How To Successfully Present Your PR Pitch to the Media

March 1, 2013 Leave a comment

TV-InterviewWhen pitching the media, or your target market, generally the harder you sell, the quicker you lose them.  I don’t know of an editor or producer who likes a hard sell.  When launching a PR campaign, or sending out a press release, the hard sales approach is never going to serve your purpose.  Sell and you lose.  You don’t want to come off sounding like a promotional brochure or an advertisement.  Talk about unique selling points and chances are you’ll hear the click of a phone as they hang up on you.  If you have features you want to get across, find a creative way to communicate them.  Whether the benefits you’re hoping to get across are reduced costs, better health, more efficiency, or increased wealth, you need to relate your message in a concise and interesting manner.  You’re not holding a fire sale, you’re telling a compelling story.

Before you tell your story, you need to understand who your story is aimed at; who you are telling it to and for and what action you want the reader to take when he or she reads your story. We live in the age of content marketing which when it comes down to it is basically marketing via effective storytelling.  It’s about creating compelling, persuasive and believable stories.  It’s about narratives that grab your reader’s attention.

First figure out how you’re going to tell your story.  It could be a written press release, a whitepaper, a video, images with infographics, a teleseminar or webinars, etc.  Once you’ve figured out how you’re going to tell your story and tailored it toward your particular market, focus on the story itself.  Create the content.

If you’re launching a public relations campaign and are pitching an editor or producer the action you want them to take is to do an article or segment on you, your company or your product.  If you’re going directly to consumers, your aim could be to raise awareness, educate, inform or change perception.  Here, depending on your needs, you’ll have a different call to action. Your goal could be to get your reader to purchase your product, or to share your content.  Regardless of the call to action, the intent remains the same, to build trust and relationships by offering relevant and useful, compelling information.   In other words, you succeed by telling a concise and compelling story.  So, forget the hard sell.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2013

The Daily Muse. “Talk Show/ PR Image.” Photo. Mashable. 19, Dec. 2012. 28, Feb. 2013. <http://mashable.com/2012/12/19/tips-for-hiring-pr-agency/>

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PR Tip of the day: 3 Various Ways to Present Your PR Pitch

February 4, 2013 Leave a comment

what-is-the-future-of-pr-find-out-at-mashable-connect-1730ec194fWhen launching your PR or media relations campaign, review and breakdown the various ways you can present a topic.  Make a list of how you can present your expertise in different ways.   How can you refine your pitch to target different markets and age groups?  How does the topic you’re discussing impacts women, men, children, seniors, etc.?  For example, if you’re a skincare expert, chances are you could come up with a number of different pitches targeted various target markets. You could develop a traditional beauty pitch for the women’s magazines, a story on men’s skincare for the male-oriented media outlets, a pitch on aging skin for the baby boomers and a pitch on protecting children’s skin from sun and wind damage.    When developing your public relations pitches, work on how you can present the 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.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2013

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As The Election Looms: Is the Electoral College Bad PR For the Country?

November 5, 2012 Leave a comment

According to an article in the New York Times, “In 2008 voter turnout in the fifteen states that received the candidates’ attention was 67 percent.  In the remaining 35 states it was six points lower.”   In other words, those voters who felt they were being actively engaged by the Presidential candidates were more likely to participate in the political process.  In the 1960s candidates would cross the country addressing the needs of the nation and reaching out to a large swath of voters.  This was particularly true in the tightly contested 1960 election between John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon.  Between the two candidates every one of the 50 states was visited by at least one of the candidates.  Fast forward to 2012.  Since the political conventions the candidates have only campaigned in 10 states.  There are small cities in swing states that have had more attention from Obama and Romney than the entire west coast.   Now that we have red states and blue states, areas that the candidates feel sure that they’re either the strong favorite, or odds on to lose.  In a tight election such as this our candidates chose to ignore those states.  Because most states chose to deliver their electoral votes on a winner-take-all basis, there is no impetus for the candidates to reach out to states that seem decided.  As we saw in the 2004 election, it’s possible that one candidate wins the popular vote, while another wins the Electoral College.

There are various plans out there seeking to address the issue, one is the National Popular Vote plan.  It is a voter initiative proposed by John R. Koza.  According to Mr. Koza, it can be implemented without a federal constitutional amendment.  The actual elimination of the Electoral College would require one; but, as with the constant plans being offered to change the tax code, chances are slim that any change will come about.  Still, many of the voters around the country feel like they’re watching on the sidlines as the voters in Ohio, Florida and Virginia are courted by both candidates.  Each person wants to feel that his or her vote matters.  When voters feel taken for granted, they lose interest.  That’s bad PR for our political system.  When voters feel excluded they tend not to participate, not the best thing for a democracy.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2012

Heuer, Jennifer. “American Flag”. Photo. The New York Times.  03 Nov 2012. 05 Nov 2012. <http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/04/sunday-review/the-vanishing-electoral-battleground.html?_r=0>

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From Perception To Reality: How to Win the Presidential Race

September 10, 2012 Leave a comment

The Republicans had Akin, a hurricane, and Eastwood’s empty chair performance to distract them from their core message.  Initially the Democrats seemed to have smooth sailing.  The general consensus is that the Democrats held a more successful, on-point convention, buoyed by President Clinton who raised the bar and delivered the most effective speech of either convention.  He did a credible job of explaining how Obama inherited a mess that took years to create and that no president could have effectively cleaned up in four years.  The convention ended on a high note, but a high that was short lived.  Soon after the convention wrapped up and the last of the confetti hit the floor, the employment report was released, letting the air out of all of the collective balloons in the auditorium.  The news was not good.

So whereas the Republicans were hit hard on the front end of their campaign with the Akins story and the hurricane taking away much of the media’s coverage, the Democrats had basically smooth sailing until the campaign wrapped and the unemployment figures were released.

Obama is once again having to run delivering a message of hope and faith that a change is coming.  It’s a message that tries to move our attention from the present to the future.  That’s a great message for a candidate, but a much harder message for an incumbent.  Just as the Republicans have done their best to steer clear of memories of the George W. Bush administration and keep the focus away from the mess that the administration left the country in, the Obama administration is going to have a tough time running on future promises as opposed to past performance and present conditions.  Again, Clinton best articulated Obama’s strongest talking points, but the current administration needs to be the one to deliver that message if it’s to resonate with the voting public.

Both parties are choosing to steer clear from how they’ve either brought on the problem or have ineffectively dealt with it.  They are also both choosing to avoid specifics as to what concrete steps they’d take to effect change.  Both are big on generalities and grand pronouncements.   Both are offering vague platforms leaving it to the voters to fill in the gaps.  That is certainly an approach that has worked in the past, but in a race that is this close, it could be a mistake.

Voters are weary.  It’s been a rough few years.  People don’t want platitudes and general concepts, they want concrete plans.  They want bold moves.  It very well could be that the candidate who steps out of the political comfort zone, takes on some of the controversial issues and clearly outlines what he intends to do to help the country change course,  will be the candidate who wins.

It is not only in the worlds of PR and media relations that perception becomes reality.  Life works that way as well.  That’s precisely why Barak Obama is the president today.  The public perceived him as the agent of change following a low point in our history.  In this current presidential race, perception may well be what will tip the scales.  The presidential candidate that chooses to get in front of the issues and who outlines his plan in a concrete and compelling manner could well be the candidate that will be perceived as the best choice and will be sitting in the White House come 2013.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2012

Marshall, Andrew G. “Bill Clinto, Barak Obama, and the politics of public relations.” Photo. The Market Oracle. 10 Sept. 2012. 10 Sept. 2012. <http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article36433.html>

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Speaking, Presentation and Media Training Tips

July 16, 2012 1 Comment

Whether you’re doing a TV interview, giving a seminar or making a presentation, it’s important to be prepared.  Although from your perspective you might feel your main objective is to inform, in truth your primary goal is to engage with your audience, whether it be an audience of one or (via traditional media or social media) an audience of millions.  If you’ve launched a public relations or media relations campaign, you need to be prepared before doing that phone interview or appearing on a TV segment.  If you’re speaking at an event, again, you need to do your homework and be ready before stepping up to the microphone.  With that in mind, before you start your speech, presentation or interview, study the following:

1) WARM UP.  It takes most people at least ten minutes to warm up, but you might not always have that luxury, so practice.    Picture that this is you, sitting around after a dinner party telling a great story to good friends.  This is the “you” that will make a great interview.  Practice with your associates, in the car, at the studio.  Just talking and laughing with people, and especially putting others at ease, will do it.

2) IT’S YOUR MESSAGE Imagine reframing the interview in your mind, to where you have invited these people in order to educate, inform, and entertain them.  Your job is not to sell, but to communicate and engage.  This will add vitality, power, and energy as you deliver your message.

3) PASSION.  Why are you there?  Because you want to make money, sell books, land clients?  Probably.  That’s important.  But try this motivator instead:  you’ve got a great story, secrets to share, tips to impart, solutions to offer and you want everyone to know about it.  You REALLY BELIEVE what you’re saying, you’ve got the answers, and it’s fun and rewarding to enlighten others.  You have a mission and you’re passionate about your mission.  You want the public to know the truth.  Passion will make you come across like a dynamic expert who has the answers, rather than simply a talking head.

4) LOOK TO THE PROBLEM.  If you need a hint as to how to make your communication more vital and exciting, ask yourself – what problems did you (or your profession) solve in order to develop that approach, write that book, or create that program?  Give your story a narrative, with a beginning, middle and an end.   Explain how bad the problem was, how you solved it and how happy your clients are now that it’s solved.

5) BELIEVE IN YOUR MESSAGE.  If you’re shy and you have trouble speaking in public, focus on your ability to help, inform and educate; believe in your story, or your product, or your message.  Can you help people?  Can you make their lives better?  The answer is yes!  Believe in your message.

Remember the best PR or media relations campaign will fall flat if you don’t believe in and effectively deliver your message.  So work on your delivery and presentation.  Pump up your passion.  Enthusiasm can be infectious.    When it comes to your business and your brand, you are the message.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2012

eHow Contributor. “Prepare for a Television Interview.” Photo. eHow. 16 July 2012. <http://www.ehow.com/how_2065941_prepare-television-interview.html>

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Isn’t Public Relations Only For National Exposure?

July 9, 2012 Leave a comment

My general rule of thumb is to never use the word only when referring to public relations.  For example, statements such as: public relations is only for celebrities, or PR is only for major corporations, or PR is only for national exposure are all incorrect statements.  Yet, most people have a tendency to think about PR in that type of only perspective.  Which is why there are so many misconceptions around what PR is and how media relations works.  Those type of onlys tend to shut people down and often lead business owners and entrepreneurs to make the wrong marketing decisions.

So they miss out on finding new ways to establish their business, bring in more clients, make more money and build their brand.  For example let’s take the statement that PR is only for national exposure.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  There are a number of ways businesses can local marketing exposure for national companies is one of the most overlooked areas of opportunity. Local exposure for businesses that provide products and services only in a designated local geographical area generally have an abundance of exposure opportunities available to them.

The truth is that PR, like a car, can be used for a multiple of reasons.  If you’d never bought a car and you heard that they were only for celebrities, or only for professional race car drivers, or only for the owners of large corporations, you’d think twice before buying, but think of what you’d be missing. There are myriad reasons that people buy cars. Some drivers only want a car for local transportation, others cover long distances, some carry equipment and are used for work, others are high end or turbo charged; it all depends on the driver and his or her needs.  And the same is true when it comes to launching a public relations campaign.  Your primary focus might be local or national, or a blend of the two; your aim might be to build your business, or bring in more clients, or establish yourself as an expert in your field, or establish your brand.  All of those are legitimate goals that can be accomplished via PR, publicity and media relations.

PR is perfect for start ups, small businesses, huge corporations, artists, celebrities, physicians… you can pretty much fill in the blank.  It is a form of marketing that you can utilize to meet your particular business and marketing needs.

So figure out what your marketing goals are.  What is your target market?  Who is your audience?   Who are your clients and customers?  Once you know your objectives you can develop a public relations campaign custom made for you and your business.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2012

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PR & Marketing Brainstorming Tips – Part 2

June 25, 2012 Leave a comment

To begin, set up a session to review all of your media hooks and possible PR ideas.  They can be obvious, or they can be crazy.  You don’t have to use all of these, but you do want to push yourself, use outside of the box thinking and let your creativity run wild.  Once you’ve created a list of possible ideas, the next step is to review which ideas are your strongest, which have a chance of gaining you and your company media coverage.  Now start thinking like the media.  Let’s say you’re an editor or a producer; which of the stories you’ve come up with would be the most appealing.  How and why will those ideas work?  Now drill down even further, which ideas will work specifically as TV pitches?  TV is a visual medium; you want to present stories that offer more than just a talking head.  When pitching TV, think in terms of the strongest visual stories you can present.  Now think in terms of radio, what type of story ideas would work best there?  Next, do the same type of exercise with print media and social media.

Finally, start segmenting the media.  Different media outlets have different needs.  You need to keep that in mind when pitching and presenting your story ideas.  This is where most stories meet their doom.  You need to not only pitch great story ideas, you need to pitch stories that a particular journalist who writes for a very specific target market understands.  For example you might come up with a great pitch idea that you could present to women’s magazine, men’s magazine and general interest magazines, but how you pitch your story to each particular outlet  is going to decide whether the media is going to cover it or not.  That’s why you want to spend time brainstorming practicing how to build those media bridges.

Remember your PR hooks and media pitches need to meet the needs of the various magazines, newspapers, radio shows, and internet sites that you’re targeting.  You could have a great story, but if you pitch it to the wrong media outlet, it won’t get you very far.  Effective PR comes down to effective story telling. Take time to brainstorm and develop your stories.  It will be time well spent.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2012

Brown, Ronald. “Innovation- Idea-Light bulb.” Photo. Mashable. 22 Jun 2012. 25 Jun 2012. <http://mashable.com/2012/06/22/measure-product-viability-agile-time/>

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PR Secret: A Good Story Will Get you in the Media Today

April 20, 2012 Leave a comment

With all of the new theories, programs, classes and seminars and master mind groups on how new media and social media are changing the world of PR, one thing remains constant, to be successful in the PR world, you have to have a story – good, compelling story with a strong narrative. All of the newest sites, gadgets, bells and whistles will get you nowhere, if you don’t have that in place.  Not that long ago, when the dot.com explosion firmly set on its head, the fact that AOL was set to swallow up Time Warner, was a story.  It actually should have been placed more in the realm of fiction, or better yet science fiction, but it sure as heck was a story; and one that received non-stop media coverage.  But if your company’s not about to gobble up Facebook, or Google, or Apple, how are you going to interest the media?  Some imagination and creativity on your part are in order.  You need the newest PR secret, which is also the oldest; you need a compelling story!

For example, if you’ve started a new website for your business, a press release announcing that your new site has been launched might get your company some ink in certain trade publications, you have a shot at garnering some online mentions on Yahoo and Google, but is that really what you want?  If you’re intent on launching an effective media relations campaign, you need to offer the media more than the fact you’ve created a new site.   What makes your site unique, special, different, or cutting edge?  What problems does it solve?  What questions does it answer?  How does it make a person’s life easier, happier, or more effective? 

This is no longer a one-story-fits-all world, and it’s imperative that a company develop press releases, hooks and ideas that will compel an editor, writer or producer to want to do a story. Think of the media less as a unified country than a segmented group of islands, each with its own interests, philosophy and needs.

What interests the Wall Street Journal will not necessarily interest USA Today, 60 Minutes, People, Vogue or your local media outlets.  The job of an effective media campaign is to interest each one of those venues.  Depending on  the campaign, the name of the game is to reach either a specifically targeted group or the largest number of consumers.  Each objective has its own strategy, but regardless of the strategy or objective, every campaign comes down to one main component; a good hook.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2012

Snow, Shane. “8 Hot Media Trends You Need to Know.” Photo. Mashable. 19 Apr 2012. 20 Apr. 2012. <http://mashable.com/2012/04/19/hot-media-trends/>

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How To Stand Out In a World of Dot.com Gerbils

April 16, 2012 Leave a comment

The internet has not only drastically changed industries, such as music, media and film, it has changed marketing forever.  Let me restate that, it is changing marketing on an ongoing basis.  How we send and receive information is in a constant state of flux.  There is no final destination; no point of arrival, there is only a constant ever evolving journey.   The not-so-long-ago lonesome trails of the net are now overly congested and traffic is bumper-to-bumper.

This is true not only of the number of web sites themselves but of the proliferation of web and dot-com advertisements. The amount has reached critical mass.  Not only has how we receive our information changing from PCs and Macs to pads and smart phones, but the amount of information that is flowing to us seems to be growing exponentionally.

The problem is the more information we receive, the less we actually register.  Every day we are bombarded with emails, pop ups, banners, etc.  It’s bad enough that we’re assaulted online; the offline world offers little escape.  From sponsorship of college football bowl games, to billboard ads, to stickers on produce, companies are trying any and every advertising and marketing avenue available to lure customers to their sites.

The sheer volume is so overwhelming that most of us are left with little more than a memory of countless dot-com companies that offer something – we’re just not sure what.  From traditional ads and commercials, to PR and media relations campaigns, to email marketing and social media campaigns, companies are trying any and everything to get your attention.

In real time the internet has shot from toddler to grown-up overnight, and the marketing strategies of even one or two years ago will no longer suffice.  So, where does that leave the entrepreneur who is looking to successfully market his or her online business?  Advertising, when done adeptly and consistently, is essential, but these days it can only take an internet company so far. To truly establish a company in the public eye, it’s imperative at some point for the message to take that defining, and validating leap from an ad that precedes the evening news to the story featured on the news.

Whether a company’s objective is to obtain more funding or attract more consumers to its site, there is nothing as validating and legitimizing as a well-placed print piece or TV segment.  The trouble is that not that many years ago, garnering Internet-oriented press was relatively easy.  Remember all of those articles and TV segments heralding the emergence of MySpace?   Stories about the launching of new IPOs, teen-aged wunderkinds who became overnight billionaires, and the very novelty of it all commanded reams of print as well as hours of TV and radio coverage. The wanna be Amazon.coms of the world were featured in every magazine and newspaper and on every TV and radio station.

Well, these days not only are consumers inundated with dot.com information, so is the media, and launching a successful media relations campaign is a bit tougher than it once was.  Still, when it comes to launching and implementing a successful marketing campaign for your online company a strategic mix of traditional PR and social media is your best bet.  As to the hows; I’ll be covering that in my follow up article.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2012

PETERD. “Fish.” Photo. SEOBOOK. 17 Oct 2011. 15 Apr 2012. <http://www.seobook.com/web-publishing-strategies-help-you-stand-out-competition&gt;

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Outside the Box PR Tips

April 10, 2012 Leave a comment

If you’re pitching the media, make life easier on yourself, pitch the media stories that it wants.  Develop and pitch good, informative, timely entertaining stories.   Editors and producers want to interest as many readers, viewers, or listeners as possible and if you’re willing to work to help them do that, the media can become your greatest ally.  Help them meet their needs and they in turn will help you build your business, sell your products and establish yourself as one of the experts in your field.  But in order to do that you need to think not like a business owner, but like a journalist.  You have to study the various media outlets, review the different formats and study the types of stories they’ve run in the past.

You’re going to succeed by learning how the media thinks, not by assuming you think you know what they want. You have to prepare, do your homework; study the various media outlets. The bottom line is a good story, but it also has to be a story that the media finds of interest.  Don’t assume because you find your particular story fascinating that the media will like it as well.

Your first job is to develop your stories.  That is step number one.  There are no media relations or PR campaigns without good stories.  Once you have those ready to pitch start thinking out of the box.

The following are two out-of-the-box PR tips to consider:

1) Use your website as a way to offer the media story ideas.  Make your site a media destination; a place where editors, producers and writers can find information and story ideas that have to do with your field and expertise.  Do some research and offer facts, tips, and story ideas that the media can use in your media room.  Make it a fun informative, entertaining and educational page.  Offer resources, insider information, tips, advice, and outline the topics and areas that you’re expert in.

2) Conduct an online survey about something in your field and let the media know the results.  The media loves data, that’s why they’re forever quoting information from various polls and surveys.  So offer them your survey.  Give them insider information that they can find no where else.  Then write and distribute a press release publicizing your data and findings.

These are just a couple of outside-the-box tips.  More will follow in upcoming articles.  But, give them a try.  Be creative.  Have fun with this.  Come up with some outside-of-the-box tips of your own and share them with us.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2012

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Easter Season PR Tips

April 6, 2012 Leave a comment

One of the main things to look for when pitching the media is how and when you can pitch your story to an event, a breaking news story, a season, or a holiday.  For example, around New Years is a perfect time to pitch stories about weight loss, exercise and fitness. That’s the time that people, who have overeaten during the holiday season are making their resolutions to get into shape, lose weight and establish new eating habits.  Not that those resolutions often stick, but if you’re a fitness trainer, or are marketing a weight loss supplement, or have written the latest and greatest diet book, this is a perfect season to launch your media relations campaign.

Likewise, if you run a spa or you’re a florist, or you sell designer chocolate, Valentine’s Day is great time to launch a PR outreach campaign.  Valentine’s Day is also your target day if you’re a relationship expert and have a new book on finding that right someone, or if you run a dating website.

But what about Easter?  What are some campaigns that work best during this season?  There is quite a lot you can do.  The following are some Easter PR tips to keep in mind.  Remember these are basically seasonal, so you can launch them a bit before the actual day, but can also keep working the campaign for a few weeks after Easter has passed.

  1.  Easter is about spring renewal, which means flowers.  If you’re a florist, you’ll want to consider coming up with unique Easter floral arrangements, gifts, displays, etc.  Tie a story into your pitch.  How do the flowers specifically illustrate the season?  What makes these displays Easter specific?
  2.  Easter is also about food.  Pitches that offer unique Easter recipes, dishes, and desserts can work.  Try to give the recipes some history.  Where do they come from?  What makes them special?  How do the tie in to the season?  Build a story around the pitch
  3.  Easter is also about fashion.  If you’re a designer of clothes or accessories create a PR pitch that ties the season into your designs.  Come up with creations that are specific to the season.  Present yourself as an expert, explain what colors and fabrics should be worn and why.

All of the above are secular ways to pitch, but this is also a great time for churches to do a PR campaign.  What could be a better time to reach out to the public.

You get the idea.  Easter signifies a celebration of spring and renewal.  Find a way to tie your product into those concepts.  Be creative.  Have fun with it.  And – Happy Easter

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2012

Aitch, Travis. “Easter Egg Chocolates.” Photo. Info Barrel. 05 Apr. 2012. <http://www.infobarrel.com/The_Origin_of_The_Easter_Bunny_and_Easter_Eggs&gt;

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