How to really help a reporter

     Rule No. 1? Be prepared to drop everything and move fast. 
     Depending on the reporter, journalists only have a couple hours to collect everything they need and create a story.

     That means finding two to three people from differing angles to talk about the issue.

     In the case of television, it also means finding 20-plus different shots.

     Some of the still shots can be culled from the library or from the “morgue” where head shots of well-known people are kept.

     Companies can help by providing background material, including b-roll, experts in the field and people who are affected by the issue.

     While finding an expert at a company is pretty easy, coming up with a “man on the street” who isn’t at work and willing to go on camera can be a challenge.

     We’ve done this many times for our clients, but even so, it’s always a scramble.

     It’s hectic and crazed—and one of the most exciting parts of the business.

     It’s also one of the best ways to make friends with the media.

     For more information, visit us at www.dellrichards.com.

Strut your stuff through pro bono work

If you do it right, pro bono work allows you to strut your stuff while branding your firm.

By having fun, we've been able to show our creativity through our freebies.

We've pitched fire troupes, ballroom dancers and Buddhist events.

We've sent the media releases on performance troupes wowing them with fire and dancers making a name nationally. 

We've sent out info on the four-ton Jade Buddha traveling the world and, most recently, the Sera Jey monks raising funds for the school in India by making a local sand mandala.

We not only received press for the events, but made a name for ourselves by having interesting projects.   

As a result, journalists usually ask what we’re up when we see them. 

 

And, we now represent a nationally known antiques appraiser, a concert pianist, an author and a nonprofit that develops affordable housing—as well as more “corporate” clients.

Doing pro bono not only creates good karma, but often pays off in more mundane ways, too.    

For more information, call Dell Richards Publicity at (916) 455-4790 or visit us at www.dellrichards.com.

Learning something new every day the PR way

I recently had the opportunity to place a 1,000 word article in a trade magazine for a client that had to be written in 24 hours.  

By then, it was 4 p.m. and the article had a new angle on an extremely complex subject I only had been researching in depth for a couple weeks.

By 5 p.m., I was reviewing documents and interviews, researching questions they brought up—and talking to my expert source while trying to get as much info into the brain as possible before I relaxed.

I was a little fried, but I also remembered that learning new things—especially new ideas that challenge preconceived assumptions—give the brain a  big boost when it comes to health and longevity.   

By the time I went to sleep, I understood how the new angle fit into the big picture, what the implications were—and that my brain had had a great workout. 

I also knew what quotes would frame the facts and background—and what people would make the story interesting. 

In the morning, I drafted and revised, plugged in facts and figures, re-organized and revised some more until I had the article I wanted.  

In the end, I not only had learned a lot, but I also was pretty sure that the picture was so broad that few people—even in the industry—were familiar with it. 

For more information, please call us at (916) 455-4790 or visit www.dellrichards.com.

PR lasts forever....

A few years after I started doing public relations, a client called to say he’d just made a sale from an article we placed more than a year earlier.

Because people think the media only uses experts, they often save articles until they are ready for a service or product.

Even though we tell clients that being in the media has enormous credibility, it doesn’t always hit home until they see the lasting effect. 

Recently, we had a reporter contact us about an issue we pitched more than three years ago.

Nation’s Restaurant News finally was writing about the idea we sent.

Because they had our client as a source. the reporter now wanted to interview him for the story.

As I wrote this, a researcher from Frost & Sullivan called about the same issue, the story more important now than ever.  

A sale a year later, reporters calling years after a pitch... whether you get immediate placement or not, talking to the media has lasting value. 

So PR doesn’t last forever, it still lasts a long time—not only with the public, but with editors and reporters as well.

For more information, call us at Dell Richards Publicity, (916) 455-4790 or visit www.dellrichards.com.