Over time, PR leads to recognition

In public relations, if you beat the drum long enough, you’ll eventually hear back from journalists.

If you have a good story, you'll get a flood of queries and the interest in your client will suddenly take off.

When Mutual Housing California became for the first rental community in the nation to be certified by the Department of Energy as a Zero Energy Ready Home, we knew it was an important jumping off point.

When the local media wrote about it, a freelance journalist from the area saw it and sent a story to the subscription-only ClimateWire.

Scientific American republished that article a few days later. 

Since this past May, 18 articles have been written about the zero-net energy development and a video made on it.

Four other stories are being written, including one by NeighborWorks America, the Congressionally chartered nonprofit.     

And the list goes on… because once people hear an exciting drum beat, they want to be part of the party.

For more information, contact Dell Richards Publicity at www.dellrichards.com.

Tell journalists what they want to know

During interviews with reporters, people don’t always want to answer questions about company earnings and sales figures.

We tell clients it’s best to give reporters what they want.

If they don’t, the reporter will figure it out on their own.

If they get it wrong, it’ll look like it’s right and there’s little anyone can do about it.  

I say this because we’ve had reporters guesstimate company earnings by using an industry average that was way too low since they were specialists with a large staff.

To have people think they made so little was even worse than having everyone know how well they were doing.

Another time, we almost lost a feature because the company was still in beta-testing, had run into problems and didn’t want to admit sales weren't as high as they’d projected.   

Which is why we say “Honesty is the best policy”—especially with journalists.  

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

When journalists get it wrong

When interviewing people, it’s easy to make assumptions that aren’t exactly right—or are completely wrong.

Because journalists often make mistakes when interviewing people, we warn clients not to expect perfection.

We tell them to ignore errors, no matter how annoying and to be grateful for the coverage, no matter what it says.   

So what do you do if there are lots of mistakes, something that recently happened to a client?

While there was nothing negative about the article, the CEO wanted a correction.  

After a flurry of emails with everyone involved, the CEO decided to let it go.

I breathed a sigh of relief because I didn’t want them to be seen as  difficult. 

Using a quote attributed to P. T. Barnum, I always says "the only bad publicity is no publicity".

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

How NOT to write a press relese

People often show us press releases they’ve written.

Even if the releases have good information, the info in them usually is in the wrong order.

Good releases are mini-news stories with the most important information coming first.

The first sentence doesn’t have the news or what happened that you want published, i.e., local company wins major award.  

The first sentence contains the names of everyone involved. The first sentence should be general: local company, etc.

There are no facts to show why event is important. If the release is about a disease, it should have the number of people with that disease.  

The release is not be targeted to a specific reporter, i.e., local media need local statistics, business media need business details.

The release has too much jargon.

Unless you’re targeting a trade journal, you’re working with a generalist, a reporter who is covering many beats these days.

Even if the reporter knows what the jargon means, they need to translate it for their audience.

Why not make their job easier and translate it yourself?

The release doesn’t have any sources or people to call to get the necessary quotes.

Journalists work on crushing deadlines while fielding hundreds of pitches

If they know you’ll be easy to work with by providing everything they need quickly, they’re more likely to choose your story over another.

And, BTW, the company mission statement goes at the end.

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

What psychopaths and CEOs have in common

Kevin Dutton’s new book, “The Wisdom of Psychopaths” says that being fearless, focused and ruthless are tailor-made traits for success in the modern world.

Besides the above, the University of Oxford research psychologist from lays out habits of psychopaths that can help anyone in business:

Don’t procrastinate, don’t second-guess yourself, don’t look back and don’t blame yourself when things go wrong.

The Top 10 professions for psychopaths are not only CEOs, but lawyers, surgeons, journalists and clergy, among others.

Dutton writes that psychopaths have a gamut of traits that make them more—or less—successful, depending on the career they choose—or are thrust into by circumstance.

The difference between CEOs and criminals is that the latter are more impulsive and violent.

They also have a harder time delaying gratification and come from less educated backgrounds.

So if you want to be successful in business, acting like a psychopath at least some of the time might not be a bad idea.

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

How to talk to the media

Speak slowly. Tap your foot as you speak to slow yourself 

down.

Pause between phrases. Wait for the reporter to catch up.

Speak in sound bites. The shorter the sentence, the better.

Use short words. Two syllables are better than three.  

Do not use jargon. If you have to explain a word, you will 

lose your audience—and your reporter.  

Use the "child" test. In your mind, explain it to a child.

Avoid complex sentences. If half got lost, would it mean 

what you want?

Never say anything you wouldn't want your boss, your 

mother or everyone you've ever met to know.

If you must say something you don't want to admit, go  

"Off the Record." Never do this unless you absolutely 

have to. The reporter may respect it, but an editor may 

not.

If you don't know something, say you're not sure, but 

you’ll find out. Then, get back ASAP.

If a reporter calls and you can’t talk, find out their 

deadline. Tell them when you’ll get back to them.  

The media usually only calls once on a story. If you don’t 

get back to them—and you are not absolutely crucial to 

the story—you will never hear from them again. 

For more information on Dell Richards Publicity, call us 

at 916.455.4790 or visit www.dellrichards.com.

How readable is your writing?

While the Gunning Fog Index was developed in 1952, it is more important today than ever before.

In an age of biz-babble, written language uses more jargon every day—and becomes less easy-to-read as a result.  

On the Gunning Fog Index, a readability score of 12 can be read by a high school student.

For universal comprehension—and the standard journalists aspire to—the goal is 8. Eighth grade.

Annual reports often come in at 26.9 or more.

The lower the score, the better luck you’ll have getting people to read it. 

Journalists will love your releases.    

To lower your score, scratch the three-syllable words. Shorten the long sentences and muster active verbs.

This copy had a Gunning Fog of 8.001.   

To test your copy, go to http://gunning-fog-index.com/ or the Flesch/Kincaid Grade Level at http://www.standards-schmandards.com/exhibits/rix/index.php. 

For more information on Dell Richards Publicity, call us at 916.455.4790 or visit www.dellrichards.com.