Elementary Writing

This is the last article in our online course series on the theory, practice, trends and secrets of New Age Public Relations. Other topics that we cover are:

Regardless of what we think we know about PR and the New Media or Social Media revolution, the truth is that we actually may know less about everything than we care to believe. This is times to lead and learn in order to improve an industry long plagued by misconceptions and the lack of PR for itself.

From Public Relations to Public Relationships

Edward Bernays (1891–1995), the founder of public relations, wrote in his 1928 book Propaganda:

“If we understand the mechanism and motives of the group mind, is it not possible to control and regiment the masses according to our will without their knowing about it?”

In 1928, the answer was yes. But today, the answer is no. The Internet changed public relations forever. Now the individual is in control. People trust their peers more than they trust companies. Relationships trump messages.

It’s why Public Relation Arsenal more an more deploys—social media services. Blogs, podcasting, social networks, photo/video sharing and online forums are social media tools that make connections, generate conversations, build trust and form relationships.

New media is forcing the rapid evolution of communications and is reinventing the science of public relations into the art of “personalized” relations. This is the practice of matching our stories with the preferences of those we wish to reach. Yes, it’s what PR should have been all along, but it’s not.

SEO PR

SEO PR is a latest technique spreading in the market to increase the business via internet. The public relation can be said the X factor of SEO which adds value to that service.

SEO PR is basically a blend of search engine visibility and public relation which increases your reputation in the market. It is a way of disseminating the message of the company in the market to the target audience.

For each PR Campaign, your SEO PR should include these activities:

• Article Creation and Submission
• Press Release Creation
• E-mail Marketing
• Blogging
• Social Bookmarking
• Email Newsletters
• Develop White Papers and Blue Papers

And here is a secret (location): The Google Webmaster Central blog has posted recently it’s SEO Starter Guide available for free PDF download.

This is excellent news for all PR practitioners and for small business owners, especially during a recession, as many companies will be looking to push their search rankings/traffic forward but without the budget for SEO consulting. Actually that is spot where SEO PR takes a lead.

NEWSFLASH - YouTube PPC

All of a sudden Video just becomes a key-part of everybody’s strategy. Everybody is going have to used to doing videos. It is just a fact.

Here is a short Pop Quiz for you:

Q: Who is No1 search engine in the world?
A: Google!
(Ya’ it was easy one)

Q:Who is No2?
A: Yahoo!
So darn wrong!

YouTube is now No2 search engine in the world!

This is extraordinary news for every PR, particularly when you find out that just over night YouTube have launched Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising. As a PR professional, you are able to utilize a premium new media channels, and take shear advantage upon your competition. You will be able to PPC advertise inside of YouTube based on the keywords and based on the video you wont to advertise in.

You still don’t see the benefits? Well maybe PR is not right place for you to be

Secret location: https://ads.youtube.com/

Effective PR Damage Control

In this day and age of online media, rumors, malicious gossip, unfair comments or opinions and other bad online news spread fast! Online Public Relations (PR) plays a vital role in helping companies create the feel good factor for the consumer.

Be ware that here we are anticipating through spectrum of practical actions, from the prospective of effectiveness, not positive ethical norms. Se here are your response options:

• Attack the accuser attempting to eliminate the attacker’s credibility.
• Use denial claiming that no crisis exists.
• Justification where the corporation claims no serious damage was done
• Use ingratiation to appease the publics, such as giving away coupons.
• Use corrective action to right and manage all wrongs.
• Give a full apology asking for forgiveness for your mistake.

All six responses have been used in the past with varying results. If chosen properly, one of the six “well known secret techniques” can help mitigate damage.

Using SearchWiki to Improve Public Relations Feedback

SearchWiki is innovative approach by Google to its search results. It now allows users to track not only their favorite sites, but also allows them to keep track of all the feedback and comments those sites receive from other users.

This has huge impacts for PR professionals who are also attempting to be good listeners.

Here’s the secret scenario: PR campaign managers could create specialized searches based upon campaigns and track the various comments offered by Google users.

This video describes how to use SearchWiki and other possible ideas on how it may be utilized for your (search/PR) purposes:

To see how others are commenting on your SearchWiki results, you simply click on the “See all notes for this SearchWiki” link and all public comments are shown.

By providing another feedback loop SearchWiki has the potential to be a valuable measurement tool in our Public Relations Toolbar.

The Bottom Line

After you read this post and this articles series, make the decision specific to what’s best for you and your company. It’s all about how to do this the right way, no matter which path you choose.

Our primary intention was to de-mystify the PR process, giving you step-by-step tools to successfully generate media coverage for your business. You were invited to see examples of highly effective press kits, learn about devising the winning PR campaigns, to discover advanced Public Relations tools and techniques, and get a crash course on developing your own newsworthy media messages.

If you find this tutorial useful, please make contribution by sharing your own experiences and knowledge with our community. And off course, by spreading the word in the best PR manner.

We wish you all the luck in your present and future Public Relations ventures.

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Make Literature Online Media Team
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This is the seventh article in our online course series on the theory, practice, trends and secrets of New Age Public Relations. Other topics that we cover are:

What are the new rules of Public Relations? Here is how you can stay above the PR curve for new Millennium:

What’s In?

• Face to Face Public Relations
  Studies have proven, and it might be more so in the next decade, that connecting is what is going to keep us going, as opposed to all these loud pitching campaigns. We are going to see less of a reliance on technology as it’s really time consuming, and at the end of the day, makes us feel kind of useless.
• Micromedia PR
  Use of specialized tools (usually micro-blogging) like Twitter to connect journalists, bloggers, analysts and PR/marketing together in an efficient, unobtrusive, targeted, and productive way.
• Social Media Mastering
  Social Media is public relations. It has now become just as important to create a name for yourself online as well as offline.
  • Put your face on Facebook
  • Find some space at MySpace
  • Dig the Digg articles
  • Stumble on Stumpleupon
  • Promote articles on EzineArticles
  • Get on the tube at YouTube
  • Really put on the RSS (Really Simple Syndication)
  • …
• Stronger Media Relationships
  It will be more important than ever to secure and build stronger media relationships.
• Going Green
  You can’t open a magazine, scan a website or read a newspaper without hearing about a company’s transformation into eco friendliness. Then there are dozens of environmentally themed television shows not to mention networks. Helping Mother Earth is a great thing and becoming the proponent of all things green may help your bottom line as well.

What’s Out?

• Expensive and Long-lasting PR Campaigns
  Zero dollars spent on PR and marketing - is it possible? There are many smaller start-ups who have done the same: They have gotten incredible results from the viral nature of their products, services, and their personal abilities to establish though leadership through blogging and other online engagements.

  Slide.com, for example, has managed to attract millions of users for its online apps on Faceback and MySpace for no dollars.

• Expensive Wire Distributions
  The days of paying for expensive press release wire distribution services are out. Today many free wire distribution services offer the same exposure as paid for press release distribution services.
  • PR-Inside.com
  • PR.com
  • PRLog.org

  all of these services offer free press release wire distribution services.

• Faking Hype
  Adding fake hype to a news story or tip to receive publicity is out. Find a true newsworthy storyline oppose to adding fake hype.
• Running focus groups, sending out surveys
  Today, we need to be actively listening all of the time to our customers, influencers, and communities of people that can impact our client’s business. Social media has established a constant flow of conversations and media online.
• Using “messages” to target “users” and “audience.”
  They don’t want to hear messages, they want to hear how you can help them do something better than how they do it today or how this is something that they couldn’t do before, taking into specific account, their daily regime. Messages are not conversations and there is no market for them.
• Promote yourself as green even though it may not be entirely true
  If your company uses twelve different toxic chemicals in its manufacturing process but uses recycled toilet paper, chances are that you’re not going to be considered to be green.

What’s New?

• PR Pitching to Bloggers
  The Public Relations Society of America held a panel discussion with “Meet the Mommie Bloggers”, just few weeks ago! Bloggers offer a vital solution to reach and also target mass audiences.
• DotMobi Mobile PR
  Utilize mobile communications to connect and gain exposure. Implement mobile websites for cell phones and mobile email communications.
  • Purchase a .mobi domain name and create a mobile website to launch your mobile PR campaigns.
  • Communicate through text messaging via mobile communications. You can send text messages from Internet email.
  • Launch a mobile website blog. Directly interact via your mobile website blog.
  • Conduct surveys via mobile communications. Utilize mobile websites, mobile blogs, and mobile texting.

  Today the worldwide mobile data market is worth 100 billion dollars and in next 5 years the mobile content market is predicted to be worth $1 trillion dollars. Mobile websites offer an opportunity to reach 1.8 billion consumers through mobile phones. Targeting this market is setup to be the largest circulation to reach consumers in the world. Go Mobile!

• PR Industry Co-opting
  Form alliances with others that add value and help you to gain stronger media exposure.
• Integration
  The walls between marketing and communications are dissolving. This is happening because of the complex interdependence of all of the channels on each other.

Public Relations Trends - The Bottom Line

A new course of action is to focus on the actual meaning of PR - public RELATIONS. That means relations — as in relationships between people. Organizations - companies, government bodies, non-profits — are made up of people. People need to talk to people.

This is the fifth article in our online course series on the theory, practice, trends and secrets of New Age Public Relations. Other topics that we cover are:

Did you know that Thomas Edison did not invent the light bulb? Yupe, you heard it right. The truth is - 20-plus electric lights preceded Edison’s. Actually, Edison was darn afraid of the dark! He died Oct.18, 1931, with all the lights burning in his New Jersey home.

But how he managed to take all the credit for it? Edison was simply much better at branding and generating buzz for his inventions. His Public Relations strategies were among the best and his name sold A LOT of products.

Only small businesses that understand the importance of branding itself and building a reputation with its targeted audience, receive the benefits of community recognition and respect among consumers, media and investors. This can only be achieved through strategic public relation efforts.

Many business owners will tell that they do not believe they need PR services because this is a common practice of mainly larger companies. No matter what the size is of an organization communications with the public is vital. Ask Mr. Edison for advice?

Does Every Company Needs an PR Agency?

The answer is – No!

In reality, anyone with a story to tell can get publicity. It’s not hard, per se, but it takes some determination, some effort and a willingness to learn. In other words, it’s just like everything else in the business world.

Chances are good, you’re already an expert in your industry. You just haven’t been positioned as such to the writers, editors and producers who need experts to comment on issues and stories of the day.
If you can talk about your company, you can do your own PR. Few simple thing to do:

• Make a list of what makes your company or service special
  • How is your product or service better than the rest?
  • Are you using techniques or procedures that are new? Exciting? Out of the ordinary?
  • Do you have something controversial or provocative to say about your field?
  • Are there any colorful “characters” associated with your business?
  • Are you involved in worthwhile community projects?
• Turn it into an “elevator pitch” - something you can communicate to someone in the same time it takes to ride one to two floors with them in an elevator
• Pick up the phone and give your elevator pitch to a reporter

In time, you’ll discover that there are many things about your business that could interest a journalist. You just need to know how to develop them, package them and present them in the right way.

Key Elements to get Great PR Results for your Small Business

In order to get to the next level, you need to know the additional secrets of effective PR, especially in today’s competitive Web 2.0 world. This tips will help to put you ahead of the competition and secure results time and again.

• Be the brand
  As the founder of your company you must be in love with your brand and inspired by your brand’s mission if you have any hope of getting press for your product.
• Be the information
  Media and journalists are not interested in your business alone. What they need is information, news and stories that will be of interest to their readers, viewers, listeners, website visitors etc.
• Embrace small media outlets
  This creates two big wins for you: a) Small publications have more time for you. b) Big publications troll the small publications for stories
• Get your timing right - Don’t Launch on Mondays
  That means knowing the timescales journalists work to and timing your approach so that it presses their buttons.

• Be a human being
  Journalists hate PR people and they hate being pitched. It’s a much better strategy to just be yourself and develop relationships with people in the industry slowly and organically.
• Understand how journalists think
  You need to be one step ahead and aware of the type of information they want and the best way to give it to them.

  Learn how to bond with a journalist
  Before meeting with a journalist you should read their last five stories in full. It helps if you take notes on these stories, read the comments under them and look for reactions to the story around the web. You should also look at journalist’s LinkedIn account and do a Google search to see where else he has worked. He will appreciate this in light of the fact that half the folks who e-mail him don’t even know what beat he covers or how to pronounce his name!

• Be persistent
  Just because a journalist turns you down once do not think all is lost. This is an ideal opportunity to understand why your idea or news story is not relevant and to fine tune your next approach - it’s all a learning experience.

• Understand you’re not the only story in town
  Bloggers and journalists are interested in good stories and the more time you spend developing that story up front, for each person you’re trying to reach, the more you can help them help you.
• Participate is marketing
  By actively participating in both the online and real worlds, you forge relationships that will help your brand and social capital grow.
• Get a spokesperson
  First impressions are everything, and publicly showcasing your company, on stage, online, in print, or via broadcast media, requires nothing less than a polished, personable, and contagious presentation. This is one of those times where you really don’t have much of a choice if you’re not absolutely, 100% the best voice of the company.
• Power up your company blog
  Your company blog is more powerful than you may think. A blog is the voice and the soapbox for thought leadership, vision, solutions, milestones, and advice. At the very least, it contributes to the personality of your corporate brand.

Your first press release is sent out to your local media (newspapers, TV, radio) to announce your new service or business. More often than not, local newspapers run the release as-is. They may even assign a reporter to write a story on you.

However, once your small business gain in momentum, it is time for your to decide about more powerful PR strategies and full-fledged media campaigns. A media campaign is run for a specific period, to generate a specific result. Your aim is to brand something into the public consciousness. Done well, you’ll never need to advertise your business at all. Usually, for this kind of venture, you need to outsource PR professionals.

Choosing a PR Consultant/Agency

Assuming you can afford it, and assuming the agency is reputable, you can gain much by working with a PR agency.

An agency may be able to pinpoint those aspects of your business which would make it interesting to various publications, for instance. It can also allow you to focus on your day-to-day operations, and handle much of the work involved in running an efficient campaign.

But, picking the right firm to represent your company isn’t always easy. You want to do your homework and look around for agencies that have experience in your industry. In many industries, you need specific experience to really be successful for your clients.

Choose smaller, independently operated firms, because they can spend more time on you, and less money, than a larger operation.

A checklist of things to cover:

• Who will I be working with and how much experience do they have?
• Will more than one person be helping me, or will I have one, central point of contact?
• How can you increase awareness of my small business and reach my specific goals?
• What services are included in your fees?
• Do you have references I can contact?
• Do you provide any guarantees or discounts?
• Why should I use you instead of another organization?
• Is there a trial period before making an actual commitment?
• Will I be able to end our contract if I’m not happy with your services?

If you do not feel that you have the time and skill to organize a successful publicity campaign, it is better for you to seek competent, professional advice than to fumble with your public relations efforts.

Small Business PR - The Bottom Line

Public relations is human relations and a critical aspect of growing your business. Everything you say and do is part of your PR campaign. It is the image you project every day to everyone you meet. It is about you and your company becoming a force in the public eye on a regular basis.

There’s no need to be intimidated by the competition from big public relations firms or the savvy mainstream media. You may come to know that publicity and public relations aren’t such a struggle, especially when you begin to attract high profile attention to your business.

A successful public relations isn’t only about getting in the media- it’s about your ongoing presence in all areas of business and life.

This is the fifth article in our online course series on the theory, practice, trends and secrets of New Age Public Relations. Other topics that we cover are:

Don Middleberg coined the term “online PR” in 2001. He pointed out that PR is about a brilliant idea communicated through various forms of media and online was the next form.

This ongoing reinvention of PR has been dubbed PR 2.0 or New PR.

Online Public Relations – PR 2.0 – New PR

If you are trying to learn new information about a product or person, you probably search Google. If the top results are comprised of consumer complaints, you are less likely to look much further. The immediate sense of danger quells any curiosity or desire to take a risk on something new.

That is why companies need weapons like blogs and press releases to combat the “evil hordes”. It is a battle to reach the people. You must do whatever you can to reach them first. Someone will shape their opinions. It is only a question of “whom”.

The Internet has become a mega promotional resource and online publicity is one of the most sought after media sources. Using online public relation methods you can establish as a global identity. Internet Public Relations is also an excellent way of promoting since it targets the mainstream news media more precisely.

Blogging - A New PR Tool

We all know that blogs have taken the Internet by storm (if you don’t know what a blog is, skip this manual and move on to the one announcing the wheel). Millions of people are posting their thoughts, ideas, dreams, gossip, advertisements, and complaints on the web through personal weblogs.

Although their dynamics are not as fast as instant messaging or chat, which are almost synchronous. Weblogs offer a better network and therefore information spreads more easily.

These are the main benefits that make weblogs so powerful for public relations communication:

• Promote You as the Expert in Your Field
  Position yourself and your company as the thought leader of your business.
• Customer Relationships
  Blogs are a fast way to join the customers’ discussions, provide tips and insights or receive feedback.
• Media Relations
  It’s every PR-consultants dream to create a channel where media regularly check what you have to say, instead of media just being passive - sometimes indifferent - recipients of press releases.
• Internal Collaboration
  Use blogs as a workspace where project members keep each other updated without wasting time writing reports or searching the Outlook inbox.
• Test Ideas or Products
  Publish an idea and see if it generates interest. Does anyone link to you? What do they say?
• Rank High in Search Engines
  Google and other search engines rewards sites that are updated often, that link to other sites and most importantly, that has many inbound links. More exposure to your blog makes your PR message more effective.
• Blogging the Competition
  This method often entails scanning offline stories on to the blog that can effectively be used for blog fodder (moved around the Internet and linked to for discussion). The information provided there, could deliver your competitors’ customer base to you.

You should add your own (Company/Product/Service) blog to all of these Blog Search Engines:

• BlogHub
• Feedster
• Daypop
• Blogdigger
• Blog Search Engine
• Technorati

Through blogs any online PR efforts resulting in content generation has the potential to be moved around the Internet, reacted to, conversed with and linked to thousands of times…building company brand. If the material is positive for a company, it’s a PR manager’s dream.

Bloggers - Solution to Reach Mass Audiences

A new PR practice is to pitch stories to Bloggers as well as traditional journalist. However, the same as with all media relations to address Bloggers you will still need a strategic plan and approach. If the process is done correctly the returns can be phenomenal. So here are some tips how to Pitch PR Stories to Bloggers:

• Research Target Blog
  The most important thing a publicist can do before pitching a blogger is to read his or her blog. Many bloggers still consider their sites to be personal conversation for their views and perspectives, and are wary of corporate or PR pitches. But many do have open ears to PR people. In order to begin a conversation, it is important that you are familiar with the interests of the blogger.
• Understand Cultural
  Seasoned professionals like to be addressed by their names and almost despise PR pitches submitted in their comments area. Moreover, a lot like reporters they are short on time and you have a small window to pitch your PR story. Remember there is no same protocol so review each website to see how they prefer to be contacted. Email is always a most common practice.
• Research Match
  Many blogs concentrate on a specific topic. Thus, have your agency make sure your PR Machine is targeting and influencing the correct blogs. Because the nature of the blogging medium allows bloggers to avoid traditional editors and publishers, you must directly target the most influential bloggers and blog posting sites with an interest in your area and integrate your message into those venues.
• Build Relationships
  These relationships will need to be developed over time and naturally. Once you become successful at pitching PR stories to Bloggers that they can actually use most will view you as a reliable source.

Keep in mind that it is possible that well-tailored pitches to bloggers might not only generate traffic on their blogs, but develop into placements in other media outlets as well, online and off.

PR, Google and Search Engine Optimization

“Search Engine Optimization” (SEO) is a process of fine tuning your blog/website to get higher rankings on Internet Search Engines like Google, Yahoo and MSN.

“Search Engine Optimized Press Releases” or SEO PR means that a press release is written strictly as search engine “spider food.” In other words, the press release is developed using a slew of keywords and phrases in hopes that the search engines will crawl the document and then rank it higher because it “appears” to be relevant to specific keywords and phrases.

If you need help determining the best keywords for your business, here are some resources:

• SEO Tools
• WordTracker
• Google AdWords
• Google Trends
• BlogPulse Trends

Because SEO is a constantly changing industry, moreso than PR or direct marketing, and because it’s so easy to publish content online, there can be issues with SEO misinformation. For example, a person reading an article six months ago about a public relations topic can be pretty confident that topic is still relevant and accurate today. In another situation, a person reading an article about search engine optimization from six months ago might have a great degree of uncertainty as to whether that information is still current and accurate.

However some major principles of SEO are standard template; Broadly speaking there are two types of optimization, “on-page” and “off-page”.

• Off-page optimization
  Deals with external factors like the number of people linking to your page. This measure of incoming links is often called “Link Popularity”. So to improve your standing on the search engine you need a higher link popularity.Another very important factor in off-page optimization is the text used to link to your site. This is called the anchor text. Great example of this technique is the list of links to other articles in this series at the introduction of this post. You will noticed that each link is anchored with the actual keyword phrase which is highly SEO optimized. You should try to make these kind of “optimized” links pointing to your referring pages from other relevant “on topic” sites.
• On-page optimization
  Deals with the layout and format of a web page to make it attractive to a search engine. There are several factors in on-page optimization.
  • The title of the page - This is almost the first thing the search engine reads when it visits a page. It is usually displayed on the title line of your browser. This is summery of the page content explained in a short sentence.
  • Page Headline
    Like the title of the page, your headline will become the first heading on the page. Again you should optimize your headline.
  • Keywords
    When drafting the release, ensure that your top keywords are included towards the front of the release, especially in the headline and subhead, as well as the boilerplate. It’s also extremely helpful to use those keywords as anchor text to link back to strategic landing pages on your Website.

In the foreseeable future it is very likely that SEO replaces PR, at least in the online arena. Why? Because SEOs understand how to measure success online, and clients demand measurement and proof of ROI. Add to that the fact that most of the larger SEO agencies in the world have set up online PR divisions. By contrast, how many PRs do you know who focus on SEO? And that exactly may be your main advantage in planing the future PR campaigns.

Online News Room

In the “old days”, the press kit reigned. Big bulky folders loaded with press releases, glossy photos and slides were standard. They were expensive to design, costly to reproduce and required lots of manpower and postage to assemble and distribute.

Today, you can simply direct a reporter to a web URL, where all your press materials and high definition artwork awaits, ready to be used. It’s a huge time and money saver.

Putting your News Room as part of your main site allows a journalist to “poke around” your site, absorbing more of the feel and culture of your company and its products. It also makes it easier if the reporter wants more information about a particular product than can be found in your media materials.

Creating a separate site allows you to tailor everything to suit the needs of the reporter and prevents the possibility of confusion for potential customers visiting your main site.

Whatever option you choose, here is what your should include in your online news room:

• Personal Contact Info
  The name, address, e-mail, phone number, fax number and cell phone number of your primary media contacts must be front and center. If you have an Instant Messaging ID, put it in there, too.
• Press Releases
  Place press releases in chronological order (most recent at the top). Keep traditional press release formatting and use easy-to-read fonts.
• Graphics
  Executive photos, product photos, charts, graphs, and other appropriate artwork. Provide multiple versions — 72 dpi (lower resolution) for online publications and websites, and 300 dpi (higher resolution) for offline publications. Put instructions for download next to the graphics.
• Media Kit
  Backgrounders, executive bios, white papers, investor relations info (if applicable), fact sheets, speeches, awards, streaming
• Media Of
  press conferences, product demonstrations, president’s speeches, etc.
• Search Tool
  Make it easy for journalists to find just what they want, by making all your press materials fully searchable.

Online News Rooms to Study:

The best way to learn how to put together an online news room is to see how some very smart folks have done it:

• Microsoft
• Google
• Crayola

Social Media Public Relations

Even if you put a lot of effort in Public Relations or Press Releases, it will never be as effective as one social media success. One lucky or unexpected shot from social media can change the future of a company significantly.

Whatever Press Release or information you spread through well determined or known channels, social media can spread faster, better having a wider reach. Reaching the influencers at the right spot at the right time within hours instead of days or weeks.

Social media PR is the powerful combination of public relations and social media. While the term “social media” is still a relatively new one, there’s no doubting its strength as a medium for promoting both your personal and business brand.

Social websites exit in several forms for different markets:

• In B2C: Facebook (100mio), Bebo (40mio), Netlog (35mio), specific forums by interest groups, blogs and micro blogs (like Twitter)
• In B2B: LinkedIn (23mio), Plaxo, Xing, Ecademy, industry forums, blogs and micro blogs (like Twitter)

In both people can post remarks, impressions or pose questions, whereas others can respond and comment with their visions and experiences.

As the Internet matures into the standard communications tool today, social media continues to evolve and find its place. By using social media and PR together, you can find your place as well.

Social Media Releases

“New press release era”, the “Virtual press release revolution” or simply the Social media press release is a rather new concept, but worth the attention of even the most conservative PR experts and firms.

Almost every press release issued today is done so without video or audio, and many still do not include links to additional information or supporting content. SMR represents a new socially-rooted format that complements traditional and SEO press releases by combining news facts and social assets in one, easy to digest, and repurpose, tool. SMRs help bloggers and online journalists more effectively write a rich media post using one resource that provides them with everything they need.

Picture an everyday blog post, with a headline, intro paragraph, news facts, genuine quotes, and supporting market data (with links) combined with embedded socializable content, such as video from Viddler, pictures from flickr, screencasts hosted at YouTube, supporting documents piped from Docstoc, the use of social tools to bookmark, relevant tags for indexing and discoverability, subscriptions via RSS, friending company contacts via LinkedIn or Facebook, and most importantly, the ability to take compartmentalized components of the SMR to use as building blocks for a new story (embed codes).

You certainly don’t need to include everything that this template includes to be more effective. The inclusion of a single video clip or an MP3 audio file may be exactly what you need to be seen and heard within the social media community.

The SMPR is not a trend. It’s a tool. It is not there to replace or kill the traditional press release, it is there to improve upon it. It’s not an appendage to a traditional press release layout, but includes parts of the traditional press release formatted in a more comprehensible, simpler and ready to use manner.

SMPR Distribution

Several wire services reach traditional media, but integrate social media optimization (SMO) and search engine optimization (SEO) elements as well to appeal to bloggers (because the releases can provide the information in a format that they can appreciate).

These services include:

• PRWeb (traditional, SMO, SEO)
• PRNewswire (traditional, SEO, multimedia)
• Businesswire (traditional) and the new, pseudo SMO
• Weblogwire (traditional - but only tech bloggers subscribe to this service)
• Marketwire (traditional, SEO - working on SMO)
• PRXbuilder - (SMO specific, aligned with PRNewswire)

What is Micro PR

Micro PR use microbloging services like Twitter for establishing B to B communication channels.

It is all about forcing PR firms to approach to all their external functions in the open, on open social flow apps like Twitter, and in the small, where they have to jettison all the claptrap of the old press release model.

In the open, that can’t lie easily, or they will be caught on it. In the small, they have to junk the meaningless superlatives, the bogus quotes that no CEO ever mouthed, the run-on phrases, the disembodied third party mumbo jumbo, as if the press release were edited by God.

Using MicroPR

PR people, subscribe to the @MicroPR feed and definitely follow it on Twitter. You can also run active searches or feeds on Summize or TweetScan.

Bloggers, journalists, analysts, send a public message @MicroPR when they want to reach PR professionals. MicroPR will help channel information, starting as a service for media to source stories, share their preferences for receiving information, announce change of beats, call for speakers or awards submissions, or anything that needs to hit a very focused list of savvy and connected PR professionals.

If you’re asking why you would need to use the service if you already have followers on Twitter, MicroPR will connect you to a broader, more effective network of resources for stories today and in the future.

What makes good microcontent?

Make your microcontent:

• Short (That’s why they call it microcontent!)
  Readers need to understand microcontent at a glance. Make it as tight as you can without sacrificing clarity.
• Explanatory
  If you’re writing about conferences, phones and jobs, those words should appear in the microcontent
• Scannable
  Online, readers don’t read; they scan. Microcontent should make it easy for readers to get the gist of the kay message by scanning.
• Context-rich
  If your headline says “On the move,” readers might not be able to figure out whether this is a page about employee promotions, a piece on your company’s relocation benefits or an article about the new headquarters building.

Internet Public Relations - The Bottom Line

PR has to be where business is happening. That place is the Internet. Some public relations people have awakened to the power of Internet marketing, but many have not yet taken the plunge. Internet public relations requires an individual who understands and responds to the opportunities, dangers and challenges of a landscape where everything is changed. Utterly.

This is the fourth article in our online course series on the theory, practice, trends and secrets of New Age Public Relations. Other topics that we cover are:

Press Release

Press releases are the single most important tool in PR. This is a short news story you hope will be published by a paper or magazine, or prompt one of their reporters to write an article based on it. And it is all about two profound actions:

• Writing a winning press release
• Sending it to the right people.

If that sounds simple, you’re right. It is simple. But it’s only easy when you know the right steps…

How to Write a Great Press Release

The first question editors and journalists ask when they pick up your release is “Is this important?”. And you know what? - Most press releases do not work.

That’s because they are written in a way that is antiquated, outdated, and deadly boring. These often come as templates in your word processing program. Don’t use them - they’re probably OK for some people, but they are not really good at creating the kind of excitement and interest that you want from the people who are receiving your press releases.

You have to actually have a message that is newsworthy, and if your news is not of such, you must develop the skill of adding a value to your story. (To learn more about art of storytelling in PR please read our recent article on advanced PR techniques).

Press Release Headline

In headline, state your most exciting news, finding or announcement in as few words as possible. Emulate the headlines you see in the newspaper every day.

Bad Press Release Headline:
NEW WEBSITE THAT OFFERS EVERYONE THE OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE LITERATURE ONLINE

Good Press Release Headline:
BIG LAUNCH: ONLINE NOVEL WRITING PROJECT THAT EVERYONE CAN JOIN

You’ve just thrown a meaty hook at the reporter.

The Press Release Subhead

Subheads are remarkably useful tools, yet usually overlooked by press release writers. Basically, the press release subhead gives you the opportunity to flesh out your angle and further hook the reporter, without stepping on the drama of the press release headline.

The Lead

The lead is the most important element in a news story; it is the story opener when written in the inverted pyramid structure. The inverted pyramid is a graphical representation of how information should be arranged within a news story. The most important information – made up of the 5 W’s – comes first and the information of lesser importance follows.

It is essential that the lead catches the interest of the reader immediately and by rule-of-thumb it includes the core information of the story, or the traditional 5 W’s: Who, what, when, where, and why. Its objective is to satisfy the reader’s curiosity.

Occasionally an H, for how, is included in the lead. In addition, a news story usually includes the answer to “what’s next?”.

The Rest of the Press Release

The balance of the press release serves to back up whatever claims were made in the lead and headline. Use enough supporting material to make your case, and to demonstrate that, whatever angle you’re promoting, it wasn’t something you slapped together carelessly.

An important question to ask in addition to establishing newsworthiness is simply: “so what, who cares?”

Quotes

Quotations are great additions to news stories; they add credibility and weight and make your story readable and interesting. Quotations can support arguments and information, as long as you attribute your quote, making it more credible and showing you did research, while avoiding any legal or ethical issues.

Inline Tip:
Never start a story with a quote; your story is what’s important, not your company’s president.

Boilerplate

Finally, spend a sentence or two describing your company and what you do. This paragraph is known as the “boilerplate” — an old newspaper term meaning a block of standard text that’s used over and over again (e.g. the explanation of symbols on the stock price page).

In this case, it’s text that you might use at the bottom of all your releases. Place your boilerplate right above the # # #’s.

Inline tip:
Below the ###’s, add a line that says something like:
If you’d like more information about this topic, or to schedule an interview with John Smith, please call Pat Brown at 555/555-2222 or e-mail Pat at pr@yoursite.com

Common Press Release Copy Styles

Press releases falls into a few well-defined categories, each used in accordance with the general format and theme of your headline. The style of copy you use in the body of your release must follow the pattern and pace established by your attention-getter. If you use a direct, factual headline, your body text will usually be most effective if it, too, is factual.

• Straight-line copy
  This is the most frequently used type. It directly follows the headline and proceeds in a straight and orderly manner from beginning to end. It does not waste words, but starts to sell the benefits of your PR subject immediately.
• Narrative copy
  Follows the headline with a story that logically leads into a discussion of your PR subject. This can be a dangerous style to use because you must construct an interesting story that will keep the readers involved long enough to make your point.
• Institutional copy
  Sells an idea, organization or service. Your copy must create confidence in the company or organization, not your PR subjects itself.
• Dialogue and monologue copy
  Permits the person giving the endorsement in your headline to do the selling in his or her own words. The trick is to retain the attention-getting power of the testimonial and at the same time sound natural and convincing.
• Gimmick copy
  Depends upon humor, poetry, foreign words, great exaggeration, gags and other devices to create promotional power. This is rarely used because in most cases you are writing a press release to tell a straight, informative story.

Use these techniques as guidelines, not as rules. You should practice writing headlines in several different styles and then write supportive body copy for each.

ABC and other press release writing rules

The most common writing rule-of-thumb is the ABC rule: Accuracy, Brevity and Clarity. Even the Associated Press Guide to News Writing begins with a similar message:
“News writing should be clear, concise, accurate and interesting.”

• Your press release shouldn’t sound “hypie”
  Or seem like an advertisement in any way. However, It should be written in a way to not only solve an newsworthy issue, but also to advertise your business!
• Newspapers need information as much as you need publicity
  They are looking for timely, educational and informative information. Conversely, local radio stations may be interested in airing stories that are funnier, quirkier or more controversial.
• The more back-up information you provide the better
  The easier you make it for a journalist to cover your story, the more likely they’ll be to include it. Include photos, samples, interview availability times, research backup, and the like.
• Prepare a draft
  Try it out first on two or three members of your external audience, then adjust as needed.
• Make sure to send press releases to all media in your area, no matter how small
  It’s much easier to get local, rather than regional or national, coverage.

As usual in life, luck plays a role. You may have the greatest story, have done the best press release and made all the phone calls to follow up the release, but there is another big story, for example, a terrorist attack or an earthquake, that overshadows your issue. On the other hand, if you provide your release on a day with little news, you may get a lot of coverage.

Press Release Formatting Tips

Formatting Your Press Release or Presentation can be just as important as content. Read what you write with a red pencil in your hand.

Be brutal. Cut out meaningless words and useless phrases. Combine some sentences and eliminate others. Give your readers a long flowing sentence that combines several thoughts and presents important facts. Then use a shorter sentence to quicken the pace for the reader.

• Mixed case
  Never write your press release in all UPPER CASE LETTERS. Your release will not be approved by the FPRC editors or it would be ignored by journalists.
• Check your spelling
  Errors in spelling and grammar will lower the credibility of your press release
• No HTML
  Never include HTML or other markup languages (like XHTML or XML) in your press release.
• Make sure it is long enough
  Refrain from verbosity and try to keep the release to one page. If you have to go to another page, be sure it has all the contact info again and type “more follows” or the first three words of the next page in the lower right hand corner. If your press release is shorter than 250 words, then it probably isn’t newsworthy.
• Have accurate contact information
  You need a real person who’ll bend over backwards to get the information reporters want. So put a person’s name, phone number(s), email address etc. at the top of your release. Better yet, include an alternate information source for the reporter’s convenience.

Follow up journalists you know to check that they have received the release and have all the information they need. This both alerts them to the release and also helps to prioritize your story in their mind.

When to Send a Press Release

So what is the best time to issue a media release? Well, it all depends on the timeliness and news value of the story. A few events that might justify a press release include:

• offering a new service
• developing a new product
• the opening of a new business
• winning a big order
• moving to new premises
• winning a prize or award
• celebrating an anniversary
• sponsoring a local sports team
• assisting a charity or charitable appeal
• special offers, events, and so on

Inline Tip:
AAP conducted a survey of all News Rooms in Australia last year and found the best time to send a media release is between 6 and 9 am and 3 and 6 pm.

Press Release Checklist

• Is it new?
• Are the main points at the top?
• Is it short, sharp and simple?
• Does it include direct quotes?
• Does it provide a contact name and number for more information?
• Have you avoided jargon, flowery language and generalisations which cannot be supported?
• Have you circulated a copy to everyone from the campaign whom the media might contact?
• Have you made follow-up calls to journalists you know?

Press Release Publishing and Distribution

The media receives thousands of releases daily. With seconds to gain attention, the response your individual release evokes is affected by its relevancy to the editor who receives it, its timeliness and the message it conveys.

Tailored submissions - by state, area code, newspaper circulation, dailies or weeklies, magazine categories, E-zine category, AM or FM radio stations, or even a specific topical or geographic area like Travel or Latin America - means the most relevant media receive your release, increasing the likelihood of media pickup.

Some other places you should consider in your press release distribution campaign are:

• online industry publications
• blogs
• newsletters
• trade associations
• online news sites
• the client’s Web site
• free press release listing sites

Free Online Press Release Distribution Services

There are quite a few free PR distribution sites on the Web. Many of them are not worth the time it takes you to submit a release. However, there are some that are quite good.

Following are the 4 criteria that you should consider while evaluating a list of the top free press release distribution sites.

• Page Rank
  It is the Google page rank of the site. You should only run for PR sites that have a page rank of 4 or higher. To determine the page rank of a site, you may use Page Rank Checker free online service.

  Check Page Rank of any web site pages instantly:

  This free page rank checking tool is powered by Page Rank Checker service

• Google News
  This service contains most of the press releases that are published by the site picked up by Google news? To find out if a PR distribution site is getting their content indexed by Google news, go to Google News and do a search for “site:sitename.com”. This will show all of the stories by that site that have been indexed by Google News. As an example, a search for all press releases for the free PR site BigNews.biz, would look like this “site:BigNews.biz”
• Traffic
  Does the free press release site get any traffic? For this list you should use Alexa.com to check traffic. You will have to set your own standard for what you feel is acceptable, e.g. you may accept any site that is ranked above or around 300,000 by Alexa.
• Cost
  You are looking for sites that are primarily free. However, they may offer additional services for a fee or some premium paid services.

Keeping in mind the 4 points listed above, here is a list of the top 10 Free Press Release Distribution Sites:

1. PRLog.org - PR:5 | Alexa: 12300
2. Merinews.com - PR:5 | Alexa: 12900
3. PR-Inside.com - PR:4 | Alexa: 19100
4. IndiaPRWire.com - PR:6 | Alexa: 18400
5. PR.com - PR:5 | Alexa: 26300
6. OpenPR.com - PR:5 | Alexa: 40400
7. ClickPress.com - PR:5 | Alexa: 42450
8. PowerHomeBiz.com - PR:5 | Alexa: 44000
9. 24-7pressrelease.com - PR:4 | Alexa: 45200
10. NewsWireToday.com - PR:5 | Alexa: 44750

To How Many Distribution Services Should You Send Your Press Release

Don’t forget to spread out your releases over a few days, and don’t submit them to everyone, editors are in charge of several sites at once.

Instead of submitting to all, submit only to 5. Then use the rest of the time to find the top 10 editors, journalists or bloggers on your topic and send them an e-mail, linking to the release somewhere it was published. If you really got something interesting to tell the world about then this will get you more mileage

Sample of Effective Press Release

BIG LAUNCH: INTERNET NOVEL WRITING PROJECT THAT EVERYONE CAN JOIN

[For Immediate Release]

Novel “People” - The collaborative community endeavor of making and publishing the first, solid state fiction book online, officially launched.

November 29, 2008 – Make Literature Online, the fastest growing collaborative writing community, today announced the launch of its first fiction book writing project: The novel “People”;

A tale of people that collide into each other. That fight with each other.
That seek for acceptance, friendship and love.

Since its launch in April 2008, Make Literature Online website was quickly became the favorable collaborative writing environment for writers, readers, pros and enthusiasts, and has quickly gained a substantial following.

Armed with little more than a desire for a fresh literature experience, users of all backgrounds and skill levels have unique opportunity to take equal part in shaping the storylines of new novels, by submitting inspiring ideas for new stories, new chapters for ongoing fiction writing projects, or by selecting the best writings from an online catalogue and discussing the submitted stories in forums.

“People” – the novel, is the first result of this collaborative community effort. One which storyline was selected among numerous of other submissions as most interesting and inspiring to launch new novel creation process that everyone can and should contribute.

The proof of this open concept is the storyline author itself: Raluca Enescu - young student of sociology and philosophy from Romania, in her words “a bit of a hippie, a bit of a thinker and somewhat feminist”:

“I’ve seen the movie »Crash« a while ago-and I guess that’s where I got the idea of people of different backgrounds, views and mentalities colliding into each other. Let’s just say it’s a »critical thinking« experiment. It’s an exercise of »how to see trough the eyes of the other« - which, I believe, is much needed for living in the real life, among real people.”

Asked to comment on how does she anticipates her storyline developing on the course of this project, Raluca said:

“Well, I wouldn’t want to make any predictions. I think this is up to the ones who will write the story, not to me. The thing is- everyone who will contribute will have a very different view on the storyline and the characters. There can be very conflicting views. That’s the beauty about collaborative writing.”

At the dawn of the 21st Century and Social Media revolution, new media is forcing the rapid evolution of communications and is reinventing the conventional fiction writing into the art of “personalized” storytelling. This is the practice of matching our stories with the preferences of those we wish to reach, through the active communication and interaction with the audience.

The destiny of “People” novel is now entirely in hands of the online community and its vast creative potential demonstrated so many times in recent years. If successful, this project may mark a new chapter in the history of modern fiction literature, and be the roll-model for many similar ventures that are jet to come.

You’ll be able to follow “People” daily progress on its official blog at www.MakeLiterature.com.

###

If you’d like more information about this project, please call Dusan Knezevic at Make Literature Media Inc. : (+381) 64-318-6567 or e-mail Dusan at knez.dusan@makeliterature.com

This is the third article in our online course series on the theory, practice, trends and secrets of New Age Public Relations. Other topics that we cover are:

***

The truth of it is - no other initiative will grow your business as quickly or effectively as a strong PR campaign.

The best public issue campaigns are based on hopes and dreams, rather than fears and problems. If you want to involve people you must inspire them and generate enthusiasm for the campaign. Negative approaches that exploit emotions like fear or anger can sometimes mobilize people for a short period, but are much harder to use to build organizations or transform society.

Public Relations Campaign

The ultimate goal of a PR campaign is to receive loads of free publicity about your Company, business, book, product, service, or cause. This type of free publicity most often leads to more sales, brand awareness, strategic alliances, and so on. Making headlines is the greatest and fastest way to make people want to do business with you.

Just like with everything else launching a PR campaign will require planning. If a strategic plan and approach is not put into place the outcome will almost never be positive. First to know is that public relations plan must be the integral part of overall Marketing strategy and marketing plan of the Company.

Every good public relations plan must include a step-by-step plan that outlines the key milestones of your PR effort and fills in the specific details for executing the plan:

What message to Whom - Select your target audience

Every organization has its own challenges in terms of public perception:

• To get more exposure
• To influence or change the public’s pre-existing perceptions
• To highlight recent achievements in order to gain the attention of prospective investors, partners or customers.

You also need to know your audience; who do you want to reach? Your audience can be divided into primary, secondary and tertiary audiences to narrow down specific targets and the appropriate messages. Find out everything there is about your audiences; from demographics to psychographics.

Situation Analysis - Gauge the current public opinion about your organization

One of the most difficult challenges for public relations campaigns is identifying the factors that will really cause people to change their behaviors. The key to influencing people’s behavior with PR lies not so much in the creative execution of a campaign, but in the front-end research to identify the true drivers of behavioral change. Better research, better outcomes.

Some interesting questions (and answers) you define in this stage may influence the whole PR campaign:

• What do members of your key target audience think of you and your operation?
• Notice any negatives?
• Are misconceptions, inaccuracies or rumors becoming evident?
• Any undercurrents surfacing?
• Is there a problem coming down the pike?

Do some homework

Discuss the organization’s history. Your overview should include information pertaining to the organization’s main goal. Also Include a summary of the original campaign. Summarize everything the plan includes.

Outline these important components:

• The goals - list every goal your campaign focuses on achieving. For example, your goal might try for a positive impact on individual perception by explaining your pricing policies, or replacing a damaging rumor with the truth
• The objectives – at least one objective for each goal. The objectives must explain what that portion of the project will focus on. Objectives include increasing awareness, brand differentiation, and more.
• The strategies - how do I get from here to there? Discuss what your organization should do to achieve each particular goal. Your choice will respond to what you turned up during your monitoring phase.
• Evaluation plan- list ways the organization can measure the results for each strategy that is used.

Set a budget

Effective PR can be done cheaply or even for free in some cases. However, as a rule you should anticipate some level of expenditure for your campaign.

If your CEO (or equivalent organizational leader) can be convinced of the potentially wide-ranging financial and reputation-related effects of the issue you are trying to convey to your public, he or she will be much more likely to earmark the appropriate funds for your PR initiative.

Communication Tactics - Decide how you will get the word out

Now we come to those “beasts of burden”: Your delivery system for moving your message to members of your target audience is the Communications Tactic.

A good thing to remember about the media is that they are always short on time and you have only seconds to relate what you have to say. Most importantly always make sure that you communicate your message to the correct media source that would find it newsworthy for their audience.

Luckily, you have a ton at your disposal:

• Emails
• personal meetings
• press releases
• brochures
• radio interviews
• special events
• letters-to-the-editor
• face-to-face meetings
• speeches and open houses
• community briefings

Create a plan of execution, including a detailed timeline

Assign each task to a particular person, along with a deadline. This creates a sense of accountability for each task. Of course, once the execution phase is launched and some time passes, you will likely find yourself needing to adjust your tactics to meet an ever-changing environment.

Whether you conduct your own campaign or entrust your PR campaign to an expert PR firm, your plan - and the thinking you go through to formulate it - will go a long way toward helping you reach your PR objectives. During periods of relative chaos, you will be glad to have a plan to which you can refer in order to keep things on track.

How do you know whether your public relations campaign is working?

Once your communications tactics have had six or seven weeks to make an impact on your target audience, go back out among audience members and ask the same questions all over again. That is time consuming and a powerful lot of work. But it’s worth it!

What you want to question those folks about, of course, is the same topics you raised the first time around. Only now, you’re looking for altered perceptions.

• Does the second set of responses indicate that you were successful in clarifying the misconception?
• Does the inaccurate belief is morphing into your version?
• Does the irritating (and potentially dangerous) rumor has been laid to rest?
• Was your message clear enough?
• Were the best “hot buttons” pressed?
• Did you include the right facts and figures to support your case?

When you gather responses showing a consistently positive pattern, that brief and logical plan of yours is beginning to produce the success promised by the fundamental premise of public relations.

Format of Public Relations Plan

It has been said that public relations is the result of form and substance. How you say it (form) and what you say (substance) will likely determine the success or failure in getting PR campaign proposal accepted.

Bind all work neatly. Personalize the transmittal letters if you know the names of the selection committee members. No typos. Use a computer and laser printer. Meet deadlines. Use an easily readable font typeface (minimum 12-point font). Use good paper, don’t skimp.

There are a number of elements in an effective public relations proposal presentation of which you must be aware. Begin each section with the appropriate subheads;

PR Strategic Planning Matrix. Source: Laurie J. Wilson, 'Strategic Program Planning for Effective Public Relations Campaigns'

Quick PR Pilot Programs

Pilot programs are designed to try things we don’t exactly know will work or work as expected.

In the times when environment is changing daily, the effects of the big lumbering PR ventures are more and more liable to the impacts from various undefined variables. Deploying measurable shorter pilot programs first may be an excellent tool in PR toolbar for securing the overall achievement of large PR campaigns.

Requirements of pilots- based planning:

• A simple measurement and reporting model that happens in real-ish time and a decision making process for mid-stream changes (e.g. our outreach to food bloggers isn’t clicking in, let’s expand the incentive or expand our list….)
• Time within an overall campaign. Time to try a few things within a pilot to tweak and find effectiveness before you scale up
• An understanding of how multiple disciplines affect each other - advertising, public relations, search marketing, direct marketing, experience marketing, etc….
• A tolerance of short-term failure. How else do we learn?
• A longer term view. This may seem like a contradiction. To run a pilot, you must be extremely ‘present’ and to judge its usefulness to your business, you must have the capacity to see beyond the immediate results of one pilot.

The Bottom line

What clients really want is to be shown the money. When their most important customers are influenced and their behaviors change in a way that directly affects the company’s ledger, that’s great PR! Increased sales, increased share price, increased membership, increased sponsorship, funding, or other financial criteria are measurable, and depend on strategic business planning and implementation best handled by senior public relations strategists. All these aspects should be considered and appreciated when composing a productive PR Campaign plan.

This is the second article in our online course series on the theory, practice, trends and secrets of New Age Public Relations. Other topics that we cover are:

From Public Relations to Public Relationships

Edward Bernays (1891–1995), the founder of public relations, wrote in his 1928 book Propaganda:

“If we understand the mechanism and motives of the group mind, is it not possible to control and regiment the masses according to our will without their knowing about it?”

In 1928, the answer was yes. But today, the answer is no. The Internet changed public relations forever. Now the individual is in control. People trust their peers more than they trust companies. Relationships trump messages.

It’s why Public Relation Arsenal more an more deploys—social media services. Blogs, podcasting, social networks, photo/video sharing and online forums are social media tools that make connections, generate conversations, build trust and form relationships.

New media is forcing the rapid evolution of communications and is reinventing the science of public relations into the art of “personalized” relations. This is the practice of matching our stories with the preferences of those we wish to reach. Yes, it’s what PR should have been all along, but it’s not.

Powerful Media Relations Tactics

If done correctly, PR is capable of reaching a large audience on a small budget. What’s best about PR is that it communicates in a way that advertising can’t…By using its advanced technique, PR is like a third party endorsement of your business, products, and services by a credible, independent source.

There are any number of ways that a company or organization can positively use public relations to enhance their image in the eye of the public. Here we are list some of the advanced tactics:

• Write how-to articles for the media that have the greatest influence with your ideal customers.
• Post your how-to articles in the online article directories, such as www.ideamarketers.com, www.articleteller.com, and www.ezinearticles.com..
• Leverage your “how to” articles in the press with speeches and radio interviews.
• Serve as an expert to reporters that write about your industry.
• Launch and sustain a quality e-newsletter to stay in touch with interested potential clients.
• Stage webinars or tele-seminars or small scale free or low-cost seminars to make your expertise readily available to prospects.
• Share meeting notices with the local papers and valuable information by request.
• Write press releases about grand openings, news, and staff additions/promotions, and other happenings at your company, targeting the correct reporters that cover your industry.
• Enter award contests that are well-supported by the media.

Storytelling and Public Relations

Stories make our messages easier to remember and have been used throughout history to help explain concepts more effectively. Public relations is a form of classic storytelling, but for business. And, in business, whoever tells the best story wins.

The basic premise that attracts a reporter to a story is friction

• two competing agendas
• two people facing off over a contentious issue
• two groups that are at odds with each other.

Friction tends to lead to interest, and that’s what reporters and editors want. Ultimately, they want a story that will cause their readers, listeners, or viewers to sit up and pay attention. If the story isn’t out of the ordinary — if it’s just every-day stuff — it will not be read, heard or seen.

The components of an effective story

The use of fact and emotion in a story is critical – particularly in public relations. In a world cluttered with messages competing for audience time and attention, stories and our messages require both, facts and emotions to be effective.

• An Appetizing Beginning- which is always the hero’s ordinary, believable world.
• The Meaty middle - which is the hero’s journey into some extraordinary world.
• End with Dessert, Not Desert- the hero’s return to his ordinary world, but changed, very changed.
• A compelling point of view - or theme, such as “nothing takes the place of persistence,” or “true love never dies,” or “it’s all in the delivery.”
• Detail, detail, detail: that support storytelling elements such as risks taken (how much money is at stake) and people involved (team members, not spokespeople or top execs)

5 news values or characteristics that identify the newsworthiness of a story

• Proximity - a story of local importance
• Consequence - a story with a large impact
• Prominence - a story featuring an important person or entity
• Human Interest - a story that has a unique or absurd angle
• Timeliness - a story bound to a certain time or tied to seasonality

Good stories tell us something we didn’t already know or thought we knew. You new product may be a big deal to you, but new products are released everyday. Dig a little deeper to find something truly novel about your product and bring that novelty to your story.

The Power of Word-of-Mouth Public Relations

In an environment that bombards consumers with millions of (often conflicting) messages each day, credibility is suddenly the most valuable currency of all, and the greatest credibility of all comes from a source—word-of-mouth, both online and off—few marketers had previously considered and most had considered dangerous and unpredictable.

How do you start a word of mouth marketing PR campaign?

• Establishing Excellence
  First thing is to build an excellent product or service, truly worth talking about and stand-up to every endorsement given.
• Appreciation Approval for Referrals
  Reward customers and employees for promoting products and services. Create contests, discounts, giveaways, cash, etc. Employees and customers go wild for referral rewards!
• Get Free Publicity
  Inform the press about your special giveaway offerings to your customers. The trick here is to get potential customers to become new customers and receive the exclusive offerings available to customers only.
• Communication Follow Up
  The Internet is the hottest engine that every business should have and use. Continually thank customers and employees for loyalty and dedication. Use email campaigns to communicate with customers and employees.
• Blog Control
  Enforcing a blog in a word of mouth marketing PR campaign is a neat way to communicate with customers. This allows you to gather feedback and handle important issues. Always be certain to monitor your blog regularly to correct any damage control.

Word-of-Mouth Practice and Variations

Some word of mouth is not like the others. In fact, the variability on how word of mouth works and what types of outcomes get produced vary even more Between its 9 constituents types than TV, Radio, Magazine and Outdoor do in a traditional world:

The possibilities are limitless when one person tells everyone they know about your products and services.

Letter to the Editor

This is a letter you write to the newspaper commenting on a current news story being addressed by the paper. The letter may criticize some aspects of the paper’s coverage or bring additional context to a particular story. It may also respond to a previously published letter. Letters to the editor appear on the Opinion / Editorial (op-ed) pages and are one of the most highly read sections of the paper.

What dos it do?

Like an editorial piece, a letter to the editor can allow your comments to be presented with minimal mediation or interpretation by the paper itself. This requires you to keep the letter short.

When to use it?

Use it when you want to comment on a current story and/or its coverage without mediation and an op-ed piece isn’t warranted (because you don’t have enough to say on the matter, because you don’t think they’ll print an op/ed piece for you, or because you don’t have enough time to research or write one).

Important things about writing a letter:

• Keep it short. Notice how long the published letters to the editor usually are and try to stay within those boundaries to avoid someone cutting your comments.
• Criticize objectively. It you must criticize the paper itself, do it in a calm and objective manner, backing up any claims you make with facts and concrete examples.
• Try to ensure a human face. People respond best to human stories, accounts and comments.
• Sign the letter. Make sure you sign the letter and provide the paper with your name and address; otherwise they will usually not even consider publishing it.
• Don’t overdo it. People who write more than one letter a month are dismissed as crackpots.

How to Identify and Engage Influencers Online and Off

Who is influential in our lives today? When marketers and communicators ask this question they often mean who is influential to a lot of people or who “reaches” lots of people. The easiest answer is anyone extremely popular or who commands some type of audience like a celebrity, public official, leaders in industry or someone at the top 10% of their game - whatever that game can be.

Communication experts have always been good at understanding who is influential on a particular subject. They survey a broad number individuals against criteria like this:

• Prominence within organization
• Prominence of organization
• Reach in mainstream media
• Reach in digital media
• Level of investment in the issue
• Level of authority/ connectedness
• Grassroots reach

There are a lot of new influencers out there whose voices are amplified by technology. Understanding how that all works is critical for the communication pro of tomorrow. If you want to decipher who is influential online, you have to be willing to roll up your sleeves and look for the data. Here is a sampling of what we look for:

• Blogs & Microblogs
• Videos & Photo Communities
• Message Boards & Forums
• Social Networks

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Time-honored tactics like media relations and crisis communications remain in the public relations toolbox. But our clients need more to become irreplaceable brands. What are the best vehicles for your message? How can you get the word out in the most cost-efficient way?

Hopefully, advanced PR techniques presented in here may assist in leveraging your public relations practice in the future.

This is the first article in our online course series on the theory, practice, trends and secrets of New Age Public Relations. Other topics that we cover are: