How to Effectively Work with your PR Firm

January 11, 2012 Leave a comment

Media relations is about building bridges between you and the media through effective storytelling.  It’s not about selling or hawking or smoke and mirrors.  It’s about showing the media why the story you have to tell will resonate with and impact their readers, viewers or listeners. The secret is to make your story work for the media and for their audience.  Before launching a PR campaign, the job is to start thinking in terms of stories, hooks, and angles.

If you choose to hire a public relations firm, which you should if your budget permits, keep in mind that it’s still your job to help create the stories.  No PR firm or public relations consultant will know your business the way you do.  Yes, they can and should help you brainstorm ideas and angles, but you’re the one who knows your story and your business.  Their job is to effectively tell your stories and build the bridge between you and the media.  Your job is to help them find and develop the stories.   I’ve worked with some clients where six months down the line they tell me about an amazing story that makes for a perfect media pitch.  It’s great that I finally learned about it, but things could have moved much more quickly if I had known about it when the campaign started.  Remember the job of a media relations firm is to tell your story and get you in front of the media.  Your job is to give your PR company the tools, information and the stories to work with.

When looking for a PR firm, search for you that specializes in media relations and media placement.  It’s more important whether the firm you choose knows how to pitch and place stories than whether they specialize in a particular field.  Yes, you want a firm that knows and understands your field and your story, but more importantly, you want a firm that understands the media.  You can always teach them and bring them up to speed about the ins and outs of your field and your company, but you can’t teach them how to pitch or place stories.  Find a company that knows how to pitch and then work with them to develop the stories that work for you and your business.

The first thing I generally suggest is to place some stories on online media outlets to help demonstrate the relevance of your story by generating some initial coverage.  Also, look for topical news stories that you can connect your story to.  If you can tie your story to an issue that is getting coverage, you’ll have a much better shot at interesting editors and producers.

Paid wire services, like PR Wire, Business Wire and PRWeb.com, can be helpful, but you don’t want your PR firm to focus on simply placing press releases on the paid wire services.  These generally work if you have a breaking story, or if your story is tied in with some type of celebrity news.  If not, the best way to garner media coverage is to have your PR firm contacting the media via emails and phone calls directly.  By actively working with your PR firm, you can develop a campaign that interests the media, lands you interviews and builds your brand and your business.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2012

Filed under Talk Shows Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Talk Shows Rule Daytime TV – Now Learn how To Book Yourself

June 29, 2011 1 Comment

Recently ABC announced that it was canceling its long-running soap operas All My Children and One Life to Live and replacing them with two new one-hour daytime talk shows, The Revolution and The Chew.

All My Children premiered on the ABC Television Network on January 5, 1970, as a half-hour show; seven years later it expanded to an hour. “One Life to Live” debuted on July 15, 1968 and marked its 10,000th episode on August 17, 2007.   But times have changed and now reality-oriented talk shows rule the daytime.

The Revolution will be a weight-loss show co-hosted by “Project Runway” emcee Tim Gunn. The Chew have a food slant and will offer a “rotating cast” of hosts that includes chef Mario Batali, Top Chef’s Carla Hall, chef Michael Symon, nutrition expert Daphne Oz, and entertaining expert Clinton Kelly.

These two shows are just some of the more current offerings to an already crowded daytime lineup which will also include such newcomers as Anderson Cooper, Katie Couric, Rosie O’Donnell and Fran Dresher.  Add them to such returning old guards such as Dr. Phil, Ellen The Dr. Oz Show, The Gayle King Show, The Talk, The View, Rachel Ray and Martha Stewart and you have a pretty full day of talk.  Chances are not all of these shows will survive and they will all be fighting one another for the elusive ratings.

This time around there is no Oprah in the mix.  For the first time in decades, a new show truly has a chance to jump out of the pack and claim the daytime crown.  So, if you’re an expert in your field, or someone who has written a book or have a service or product that fits one of the shows’ target markets; get ready to start pitching.  The shows don’t start until September, except for a few such as the Revolution, which is scheduled to launch in January.  But by late July producers are setting up their booking schedules.

Don’t make the mistake of blindly pitching every talk show the same way.  Study each show and see what type of segments they run; then tailor your pitch or press release to meet those criteria.  Remember  follow-up calls are important. They’re the only way to know that your press release has actually been read. And, just as important, by following up, you can find out if the press release did its job and generated interest. If the release didn’t do the trick, you can now add the human touch. If the response is no, you can offer other angles, but do it lightly and then exit gracefully. Don’t waste your time trying to convince the media why you are right or trying to make a hard sale. Your objective is to meet their needs and not by pitching a product or a service, but by giving them a good, compelling story.  Work on your PR pitch before you call. Do some pitch practicing, even if it’s just with a friend. Record a call and listen to how you sound. Don’t sound intimidated and certainly don’t try to intimidate. Be upbeat and polite.   Remember study each show and pitch towards their needs.  It might take some time, but if you stick to it, brainstorm and come up with some creative pitches – we’ll see you on the talk shows.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2011

Filed under soap operas, Talk Shows, target audience, traditional media, TV, tv interview, tv shows Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

John Jacobson & the Double Dream Hands YouTube/ Social Media Phenomena

March 16, 2011 Leave a comment

The video has touched a chord with children and adults worldwide and John receives emails from all parts of the globe praising the song and choreography. John recently walked into a classroom in Mali, Africa, whereupon recognizing him, the children spontaneously burst into Double Dream Hands.  On January 26, 2011, John was featured on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. The episode celebrated Ellen’s birthday and as a present, her staff joined John in performing the Double Dream Hands dance.  Upcoming television appearances include a VH1 special on viral videos to air on March 20.  The video has now spawned an industry.

A Double Dream Hands iPhone application is now available for purchase at Apple’s iTunes store. Fans can upload a picture of themselves (or a picture of their friends, parents, grandparents, favourite celebrities, etc.) doing the DDH dance, wearing John’s famous yellow polo and sporting blond hair!

The popularity of Double Dream Hands has given John a broader voice and he is proud to present his new book Double Dreams: Living a Life of Glee, Harmony and, Oh Yes… Jazz Hands!, which will be available at the end of May on Amazon.com and in bookstores. The book is a collection of heart-warming stories about kids, music, and dance.

John’s family fitness DVD Double Dream Hands: Songs for Fun and Fitness will be available in May. The DVD features a 30-minute workout for the whole family. The childhood obesity epidemic in America has long been a concern of John’s and he hopes to help alleviate the problem with Double Dream Hands: Songs for Fun and Fitness.

For many years, John has been collaborating with the Hal Leonard Corporation, the world’s largest music print publisher.  John has been a freelance music teacher, writer, composer, and choreographer for over 25 years.  He is a passionate advocate of arts education, child fitness, and community service.  John is also the founder and volunteer president of America Sings! Inc., a non-profit organization that encourages young performers to use their time and talents for community service.  Hal Leonard has published John Jacobson’s Music Express Magazine for 11 years.  The magazine, published six times a year, has over 10,000 subscribers.  It contains original songs, dance choreographies, and lesson plans for music teachers.  Double Dream Hands began as a choreography video from the Music Express magazine site.  The rest, as they say, is history.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2011

Filed under Marketing, Media, social media, Talk Shows, TV, youtube Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Twitter Emerges as Larry King Exits

July 2, 2010 Leave a comment

file:///Users/aubriewienholt/Desktop/Larry%20King%20blog.mov This week, Larry King announced that he will be ending his Larry King Live interview show this fall after 25 years on the air. One of the most interesting aspects of his exit is that his announcement was made on Twifile:///Users/aubriewienholt/Desktop/Larry%20King%20blog.movtter, a social media site, and not on his CNN show.   It is indicative of how social media has changed the communications landscape.  From Obama’s presidential campaign, to coverage on the BP oil spill, Twitter and other sites have become primary forms of mass communication.  Stories that not that long ago would have been broken on TV or in a daily newspaper are released in real time via the net.

Both King and Oprah, two long time media giants are exiting at around the same time, as online and social media are changing the media as we know it.  Although King’s show is no ratings giant, it has always been a must for celebrities, politicians and others in the media world.  He recently made the Guinness Book of World Records for having the longest running show with the same host in the same time slot.  King’s softball approach changed the media landscape, melding entertainment and news into a type of edutainment hybrid.  Some major news events took place on the show including Ross Perot announcing his run for president on the show and O.J. Simpson calling in the night of his acquittal.

King has never been the hard hitting acerbic type of interviewer, which offered guests a comfort level that didn’t exist on similar shows.  He and Oprah have defined talk TV in the last two decades.  As the two exit, the torch is now being past on.  At present, sites such as Twitter and Facebook serve to deliver quick bursts of communication.  It will be interesting to see if social media, blogging and other online forms of communication will morph and eventually take up the role now served by the mainstream traditional media.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2010

Filed under Larry King, Media, Oprah, Talk Shows, TV, Twitter Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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