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Think Globally, Act Locally

When people think public relations, they think of slick PR pros courting journalists or holding press conferences in front of national media. But the truth is that most businesses and organizations are relatively small, relatively localized entities. Mom and Pop’s Sub Shop or Herman’s Used Cars down on Main Street have a very poor chance of getting a write up in the New York Times. But that’s not to say that small, local businesses don’t have something even better. Because these businesses are situated firmly in their communities, they have the chance to gain tremendous goodwill from the local areas they serve. And that relationship, just as much as sending press releases and making million dollar donations to charity, is public relations.

Get Involved in the Community

A potential customer might drive by your premises every day, but he may simply not pay it in any notice. After all, he’s been going to the same optometrist, or mechanic, or coffee shop for years now. Why choose your business ? But when he sees your company name in the program as a sponsor of his son’s school play, or on the back of his daughter’s softball jersey, then suddenly he’s going to take an interest in your business. Maybe he’ll stop in next time he’s driving by. It’s the least he can do, after all, for someone who takes such an interest in the activities that create a solid community.

Make Good by Doing Good

One of the surest ways to garner the attention of the public and local media is to hold a charitable event. Your event could be as simple as donating proceeds from a weekend’s worth of sales to victims of a nearby tornado, or as elaborate as sponsoring a day-long chili cook-off.

Cozy Up to Local Media

When you run a national media relations campaign, you have hundreds or even thousands of publications from which to choose. But local businesses have a narrower playing field – perhaps two or three local newspapers, a regional newspaper, and a few assorted magazines. While this may sound like a limited field of options, it is actually an opportunity to establish a firm working relationship with the few publications that serve your local area. Introduce yourself to reporters, keep in touch with them, and offer them your latest scoop. They will appreciate the gesture and look to you in the future for more news or for your expert opinion as a business owner or a concerned local.

Great local public relations campaigns help your business in more ways than you can imagine. Sure, it attracts customers, but it may also attract investors interested in gaining a stake in your local area, or local officials looking for people with strong ties to the community for committees, advisory boards, or even elected office. So create a local PR strategy and use it wisely. Who knows? You may end up with more PR good will than you know what to do with!

TO GET BIG ARTICLES PUBLISHED, DON'T START BY WRITING IT!

By JournalistPR (www.journalistpr.com)*

Want to arrange major articles or interviews in major media? To start with: Don't write it. What you don't want is to labor over a manuscript and then find yourself trying wildly to find someone to publish it.

Fact is, you can't write for the major media. They'll do their own reporting and writing. So how do you go about it?

Here's advice from a group which has netted 16 cover stories this year alone:

• First, study what they're publishing.
• Second, match the tone of what they're publishing with your own story proposal. Write a nugget of about three lines with your article or interview suggestion -- in the same tone and format as what they are publishing.
• Then telephone and find a reporter or editor who works on subjects like yours. You can find this target person by studying the publication. Now, ask the reporter or editor, "Got three minutes for a story idea?" Almost always the answer will be yes.
• Now, say your nugget. You can read it if you must, and this has the virtue of keeping you brief and on target. If you do read it, try to make it sound ad libbed. But keep it brief.
• Having communicated your nugget -- your story idea -- ask if he or she would like to do the story.

You'll need to make several calls. Two out of three editors or writers will tell you it doesn't fit just now, or they aren't interested, or the angle doesn't fit them. But notice what this says: that if you make three calls, you're likely to find one magical person who will go for your story.

Then follow up endlessly. Don't give up. We've had cover stories require four months of reminders, of tweaking the proposal, of jogging the editor or writer in the friendliest possible way.

It truly works!

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*JournalistPR is the only agency employing only newsroom-trained people (they've worked for The New York Times, United Press International, The San Francisco Examiner, Cleveland Plain Dealer, and others). The group is expert at arranging major articles and interviews for its clients. Its mantra is: To get major publicity steadily, be sure you have journalists talking to journalists!

PR CAUTIONS

By Ronald T. Smith*, Managing Member

JournalistPR LLC, Tampa Bay FL

Here are some things you need to be aware of, if you're attempting to get continuous and large-scale publicity:

1 PRESS RELEASES RARELY TRIGGER BIG COVERAGE

A good subject (see below) can get you small mentions here and there, but media staffs are so decimated that they're really not giving press releases much time any more. The financial editor of The Cleveland Plain Dealer told us once that he receives nearly 1000 press releases a day. Imagine the staffing he'd need to go thoughtfully through them! And imagine the larger cascade at The New York Times. Big publicity comes now via the system outlined in #4 below.

2. KEEP THE LEAD TIGHT

Watch out if your opening paragraph runs more than a couple of lines on your computer screen. Better: one line. The problem is the same as noted above: if they're looking at releases at all, editors don't have more than a few seconds to get the idea of your release and decide either to look further at it, or spike it. (Some antiquated terms: once we shoved stories onto a spike if we weren't going to use them. "Lead" now is spelled "lede" in some newsrooms. Finally, "press release" is not very accurate since broadcasters don't have presses.)

3. SUBJECT: IF YOU WRITE A NEWS RELEASE AS A FEATURE, YOU'LL FAIL

We reviewed a news release the other day from a contributor and liked the lead, but asked ourselves -- as you should ask -- who is going to print or broadcast it, and where?

Do you know where your assets are?

Often the answer is: Yes, no, and maybe.

(Nice job, but where's it going to fit? Instead of a news release, better you should use this as a summary of a proposed article, and propose it personally to the editor if might fit. More below.)

For success, turn out news releases that fit existing departments or features in the newspapers or magazines. Such as new personnel. Office or factory expansions. Honors won or bestowed. And of course, real news such as landing a major contract or aligning with another company.

4. DON'T WRITE AN ARTICLE TIL YOU KNOW WHERE IT'S GOING. MAYBE DON'T WRITE IT AT ALL.

If you write a lengthy piece -- say 800 to 1200 words -- and then look wildly around to find someone to print or broadcast it, you're heading for big disappointment, not to mention overwork. Instead, write a brief summary, perhaps three lines (short enough that you can talk it quickly). Make it sound like the stories that are covered or featured by the editor who is your target. Then call. They'll plead with you to use email, but if they don't respond, it's a black hole -- you have no idea whether it might appeal or not. Call! Ask if the editor or reporter can spare three minutes for a story idea. When they say Yes, as they usually will, read your summary. Let them respond. Or ask "Want to cover it?" If they're interested, they may ask if you have something in writing to email, and you can send your summary.

If they don't have staff available, which is often the case except at the biggest media, they may ask you to write it, and if you're going to charge them. If they do, assure them that it'll be a journalistic job, without puffery, and then fulfill your promise.

The charm of this approach is that by the time you sit down to write the piece, you know the style of its destination. You know length desired, assuming you've discussed this with the editor or reporter. And you may even know a deadline.

--

*The author left home at 14 to work for a newspaper, then was recruited by United Press International for its Boise, Idaho, bureau. At age 19, he was transferred to New York and transformed into an editor. Moving into PR, about five years ago he formed JournalistPR LLC in the Tampa Bay of Florida, which may be the only all-journalist agency in the Southeast. His theory: You get more coverage with journalists talking to journalists. The firm has arranged an astonishing, and perhaps record-breaking, 18 covers or section-fronts this year alone.

Every institution needs a flow of press releases

Every institution needs a flow of press releases. But what if there isn’t any real news at the moment? Fact is, often there is no hard news for you to report, because most institutions don’t generate a lot of news.

Not a problem. The solution is:

Invent a story.

Not fakery. But instead a solid something that editors will want, and are likely to print or broadcast. In other words, you are creating a story where there was none before. Ask questions such as these, and you’re on your way to sharp, significant press releases:

1. Made any speeches lately? Tell me the core message in your speeches.

2. Any expansion of facilities or offices?

3. Can you think of 5 or 8 or 10 things of importance to your customers – questions customers should ask? (Editors love lists.)

4. What are some trends in your industry?

5. Tell me what’s coming up in your institution or your industry.

6. Any new people-appointments here?

7. Joined any committees or groups?

8. You or anyone made a speech or talk?

9. Any changes in your offices or plants, especially expansions?

10. New literature?

11. New products?

Now, about writing your news releases, here are six tips that work well:

1. Headlines are OK although some publicists skip them on the premise that they want the editor or reporter to get right into the story. Headlines, like billboards, are ideally a maximum of 6 words long.

2. Short leads are next to Godliness. Try for a maximum of one and a half lines in normal formatting. Examples are on our web site at “News releases.” Gets your target – an editor or reporter – right into the story.

3. Avoid editorial words. Nix such lines as “XYZ Corp. is proud to announce…” Editors axe words like “proud.”

4. Don’t describe your company as “the leading,” unless you can quote someone outside the company as saying so. “The leading” is an opinion, and good editors – the only kind you care about – will chop opinions out of news stories. If you can rank your company as “one of the half-dozen largest in the industry,” or such, that’ll work.

5. Another kind of opinion to avoid is characterizing a client or subject as “important” or “esteemed.” Good editors will chop it instantly. Why put them through such work? Instead, get known as the writer whose news releases need little work.

6. Get the main point of the story into the lead. Don’t bury it. Ask yourself what is the main news, and make it your lead. (Or, as some newsrooms spell it, Lede.)

Eight tips for stronger press releases

Awful sins are committed in writing press releases. Here are eight tips from a former editor who manages what may be the only all-journalist PR agency anywhere (www.journalistpr.com).

1. Headlines are OK although some people skip them on the premise that they want nothing to interfere with the editor’s getting right into the story. Headlines, like billboards, are ideally a maximum of 6 words long.

2. Short leads are next to Godliness. The ideal lead is a maximum one and a half lines in normal formatting. Gets your target – an editor or reporter – immediately into the story. Here are some examples from our clients:

• When even the CIA sends a recruiter, a college apparently has much to offer employers.
• Perhaps it’s a record: a single architectural firm is working on five separate churches.
• Good bugs apparently are recession-proof.
• What’s the most profitable sales channel for publishers?

3. Avoid editorial words. Nix such lines as “XYZ Corp. is proud to announce…” Good editors axe words like “proud.” And good editors, of good publications, are the only ones you care about.

4. Don’t describe your company as “the leading,” unless you can quote someone outside the company as saying so. “Leading” is an opinion, and good editors will chop opinions out of news stories. On the other hand, if you can rank your company as “one of the half-dozen largest in the industry,” or such, that’ll work.

5. Another kind of opinion to avoid is characterizing a client or subject as “important” or “esteemed.” Good editors will eliminate the adjective instantly. Why put ‘em through such work? Instead, get known as the writer whose news releases need little work.

6. Get the main point of the story into the lead. Don’t bury it. Ask yourself what is the main news, and make it your lead. (You didn’t ask, but here’s a personal opinion from an editor who was known as a curmudgeon: Don’t spell it “lede.”)

7. Give editors and reporters a contact source at the end, not the beginning. Let them get right into your story, so they can decide if it’s worth printing or broadcasting. Don’t confuse at the top.

8. Don’t send out a four-page release. One page to a page-and-a-half is almost always adequate. And who’s going to print four pages of blarney from you, anyway?
--
Ronald T. Smith is managing member of JournalistPR LLC, which calls itself the only all-journalist public relations service. The firm’s associates come from The New York Times, The San Francisco Examiner, United Press International, The Ft. Myers News-Press, The Sarasota Herald Tribune, and other major media.

A New Approach To Public Relations

TAMPA BAY FL – A new approach to public relations is nearing its fifth year here: an all-journalist PR agency.

It is believed to be the only one which employs only experienced journalists – people with newsroom experience.

“So we say to clients, ‘Here you have journalists talking to journalists,’” says Ronald Ted Smith, the managing member of JournalistPR LLC and a former editor for United Press International in New York. “There is an enormous difference in how we approach media, versus how amateurs do it. When we approach an editor or reporter, we are proposing something that they know, and we know, fits their needs and is in their style. So we probably arrange more major feature articles and TV interviews than anyone else in our region. And when we write a news release, it’s solid journalism, not fluff.”

He adds, “I say that we don’t do PR. We do journalism.”

Staff members at JournalistPR have experience at The New York Times, The New York Daily News, UPI, The Newark Star-Ledger, and hundreds of magazines. Clients include New College, Lawson Group Architects, Turner Tree & Landscape, Osprey Biotechnics, John McKay’s Riverside Real Estate Company, Sunovia Energy Technologies, Telename Communications, and Youthful Aging Home Health.

The agency guarantees results. In writing, it tells clients how many feature articles it expects to achieve, and how many news releases – defined as “significant” releases, not routine personnel stories – it will issue. “If we fail to meet any of these targets, we will work for free until it is achieved,” says the firm’s contract.

The company, which is headquartered in Sarasota, serves clients in the region from Tampa to Ft. Myers, and also in Ohio and Washington, D.C.

JournalistPR’s email address is mail@journalistpr.com. Telephone 888-730-6630 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 888-730-6630 end_of_the_skype_highlighting. Fax 941-360-2903. The web site is www.journalistpr.com