geared towards a particular audience or a certain group of customers, then your strategy will be geared towards what that audience likes.The tactics are the way that you carry out your strategy.Tactics include things like becoming an expert on a particular board, giving speeches, writing articles, sending out press releases, and different media outreach techniques.
24. Form a close relationship with your local media outlets
    Stop thinking about the local reporters for local magazines, newspapers, or local TV media as your enemy.Instead, approach your reporters as your allies in your quest for great public relations.The media is always searching for different stories.Local reporters always have need of fresh news, new stories, a different angle to a current event or a different way to approach a certain situation.You can provide the fodder that all media outlets and all reporters need.Local news outlets don't have the manpower to send reporters out to Washington D.C. or Los Angeles.You are going to give the media their news, so make sure that you craft the news so that it benefits you. If there are any changes in your business, such as a retirement, a new partner joining your firm, a reward that is given to a member of your organization, a speech that you give, or a way to work with a current situation in your community, contact your local media.
25. Run a great news conference
    When considering how to conduct your news conference, remember that everything involved will make an impression on the journalists attending. Make sure that the room is either heated or air conditioned. Make sure that you provide enough chairs for the journalists who will be attending (though not too many, or they'll notice that the chairs aren't filled). If you're holding a longer news conference that involved questions and answers, you might want to consider providing small refreshments. If you provide cold water, even coffee, and some snacks, the journalists attending your news conference will be much more agreeable and tend to give you more favorable coverage. Remember that the journalists' time is important, and so make sure that your news conference isn't too long. Between twenty and 40 minutes is a great length of time to say everything that you want, let journalists ask questions, and not take up too much of your and their valuable time.
26. Be mindful of the journalists
    If you are going to call a news conference, you need to make sure that you think about not just your message, but about the journalists and what they are going to want from the news conference. The first thing to understand is that a press conference is a hassle for journalists. A lot of the time people call news conferences, or press conferences, in order to say something that would be a lot better in a news release, or a press release. News conferences should be reserved for major announcements, refutations of attacks by competitors, and/or explanations that are best done at length and can't be contained in a news release or press release. So before you schedule a room and call all of the news media outlets in your area, make sure that you're going to be holding a press conference for the right reasons.
27. Create an effective media kit
    You need a media kit.Don't argue.If you interact with the press and the news media at all, you need a media kit.A media kit is the way that you deliver information about your company, corporation, organization, association, band, books, or whatever to the press.Media kits are handed out to the media whenever you have an interview, whenever you submit an article, whenever you send in your demo cd to a producer or a radio station, whenever you have a news conference or attend a trade show.Media kits are wonderful for journalists because they give them all the information that they need in one place.Journalists and the news media depend on media kits.Because they're so important, yours had better be great.Ensure that your media kit includes all of the information that any member of the media will need, such as contact information and data sheets on your products.
28. Don't leave anything out of your media kit!
    Your media kit should include the following:
    
    1. Contact information.Complete contact information.This means company name, your name, email address, physical address, website, and phone and fax numbers.
    
    
    2. A folder with your company logo and/or motto on the front.The inside of the folder should hold all press materials.
    
    
    3. If you're holding a press conference, include a media advisory which tells when, where, and why.
    
    
    4. Again, if you're holding a press or news conference, include a press release.A press release, or statement, or news release, will give details about, for example, the product that you're releasing.It can include reviews from industry experts, testimonials, and specs about the product.
    
    If this is going to be a media kit for general release, rather than for release at a news conference, include different press releases that concern different products, advances, studies, etc. that your company or organization has made or spearheaded.
29. Make sure that your media kit is tailored to your specific industry.
    Different media kits need different information.Here are some more things to consider including in your media kit.
    Keep media kits available.Take them to any promo events, press conferences, community events, interviews, lunch dates, and always, always have extras available at the office.
    Go the extra mile.Remember that your media kit is how you're going to make an impression on the news media.Then remember that the impression you make will determine how your company and your corporate image is portrayed in the media.
    Here's one of the most important tips that I can give you:use the Internet.
    Post the different elements of your media kit on your company website.Your website is the best way for people to get information about your company.More people get info online than any other way.Make sure that all of the elements of your media kit are online.

30. How to get great publicity with the Internet
    The Internet is a great publicity resource and outlet that can go a long way towards creating great public relations and keeping those good public relations.Unfortunately, far too many businesses and corporations forget to use this all-important tool.Remember: not using the Internet can also make people see your corporate image as a business stuck in the early 20th century, and therefore incapable of meeting the demands of the 21st century.First of all, almost everybody uses the Internet.That's your entire customer base, basically.So you want people writing about you.This means bloggers, online magazines (ezines), and other specialty sites.You can also generate your own publicity by blogging on your own.Create a blog about your company and about your products.Link to other sites on your blog and convince the owners of those sites to link to your own site.This will create a great network of potential customers and clients.
31. Learn how to make use of news wire services
    Because newswire services are so widely used by almost all news media and any other publicity and public relations outlet, if you're in charge of public relations for your firm, you have to use the newswire services just like any other journalist.This means sending out well-written press releases.It also means contacting journalists, and newswire services, who will then send your publicity materials to other news media outlets.
    There are some good newswire services that you should know about if you want to get your publicity materials out to the public.Try PR Newswire, Business Wire, E-Releases, and PressReleaseNetwork.com.
    Another option available is to buy media email addresses.If you buy a database of addresses, you have a ton of addresses immediately at hand, and can use them after only paying once.However, make sure that the addresses are up-to-date, because a lot of the time they're not.
32. Make your own news
    The key to successfully managing news is based on one simple idea:you make the news.That's right.You're the news-maker.And since you're the news-maker, you also need to learn how to manage the news that you make.This means that you need to learn how to control your publicity, manage your public relations, and control your corporate image.Trying to do all of that, which basically means always making yourself look good, means that you also need to learn how to interact with the news media.The news media can make or break you as a corporation or an organization.This article will give you some tips on how you can manage news.Managing news is important to do if you're trying to make news, or if you're responding to news.It's important to know how to manage the news whether you're giving out information about yourself or if you're responding to misinformation or allegations.
33. Recycle, recycle, recycle
    Recycling your publicity means making it work for you time and time again.Recycling your publicity means that you keep reminding people of that interview that you got or that article that ran about you.Now, you don't want to just hang a copy of the newspaper article on your door and send it to everyone that you know or want to know.Be a little bit more subtle.Here are some tips on how to recycle publicity.
    
    1. Include it at the bottom of your email.
       You should have an email signature.
    
    
    2. Send pitch letters.
       When you send a pitch letter to an editor at a local newspaper, make sure that you send a copy of another article written about you.
    
    
    3. List your publicity.
       Make sure that on your website and in your press kit you include a list of all articles, mentions, highlights, and interviews.Include links, if possible.
34. Become a PR movie star: using VNRs
    Many TV stations and networks will air videos news releases (VNRs) without editing them, and will put them in the middle of their news shows or TV newsmagazines.
    Most of the time reporters, journalists, and editors won't change anything on your video news release (VNR).They'll leave it exactly the way it is, and simply insert it into the news program.This publicity approach works better with smaller, local tv stations for some particular reasons.Smaller, local tv stations don't have the resources available to the large, national, tv stations and networks.That means that the smaller, local tv stations don't have as many resources to send around journalists and reporters to cover events, product releases, and other news stories.They have to pick and choose carefully.Sending your local, smaller tv networks your videos news release (VNR) will actually be appreciated by the news editor and reporters.
35. Learn how not...to apologize.Making non-apology apologies
    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.
    Another great thing about the non-apology apology is that it avoids getting yourself into any potential legal trouble.You can't admit guilt, because that could set you up for prosecution.But you can make a non-apology apology and save your corporate image.So a non-apology apology is a great move for publicity and for public relations.