Know-How Exchange : Advertising/PR

PR is more than writing and disseminating news releases. Getting your business' news covered by your area's media is about developing and maintaining relationships with reporters and editors, knowing the ways they want to receive news pitches and what defines news. (If you start to pitch things that aren't newsworthy, you will quickly lose respect of outlets and coverage will be hard to achieve.)

Media also get their news via social media. Many are on Twitter and
Facebook and put out inquiries for stories on which they're working. You want your PR person to monitor those outlets and put our your business' news there, too.

Dear nvierzba,

PR is what you pray for. How good are your in roads with the
people you'll be PR-ing to?

Your current PR person has relationships with media outlets.
He or she knows what's newsworthy and what's fluff. You do not.
If you're going to sever this set up because of cost and saving a few bucks, beware.

What may be seen now as a cut in expenditure may be the worst investment (more of an outvestment really, if there is such a thing) that you could make.

In times of financial woe companies cut marketing and media budgets AT THER PERIL. Once you fall OFF the radar of customers or the press, it's difficult to fall back on it again.

Gary Bloomer
Wilmington, DE, USA

I handle all of our PR and marketing. I spend hrs a day posting events on local community calendars, have created a master PR list, so when there is an event, my press release goes to every newspaper, magazine, and editor, in town. Also the best way to market is online. Its free! Good luck!

Is the results of the PR your current person doing resulting in increased revenue for your business? Is the revenue covering their costs? If so, why be penny-wise and pound-foolish? If their pitches aren't resulting in being seen (or being seen by the right people), look for another agency or try to do this in-house. The advantage of an agency is in addition to an ongoing relationship, they're also aware of upcoming stories and may be able to package some of their clients as a single resource, etc. If you've already decided to do this in-house, focus on a single media contact and get to understand them, their needs, and see how you can help them (not simply pitch them your business - but connect them with resources that will prove your value to their reporting needs).

it is not just about pitching the news. PR also has to do with knowing the editor, what makes them tick, how they confirm the news, his/her style, their boss' preference, how that media outlet is behaving, the reputation of the same, do you really want to pitch to that newspaper with this particular news? Can you make a news become a real news? Do you know what research based news is? have you developed any relationships with the local media?

Unless you have some idea of what PR is and how to manage the in-house person. Learn more before you start embarking that thing called "PR".

do you know what crisis communications is? If you services or product received some very adverse reaction from the public, do you have a game plan?

it doesn't seem that easy is it now?

This is a personal business. Personal relationships with the media is what makes your releases get into the publication. The media gets hundreds a day. Their relationship with the media is what gets yours to the top of the pile.