If I worked as a hot-shot PR person, was 20 years younger, and especially if I was job-hunting, I’d be trying to win one of the coveted “15 to Watch” annual awards from PR Week magazine. Hiring managers love seeing awards like that on resumes. This year’s deadline is June 20. It’s open to 15 budding PR leaders… Read More
Public Relations
Publicists, clients need prenuptial agreements
I wish every publicist or PR person would sign a prenuptial agreement with their client before signing the actual contract. The prenup would make it clear that the publicist has ultimate control over things like the exact wording of pitches to the media, or the length and wording of press releases. Based on my work the… Read More
Tips booklets: Perfect marketing tool in a crowded market
Paulette Ensign, the Tips Booklet Queen, makes a great suggestion for Realtors, mortgage brokers and others who work in crowded markets, particularly where business is slowing right about now. Market yourself with an informational tips booklet—your own booklet or somebody else’s. Paulette, for example, published the booklet “110 Ideas for Organizing Your Business Life.” It has sold… Read More
Dole shrivels by not responding to ‘Dateline’ story on bagged lettuce
Dole, the world’s largest producer and marketer of fresh vegetables, is hiding behind its attorneys, while a scathing report on tonight’s “Dateline” most likely will send sales of its bagged lettuce heading south. Attorneys apparently told the company not to allow executives to be interviewed for the story on how at least 26 people in three states have gotten sick after eating Dole bagged lettuce… Read More
Freelancer wants leads on Eurpoean cities for kids
One of the “Seven Sisters” women’s magazines, circulation 3.8 million, has asked freelancer Leah Ingram to write a roundup of eight fun European cities to travel to with your kids (toddlers to teens). This is based on a trip she’s planned for her family to visit Edinburgh, Paris and London the last week of July.… Read More
Gossip columnists tell what happens when celebrity publicists say ‘no comment’
When the gossip mags are tracking down a rumor about a celebrity, how do they know when they’ve struck gold? When they call the celebrity’s publicist, and the publicist says “no comment.” O’Dwyer’s Public Relations News, which covered a panel of celebrity gossip columnists at Dillon’s Lounge in New York recently, quotes Jo Piazza, a columnist for the Daily News.… Read More
Speaking at colleges can be lucrative–here’s who to contact
Attention authors, speakers and others who are experts on topics such as leadership, being successful in and out of school, relationships and dating, overcoming challenges, alcohol awareness and drug prevention. Stop grumbling about not booking enough speaking engagements. Right now, in thousands of colleges and universities, there’s a group of people in a position to… Read More
College speakers wanted: Free teleseminar explains how to get booked
Too many speakers go after the same markets when trying to book speaking engagements. They chase after trade association meeting planners who typically receive calls and letters from several dozen speakers each day. James Malinchak, a 33-year-old stock broker-turned-speaker, says that if you can spin your topic for a college audience, you can command attractive… Read More
PR consultants can find clients by speaking, writing
When I started my business, I hit the rubber-chicken circuit, speaking to every Rotary, Kiwanis and chamber of commerce group that would listen to me. I’d drive 90 miles to Green Bay in a snowstorm to talk to six people, because those were six potential consulting clients. The first five years of my business, I… Read More
Linkedin, MySpace, Craigslist might me next big PR tools
Many of you have invited me to become part of your network at Linkedin.com, an online social networking site for professionals. I used to decline, politely, simply because I haven’t quite figured out how it works. Nor have I taken the time to learn. When I told a colleague this last week, he told me,… Read More