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PR and Media Releases that Get Results with Catriona Pollard

Catriona Pollard - Friday, August 12, 2011

Do you want to see you and your business profiled in the media but don’t know where to start?

Have you sent out media releases and received no response?

When you get the right media coverage, your sales can double (or triple), you gain new customers and you can position yourself as a leader in the market place.

However, if you don't know the tactics of a publicity/public relations (PR) strategy or how to write an effective media release, you won’t get the results that will make a difference.

You'll learn the science behind an effective PR strategy including writing media releases that get results, how to approach journalists, how to write articles and case studies for the media as well as clever online tactics.

In one day, you'll discover the secrets to getting good publicity that you can use for your own business.

This seminar covers:
• the elements of a typical PR strategy
• how to determine your target audiences
• how to structure media releases and what you must include
• who you should quote and what they should say
• how to deal with journalists
• online distribution strategies
• contributing articles to publications
• how to approach bloggers as part of your PR strategy

This seminar is ideal for:
• Business owners, coaches, speakers, entrepreneurs who want to promote their business
• Professionals who have been given PR or marketing responsibilities but who may not have had formal training in this area
• People who are relatively new to a public relations role

This seminar covers all the issues you need to consider before you even put pen to paper - or fingers to the keyboard! Once you have these issues covered, you will have a strong framework that will guide how you write the release.

About Catriona Pollard
This seminar is presented by Catriona Pollard, director of CP Communications. Catriona has 18 years experience in developing and managing public relations and marketing programs.

Prior to establishing CP Communications in 2001, Catriona set up the marketing communications department for a leading software company and managed a diverse range of accounts within PR agencies. She also has extensive experience in managing public affairs and marketing in federal and state governments.

Catriona's blog Public Relations Sydney was shortlisted as media & marketing blog of the year 2009. She is a co-founder of Social Media Women, a formal online and in person networking group that encourages and assists women to participate more prominently in social media.

This seminar is held at the Sydney Writers' Centre.

PR and Media Releases that Get Results with Catriona Pollard
Thursday 15 September 2011 9.00am - 5.00pm
Fee: $495 (includes GST)

Book now! Click here.

Sydney Writers Centre
Ground Floor
55 Lavender Street
Milsons Point NSW 2061


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CP Communications newsletter - PR Tips & News 2 February 2010

Catriona Pollard - Monday, February 01, 2010

<>On Sunday I started reading the book The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet. But that is irrelevant to this story – how I came to be reading it is!

 

This book was released ‘into the wild’ by Alan Jones (or @bigyahu on Twitter). I didn’t go to a bookshop or a library and choose it. It was literally released at a coffee shop and I picked it up.

Book Crossing is where books take on a life of their own. You go online and register a book(s) you have read and get a number (BookCrossing ID or BCID) then leave it on a park bench, a coffee shop, at a hotel on holidays - anywhere it might find a new reader!

What happens next is up to fate, and you never know where the books might travel. You can even track the book's journey around the world as it is passed on from person to person.

So far 839,659 people in over 130 countries have registered, and the most travelled book is Der seltsame Bücherfreund / Hoffnung's Constant Readers [BookRing] at 460 reads from people all around the world.

Amazing! So take a look at your books just sitting collecting dust and why not set them free? Make the world a library.

I hope you enjoy reading this newsletter.

 

Top tips for managing a media interview

Recently we ran a media training session with a client who had a very important face to face interview with a few Australian Financial Review journalists. I thought I would share some of the tips I discussed in the session. The first step is preparing for the interview but during the it there are key techniques to get the most out of it: 

Answer plus one
To ensure you maintain control of the interview, don’t just answer the question. Your objective must always be to communicate your key messages. Use the questions as an opportunity to make your points. This is called ‘answer plus one’. In other words, answer the question then add one of your key messages or key issues outlined in your game plan.

Answer in your own time
The journalist is interested in what you have to say, so don’t get flustered if you can’t think of an answer immediately. Just take your time, collect your thoughts and take a deep breath before you answer.

Don’t be afraid of silence
Some journalists use it as a technique in the hope you will fill the silence with unplanned information. Silence can be powerful and there is no need to fill it.

The “no comment” rule
Don’t say “no comment” as it implies confirmation of the question. The audience will interpret it as guilt or a cover up. The rule of thumb for responding is to explain why you can’t respond and use one of your key messages. For example, “I can’t respond directly to that for legal reasons, however, what I can tell you is…”

However, never allow wrongful allegations to stand. If the journalist says something wrong, correct them immediately. Do not repeat the incorrect information or question. If you do, it will only reinforce it. Read more about this on our blog Public Relations Sydney. 

Don't use jargon
Every industry has its own jargon. Remember who your target audience is and communicate in language they will understand. Also, don’t assume that the journalist is trained in your specific area of expertise; as a result, they may not understand your jargon.

Use your customers as testimonials
Depending on the topic of the interview, it may be effective to use one of your valued customers to validate your key messages. You would have to ensure that they are comfortable speaking to the media. Often this is an effective way of illustrating your point and helps your audiences understand and identify with you.

 

Customer service is more than just good manners

I recently had a conversation with customer service specialist, Nancy Georges, about how important customer service is. Without exceptional customer service, a business cannot thrive, grow or survive long term.  Through the internet and social media customers can share their experiences - both good and bad - immediately. 

Here are some of Nancy’s tips to help elevate your customer service experience:

• Know that customer service is giving your customer what they want, when they want it, not just the greeting as they come into your business.

• Remember that customer service is just good manners applied to your business, your customer and every interaction you have. Be respectful especially in cases where there has been a less than positive experience, this will ensure emotions do not get in the way of resolving the issue positively.

• Be genuine. Smile when speaking to customers (especially on the phone). People respond immediately when others smile at them.  It will also mean that they associate you with a positive experience. People are always happy to do things that make them feel good repeatedly which is good for your business.

• Take customer comments, feedback and complaints as tools to help shape future behaviour. If something had a great response, do it again, apply it to other areas of your business and promote it.  Use complaints to put in systems and procedures to ensure this does not happen again.

• Every single person in your business needs to value the same customer service standards and values.  Training, reinforcement and feedback are vital for any business owner and their staff.

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CP Communications newsletter - PR Tips & News 19 January 2010

Catriona Pollard - Monday, January 18, 2010
While sitting under my beach umbrella (for the two days the sun was out!) at Christmas time, I was flicking through Earth Garden magazine. Odd choice for a city slicker – but it is good to dream while on holidays. 

I came across an article on The Birchip No-Power Fridge. David Bell invented this fridge. He lives in the hottest place in Victoria and outside the electricity grid. Yes OUTSIDE the electricity grid. So not only doesn’t he get to watch The Amazing Race on telly, he can’t refrigerate his food.
  
He does have one solar panel that he generates a tiny amount of electricity. He uses this for... wait for it....a laptop computer! Hmm food or laptop? Laptop or food? Tough choice. I think he made the right choice – because, hey, you can always invent a no-power fridge!

What is really amazing about this is that he explains how to make The Birchip No-Power Fridge, and at the end of the article says: “If you are still not sure how to build this remarkable fridge then you will find my video on YouTube.” 

Yes, YouTube. So even though he lives in the middle of nowhere and has (virtually) no electricity he is using video to share his story and promote his invention.

And this is one of my business New Year’s resolutions – embrace video and use it to share my story and my clients’ stories. What are your business New Year resolutions?

Happy New Year and here’s to an amazing year and decade. 

PS. Planning on living outside the electricity grid? Want to know how to make The Birchip No-Power Fridge? Click here to watch the video.

PSS. Someone who is using video to connect people is Iggy Pintado with his RealTweeple project where he interviews people for 30 secs about their passions.

Top 5 PR Resolutions for 2010
The start of a new year has always been a time for looking back on the year gone and more importantly, forward to the year ahead. It’s a time to reflect on the changes you want to make and make a promise to yourself to actually do something about them this year!

So what are your business New Year resolutions? This year (and even this decade) why not introduce or revamp your public relations strategy for your business. Here is our suggestion for your New Year PR resolutions for 2010:

1. Embrace Social Media - Start by creating a Facebook page for your business, create a Twitter account for your business, create a LinkedIn account and create a business blog.

2. Network - Networking is an important factor that should be implemented to help you progress in your business or your career in 2010.

3. Write an Article - Writing and distributing media releases is just one way of getting media coverage. You can also write an article and pitch it to a publication. Many publications are stretched for resources and welcome well written articles. 

4. Update your website - Search engines such as Google like new, valuable content on websites. These newly updated sites are seen to be providing more timely and relevant information to their visitors. The more content you add, the fresher your site is and the more likely your site will rank highly in search results. 

5. Get customer testimonials - Including positive customer testimonials on your website or marketing collateral is a very powerful way to highlighting your business’ expertise and often helps to win new business. Potential customers are much more likely to believe a customer testimonial that praises your product or service than they are to believe yourself written sales copy.

Remember, resolutions are only powerful if you make them happen! Read the full article on our Public Relations Sydney blog. 

Create a buzz with social media competitions
Take your Twitter and Facebook strategy one step further by including competitions to engage and reward your followers. CP Communications has been exploring and implementing social media competitions for clients and gaining remarkable results. So why run a competition?

To find new fans – The hope is that the lure of prizes will draw followers in and those that like what they see will stick around in the future. To claim a prize an individual needs to either follow you (on Twitter) or become a fan (on Facebook) to be able to claim their prize – meaning they have to sign up!

To reward loyal fans – Most social media sites have fans or followers that have been around from the start. I know that on our @CPCPR and @CatrionaPollardTwitter accounts there are a number of long-term followers that make an effort to specifically read our tweets. A competition is a great way of giving something back to these fans and provides them with a reason to keep supporting you.

To increase participation – When you first start out in social media it is often difficult to get people to visit your site/fan page or follow you. It is even more difficult to get them to interact with you. A competition gives them something to talk about with you and your community. It gives them something to get involved in, to comment on and to ask questions about. 
 
Create a buzz – Everybody loves free stuff and a competition gives people something to talk about. People will start talking about what is being given away and others that see this will be attracted to your site to check out what all the buzz is about – and get in on the action too. 
Want some ideas on how to run a competition? Read the full article on our blog. 

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