During tough economic times, smart companies harness the power of media relations to promote and grow their businesses. Media relations is the art of working with journalists in various media (i.e., newspapers, magazines, radio, television, the Internet) to inform...
When I was a rookie media-relations practitioner, I learned from my then-boss the secrets to avoiding the swerve pitch, which is sending a story idea or a media release with incorrect information. She had me double check every detail before I contacted a reporter....
In baseball, a changeup is thrown so it looks like a fastball but takes its time arriving at the plate. The media relations’ version is called the thumbs-down. The thumbs-down pitch involves sending an event-announcement media release less than two weeks before...
The Stinker Pitch involves sending a media release containing no newsworthy content. Some business people confuse what’s new with what’s news. While teaching a building-a-buzz-for-your-business seminar, I asked participants to list company achievements that could be...
I met Clueless Carl at a Chamber networking mixer. This small-business owner was vexed by the media’s inattention to his company. “My competitors are always in the papers, but they never write about me,” Carl grumbled. When I asked if he had reached out to the...
