My skin crawls every time I see somebody “announcing” something in a press release or a news story. They act as though the announcement is the news when, in fact, it isn’t. The content of the announcement is all anybody cares about. That’s why I’d love to ban the words “announce, announced, announcing” and “announcement”… Read More
Pitching
Charlotte Observer business section pitching tips
If you’re trying to pitch the Charlotte Observer with your business story, first watch this short interview with business editor Patrick Scott. It’s courtesy of videographer John Easton, who will be providing videos of other Charlotte-area journalists, complete with their own tips, at a website called Broadcast Charlotte. (What a great way for John, a citizen journalist, to… Read More
Grant recipients: Tell the rest of the story
Thanks to Publicity Hound Beth Bilderback, public relations specialist for Nauticus, a marine science center in Norfolk, Virginia, for this tip that can be used by anyone who receives grant money: “This summer, we received a hefty grant to fund two oceanography camps for two separate groups of 10th-graders. One requirement was that the students… Read More
Freelancers: Your Secret Weapon
PR people spend huge amounts of time pitching the most influential writers at top-tier media outlets, and too little time finding freelancers who already have built strong relationships with those same newspapers and magazines. Finding freelancers isn’t always easy. But once you know who they are, they can be your secret weapon to publicity. Here… Read More
Elephant’s ‘spa day’ a missed publicity opportunity
Publicity Hound Sue Lowery of Chattanooga, Tennessee saw a short news item on one of her local TV stations about how the Bliss Spa in Dallas, Texas pampered an elephant the day before it was making its Dallas debut at the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey circus. She said the news clip showed a… Read More
Email Pitches That Work
One of the biggest complaints you’ll hear from a journalist is the amount of worthless pitches that litter their email box. Yet, time and again, when a Publicity Hound shares with me a success story about a big media hit they got, and I ask them how they did it, the response often is, “I… Read More
Spring gift show alerts media to gift-related products
If you have a product that would make a terrific gift for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day or Graduation Day next year, you should know about the Spring Product Media Event, a chance to get your product in front of journalists. Gift List Media and adVance Public Relations will present the event October 24 at the… Read More
Pitching top-tier editors? Let them critique your pitch
Aching to get into the New York Times, Time magazine, Forbes or People magazine? The Harvard Business Review? USA Today? Or Inc.? The Expertizing Forum, hosted by publicity expert Fern Reiss, one of my favorite Publicity Hounds, connects you with journalists writing for the most important publications in America. Each week for five months, you submit a… Read More
Denver Business Journal: Who’s oblivious?
I used to work in the newspaper industry, and I’ll admit that some of the criticism that journalists are arrogant and holier-than-thou is justified. Take, for example, the smart-aleck news brief that appeard on Page 3 of the July 6 issue of the Denver Business Journal. The headline read “Another episode: Bad Press Release Theater.” “Don’t imply that… Read More
Astrologers, fortune-tellers: Piggyback onto the celebs
Few people have a harder job getting publicity than astrologers, fortune tellers and others of their ilk. The media are naturally suspicious—except when their predictions or comments tie into a hot, timely topic. Thanks to radio publicity expert Wayne Kelly for tipping us off to this great and super short press release written by Steve… Read More