Learning the PR Mindset

December 20, 2011 Leave a comment

Launching and sustaining a public relations campaign is an ongoing process.  In the PR world, you are continually refining and modifying your approach, pitches, story ideas, and media lists.  If a basic pitch is working, you want to stay with it for a bit.  One mistake I’ve seen companies make is that they try to continually send out new pitches and releases simply for the sake of getting new information out to the media. This mindset of continually writing press releases that aren’t newsworthy in order to keep new information flowing, is a dangerous one.   Yes you want to offer the media new angles, pitches and media hooks, but you don’t want to send out new information unless it’s truly warranted.

Monitor how your media pitches and press releases are being received.  If a pitch you sent out six weeks ago is gaining traction and garnering media coverage, stay with that story.  Work it; develop it; use the media coverage you’re now landing to garner more media coverage.  Don’t shift your focus simply because your calendar says it’s time for a new media release.  Truth is that media relations is more of an art than a science (which drives most left brainers crazy).  If you try to simply set up a mechanical or statistical PR gameplan and allow that to dictate the campaign, you’re in trouble

As with the media itself an effective public relations campaign is fluid.  It is both proactive and reactive. If a national story breaks and you can tie your story to it, you need to be able to react, move quickly and change your approach.  If, on the other hand, a pitch is working and gaining traction, you want to stay with it, work it and keep it moving.  Media relations can be difficult for those who need to follow a specific course set-in-stone approach.  It is an ever changing, continually evolving practice.

Begin by creating a list of objectives that you want to achieve before launching a media relations campaign.  Now come up with a list of story angles and media pitches that you can use.   When it comes to PR brainstorming, your goal is to create a list of the most important story ideas including: new business concepts, the unique value you offer, important information you can give, and anecdotal stories.  Part of that process is to give some thought to how and why you can be presented as an expert in your overall field.

Initially you want to come up with your story ideas and media pitches, followed by your target media lists.  Create specific objectives, but allow the campaign the ability to shift and change course.  Developing an effective PR strategy is not unlike creating an effective sports gameplan.  You develop a strategy and draw up specific plays, but you also allow yourself the ability to act and react depending on what comes at you. There is an intuitive aspect to the PR process that has to allow for action and reaction.  You want to set up a specific target and gameplan, but you need to be able to shift and alter your plan as needed.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2011

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Media Training Secrets for Business Success

December 16, 2011 Leave a comment

When I began in the public relations world over twenty years ago (that’s daunting), I quickly realized that landing an interview or a story for a client was only a part of the process.  Early on that first part of the process was my primary focus.  My job was to garner media coverage for my clients on TV, print or radio (this was actually pre social media days) and that was that.  Well I soon learned there was a huge difference between simply landing an interview and having the client give the media a successful interview.

Clients need to be prepared to speak to the media.  Although the best interviews seem like conversations, in fact they are not.  Both the interviewer and the interviewee have an agenda.  The interviewer wants to interest his or her target audience; the interviewee wants to get his or her message across, which should include a call to action.  Interviews work when the questions and answers flow and the agendas don’t clash.  But this is easier said than done.  After having producers and editors give me some tough but needed feedback about clients who were either boring or were too pushy, I realized that in order to achieve real PR success, media training was needed.

That’s when I brought on Ann Convery.  Ann has served as our media trainer since then.  She is now an international speaker, seminar leader, trainer and author who has prepared clients for interviews on Oprah, CNN, 60 Minutes, The Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, as well as hundreds of local, regional and trade-oriented media outlets.  Ann’s gift is to teach clients how to distill their message and speak to the media in a way that meets the media’s needs but also meets the client’s needs.

For a PR or media relations campaign to be successful, landing interviews and media coverage is not enough.  Clients need to be able to deliver their message in a clear, succulent, informative and entertaining manner.  Easier said than done, but it is a skill that can be learned.   For years Ann has prepared our clients to do just that, deliver effective and successful media interviews.

But her real genius was her ability to connect the dots and realize that the ability to effectively communicate with the media could be just as powerful and effective when communicating in the business world.  Using her media training skills and techniques, she developed Speak Your Business in 30 Seconds or Less.  Speak Your Business is a system that shows you how to find very specific words and numbers – found only in your business – so that you are effortlessly speaking and writing directly to the hidden, hungry “buying” brain in your prospects, every time.  Utilizing these tools, many of Ann’s clients have generated up to thousands of dollars in business within months with her Signature Series program, “You’re So Brilliant. Why Don’t They Buy?”

The bottom line is if you’re going to launch a public relations campaign for you and your business, you first need to master the art of effectively communicating.  Just last month a client who assured me he had been media trained and was set to do interviews, came off looking like a deer in the headlights when we landed him a spot on a TV news program.   Believe me, media training is a skill that will serve you well.   More importantly, as Ann teaches, these communication tools and skills work whether you’re talking to the media, delivering a speech, networking or making a phone call to a prospect.

For more information visit:   www.annconvery.com     

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2011

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How to Use PR to Establish Yourself As an Expert in Your Field

December 6, 2011 Leave a comment

PR can reach your target market, validate and legitimize your business by establishing you and your business as a news story, it can separate you from the competition and it can establish you as an expert in your field.

Establishing yourself as an expert can offer amazing benefits, first and foremost people trust experts, they rely on them – they hire them.  Also, the media calls on experts to address topics and explain issues.  So, how do you establish yourself as an expert?  Public relations is far and away the most successful tool for creating experts.

You have a specialty; a topic or area that you’re expert in.  That’s the main area you want to address, but if you move a little right or left of center, chances are you can come up with much wider list of topics you can discuss.  For example, if you’re a cardiologist, can you discuss the various ways that social media and the internet are changing the practice of medicine?  That’s not exactly a cardiology story, but it does deal with medicine, the culture at large and can help establish you as an expert.  Remember the bigger the media bull’s-eye, the greater your chances of success.

Also make sure to study the media on a regular basis to see what stories they are covering.  If you can address any topics that are currently in the news, present yourself as an expert.  For example if you are an attorney and a lawsuit is garnering media coverage, pitch yourself as an expert who can address and explain different aspects of the case.

Now breakdown the various ways you can present a topic.  For example, review how the topic you’re discussing impacts women, men, children, seniors, etc.  If you can present your topic in different ways and to different audiences, you’ll have a much greater opportunity to garner media coverage as an expert in your field.

Your field of expertise is your primary area of focus.  Can you present new ways of looking at or approaching that field?  For example, if you run a company that produces skin care products, your main pitch is obviously going to be how effective your product is, but can you develop a pitch about how your company is helping the environment?

Be creative.  Is there a new trend or a new approach that you can discuss and explain to the media and the general public?  For example if you’re a musician or a record label can you address how the music industry is shifting and explain how the various new trends in music are impacting the culture at large.

Once you’ve come up with a list of topics you can address, put together some short concise pitches.  Make sure to send appropriate pitches to the various media outlets.  For example, if you’re pitching women’s magazines make sure to structure your pitch in such a way that pertains mainly to women, if you’re pitching the business-oriented media, make sure you lead with a strong business angle.  With some practice you’ll see that you can pitch different media in different ways, the more media you pitch, the more hits you’ll garner and the more your influence as an expert will grow.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2011

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5 Tips to Creating An Effective PR Campaign

September 2, 2011 Leave a comment

Whether you hire a public relations firm, a PR consultant, or try a do-it-yourself media relations approach, the following is a quick outline on how to create your own public relations campaign.  If you’re working on a shoestring budget, or are launching your campaign on your own, remember what you don’t know definitely can hurt you.  Study the media and do your homework before trying to land media placements.  The wrong story idea, pitch or approach can end up doing you more harm than good.

If you’re working with a PR firm, do precisely that, work with them.  You know your business better than they ever will, but they know the media.  Working with each other and bringing your various strengths to the table will help ensure your success.  You’re job isn’t to give your public relations firm marching orders, but to work hand in hand with them, help them develop story ideas, and involve yourself in the process.  It works best when everyone is a part of the creative team.

Once you’re ready to move forward:

1.  Hold a brainstorming session to develop pitches and angles

Remember a good PR campaign comes down to having good stories to tell.  Have a brainstorming session where you come up with anywhere from five to seven different PR hooks or story ideas.

2. Create a list of compelling anecdotal stories.

If you offer a product or service, come up with anecdotal stories that help illustrate what you do and how you affect people’s lives.  Your journey, how you started the company or created your product could offer a compelling angle.

3. Create a list of potential stories and match them to appropriate media outlets.

Remember not all stories or pitches will fit each media outlet.  Study the various magazines, newspapers, TV shows and radio programs.  Now work to match your pitch to each media outlet’s particular needs. Make a list of appropriate media outlets and write a one-page press release that you can modify to fit the needs of each specific media outlet.

4. Review various ways to present yourself in order to establish yourself as an expert.

Work on presenting yourself as an expert in your field.  Is there a news story that you can comment on?  Can you explain how your business or field works or how it impacts people’s lives?

5. Develop different story angles for print, TV or radio.

Remember TV is a visual medium.  Try and come up with visually oriented stories that you can pitch to producers.  Print and radio generally offer you a bit more time to tell your story.  Develop strong transformational stories that are interesting, compelling and informative.

PR is the only form of marketing that can reach your target market, establish you as an expert in your field and offer you the validation and legitimacy of being featured as a news story.  It’s an amazing marketing tool.  Whether you hire a PR firm, a public relations consultant or launch a campaign in-house – start now!

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2011

 

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Illuminative Marketing: Creating Business By Offering Benefits And Solutions

April 12, 2011 1 Comment

How do you respond to cold calls, ads, direct marketing pieces, email spam?  Exactly.  Now why would you expect your prospects to react differently?  Generally people either run from or lash out at aggressive hard sell marketing,

Although they can work, traditional promotion efforts have a poor return on investment.  Most prospects turn and run when they feel they’re being sold.  Overt promotion is considered intrusive, overly aggressive, and unwelcome.  Approaches such as cold calling generally induce reactions such as irritation fear, impatience, annoyance and anger.  Not the reactions you want to illicit in a prospect.  These approaches trigger people’s fight or flight responses.  Your prospects either want to argue with you, or they want to slam the phone down in your ear.  Not a good way to start to a business relationship.  There is a reason why cold calling and direct marketing have such low rates of closing.  These approaches set you up as the adversary, the enemy.

To market effectively, attraction should be your focus.  You shine a light on your prospective client’s problems and offer solutions; which in turn draws prospects and clients to you.  Illumination equals attraction.  The trick is to shift from a traditional marketing approach to one that focuses on your value; the standard dynamics of marketing are upturned, as your focus moves from promotion to attraction.  Doing business with you becomes appealing, desirable.  You and your business are sought after.

This is where a combined approach that includes PR, media relations, blogging and social media, can be so effective.  For this to work make a firm connection with your message and your audience.  Your approach needs to be in alignment with your core values and your true skill set.  Focus on illumination and attraction rather than on selling; you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the results.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2011

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4 Sure Fire Ways to Develop A Dynamite Media Pitch

December 15, 2010 Leave a comment

When developing stories to pitch to the media, remember to focus on their needs.  It’s tempting to focus on stories that talk about how great your product or service is, but that’s generally not going to interest the media.  Your job is to come up with story angles that excite and interest the media.  Below are some quick points to consider when developing your media pitches:

1.  Problems Solved:

Develop stories and pitches based on problems that you’ve solved.  If you can use anecdotal stories to illustrate your point, even better, that will give you a stronger story.  Create your pitch showing how you helped others solve their problems.  Then present those stories to the media focusing on how your story can help their readers, viewers or listeners.  The trick to landing media coverage is to show the media that you can speak directly to their audience.

2. Your Success Stories:

This is similar to the first point, but here you want to illustrate how your company, product, service, or expertise has helped others achieve their goals.  This could also be your personal success story, but make it a good one.

3.   Trends:

Are there any trends or market shifts that you and your business can illustrate?  This can be a great way to develop a pitch.  It shows the media how your particular story can illustrate a larger point.  You can also present yourself as an expert who can help explain or illustrate a certain trend.  For example, if there has been a shift in your field, you can be the one that explains how and why this shift affects us.  Sometimes, by giving it some thought and connecting the dots, you can help create and develop a trend.  This can actually be a fun exercise.

4.  Controversy:

Is something you’re working on controversial?  Can you take a stand that’s somewhat controversial?  Can you disagree with a common belief?  Is there some way that you can participate in a national debate that’s already taking place?  Keep an eye on what’s going on in the media and present yourself as an expert in your field who can discuss the issue.

Before you start working on your pitches and story ideas, remember that your focus needs to be on what the media is looking for and on meeting their needs. They want stories that talk directly to their audience.  Study their target market.  Keep in mind that the various media outlets you’re pitching will each have different target markets.  Each media has its own needs, so make sure that the stories and angles you present, are presented in a media specific way.  Review the above list and create pitches based on the different approaches.  You’ll be surprised at how many dynamite media pitches you can create.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2010

 

 

 

Filed under Marketing, Media Coverage, Media Exposure, Media Relations, PR, Public Relations Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

How to Effectively Work With Your PR Firm

September 2, 2010 Leave a comment

Perhaps the most difficult concept for those new to PR to fully understand is that an effective public relations campaign is a gradual building process.  It is the most effective and powerful form of marketing.  It offers validation, credibility, reaches your target market.  But, seldom does it happen overnight and to be honest, there are often real pitfalls to campaigns that move too quickly.  A gradual sustained build that offers a cohesive story and establishes a brand is the best approach.

When launching a public relations campaign keep the following in mind:

You need to define your stories. It’s important to create different stories to meet the needs of different media outlets.  I’ve found that it’s often effective to initially send out a general handshake release and then drill down to more media specific stories.

Develop pitches for the various types of media.  For example, TV is a visual medium.  You want to offer them more than a talking head.  Think of visual oriented segments or stories you can offer.

Keep in contact with your public relations firm, but don’t try to direct or control the campaign.  If you’ve hired them, let them do their job.  Otherwise you’ll never really know how the campaign could have worked.

It’s important that your communication with your PR firm be free flowing.  Keep in touch but don’t demand an excessive amount of time.  Again (and I know this can be difficult) trust the firm you hired to do its work.  Remember if you’re demanding they spend their time communicating with you, they’re not spending that time pitching the media.

Remember that PR is a gradual process.  Give it time to work.  If you keep digging up your bulbs to see how their growing, you’re eventually going to end up with a lot of dead plants.

Don’t go into a campaign expecting to land a national TV segment or a magazine cover within the first month or two, that’s not a PR gameplan, that’s a fantasy.  And, as I mentioned previously, I’ve worked with clients who landed major national media right off the bat.  Ironically that’s not always the most advantageous situation.  A gradual, organic build is the optimum approach.   If you hire professionals that know their field, you work with them and give them enough time to launch a campaign, chances are, your PR efforts will be successful.

Prepare for your media interviews.  Your PR firm can set up interviews for you, but once those are set you need to be able to articulate your story, stay on message and meet the media’s needs.

Develop anecdotal stories and testimonials that can be used in the campaign.  They are often your best stories.  For examples, a physician’s most important stories are his patient’s stories.  His expertise and knowledge is important, but what’s truly compelling is how he has changed his patient’s lives.  Those are also the stories that the public will identify with.

PR and media relations can brand your company, take you to the next level, grow your business and establish you as an expert in your field.   But, as with so much in life, for it to work, you need patience, preparation and sometimes have to get out of your own way.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2010

Filed under business, Business Strategy, Marketing, Media Relations, Public Relations, social media Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

How To Revitalize and Transform Your Business

August 21, 2010 Leave a comment

When you first launch a business you jump in with the excitement of starting a new romantic relationship.  It’s new, exciting, the possibilities are endless.  You throw all of your time effort and creativity into it.  You stay up late and wake up early.  You eat, drink and sleep your business.  As your business grows and the newness fades, the excitement can begin to wane.  Whether your business is on a success track or on stale mode, the sameness of the process can cause your excitement to fade, the energy to ebb, and the overall process to come to a virtual standstill.  It’s time to revitalize your business, your outlook and your approach.

In life, change is the one constant; the problem is that most people hate change.  They resist it and do everything they can to stay with the status quo.  But for businesses to remain competitive they must grow, transform and adjust.  The problem is knowing exactly what adjustments are the ones to make.  Change for change’s sake can often be more disastrous than rigidly staying in place.  When it comes to figuring out what changes you need to make, look to the marketplace; your target audience can be your best ally.  The market’s needs will let you know what business opportunities are out there. Often when change happens in a marketplace, companies and business owners go into panic mode.  It can be a daunting time for many businesses.  Look at the music, publishing and DVD arenas.  Seismic changes in those fields are causing businesses to falter and in many cases go under.

If you don’t get into a mindset of change, you could remain stagnant, or worse yet, go backward.  It’s time to view your business with new eyes.  This isn’t always easy.  We get locked in our business process and it’s hard to pull away from that gravity field.  But if change is happening around you, you’d better be ready to keep up.

For example, when blogs, social media outlets and online media sites began to become important communication outlets, many predicted that they would spell the end of traditional public relations.  Not a happy thought for an owner of a PR firm, but as we began to embrace the changes and utilize the various different forms of communication, it soon became apparent that not only was the Internet not a threat to our PR efforts, it greatly enhanced them.  Now, when we place a client in a magazine or newspaper article or on a TV or radio segment we can magnify and amplify that media coverage via blogging, social media and forums. Conversely we can first establish a client via the net on a website, blog, social media outlet or other online avenues and use the online buzz to generate interest from the traditional media.

Think of your business as an ever evolving process.  Let your competition stay rooted in one place.  Keeps your business growing; you’ll be surprised at the new outlets and opportunities you’ll find.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2010

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The Steven Slater Saga: How Becoming a Media Darling Can Be a Dangerous Thing

August 12, 2010 2 Comments

Steven Slater, a flight attendant for JetBlue Airways, has overnight become a cult hero of sorts.  He made perhaps one of the most theatrical job exists in history and pulling off what so many of us would love to do.  Decades ago the song Take that Job and Shove It by Johnny Paycheck became a hit, by striking the same chord, but this was real and done in a dramatic Hollywood style.  Slater got on the public address system, let go with a few choice words, picked up some beers, deployed the emergency chute and off he slid towards stardom.  In a day he has become a superstar, a Face book darling, the media is chasing him as they would a rock star, CNN based an article on his story asking readers to share their dramatic quitting stories.  According to media accounts, Slater is being offered reality TV stardom, which, I suppose is the present currency of celebrity.  There could be a film.  He could start a movement, or this could be his 15 blazing media minutes of fame.

The danger with this type of celebrity is that the media quickly gets bored with the fun, hero-good-news stories and usually starts digging for dirty laundry.  For someone who had no intention of ending up in the limelight, this can be a harrowing experience.  There is no preparation; there is no defense in place to the intrusion that this type of spotlight brings with it.   Best, that Mr. Slater hire a PR firm and fast.  It wouldn’t hurt to get an agent and a lawyer.  But, he should think long and hard before forging forward.  Sudden celebrity is a terrain strewn with landmines.  Still, he did quite with flair and has carried the “I’ve had it” banner for the little guy.  He’s given hope to those who want to take their job and shove it, but can’t; he’s become a symbol of what is possible.  This is a strange world where instant stardom is possible, so who knows, in a few months, some other disgruntled workers may have their fifteen minutes on Steven Slater’s upcoming reality show.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2010

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How Much Time Should You Spend Marketing Your Business?

July 29, 2010 2 Comments

How much time you should spend on marketing is a question every business owner needs to answer.  The tricky part is there is no one-size-fits-all answer.

Your Message

One definite is to make sure that all of your business information is clear, concise and focuses more on your clients or customers needs than on your biography.  You need a website (that’s not optional) so make sure you present yourself in a way that interests your prospective clients and includes a call to action.  You need to establish a sense of urgency if you want visitors to do more than simply read your copy and move on.  If they are going to hit an opt-in button, or are going to email or call, they need a compelling reason to do so.  Make it clear how you’re going to help your customers, why they need you and why they need you – now!    If you’re not a good copywriter, hire one.  But make sure that the copy reflects who you are, not who the copywriter is.  Know your market and focus on speaking directly to that market and its needs.

Networking

Create a good networking and support system.  If you can get others to recommend you, or point prospects in your direction, that makes life much easier.  But actively networking can take time and money.  If you are spending hours driving to and attending networking events start to measure how much money they are bringing in.  People often confuse activity with productivity.  That can be a dangerous trap.  Some people also use networking as a substitute for a social life.  Be clear on why you’re networking, if it’s paying off and, if not, how you can modify your approach.

Various Marketing Options

Those are your basics, now comes the harder decisions.  What type of marketing should you do and how long should you spend on the process?  To come up with the right formula for you and your business, you need to define what goals and business objectives you want to accomplish.  The answer is going to be different depending on if you’re launching a new business, introducing a new product, or launching a campaign to reach a different market.  The one constant in this formula is that for a marketing campaign to be effective, it needs to be consistent.  Marketing does not work like a fire sale; it is not a quick fix.  It takes time, effort and consistency.

Marketing Budget

Develop a marketing budget based on your needs, time and resources.  If you can outsource and hire professionals to run your marketing campaign, do so.  If you’re on a shoestring budget and need to wear the marketing hat, along with all of the other business hats, spend some time and money on a good marketing consultant and set up a program that is effective and realistic.  Remember your job is to run your business; spending 75% of your time on marketing is not the wisest use of your time.

Maximize your marketing by creating a synergistic marketing program.  Spending all of your budget on a one-time ad or commercial is not a marketing plan, but a Vegas style gamble.  If you’re working on a tight budget, consider a marketing mix that includes public relations, social media, and blogging.  These approaches reinforce one another.  You can place an article you were featured in on Facebook and post your newest blog on Twitter.  Done correctly, the sum is greater than its parts and in time you can create an effective inbound marketing machine.

Time

That still begs the question how much of your time should you spend marketing.  There is no one answer, but you can come up with a basic formula.  When you launch a business chances are your going to have more time than clients.  That’s okay, that’s the nature of a start up.  Use that bulk of your time to market.  Write articles about your business and your company, blog, develop a presence on social media sites; pitch yourself and your company to the local and national media.  As your company begins to take off, keep the marketing in high gear, but start hiring professionals to do many of the jobs you were doing.  Hire a copyrighter, a PR firm, a social media expert.  Pretty soon you’ll be overseeing your marketing but not running it all on your own.  That is a sure sign that you’re headed in the right direction.    Approach marketing as an essential.  Err on the side of marketing more rather than less.  It will pay off in the long run

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2010

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