Tag Archives: media training

Dispelling the Dark Side Myth

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   I’m joining my former WXRT News colleague, Charlie Meyerson with our first blog brainstorm.
Charlie has graciously agreed to my request about his good, bad and ugly experiences with PR people. I’ve happily obliged his idea to dispel the myths about journalists who switch to public relations. Keep visiting here for this unique online conversation between a veteran journalist and a veteran PR professional. 

 

Often when I meet new clients, someone invariably jokes that when I left journalism for public relations, I entered the “dark side” of communications. Heck, even I feared I’d sell my soul by switching to a PR career after 20 years in broadcast news at WXRT, WBEZ, and WGN radio.

I recalled conversations in the City Hall Press Room, cynically feeding the misconception about PR people with names like: hacks, flaks, spinmeisters, handlers, sellouts and worse.  So in my mind, I too feared becoming one of those dark characters lurking behind the curtains when I accepted the Communications Director’s job for Mayor Richard M. Daley’s 1995 re-election campaign.

After 17 years in PR and media relations, I can tell you that dark sinister image is great for TV dramas, but not a reflection of reality. In fact, these real-life nicknames are more fitting monikers:  ”Story Assistant,” “Mr. Communicator” and “Message Engineer.” Our role, as PR people is to communicate our clients’ stories and help journalists with story ideas.

We serve as the media’s information providers, schedulers, and fact-checkers.   With jobs continuing to decline at newspapers, TV and radio stations, those media reps lucky enough to remain employed need all the help I can possibly give them.

Providing ideas — knowing when and how

Reporters have even greater pressures to feed the beast — the 24-hour news cycle. Without ideas from people like me, they’d have to do more scouting, calling and mining for sources. I routinely get journalists’ request for ideas. In fact, even when I don’t have a client expert, I will go out of my way to find sources to help them out (in journalism as in life, there is value in paying it forward). 

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Top 10 Reasons Why Your PR Efforts Fail

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Does it seem like your PR efforts are wasting time and money? Do you repeatedly try and fail to get reporters’ attention? During my many years helping business, government and non-profit clients secure positive news coverage, I’ve felt the adreniline rush that comes with magnificent news coverage, and the agony and embarrassment that follows a media interview gone awry (scroll down to the graph that starts “Then another tollway spokesperson”). With those memories I present the Top Ten Reasons Why Your PR Efforts are Getting You Nowhere:

  1. You emphasized tactics over strategy so your PR campaign lacks clear business goals and objectives.
  2. You’re targeting the wrong media because you haven’t identified your key audiences.
  3. You’ve re-purposed an old media list and didn’t delete the reporters who lost their jobs when their papers folded.
  4. Your final press release required three complete rewrites because you didn’t create a content outline for your boss’s/client’s review.
  5. You e-blasted the release to reporters and editors and it was dumped in junk mailboxes, never to be viewed.
  6. You wrote a one-size-fits-all pitch letter that left reporters with two choices — trash your news now or trash your news later.
  7. You fumbled through a media interview because you didn’t bother thinking through the possible questions and answers beforehand.
  8. You wouldn’t practice for your on-camera interview and your family still jokes about how your eyes bugged whenever you talked.
  9. Your customers don’t know about your news coverage because you didn’t bother merchandising it or sharing it on social networks.
  10. Your messages are so confusing that even your mother can’t describe what you do.
Leave a comment if you have additional entries to my top 10 reasons for PR failure.
 Post happily written by Michelle Damico

 

 

 

 

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Hiring a PR Firm? Seven Tips You Need Right Now

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Forward thinking businesses are planning their 2013 budgets and that’s often when discussions occur about hiring a Media Relations firm to help boost customer awareness, generate exposure, increase sales and move the entire organization to a bigger playing field.

If your business wants to enlist some PR help you may be wondering, “Exactly what am I getting into?” Let’s dive in to that and more in these Seven Tips to Hiring a Media Relations / PR Firm.

1. What’s the difference between PR and Media Relations?  Media Relations is an important tool of a strategic Public Relations campaign. PR is the comprehensive mix of strategy and tactics that is driven by a strategic communications plan and should lead to positive news stories.. PR and Media Relations professionals help you develop your plan, create the messages that position your expertise, provide third-party credibility and help you spread word-of-mouth, the most credible form of advertising. Our activities include — but aren’t limited to:

  • Developing communications plans, including goals, objectives.
  • Identifying your key audiences and the media they’re likely to follow.
  • Crafting a memorable and compelling message.
  • Learning how to insert that message into your media interviews.
  • Writing a variety of content (web copy, press releases, e-Newsletters, digital content calendar, FAQs, etc.) to spread your message.
  • Building relationships with reporters, editors and bloggers to begin the process of landing interviews that lead to news coverage for your business.

2. Sounds like I’ve got a lot of work to do even before I get to the ‘media interview’ stage? Like anything in business, a good plan and a solid foundation improve your chances of success. Depending on your availability, this foundation-building period may take a week, two weeks or a month, but will payoff dividends once you land interview opportunities. The most successful PR initiatives occur when you have a partnership with a PR pro who helps guide you through the early stages of the PR initiative. 

3. How do you find reporters who want to do interviews about my business?  After identifying the outlets and types of media coverage that will help grow your business, your media relations pro will conduct research on what reporters who cover your industry are writing about and will look for those most likely to be interested in your news and/or expertise. An experienced media relations professional has developed those connections and knows how to nurture strong relationships that lead to positive news stories.

4. What are the key considerations in selecting the right PR / Media relations? Go to the PR consultant‘s web site and social media profile pages and learn a bit about them. They’ll most likely have a web page exclusively devoted to news coverage they’ve earned for their clients. Read the stories and ask questions about the steps taken to get reporters’ attention and to deliver a positive news story for the client.  Read a PR firm’s web content to identify whether their approach and style jells with your own, since you’ll want to partner with people you enjoy working with.

5. Once my business gets media coverage, then what? Excellent question because that’s where so many businesses fall short. They work hard to get reporters to write about them and do little to take advantage of their placements. Making news in print, on TV, or on the online portals or blogs is third-party validation about the value you bring to your customers. Having earned credibility from a respected, independent source, now is the time to showcase your valuable news to your customers and prospects through the News section of your Web site, in e-Newsletters, social media profile pages and marketing collateral. Frame your news story and mount it on the waiting room wall. Set up your outgoing voicemail message to direct callers to the link where they’ll find your coverage online.

6. How much time and money will a PR initiative cost? It depends on what you’re trying to achieve over a given period of time. The professional you choose will provide you with a variety of PR options to help you meet your objectives and stay within your budget.

7. Is it better to work under a retainer-based agreement, or one that’s project-based? Building any kind of relationship takes time and consistency, and that holds true for media relationships as well. An ongoing monthly retainer-based plan allows your Media Relations consultant to develop and strengthen relationships by maintaining a continual dialogue with the reporters and editors who need reliable experts for their stories. A retainer-based PR program supports that  dialogue process with media who follow you.  It also enables you to sustain the momentum that helps you create a steady stream of news, giving your customers confidence in you and your business while providing them with the value that keeps them coming back.

If you’re thinking about hiring a Media Relations consultant and have additional questions, I’d be happy to help. Just leave a comment or shoot an email to michelle@michelledamico.com and provide me with your phone number so we can talk. 

Post happily written by Michelle Damico

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The Press Release is NOT Dead!

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Long Live the Press Release!

It’s a major weapon in your organization’s PR and media relations arsenal and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. They are effective (especially when search-optimized for Google and Yahoo!) in helping customers find your business, and for arming reporters with information about your product or service. I have proof, and it comes courtesy of my PR and marketing clients.

Here’s a press release that prompted executives from consumer warehouse retailers to call my client. Imagine having high-value prospective customers CALL YOU? It happened to Green Delete, which helps firms safely and responsibly delete data from electronic devices. If I hadn’t written and distributed this press release to the journalists who cover recycling, data protection and asset management, these giant companies would never have learned about Green Delete and its expertise in on-site digital asset disposal.

Or check out the release I wrote for Lloyd Bachrach, an amazing, inspiring motivational speaker who also runs Premier Showcase, an annual entertainment event to help school administrators and volunteers see the talent before they book their school assemblies. This press release provided valuable, time-saving information that helps time-crunched reporters quickly get the information they need to not only decide on covering my client, but to write a factually correct story. Reporters are so stressed with multiple deadlines and demands, and a well-written press release helps them better do their jobs.  In fact, see the TV and print coverage that I secured for Lloyd who continually reminds me how those news reports helped grow his business and boost credibility among his business partners.

I have scores of other client news stories that appeared in major market media and started with a press release. Just go to my News section here and take a look. Or contact me to learn about why a compelling, helpful, well-written press release should be a key launching pad for your business’s PR efforts.

 

It’s #FollowFriday — You sharing the love?

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It’s February’s First #FollowFriday, which means time to fulfill Twitter’s mission — to be helpful.

Every Friday on Twitter is #FollowFriday — or #FF — whenTweeps recommend others within their networks who have worthwhile things to say and are worth following.

I have many #FF choices and I hope to add more to this list when I can catch some time today. Please don’t be offended if you’re not on this list. You will be!

Here are some of my #FF choices. If you follow them too, tell them I sent you, and don’t forget to use the #FF hashtag.

@SarahSkerik — leads social media initiatives at PR Newswire and included my quotes in her highly respected PR Newswire blog.

@PRSaraHEvans — a leader in the PR social media community and founder of JournChat

@AnnDwyer_Crains — writes about Entrepreneurship and the challenges facing small business people

@PRSoapBox — Colleen Campbell, a former colleague, is brilliant and her observations about digital PR and the industry in general are spot-on.

@ScottKleinberg – 0ne of the most helpful journalists you will ever find on social networks. He writes for the Tribune and assists other Tribune staffers with their social media actvities.

@BernieTafoya – Newsradio 780s veteran street reporter. One of the most creative guys on radio and a class-act pro.

@GiniDietrich — Social media powerhouse, super creative CEO, author and founder of the popular “SpinSucks” blog.

@MarjHalperin — She’s a colleague, and fellow radio news junkie, communications strategy maven, and is all over Chicago‘s cultural and arts scene. She is now heading up Mayor Emanual’s initiative to craft Chicago’s Cultural Plan.

@PointA_PointB — My friend, Catherine Morgan, Brainiac, extremely connected life coach who has an answer to every entrepreneur’s question. She’ll steer ya right!

@MrMediaTraining – one of the most insightful and spot-on interview training coaches, who is so good at finding others’ media blunders and picking them apart with great precision

Keep checking in here, as I plan to do a favorite journalists Tweep list.

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“How do I…?” The entrepreneur’s most common PR question

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“How do I use PR to…    

  • Get more customers?
  • Grow my business?
  • Stand out from the competition?
  • Inject new life into my online presence?

Almost every week, small business people and entrepreneurs ask me how can PR build your customer base and grow your business?

It doesn’t happen overnight, unless you’re one of those rare savvy jack-of-all-trades who hits the PR jackpot and has your product or service featured on The Today Show or on the Chicago Tribune front page in your first round of media outreach.

It starts with building relationships with the people who can help you spread word about your business.

Look at your local newspaper or radio station. What stories do you see about your industry? Who is the reporter, how can you contact them, what are his/her interests? Do you have any interests in common?

You can find out a lot about reporters by simply following what they write about. Many media outlets provide online profiles about their writers and editors. Often, they’re buried online under the “About Us” or “Contact Us” sections. For example, many major metro newspapers, such as the Chicago Tribune and the Daily Herald (serving the North and Northwest suburbs), have a very detailed list of their reporters, writers and editors.

These editorial directories can be a bit hard to find. For example, the Daily Herald lists their media contacts under the tab “Services & Info, which isn’t the most intuitive for searchers. Often, media outlets bury their “Contact Us” link at the bottom of their web page in very fine print. Take the time and patience to look for it.

If you’re looking for contacts on a magazine web site, often you’ll find an editor to reach by clicking on their “Advertising” tab and clicking on their “Media Kit” or “Editorial Calendar.”

Trying to reach TV reporters? You’ll often find their contact information online as well, although it seems TV stations make it the hardest to find that info. For example, this NBC5 Chicago contact site has minimal information. If you can’t find what you’re looking for, pick up the phone, call the station or outlet’s general number and ask to be connected to the Newsroom. Someone staffing the news desk will be able to direct you to the appropriate person. Don’t be surprised if you get a reporter’s voicemail.

Use the search tool available on nearly all media outlet web sites to see past stories. If their stories are archived (often for a fee), make a small investment to get copies of their most recent reports.

Consider ways to get their attention by sending them samples of your product, inviting them to visit your business, or sharing a new angle or bit of advice on something they’ve reported on. Better yet, send an email, complimenting their work and offering your expertise for a future story.  Invite them for coffee (most reporters don’t have time for lunch, but you should still extend the invitation.)  Don’t be discouraged if they say they’re too busy for an in-person meeting. They really are busy – their jobs have become more demanding. Besides reporting the news, media reps also are expected to post on social network profiles and/or provide additional content for media-owned blogs (or even their own personal blog).

Are you on Facebook or Twitter (either a personal or professional page)? It’s very likely that reporter is also on social media, so take the time to “Like” their page, follow what they do, and engage. Post items on their wall that are helpful. And I mean helpful - not bragging or advertisements. Show them that you can be a valuable resource.

Establishing media relationships is one way to open the door to possible coverage and demonstrate your expertise and credibility.

Next time we’ll talk about how you can use social networks to spread word of mouth and get your customers and their friends talking about you and providing untapped exposure.

In the meantime, I’d love to hear about your experiences working with reporters. What have you done to get their attention?

Was it fruitful? What could you have done better? Leave a comment and I promise to respond!

 Post happily written by Michelle Damico

 

 

 

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Phone calls DO matter for PR success

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Telephone

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Texting, posting, tweeting, liking, commenting, following, emailing. Key verbs for interacting with reporters? Yes, but what about CALLING? I still believe in the power of the phone call to get reporters’ attention. They generally discourage it and I respect that, but I rarely get a complaint when I do phone them. I also am respectful of their time and deadlines when I call.

A call, even if it’s a voicemail, can point them to your email amid the hundreds they get all day. It can entice them to check out your business or client web site, and it’s part of your brand awareness to a key audience.

In fact, today, I credit my calls in helping earn major placements for my client in:

And since the Tribune covered my client’s story, the Tribune-owned WGN-TV aired photos  during the evening news!

Without making my calls these stories may not have happened.  An email alone would have probably gotten lost in the deep dark inbox hole at the those outlets.
I always follow some important rules when phoning reporters:

  1. Ask first if they’re on deadline and say you’ll call them back if they are
  2. Know what they write about and be knowledgeable about why your pitch is news
  3. Believe in your client. It’s easier to cold call a reporter when your gut says you’ve got great news to spread.

What’s been your experiences phoning the media? Leave a comment or let me know if I can help.

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Taking the leap from journalism to PR

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Career coach Catherine Altman Morgan interviewed me this morning on  Blog Talk Radio about my transition from a career in Chicago Radio (WXRT, WBEZ, and WGN) to a career that helps clients get news coverage on radio, TV, print, online and on the social web. Transitioning from journalism to PR was a huge adjustment for me. An even greater challenge now is living the life of an entrepreneur.

Give it a listen and would love to hear if you’re in the same boat!

And Thanks Catherine for a great time!

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Media interview — Thrill or terror?

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DFID Youth Reporter interviews Minouche Shafik

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It’s the payoff for all your hard work—a news reporter has discovered your company’s fantastic new product or service. She wants to learn more about you. You’re torn between feelings of thrill and terror. Done right, mass media coverage can boost your credibility, increase awareness and lead to a spike in leads or sales. Done wrong, you may miss the chance to communicate the benefits of your product or service and fritter away your 15 minutes of fame.

Being questioned by a reporter is challenging for the inexperienced and unprepared. When I was a news reporter for WXRT and WBEZ in Chicago, I conducted hundreds of interviews every year for 15 years. I could easily discern the skilled interviewee from the newbie. For the skilled, the interview is a tango – a dance full of bold yet graceful moves, with accents on the appropriate twists and turns.  For the unskilled, an interview is like sitting through dental work without painkillers.

The key to mastering any interview is being in control and doing the advance work that inspires confidence. So park your jitters and skepticism at the door. This is the first in a series of tips on preparing for and controlling a media interview.

“Control” doesn’t mean manipulate. It means crafting a compelling message for your target audience and using the tactics and discipline needed to make sure the reporter understands and repeats that message in the story.

Just as the first step in the sales process is to understand the customer’s needs, the first step in the interview process is to know what the reporter needs and to whom he/she is communicating. Even before scheduling your interview, find out details so you understand what the reporter is looking for. Learn about their beat, media outlet and its audience.  As you coordinate scheduling, don’t hesitate to ask the following:

  • What’s your story about?
  • Do you have a specific angle in mind?
  • Will you conduct the interview in person or by phone? (Many now will send questions via email, which is great because you have more time to think about your answers, and you have a written record if you’re misquoted.)
  • Who else have you talked to?
  • How did you hear about me/my company/product?
  • What is your deadline?
  • When will you run this story?

I advise clients not to ask to review or approve the story before it runs. Allowing a source to edit his/her own story is viewed as an attempt to control coverage. Reporters may follow up with you to check their facts. But no respectable media outlet would allow you to edit (or in their view, censor) a reporter’s work.

After getting answers to those questions, do some simple research to learn a little bit about the reporter. A Google search will reveal the latest stories written by that person, as well as their interests, beats, and tone of their writing. Often news organizations will provide a reporter’s bio in the “Contact” or “Staff” directory of the outlet’s web site.

If none is available, keep digging. With so many media people on Facebook, Twitter and other popular social networks, you’re likely to find helpful information about a reporter’s background, personality and approach to his interview subjects.

Next tip: Preparing for the interview.

 Post happily written by Michelle Damico 

 

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You landed your first TV interview!
Now what?
Five tips for positive coverage

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Houston, TX., 9/10/2005 -- Media conduct inter...
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You finally nailed it – a local TV reporter you’ve been calling and emailing for weeks wants to interview you for the business, community or social issue that you’ve been promoting. Excited, you call your friends to alert them about your upcoming TV news appearance. Now what?

That’s the question I posed to my friend Kathy, who was thrilled about her upcoming WGN-TV interview about her community’s opposition to a giant new sports complex.

Landing the big interview to generate awareness for her cause was a great reward for her media outreach efforts. She quickly recognized though that the prize – accurate reporting of her position – only comes with preparation.

Looking at a reporter, talking to into a microphone, searching for a profound  comment while a video camera rolls is not a skill most of us possess. As my colleague Neil Parker advises his clients “An interview is no time for original thought.” Your comments and how you present them should be prepared and practiced far in advance!

These tried and true steps will arm you with the confidence you’ll need to turn that interview into and all your PR efforts into positive coverage. These apply to practically any media interview, whether you’re speaking on behalf of a community group, business, government or nonprofit organization:

Agree on a spokesperson

For businesses, governments or nonprofits, that’s an easy one. It’s usually the top executive. But if you’re a community group with many volunteers at work, you’ll need to agree in advance on who’s doing the interview. The stark reality is that it should be one person (or two at most) who will do the interview. If there are two of you, agree in advance who will discuss which topics, so you don’t repeat your key messages.

Turn your messages into sound bites

Since the news report is likely limited to two or three minutes, expect that just one or two of your sound bites – typically 10 to 20 seconds long– will be aired. Before the interview, jot down your key messages and shorten them. Repeat and put your messages in your own words to increase your comfort level and boost confidence.

Remember — COMFORT + CONFIDENCE = POSITIVE COVERAGE

Anticipate questions

Be prepared with answers by knowing the questions. It’s likely that as a business exec, government leader or a community activist, you’ve been asked hundreds of questions. Identify which questions are most likely to be asked. Put your topic in context of other news or trends. For example, the sports complex proposed for Kathy’s community comes as other similar facilities are failing and may require government help – a tax increase – to stay afloat. So her answers should refer to the experiences of other towns stuck with a white elephant that will require a bail out.

Practice

Rehearsing your answers is AS important as framing them. Ask a colleague to lead a mock interview. That experience will be just as weird and surreal as the real video-recorded interview, so why not get the hang of it beforehand! Practice a few times, and if you have a video camera or digital recorder, use it! Watching or hearing yourself for the first time is hard for anybody, but you’ll learn a valuable lesson and will sharpen your performance after seeing yourself in action.

Relax

Yes, you can still have nervous energy – it’s natural and provides the adrenaline rush that leads to great performances. However, the way to channel that energy into a compelling interview is by being prepared, knowing what to expect and facing your questions with confidence.

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