Successful PR Pitch Examples

November 10, 2011 Leave a comment

The media wants stories.  Producers and editors want journeys that offer a strong narrative, something that will capture the public’s attention.

There are hard and soft news stories.  Unless your story is timely and generally relates to a breaking news story, chances are your pitch is going to fall in the soft news category.  Hard news stories cover such topics as a war zone, or a political race or a natural disaster; soft news focuses on human interest oriented stories, such as a new technology product, or a story on a disabled runner participating in a marathon.  The following are some media stories we pitched that worked.  Each illustrates a different way of landing a story.

1) We worked with one client who was down to her last few dollars.  She had developed some fashion-oriented products.  It took some time, but they began to sell.   She made it through the rough patch, built her business into a million dollar enterprise and created an amazing story that resonated with both the media and the public.  Stories on her and her products, boosted sales, but they also gave entrepreneurs, particularly female entrepreneurs hope.  This is a “yes you can” type of story that gets people excited about what the human spirit can accomplish.

2) We also placed a story on acupuncture facelifts.  This was a more fun upbeat story.  It combined health and beauty, offered TV a good visual and offered the acupuncturist an opportunity to discuss some of the other more health-oriented acupuncture treatments she offered.  Unlike traditional facelifts the procedure was non invasive and made for a good TV segment.

3) There was also a story where grade school kids from a local elementary school “adopted” seniors who were living at an assisted living facility.  This was a feel good story about kids giving to seniors and shattering the age barrier.  It offered some good visuals, but also made for a good print feature story.

4) Still another revolved around a cosmetic company that made a product that camouflaged tattoos.  We placed stories on how grooms use the product at their weddings and prospective employees use it at job interviews.   This offered great visuals and allowed us to tailor the pitches to the specific media outlets we were approaching.

These generally fall into the soft news category.  The following is one that is more in the hard news arena:

5) We pitched a story about a physician who was working on clinical trials for a new treatment for pancreatic cancer.  The hospital was looking for people to participate in the trials.  The stories reviewed what the treatment entailed and the type of trials they were running.

Public relations can be the least expensive and most effective means of getting your message to the public, policy makers and  investors . But to be effective you need to recognize what a good story is and then create news stories related to your work that appeal to the media and the public.  So study the media, learn the types of stories they run and pitch them accordingly.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2011

 

 

Filed under business, Public Relations Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Perspective Creates Reality: How the Media is Prolonging the Economic Mess

October 18, 2011 Leave a comment

We’re fooling ourselves if we don’t think that the media profoundly shapes our reality.  We are what we know and if all we hear and see is that the economy is tanking, that our politicians are useless and that things are getting worse on a daily basis, then in time those thoughts and feelings define us.   I’m not advocating ignoring the facts and viewing the world through rose-colored glasses, but I am saying that collectively we act and react based on what we hear and see.  Watching a continual stream of segments on how the economy is tanking and reading article after article on how there are no jobs and why credit has dried up is going to impact the choices we make and that in turn impacts the economy.

Fearing the worst, individuals are going to spend less, employers are going to take a wait and see attitude towards hiring, and banks are going to tighten their lending practices.  That is human nature.  That is how we work.  We act and react based on what we know and corporations and governments act and react the same as families and individuals.  I know we like to think that CEOs and politicians are above such human frailties and act in sane rational ways, but they’re simply people and they react as we all do.

Consider the stock market.  We basically bet our economy on this system, yet its ebbs and flows can be measured on a daily basis by what news the media is reporting and how it is reporting it.  And I’m not talking about fact-based reporting, but on speculative stories.  If CNN, the Wall Street Journal or the New York Times run a story about something that might happen, or about an event that could have a potentially negative effect, the market generally reacts in a big way the following day, not based on facts or figures but based on emotional reactions. Surely that is an oversimplification of how the market works, but it is a much bigger factor than experts generally give credence to.

It’s as though we want to pretend that in the worlds of economics and politics, human beings suddenly act and react in non human ways.  We want to believe we’re rational grown ups and that the economy is based on facts and numbers and therefore is not subject to fears and fantasies.   That is simply wrong.  Continual doses of doom and gloom causes (guess what?) you got it more doom and gloom.  We are creating a self fulfilling prophecy, but we refuse to see it.  We want to pretend that grown ups don’t act in such emotional irrational ways.  But it’s been shown time and again that they do.

So, what if the focus shifted?  What else would shift?  My bet is quite a bit.  The media’s not going to change; they are convinced that if it bleeds it leads and that’s where they’re going to stay. But what if collectively we changed?

This is where personal public relations, particularly media relations, along with social media and blogging can make a huge difference.  It’s true that PR is used to drive business, but it can also help change attitudes and policies.  It can impact the stories that are covered and can help change the direction that the media takes.  If a story you pitch is covered, another possibly downbeat story gets bumped.  If a momentum starts, then a shift begins.  It’s cumulative, it takes time, but collectively it helps us take some control back.   What if we were to start pitching and blogging and posting good news stories?  What if the media no longer defined our world for us?  Who knows how the world would change.  I say, let’s give it a shot.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2011

Filed under business, Marketing, Media, news Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , ,

Why You Should Launch a PR Campaign in a Tough Economy

October 13, 2011 Leave a comment

No one is going to buy your product or services if they don’t know it exists and this is particularly true in tough economic times.  As counter intuitive as it might seem, the slow times are the times that you can’t afford to cut back in your marketing efforts.  It has been documented that companies that increase their marketing efforts during a recession can improve their market share as well as their return on investment at lower costs than they can during good economic times.  This is true because during uncertain times consumers need the reassurance.  They need to see you’re there.  While your competitors are cutting back and going into stealth mode, you should be keeping yourself and your company in front of your target audience.  While the competition is out of sight and out of mind, you should be front and center.

Understandably you don’t want to take on an expensive advertising campaign during lean times, but you do want to market.  You want to be creative.  You want to focus on how to best reach your market at a reasonable cost.  You also want to be realistic and understand that you’re going to need to invest in yourself and your company.  As the old adage says, it takes money to make money; but it needn’t take a lot.

  1. Initially, study your market and define your specific target market.
  2. Next, do some research and find out how to reach that market.  What do they read?  What do the watch?  What social media sites do they use?  What web sites do they visit?  You don’t need to hire a firm to do this market research for you.  Give someone the parameters you’re looking for, put them in front of a computer and get them started.  Twitter and Facebook alone offer a wealth of information on consumers and their likes and dislikes.
  3. Make a list of the media they read, watch, and visit.
  4. Develop a marketing campaign that will speak to your target market.

Because advertising and direct marketing can be expensive, I generally recommend a targeted marketing campaign that combines traditional public relations with an online campaign that includes blogging and social media.  Media relations is so effective because it reaches your target market, establishes you as an expert and offers you the validation of being featured in the news.  It also gives you powerful ammunition for your social media campaign.   The story pitches and press releases that you develop to present to the traditional media can also be modified and used online in your blogs and social media posts.  Always keep in mind that your objective is to present yourself as a problem solver.  Don’t pitch your business or product, explain how you can solve your client’s problems and make their lives easier, more efficient, healthier, etc.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2011

Filed under business, Marketing, small business Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

From Guest Blogger, Ann Convery: How to Be The Answer to Your Client’s Prayer


October 11, 2011 Leave a comment

Elizabeth was an expert teacher and healer.

Potential clients saw her as a great help.

Elizabeth wanted future clients to see her, 
not as “great help,” but as  essential to their well-being.
But clients often don’t see you as essential 
unless you directly impact the bottom line.

“How can I stop being seen as the “help” – as in 
“I help men and women heal from cancer and chronic illness?”

Elizabeth sighed.  “People just don’t get what I do!”

If you provide a service where money is not the bottom line,
 how do you position yourself as a Trusted Advisor?
Or maybe even… the answer to their prayers?

You let your future clients know within the first
 two minutes that you impact their emotional or physical
 bottom line.

Their what?!

We all have several bottom lines.

If you need to lose weight, you’re very clear on
 your physical bottom line – it’s about 20 lbs lighter.

If you want to find your soul mate, you’re very clear on
your emotional bottom line – it’s called “Happily Ever After.”

If you are critically or chronically ill, you’re very clear
 on your health bottom line – it’s pain-free long life.

The closer you are to your client’s personal 
bottom line, the more valuable you are to them.

Here’s how Susan, Jackie, and Jeff, all experts in their field, were presenting themselves:

SUSAN SAYS:  “I help my clients lose weight and get in the best shape of their lives.”

YOU THINK:     “Go away so I can sneak another Danish.”

JACKIE SAYS:  “I help women find the relationship of their dreams.”

YOU THINK:     “Gosh, I’ve never heard that one before.”

JEFF SAYS:      “I help my clients heal from cancer and chronic illness.”

YOU THINK :    “Great.  You’re probably too ‘New Age’ for me.”

The problem for Susan, Jackie and Jeff was…

  1. Potential clients didn’t see their expertise as critical to their lives.
  2.  They gave their audience no clue that they were the answer to a client’s prayer.
  3.  They were therefore perceived as “Helpful” service providers.
  4.   All three experts even used the verb – “I help.”

Here’s how Susan, Jackie and Jeff repositioned themselves as
 Trusted Advisors, or, the answer to a client’s prayer:

SUSAN:  “I just worked with Jennifer, who went from a size 10 to a 4.  
The new man in her life asked her if she was a model.  95% of my 
clients achieve their ideal weight in 6 to 18 months.”

JACKIE: “85% of my clients are in a committed relationship in 12 months.  
I’m invited to so many weddings I can’t go to them all.”

JEFF:    “When I met Joan, the doctors had given up on her.  She was too 
weak to get out of bed.  1 month later she was walking.  12 months later 
she opened her own business, and now she’s training for her first marathon.”

When your clients look at you…
do they see a Helper?  Or the answer to their prayers?

You either add to their personal bottom line, or you don’t.
That’s how clients see it.

So if you want to be seen as a Trusted Advisor…
(and I’ve never met a professional who didn’t)
let your potential clients know within the first two minutes 
how you add to their personal bottom line.

Don’t be one of the crowd.

Be the answer to their prayer.
 Try it!  It works!

Copyright © Ann Convery 2011

Filed under business, Marketing, Networking, sales, Your Message Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Using PR to Maximize Your Networking

October 10, 2011 Leave a comment

All small business owners are told about the importance of networking; of getting out there glad handing, meeting prospects and drumming up business.  To be honest, it’s not my favorite pastime, and I haven’t always had the best luck on that front.  Truth be told, I’m not what one would call a born networker.  Even for those who excel at the process, this can be a rough time in the networking world.  I was speaking to a business owner the other day who was explaining that he’d never gone to so many lunches and mixers in his life but most of the time he discovered that the people he was talking to were hoping he could send some business their way.  He explained that it was tough enough going out there and trying to meet prospects to pitch his service to, but discovering that most of the people he was talking to were desperately trying to sell him, made things really depressing.

Don’t get me wrong, networking can be an incredibly powerful business tool and there are people out there who are experts at it; but not everyone is born with that networking gene.  Although it should be a part of your marketing mix, networking on its own is not a marketing strategy.  Do your homework and make sure the mixers or networking events you’re going to are appropriate.  Don’t just go to make yourself feel like you’re doing something.  There are times that action for action’s sake can work against you.  Also, be sure and prepare yourself before you head off into the wild world of networking.  Know what you’re going to say and how you’re going to present yourself.  Remember you’re not there to sell your product or service; you’re there to explain your value, show how you can solve problems, and offer solutions.  You’re there to show your prospects why they want to work with you.  Ann Convery, who developed the Speak You Business in 30 Seconds Or Less system, is a master at this process.  If you have a chance, check out her website at: http://www.speakyourbusiness.com

So whereas it’s important to keep networking as a part of your marketing mix, start thinking in a broader based approach.  Consider using public relations and social media to establish yourself in the market place.  By launching an effective public relations campaign you establish yourself as a news story.  You gain the credibility and validation of being featured in a magazine, newspaper article or on a TV or radio segment.  You become an expert in your field.  Utilizing blogging and social media, you establish a presence on the net and are able to talk directly to your prospects.  By combining media relations with a social media approach you can magnify your press coverage through the various social media sites – and that can be an extremely powerful marketing approach.  It also makes networking all the more effective.  When you do go to a networking event or mixer and your prospects see that you’ve been featured in the media as an expert in your field, you’ll be way ahead of the competition.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2011

Filed under business, Marketing Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

A Message From Guest Blogger, Ann Convery: Discover the Biggest Mistake Made Every Day When Talking/Writing to Prospective Clients – Is it Losing you Money?

October 5, 2011 Leave a comment

Curiosity, anticipation , desire and anxiety.

 These are the feeling states that will bring you more clients – anywhere, any time.

The secret language of desire.

Speak that language, and people will overcome any obstacle to work with you.

(If you’re using it now, you know what I mean.)

You know you’re GREAT at what you do.

But do you still…

Watch people smile and nod politely, but don’t buy.
Or they tell you how much they like your stuff… and then walk away

Ann Convery’s Language of Desire system has brought in millions in revenue for her personal clients in the last 4 years.

Download & Listen to the Free call on youresobrilliant.com where she gives you the keys to the kingdom…

  • Discover 3 easy, astonishing ways to speak the Language of Desire and attract as many clients as you can handle.
  • Uncover the secret trigger that instantly prompts prospects to relate to your service and begin to fantasize about it — right while you’re talking to them.
  • Find the fastest way to banish confusion and delay in people, so choosing your service is a no-brainer.

Listen for one hour with Ann and say goodbye to being ignored, shunned and broke.

On the call:

  • Find out exactly what to do and say to connect directly with the “Hidden Buyer” in everyone. In minutes!
  • Create the Gap – the #1 tool that makes you “priceless” to your market.
  • Create “Suspense Mode”, where your audience is 10 times more likely to buy.
  • And lots more…

It’s all here. And it won’t cost you a dime!

The language of desire will bring you more business. Every time, with every client.

Listen to an amazing call that can change your business, your income, and your life.

This works with or without a website, online and off.   Even if you have no experience.

Ann’s system has brought in over $8 million in revenue for her clients in the last 5
years.

Discover the core skill that will bring you more revenue for the rest of your life.

We had such a phenomenal response 
to “The Secret Language of Desire” call
that we’re doing it again – a live interview, not canned.

And I am taking the risk of trespassing on
 your over-flowing workday to 
alert you to it.

Why?

So you and your business can 
become the most powerful discovery 
in your client’s professional lives.

The call is this Thursday, 
Oct 6th, (yes! Tomorrow) at 1:00 pm PST, 4:00pm EST.
http://www.masterclientdesire.com/

It seems like magic.

It isn’t.

Your prospects buy from Desire.
Nothing else.

When you listen to the call –

You’ll discover a system 
that lets you to talk about your business
in such an irresistible way…
–>  That the reactions,

–>  The immediate, intense interest,

–>  And the clients you get…

Can exceed anything that has happened to 
you before.

http://www.masterclientdesire.com/

And when you join us on this call, you will
 Discover:
—> How to grab the attention of prospects 
who are total strangers  …in seconds.
With no sales talk.

—> The 5 channels you need to build on that instant
attention.  So doubters become prospects.
And prospect become clients.
—> How to create an irresistible path to desire.  
(So they pursue you, not the other way around.)
Because no matter what business you’re 
in… the foundation to your success is 
communicating your value.  So your
 prospects get it.  In their gut.

With the language of desire… they will.

All the best,
Ann
p.s.   Become “priceless” to those who need you.  
So they cannot afford to forget you.
http://www.masterclientdesire.com

Copyright © Ann Convery 2011

Filed under business Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Value of Online Press Releases

September 30, 2011 Leave a comment

Online press releases are a bit like ants at a picnic.  They are everywhere and can be a bit annoying.  Whereas they do have their uses, it’s important not to confuse online with offline releases.

Traditional (offline) press releases are used to pitch a story to the media.  They are your calling card; a quick way to tell your story and highlight exactly why the media should cover you.  But when it comes to landing media, a press release on its own is seldom going to do you much good.  It’s true that we’ve placed stories by sending out a press release, but those instances are rare.  Chances are you’ve also heard stories of companies that have placed a press release on one of the paid wire services and have gone on to garner national media coverage.  Those stories are also true, but, to be honest, your odds are better of winning in Vegas than of hitting it big in the media world on the strength of a press release.  A press release can be a great introduction, but if it’s not followed up with phone calls and other media approaches, chances are it’s not going to get you far.

The job of the traditional press release is to start a conversation and to generate some initial interest or curiosity.  Online press releases have different objectives.  When effective they can help you move up in search engine rankings, build back links and help drive targeted web traffic.  If you’re lucky they will get picked up by other news sites and blogs.  If you’re remarkably lucky they can result in landing you traditional media coverage.

As I mentioned earlier, they can help with your SEO.  So know what keywords to use.  Use one of your primary keywords in your titles and incorporate other keywords into the content.  Don’t overdo it though.  Be judicious in your keyword usage.  Keep in mind that with online press releases you’re primarily talking to your target audience, whereas with traditional press releases you’re talking directly to the media.  Those are very different audiences.  With online releases, create copy that is as relevant to your audience as possible article content.  Don’t sell yourself or your product or service; offer solutions.

But if traditional media is your objective, sending out online press releases is generally a very ineffective approach.  They can be seductive at first.  Your releases might get picked up by Google or Yahoo or other online sites, which is fun to see, but the chances of that type of exposure leading to coverage in a magazine, newspaper or on TV are remarkably slim.  So keep your objectives in mind when deciding what types of press release you want to utilize.  Both traditional and online releases have their place, but each has a different function.  If your objective is to help increase your web traffic and raise your search engine ranking, online is worth a shot.  If you’re looking to gain coverage in TV, print, or radio, whereas online might help, to be truly effective, focus on the traditional approach.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2011

Gregory, Alyssa. “Publish Your Story to the World.” Photo. SitePoint. 02 Oct 2009. 30. Sept. 2011. <http://www.sitepoint.com/online-press-release-distribution-sites/&gt;

Filed under business, Media, news, Public Relations, social media Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Complementary Healthcare: An Industry that Defied the Recession

September 26, 2011 Leave a comment

The complementary health care market is one of the few arenas that has not been hard hit by the current ongoing economic downturn.  This is particularly true when it comes to nutritional supplements.  The aging Baby Boomer population is fueling the upturn as are the legions of health conscious consumers who turn to supplements as an affordable, generally from their perspective, much less risky way to stay healthy compared to prescription drugs and other medical procedures,

According to “Nutritional Supplements in the U.S., 4th Edition” by market research publisher Packaged Facts, it is estimated that “U.S. retail sales of nutritional supplements exceeded $9 billion in 2009, up 8% over 2008 sales. From 2005 to 2009, the market grew by a total of 26%, fueled by growing consumer awareness about health maintenance, in addition to pressure by the media and government to enforce product accountability.”

This shift has to do with an increasingly health conscious attitude, as well as the nutritional supplement industry’s efforts to focus on more science-based claims.  During the past few decades the industry has made huge strides towards building its credibility in the marketplace.  The effort has paid off.   Packaged Facts forecasts annual sales growth in nutritional supplements will gradually improve over the next few years and sales will exceed $13 billion in 2014, yielding a compound annual growth rate of 7%.

Some national surveys estimate that in a given year, 40% of all Americans incorporate some type of complementary and alternative therapy into their healthcare routine.  It is now abundantly clear that complementary medicine is definitely not a fad, as many had suggested in the 1960’s but is a dynamic part of our healthcare system.  It is generally outside of the insurance umbrella and therefore must be paid for out of pocket, but this is one area where Americans are willing to spend their dollars.

That said, for those companies involved in the nutritional supplement or complementary and alternative medicine fields, reaching the target market is of tremendous importance.   It is clear that the market is there and that these are consumers that are willing to pay money in order to help safeguard their health.  The important part from a business perspective is to define the target market, pinpoint how and where to reach them and speak to them in a language they understand.   A combination of public relations and social media outreach is generally the best approach since it reaches the market and offers the validation and legitimacy that comes with being featured in the media.

A well constructed, effective medical PR campaign educates, instructs, informs, and whets the public’s appetite to know more. On the marketing end, it also stimulates a target audience to take action, whether that be making an appointment, purchasing a product, or visiting a store.  To effectively market in this arena, you need to offer a good compelling story that also educates and informs. Although not every product or service has a huge potential market, in the nutritional supplement arena you don’t need huge, you need a realistic, well-defined market.  You’re job is to define that market, target them, promote successfully and speak their language.  Do that and your in business to stay

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2011

Filed under business, Health, healthcare, Medical PR Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Steve Jobs Approach to PR Magic

September 20, 2011 Leave a comment

By branding yourself as well as your business, you set up a two-pronged marketing campaign.  By establishing yourself as an expert in your field, you become the authority, the go-to person in your particular arena.  This type of validation will then extend to your product or service.  People buy what they trust.  Establish yourself as an expert and you won’t need to sell your clients or customers, they will come to you.   People will look to you not only for your product or service but also for you advice, your savvy, your expertise.

That is what made Steve Jobs so immensely valuable to Apple.  Love him or hate him, people saw him as the innovator, as the one who changed the field, the one who came up with the most interesting and exciting products.   The one they could trust. Whenever Steve jobs presented a new product, be it the Mac, iPhone or iPad, it wasn’t just a presentation, it was an event; it was an experience.  Journalists would fall over one another to cover it. And it wasn’t simply a tech story; it was a pop culture event.  It would be covered on every type of media outlet from Wired, to the Wall Street Journal, to CNN, to Extra.

Okay, so you’re not Steve Jobs.  But you get my idea.  An effective PR approach is to establish and brand yourself as you brand your business; and branding is perhaps the main function of a successful media relations campaign.  Yes, you want to reach prospective customers and clients, but you also want to establish who and what you and your business are.  Remember you’re not selling a product or service, you’re building a brand that establishes your value in the marketplace.  That is precisely why you need to view PR as a long term process.  It’s impossible to establish a brand in a few months.  It is a cumulative process.  You need to be consistent.  You need to stay on course, particularly during the first six months, which are generally the toughest.

Building a brand comes down to creating a strong narrative, building a strong story that people relate to.  That’s where Jobs understood the process more than most.  The Apple brand came to be an ongoing story with new chapters being added with the launch of each new product.  Jobs established himself first as a wunderkind, then as a visionary, then as a shrewd business leader who could turn a business model on its head and open new markets.  But that legend didn’t simply happen on its own.  It was a well crafted, strategically organized public relations campaign.

As an entrepreneur or business owner, take a page from one of the shrewdest marketers we’ve seen in ages.  Brand yourself as you brand your business.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2011

Filed under business, competition, entrepreneur, Marketing, Media, PR, technology Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Why Your Customers Can be Your Best PR

September 13, 2011 Leave a comment

Your best stories might not be your product or your service; your best stories illustrate your value.  Where most people get lost when trying to come up with story angles or media hooks to launch their PR campaigns is that they focus on what is important to them, as opposed to what would interest the media.  It’s an easy trap to fall into and one that railroads most public relations campaigns.  So what makes for a good story or pitch idea?  Remember, your focus is on the media and the media’s focus is on their readers, viewers or listeners.  If you can pitch a writer a story that is going to interest their readers, or a TV producer a segment idea that is going to hook their viewers, you’re going to succeed.

But again the most difficult part is being able to step back and come to terms with the possibility that the story that you want to get in the media may very well not be the story that the media is interested in.  So, for now, forget your product or service and focus on your value.  How to you impact people’s lives?  Do you help people make more money?  Do you save them time and effort?  Do you help them lose weight?  Do you make them healthier?  Focus on what you do for your clients or customers.  Keep in mind that your best stories are often your client success stories.  Make a list of clients or customers who have interesting impactful stories they can tell.  You want these stories to illustrate how lives were changed or transformed by working with you or buying your product or service.

Contact the appropriate clients, explain how their stories can help educate and inform others who are dealing with similar problems or issues.

If the stories include before and after photos, make sure to get images that are as professional as possible.  Have your clients sign a release form.

Match the various patient stories to the appropriate media outlets.  For example a story about weight loss, would be pitched differently than a story about a new financial product.

Meet with the clients and review the questions that the media could ask them.  Make them as comfortable as possible with the process.  Remember, these clients are not only telling their stories, they’re representing you and your business.  You want them to be articulate the presentation to be accurate and appropriate.

When talking to a client about the process, explain what would be involved and see if they’d be willing to talk to the media. Keep in mind that often this can amount to free PR for them, so it can be presented as a win-win arrangement.  The media gets a good story, your client can often mention his or her business and you are presented as a solution to a problem.  Not a bad deal.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2011

Filed under business, Media, PR Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , ,

Creating a PR Pitch that Works

September 7, 2011 Leave a comment

An effective public relations campaign can reach your target market, establish you as an expert in your field, and offer you validation and legitimacy that comes with being featured as a news story.  That’s great, right?  But how do you come up with the right pitches and ideas to grab the media’s attention?  You can send out press releases and media blasts all day long, but if you don’t have a compelling story that meets the media’s needs, your PR campaign is not going to work for you.  So how do you go from concept to actually landing TV and print stories?  Brainstorm.  Think like a journalist, not like a business person.

  • Set up a brainstorming session with your PR consultant, or, if you’re doing this in-house, meet with members of your staff that understand your practice.
  •  Allow everyone involved to speak freely.  Start with a list of the obvious stories, then drill down to more unique stories or review different ways to present stories.
  • Think out of the box.  Be creative.  Remember you don’t have to use all of these stories, but the deeper you drill, the better the chances of finding a great story, so let the ideas flow-freely.  You’re pitching TV, so think in terms of the strongest visual stories you can present
  • Divide the stories as per the various media outlets you’ll be approaching.  There will be some stories that are timely, others that are seasonal and others that are evergreen.  Come up with a schedule of when to pitch which stories
  • Divide the stories into local, regional and national.  Different media outlets have different needs.  You want to pitch towards their specific needs.

You want to illustrate why your story and pitch is a perfect fit for their readers or viewers.   You want them to see the value in your story.  To do that you have to come up with a pitch that speaks to each media outlet’s specific audience.  You very well could pitch Vogue, the Today Show, the Wall Street Journal and your local newspaper the same story, but you’d have to tailor you pitch to meet those outlet’s specific needs.  You’d need a female angle, a visual angle, a business angle and a local angle.

Remember, your job is to present yourself and your product or service as a story the media will want to cover, not to do a sales job.  As soon as you try to “sell” a producer or an editor, you’ve lost.  To interest the media don’t pitch your product or your service, pitch a story; pitch your value.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2011

Filed under business, news, PR Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

← Older posts

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 130 other followers

%d bloggers like this: