Month: March 2014

PR Secrets Of Miley Cyrus

In the 1930s, F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote, “Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me.”  Today he would probably write, “Let me tell you about entertainers …”

They are different.  Even if they are not very talented, some know how to turn a little bit of notoriety into major league FAME.  Take Miley Cyrus.  Please.

Type her name into Google News and you will see “About 86,500,000 results (0.33 seconds).”  Her ascent from Disney’s Hannah Montana child star and teen singer, to moderately talented young adult singer contains important lessons for anyone studying public relations or trying to persuade the media.

She’s had two major advantages – fame at an early age and a platform to express herself.  Cyrus’s path has been charted before.  Both Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera parlayed the young, innocent child star to sexy young singing sensation, but they are both better singers.  That makes Cyrus’ ascent much more noteworthy.

Whether you are captivated by her (most of America under age 30) or turned off by her music and stunts like her “twerking” at the MTV Video Music Awards (count me in this demographic), she’s worthy of study.  Rolling Stone put her on the cover of their annual “Hot List” issue and NPR notes her meteoric rise. “Cyrus’ new smash is ‘Wrecking Ball.’ It’s the first Hot 100 No. 1 of her career; ‘We Can’t Stop’ peaked at No. 2 back in August. Last week ‘Wrecking Ball’ vaulted to the top, from No. 22 to No. 1 in a single week, largely because of its (notoriety). Since February, Billboard has included in the Hot 100 formula all streams of music videos on YouTube and Vevo, the music video site that also serves clips to YouTube. This proved pivotal to “Wrecking Ball,” whose nudity-and-sledgehammers clip has racked up record viewings.”

The New York Daily News reports the flood of critics are missing the point.  “Miley Cyrus might not have spun off the rails. She might know exactly what she is doing. The nudity, twerking and tongue-wagging all appear to be part of a calculated ploy to bury her formerly squeaky-clean Disney image. The end result, she says, is to reveal her inner ‘bad b—h.’ ”

Billboard  notes her “controversy” is probably a well-planned PR campaign, rather than the “train wreck” the tabloids hoped it would become. “Miley Cyrus’ ascent in 2013 has been a surreal experience to witness — but none of it was an accident. In ‘Miley Cyrus: The Movement,’ a new hour-long MTV documentary premiering on Wednesday night (Oct. 2), the pop star’s bold steps toward ‘Bangerz’ are captured in full, as the unshakeable vision of her return from 2010′s disappointing ‘Can’t Be Tamed’ is translated to the selection of ‘We Can’t Stop’ as a comeback single, the hip-hop-centric collaborators on her new album, and her audacious performance at the MTV Video Music Awards in August. Throughout the documentary, Cyrus makes sure to stress that the presentation of her new image is more than just a promotional detail. ‘To me, a movement is bigger than just a record,’ says Cyrus. ‘For me, a movement represents something like… taking over the world.’ ”

Of course, entertainers and their publicists (surprise) don’t always play it straight with the media.  Author Randy Taraborelli noted in his book, “Michael Jackson The Magic and the Madness” that the famous photo of Jackson in an oxygen chamber was a brilliant Public Relation stunt.  “Reports of the superstar’s sleeping in an oxygen chamber to retard aging, buying the Elephant Man’s remains and trying to talk with his pet chimp Bubbles were all media hoaxes Michael and his associates engineered to get attention — a skill he started honing at age 8.”

There are too many other examples to list in just one column.  Nevertheless …

Here are the Five Public Relations Secrets of Miley Cyrus.  Some of these lessons may be applicable to your business or service, some may not.   Most people reading this column aren’t pop stars – David Bowie, Keith Urban, Usher and The Killers have yet to follow me on Twitter – but there are some lessons worth studying for entrepreneurs and small businesses.

Controversy sells.  For certain businesses and individuals, a well-time stunt can yield big rewards.  Obviously, if you run a restaurant or operate a healthcare clinic, you don’t court controversy.  But attention-attracting stunts can sometimes break through the clutter.  Years ago when I was working for a newspaper in San Antonio, a struggling convenience store held a $1 six-pack sale to drum up business.  The stunt worked so well the store was saved and the owner eventually opened several more locations.  Kobe Bryant’s “controversial” knee therapy in 2011 in Germany led to one of his highest scoring seasons ever in 2012 — in his 30s — and encouraged weekend athletes everywhere.

Sex sells.   This is obvious.  But effective.  We don’t need Britney, Miley or Cristina to remind us of this, there are so many hotel, jeans, food and other products who successfully titillate us with this strategy it’s only surprising when we are shocked.  Again, this isn’t right for every business, but some exploit this well.  Here are some examples.

Be Memorable.  Judging by the reaction to her performance at the VMA awards, Cyrus was the biggest villain in America, or the smartest, but certainly the most famous.   The goal for most of us is to create the best ice cream sandwich, best strategy to win a court case, best one-year MBA program, etc. then to trumpet our achievements with the most memorable and exciting PR campaign.  Here’s a more positive example.  Years ago, when a graduate student at Cornell’s Johnson School of Management wanted to promote his work promoting healthy food in the slums of India.  He suggested promoting a partnership with a multinational chemical company.  Not a winner.  Instead, we came up with something more visual, promoting the images of soybeans growing on the tops of the roofs to augment meals with nutrition.  That led to a story in the Wall Street Journal titled, “In India, How Do Rooftop Gardens Grow?”

Use social media. Made yourself (or your actual product) a product.  Cyrus has enticed more than 14 million  twitter followers.  There are dozens of  good blogs that tell us how to do this here and here.  Most remind us to provide original, unique and useful information, engage with others and tweet often to keep people’s interest.

Publicize your demographic.   I loved this article about ” Twerk Marketing Lessons” that stresses the importance of target marketing.  The “Majority of the criticisms thrown at Miley came from people above 40 years old. They said it was immoral, inappropriate and they accused Miley of being on drugs. Does Miley care? Of course not. Miley doesn’t intend to sell her album to old people – it’s the young generation that she needs to worry about. And apparently, the teens loved it. Miley knows exactly who her market is, and she designed her performance specifically for them. Brands should do the same- identify their target and give them undivided focus.”

 Don’t be afraid to innovate.  Cyrus added tattoos, cut her hair, andchanged her image.  Not all of us need to radically transform our appearance or shock the culture, but well-timed products and business strategies saved these famous companies and kept them viable.

Apple.  Netflix. IBM. Yahoo. The Gap. Krispy Kreme.

Nobody wants to be Oldsmobile, eToys, Wang Computers or Lehman Brothers.  That’s Rule #6, How to Reinvent and Adapt.  In a few years, or months, when she can’t get any more tattoos or haircuts, when the lewd dancing ceases to surprise and she has lost the ability to shock us, wait for the inevitable interview or press conference when she appears in a business suit as she tells us the stunts that made her famous were “just a phase” and now this supposed Rebel tells us she “wants to be taken seriously as an artist.”

We’ve seen this script before.  Miley Cyrus isn’t original, just very good at following the script for maximizing Public Relations.

 

14 KEY SKILLS & ATTRIBUTES FOR NEW PUBLIC RELATIONS PROFESSIONALS

Public relations has changed significantly over the last few years. Even if you don’t buy into the idea that online communities and relationships are part of the public relations function, it’s hard to deny the rising importance of blogs, the gradual decline of traditional media and the impact that online conversations can have on brands. If you do believe that public relations should include these new activities, then there’s a whole new board game to be played.

Along the same lines, the skills that new Public Relation  grads need have evolved too.

Here are my thoughts on 14 skills and attributes a new PR professional needs in today’s market.

Traditional Skills/Attributes

Yes, there’s a new game to play (in my opinion), but the old game is still there too. Public Relation pros still need the basic attributes and skills that they’ve always needed.  Try launching something using social media alone and you’ll appreciate the gap that traditional media can leave if it’s lacking. So, entry-level PR professionals still need to be proficient at (among other things):

  • Writing – the cornerstone of a PR professional’s career. If you’re not confident about your writing skills, brush up. You’ll need them. Learn how to write a news release – study those produced by other organizations and practice for yourself.
  • Communications skills – I’m talking ‘small c’ communications here rather than the ‘big c.’ Learn to communicate more effectively with other people
  • Attention to detail – because nothing will drive your colleagues (and, if you’re unlucky enough for your work to make it there, your clients) mad like poorly-edited work. Proofread everything. Fact check everything. Hand things to your supervisor when you would be happy with them going to the client.
  • Media relations – you’ll probably be doing media relations throughout the majority of your career. You may not have had an opportunity to do it for yourself as a new graduate, but an understanding of the basics is certainly an advantage – what’s in a media list? What are the pitching best practices?
  • Proactiveness – if you don’t know an answer to a question, first try to research the answer. If you can’t find the answer, ask. Whatever you do, don’t just sit there until you approach the deadline for your work.
  • Work ethic – public relations isn’t a 9-to-5 job. It shouldn’t take over your life, but the nature of the work is that sometimes you’ll have last-minute deadlines and sometimes you’ll have to chip-in to help others. There’s nothing worse for more senior team members than watching the more junior ones walk out of the door at 5pm then having to stay there until 9pm themselves. Put in that little bit of extra effort. It won’t be every day, but people will notice.

New Skills/Attributes

Alongside the regular attributes that I think new Public Relations  pros should have, I would add a whole new list of attributes related to the online work. Among these I would include:

  • Blogging – you don’t necessarily need to have one (although it’s a big plus), but an understanding of the importance of blogs and an interest in their use, is essential in my view.
  • Microblogging – it’s still an emerging technology, but I would argue that an understanding of microblogging tools (the primary one currently being Twitter)  is essential for new grads.
  • Social networking tools – Facebook, MySpace LinkedIn, Plaxo and more – there’s a plethora of social networking tools out there. An understanding of the leading social networks is desirable.
  • SEO – some parts of search engine optimization are quite technical, but others are very simple and require little technical knowledge. An understanding of the basics is highly valuable. This leads to my next point…
  • Coding – basic HTML, PHP, VBScript and so on are not critical skills, but I find them useful on a daily basis.
  • RSS, RSS Readers – I consider an understanding of RSS to be central to people doing any work in social media. For one thing, RSS turns monitoring multiple searches and sites every day into a manageable task. For another, it helps when providing recommendations to clients.
  • Blogger relations – understand the nuances of blogger relations.
  • Social media ethics – everyone has their own lines when it comes to ethics. Know where yours lie and how you feel about topics like astroturfing, ghost blogging, sock puppets and other common ethical issues (I’ve given my on astroturfing and ghost blogging several times recently).

It’s hard to find someone with all of these attributes. If you’re honest with yourself, you’re probably stronger in some of these areas than others. Figure out which areas are your weakest, and work on them.

I’ve probably missed a whole bunch of attributes here. Public Relations  pros, new and old – what would you add?

This city’s all Seoul

 Work hard, play hard

This is the capital of a nation that brought the world MP3 players and touch screen mobile phones, K-pop and kimchi. Seoul is a business hot spot, but when the sun goes down the city lets loose and often does not stop until sun-up (making the country’s nickname, The Land of the Morning Calm, all too appropriate). In a city of more than 10 million residents there is something for everyone, whether it is cultural events that showcase the nation’s rich history or pastimes that embrace more novel imports. Pictured here is an illuminated map of the bustling metropolis in the Seoul Museum of History.

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Drink up

Food and drink bring people together around the world, and Seoul is no different. Korean barbeque (pictured), where the meat is prepared on a tableside grill, is known as gogigui, which means “grilling meat”, the most popular being bulgogi, or thin slices of beef. Available throughout the city, gogigui makes for a superb compliment to Korea’s drinking culture, which consists mostly of distilled rice liquors (including soju, the most popular Korean alcohol) and fruit or flower wines. When drinking with Koreans remember that it is rude to decline the first round, it is fine to drink any day of the week, and when accepting a drink from your elders, make sure to hold the glass with two hands.

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Ancient arts

A colourful silk-clad model performs at a fashion event showcasing the hanbok, a form of traditional Korean dress. Visitors looking to learn more about Korea’s time-honoured arts are in good hands at the National Gugak Center, which puts on Korean dance shows and offers traditional music classes. Another option is the classic Seoul Art’s Centre, which includes an opera house, concert hall and art galleries, showcasing everything from visiting orchestras to the National Korean Ballet.

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A Korean pastime

Though not the official national sport, baseball is one of South Korea’s most popular games, introduced to the country in 1905 by American missionaries. Snack on Korean fried chicken and local Hite beer, watch K-pop cheerleaders turn the stadium into a concert during halftime, and join the multitude of diehard fans that have unremitting cheers for everything. Pictured is the Jamsil Sports Complex, home to the LG Twins and the Doosan Bears, located in Seoul’s southeastern Songpa-gu district.

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Annual festivities

Lantern lighting began in Korea in the 10th Century and is still carried out over the two-day Lotus Lantern Festival (pictured) every spring. The lanterns symbolise wisdom because they bring light into the world, and the event typically concludes with a stunning night parade through central Seoul.

There are many other holidays to celebrate throughout the year, from Chuseok, the three-day mid-autumn harvest festival that celebrates with moon shaped rice cakes (7 to 9 September 2014), to Seotdal Geumeum, where people stay up all night to receive ancestral spirits (31 January 2014). No matter the season, there is almost always something going on, with a special food or spectacle to accompany it.

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Air pollution linked to seven million deaths globally

Seven million people died as a result of air pollution in 2012, the World Health Organization estimates.

Its findings suggest a link between air pollution and heart disease, respiratory problems and cancer.

One in eight global deaths were linked with air pollution, making it “the world’s largest single environmental health risk”, the WHO said.

Nearly six million of the deaths had been in South East Asia and the WHO’s Western Pacific region, it found.

 

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The evidence signals the need for concerted action to clean up the air we all breathe”

Dr Maria NeiraWHO

The WHO said about 3.3 million people had died as a result of indoor air pollution and 2.6 million deaths were related to outdoor air pollution, mainly in low- and middle-income countries in those regions.

Air-Pollution

‘Heavy price’

WHO public health, environmental and social determinants of health department director Dr Maria Neira said: “The risks from air pollution are now far greater than previously thought or understood, particularly for heart disease and strokes.

“Few risks have a greater impact on global health today than air pollution.

“The evidence signals the need for concerted action to clean up the air we all breathe.”

Reducing air pollution could save millions of lives, said the WHO.

WHO family, woman and children’s health assistant director-general Dr Flavia Bustreo said: “Cleaning up the air we breathe prevents non-communicable diseases as well as reduces disease risks among women and vulnerable groups, including children and the elderly.

“Poor women and children pay a heavy price from indoor air pollution since they spend more time at home breathing in smoke and soot from leaky coal and wood cook stoves.”

‘Robust and accurate’

The WHO assessment found the majority of air pollution deaths were linked with cardiovascular diseases.

For deaths related to outdoor pollution, it found:

  • 40% – heart disease
  • 40% – stroke
  • 11% – chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
  • 6% – lung cancer
  • 3% – acute lower respiratory infections in children

For deaths related to indoor pollution, it found:

  • 34% – stroke
  • 26% – heart disease
  • 22% – COPD
  • 12% – acute lower respiratory infections in children
  • 6% – lung cancer

University of Birmingham professor of environmental and respiratory medicine Jon Ayres said the review needed to be taken seriously.

“The estimates for the impact of outdoor air pollution are robust and as accurate as can be developed at the moment,” he said.

The WHO estimates were based on:

  • satellite data
  • ground-level monitoring
  • modelling how pollution drifts in the air
  • pollution-emissions data
Video

Jennifer Lawrence Takes Center Stage In New ‘X-Men’ Trailer: Watch Now!!!!

The new trailer for “X-Men: Days of Future Past” fleshes out the story of two timelines of mutants fighting to stop a world overrun by Sentinels before it ever happens. It also demonstrates how much more famous Jennifer Lawrence has become since “X-Men: First Class.”
The second preview for Bryan Singer’s mutant all-star showcase certainly delves deeper into the time-bending story, and what we see is a lot more Mystique than we ever have before. In the war to save all of mutant-dom from extinction, the shapeshifting assassin sees the struggle as more of an “us or them” thing than Professor X would agree with.

Aside from the beefed up role for the now super famous JLaw, the trailer also does a great job of showcasing the large cast of superpowered heroes and putting them in situations where they get to demo their tricks for everyone.

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10 Huge Online PR Mistakes You Must Avoid

1. You Undervalue Press Releases as Part of Your Link Building Campaign
Links in press releases have no value for SEO, but that doesn’t mean press releases have no part to play in link building campaigns.

A press release is still one of the most effective ways to get your story in front of journalists. And journalists may well give you a nice clean link in a published article – the link is on an independent, quality site over which you do not control and therefore it has SEO value.

Then, if other journalists, experts, writers, and bloggers read the article and are then moved to write a post on their own blog and link to you in the process, then those links are also likely to have SEO value.

Bottom line: effective use of press releases has a critical role to play in link building campaigns.

2. Your Press Release Doesn’t Have a Clear, Single Focus

Concentrate on telling just one of the many stories you could tell about your client. The temptation to put too much in is almost irresistible, but you must resist it. However, do provide a link to your client’s newsroom or online press center where they can find out more if they really want to.

3. Your Press Release Isn’t Newsworthy

This is one of the most common mistakes in traditional public relations: lots of companies put out press releases that aren’t really news at all.

This mistake is exacerbated in the SEO world because keyword-rich anchor text in press releases worked really well once upon a time. Who could resist sending out poor news stories when they had such a great effect on SEO?

But those days are gone forever. Now every press release you send out should be newsworthy. That means it is something that a journalist will want to write about and something that a reader will find interesting.

The best way to find out what is newsworthy in your industry is to read as many relevant posts on high quality sites. Does your news match those other stories in quality? If not, don’t waste everybody’s time by sending it in.

4. Your Press Release Isn’t Getting Into the Right Hands

Yes, it’s possible to send your release to thousands of journalists, but that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. You must do research and be selective in choosing the journalists and outlets to approach.

The most effective ways of getting your press release into the right hands are, in descending order of importance:

  • Journalists you already know or who have written about you in the past. This is should be one of your most valuable lists. Unsurprisingly, this is by far the most effective way of getting your news out
  • Journalists who you don’t know but who you’ve carefully researched. Note what stories they tend to write about, the tone they take and the angles they are likely to follow. Then tailor your pitch to match their tastes. When you do persuade a new journalist or outlet to write about you, move them up into the top category.
  • Journalists who are on a large distribution list. This falls way short of the two categories above by some distance, so much so that many PR people will just not use it. However, if can be successful in picking up new journalist contacts who have seen your general release and have written about you. Again, once they do move them up into the top category.

5. You Don’t Keep Control of Everything

Public relations is often an intensely collaborative exercise. You have a client, the client has a PR consultant and might also be working on a joint venture with another business. The chances for miscommunication therefore grow exponentially – and that’s when problems multiply.

Say you’re organizing an event and you want to make sure you get good photographs so someone has to organize a photographer. It isn’t enough to know you’re going to have a photographer. You must make sure that the photographer knows exactly what photographs everyone wants.

A photo that’s going to be published in the local newspaper is very different from the one you need to encourage sharing on social networks.

6. Your Press Release Isn’t Structured Properly

You need a killer headline and a killer first paragraph. The news value of your release is rarely special – it’s one of hundreds that a journalist has to scan every day. You’ve got to write a headline that immediately grabs their attention – that makes your pitch stand out from all the rest.

Spend time crafting the headline. And once you’ve done that, spend time writing a fabulous first paragraph. Do those two jobs well and you increase the chances of even ordinary news getting coverage.

7. You Aren’t Ready for Follow Up From a Journalist

We do live in a world of cut and paste journalism where people just don’t have time. However, if you do attract the attention of the New York Times or the BBC or Inc. Magazine, then you can expect the journalist to get in touch and ask questions – and that can be followed by a ‘fact checker’ after they’ve written their piece.

How well you answer their questions can make the difference between publication and failure.

Imagine what follow up questions you might be asked – be confident and have some decent answers ready. It can be a good idea to hold back one piece of the story and then give that to journalists who take the initiative of asking questions.

8. You Don’t Follow Up

No one likes to be seen as a persistent, irritating jerk and most journalists will tell you that they hate follow up calls, saying that if they had been interested in the story they would have published it or asked some questions.

But everybody in PR Online  knows that if you do follow-up, you will get additional stories – so sadly it is something that must be done if you’re to get the most out of your story.

But be polite and don’t be pushy – you might even be able to pitch a different angle on the story that might get the journalist hooked.

9. You Leave the Journalist With Too Much Work to Do

Journalists are busy people who work to tight deadlines under enormous pressure. They simply do not have the time to dig into stories that are not immediately interesting. Your job is to make their job as easy and straightforward as you possibly can.

So that means writing the story as you would like it to appear in the final publication – if your story is newsworthy and gives them everything they need to write the story immediately, your odds of getting published go up dramatically.

10. You Don’t Maximize Your Chances of Getting Editorial Links

No matter how much we might buy into the idea that online PR is about more than links, we’re still pretty delighted when we get an editorial link from the BBC, CNN, or Los Angeles Times.

But sometimes a story will have an editorial link and a similar story on the same media outlet will not. Why is that? And how do those links happen? Sometimes journalists have the power, sometimes they don’t.

There really is no rhyme or reason to it. The Telegraph is an important UK newspaper and frequently links out to other sites as in this Travel Guide to Belfast City by Geoff Hill, an award-winning travel writer.

The guide contains lots of links and I asked Geoff how they got there. His answer confirmed the serendipity of it all, “I compiled a list of recommended restaurants together with all their web addresses and put those in, but any other links were put in behind the scenes after I’ve filed my story and I don’t know who did it.”

There is no “secret” to getting editorial links but there are things to do that can increase your odds – check out 10 Ways to Increase the Odds of Getting Editorial Links.

Press releases are still an important part of link building campaigns. Not for the links that might be embedded within them, but for the publicity and editorial links that they can generate.

Learning to write good press releases isn’t difficult and it gives you another important tool in your link building kit.

A Little Knowledge about Public Relation (PR) and Advertising can save a Lot of Money

By Robert Wynne

Saving money and grinding the best deal can generate short term gains and long term pain.  When businesses and non-profits consider the best mix of public relations and advertising, knowledge of what you get for what you pay can substantially increase your intended results.

My most vivid memory of someone paying for something they didn’t really need came from a financial services client in New Jersey.  After requesting a fairly intricate proposal, the Jersey Guy said he found a better deal with another PR firm because they promised him press releases each week during a 6-month contract.  “That’s 24 stories, guaranteed!” he boasted.

Here’s the real guarantee – those who don’t understand PR will waste time and money.  Does a small firm in New Jersey have 24 different feature story ideas or news hooks?  Or will their releases go into the Spam folder faster than you can see “Free Viagra?”

Press releases are self-serving announcements promoting your firm or service.  If you tie your story to a trend, or your firm’s new product actually revolutionizes something (like the I-Pad), it’s news.  Announcing “We’ve got a new ice cream store on the outskirts of Boston!” isn’t.  For that, you’d do better with an advertisement, clearly labeled as paid coverage.

No Public Relations  firm can guarantee you editorial stories, but good publicists craft your press release or pitch letter (less formal presentation) to interest the media.  More people read stories than ads, so you always want to be in the main section.  If you’ve got a huge budget without much news, you can consider regular ads or “advertorials,” paid placements that look like news, but are labeled as advertisements.   Just don’t pay for 24 press releases and expect the moon.

Many “great deals” lose money and waste time. Amy Balsam of In 2 It Media in Los Angeles watched her clients “save money” and “manage their own Public Relation” to the clients’ detriment.    A high-profile celebrity charity tried to raise funds and awareness of their social cause via sale of tickets to a major event starting at $1,000. ”We were handling talent and coordinating the auction.They couldn’t afford our PR retainer and hired us as PR consultants instead, saying they could handle the PR on their own.”

The client decided to take out ads in magazines – but not in publications where readers could afford the $1,000 tickets — and created homemade flyers and promotional materials.  Doing it their way cost more than $20,000 and didn’t generate many sales.

“For half of the money our clients wasted, we would have booked all of the celebrities performing at the event on TV and radio outlets promoting it and would have booked the founder to discuss what the organization does and the purpose of the event,” Balsam said.

Confusing the value of TV and print interviews or “earned media” with “paid media” such as advertisements and flyers caused this non-profit headaches and lost sales.

Advertising alone didn’t work for a mid-size technical company in Orange County that tried to drive sales by celebrating their 40thanniversary.  They first tried buying ads in the trades – “We’ve made amplifiers for 40 years!” as if someone who made them for 29 years wasn’t really qualified.  Then they baked themselves a cake and served it a trade show. Yawn.

The story gained traction when we figured out the human element.  Forty years ago, the partners met when one was making speakers out of a garage and the other met him by accident when his motorcycle broke down.  They formed a partnership and are still working together four decades later, still tinkering, still making amps and still riding motorcycles.  Result?  Front page story in the Orange County Register business section.

The firm made copies of the story and mailed it around the world, emphasizing their home grown roots, commitment to quality and personal story to confirm that no matter how technical and expensive their products are, human beings are behind every speaker and amp.

There’s still a role for advertising, even with a strong PR campaign.  But unless your story is compelling enough to stand out in a sea of pop-ups or magazine ads, or you’ve got a brilliant video shot and millions to spare on network and cable TV, most small businesses are better off crafting a great press release or riveting pitch letter.  Someone important might actually care.

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Robert Wynne is a public relations professional based in Redondo Beach, Calif. He has consulted for large firms, start-ups and leading universities. He can be reached at rob@wynnepr.com and also found at http://www.wynnepr.com.

Public Relations Skills You Need to Succeed!

Your resume doesn’t say “B.A. in Public Relations” on it? Don’t panic—you aren’t immediately disqualified from the Public Relation race. In fact, you’ll be hard-pressed to find an acclaimed university that offers a B.A. in Public Relations. What you will find is a number of great colleges (both state and university) that offer comprehensive Communications majors, which include courses in media and public relations. If this is the track you are already on, stay put.

But, if you aren’t on track as a Com major, or your school days are a distant memory, you can still make sure you have the necessary and desired skills to be in public relations.

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Check out the following skills I think are important to have when applying for Public Relations  jobs (Communications degree or not!):

1. Time/task management: You may find yourself to be in situations where multiple clients and projects are all labeled “important.” Being able to recognize deadlines and high versus low priority tasks is a valuable skill.

2. Organization: A key attribute for any employee, especially in an office. When you start at the bottom of the ladder, keeping yourself and your superiors organized can help you climb toward more responsibility. And, your boss’ newly attained free time means more instances for them to sit back, relax and notice your hard work.

3. Computer skills: Typing is a must. You’ll be doing a lot of email work, sending press releases, email alerts, proposals, etc. Knowing how to navigate Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook is important. Adobe Acrobat, Photoshop, Quark, InDesign, InCopy, and web page-creating programs are also good to brush up on. If you don’t have experience using these programs, I suggest taking a class at your local city college or picking up a how-to manual from the bookstore. In this century, technophobia is not an option.

4. Phone communication skills: The phone rings off the hook in Public Relations. Be able to speak eloquently, professionally and with an awareness of when you should direct a conversation to someone more capable. Don’t be afraid to say “I don’t know the answer to that question, but I will gladly find out and get back to you as soon as possible.” In PR, it’s better to be correct than to be quick (though the media may disagree, and sometimes quick is imperative). Again, be aware of priorities and deadlines if the requests involve media outlets. Journalists typically need answers yesterday.

5. An eye for detail: If you are in a position to look over documents or facts for article verification, patience and paying close attention are very important. If you glance over an incorrect fact, you could do harm to your company.

Brush up on some of these skills and you’ll go far!