PR and marketing

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

Although I have lived in Sydney nearly half my life, I’m still a country girl at heart. At times when I am stuck in Sydney traffic I dream of living somewhere there aren’t any traffic lights (like where my parents live!). But last week, I was reminded how lucky I am to live here. Not only is Sydney beautiful, but we have access to so many great events.

I attended Vivid Creative Sydney, a series of free events about the future of creativity, technology and business. Industry leaders shared their experiences and discussed how to create innovative brands and products. One was an artist who creates ‘unseen sculptures’ using augmented reality. He placed a giant squid above the Opera House that could only be seen through your smart phone. Amazing!

On Sunday it was a beautiful clear winter’s morning and the CP Communications team joined hundreds of people on the MS Walk Fundraiser around the botanical gardens. The walk helped MS Australia raise funds to provide assistance to the 20,000 Australians living with Multiple Sclerosis. It’s not too late to help out a good cause and donate!

That afternoon I found myself sitting next to an Aboriginal woman artist from Tjanpi Desert Weavers who taught me how to weave in their unique way. They are a renowned group of indigenous women artists who work with grass fibres to make baskets and sculptures. They had travelled here from remote desert communities in central Australia for the amazing exhibition at Manly Gallery, KURU ALALA – eyes open. I was so thrilled, I couldn’t quite believe it!

Every event I went to last week was free, and they were all about community – creating, contributing and engaging. So have a think about how your business, brand or you as an individual can create and contribute to your community. The goodwill you create will be priceless.

I hope you enjoy reading this newsletter.
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What journalists are looking for and how to get their attention
Journalists work in a fast-pace, high-pressure environment every day and are only looking for stories which capture their attention right away. They constantly receive media releases, phone calls from PR consultants and emails about the latest and greatest product or business. So to make sure you are noticed there are a few things to keep in mind when contacting the media.

Make them want to know more. Whether you are sending them a media release or pitching an article over the phone, make sure to present the most interesting information first. The information may have to be tailored for different types of media.

Personalise your attempt. Research first and find out which journalist you may wish to speak to. Simply using someone’s name can get their attention and makes them feel like you have a put in a bit of effort.

Pick your time wisely. A bit of research and common sense can tell you when a media outlet's deadline is. Daily papers will obviously have a deadline each day, so get your information to a journalist earlier in the day. Monthly publications such as some magazines have long lead times so don’t call at the end of the month trying to get into the next month’s issue.

Don’t be afraid of journalists. They have good days and bad days and there are ones who will be nicer than others. But don’t be intimidated by them. If you have all your information at hand, know what you are talking about and are polite at all times you should be received well.
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TwitterCue: The new social media idea
In today’s world of 24 hour news cycles and social media channels that never sleep, people across the globe are constantly gaining access to large amounts of information on a daily basis.

It is particularly challenging when communicating via Twitter, when your clearly written and informative media release is reduced to a 140 character line.

How do you express essential and maybe even critically important information in only 140 characters? Enter ‘TwitterCue’ – a 140 character line written at the top or bottom of a media release which sums up the content and can be then spread through social media channels without losing any essential information.

Not only is TwitterCue a great addition to a social media optimised media release – distributed to bloggers, citizen journalists and through services such as PR Newswire – it will also be useful for time-pressed journalists.

The challenge, however, is getting all the information needed into that 140 character line. To help you get the most out of writing a TwitterCue, here are some useful tips:

• Lose the fancy talk and get straight to the point – concentrate on facts only
• Always use a suitable hashtag
• Include a URL that links to the full media release
• Leave space for unedited re-tweeting – 120 characters should be your aim
• Channel the language of your Tweeps – use abbreviations e.g. to = 2; for = 4; you = u 

An example of a TwitterCue is one we did for our client Community Engine when we released their annual survey. We included the hashtag on all tweets:
The Nielsen-Community Engine 2011 Social Media Business Benchmarking Study released 2day http://t.co/6KoQiXt #B2Bsocialstudy
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Upcoming events
Here are some events coming up that we thought you might be interested in:

Social Media Women June: Learn about online business with Shoes of Prey
Social Media Women’s June event features inspirational creator of online business Shoes of Prey, Jodie Fox. Jodie will share how she built her incredible online business and some of the secrets to her success.
14 June 2011 – Sydney, NSW

Nice Girls Just Don’t Get It
Dr Lois Frankel is running a breakfast presentation about her book ‘Nice Girls Just Don’t Get It’. During the presentation Dr Frankel will teach women how get what they want in both professional and personal areas of their lives.
15 June 2011 – Brisbane, Qld

Web 3.0 and the Future of Social Media
New technologies collectively known as Web 3.0 are already providing a momentous opportunity to businesses and marketers.This conference will investigate the web and how it will transform marketing. Key areas to be discussed include the future direction for social networks and progressive social media marketing.
21 June 2011 – Sydney, NSW

PR and Media Releases That Get Results with Catriona Pollard
Catriona will teach you how to construct a PR strategy that gets results. By the end of this workshop you will understand how to come up with a media angle, write a pitch, media release, article, case study and editorial. You will also learn how to strategically use these tools to maximise your chance of achieving your PR objectives.
23 June 2011 – Sydney, NSW

Business in the Social Age
Simon Betschel (Sensis) and Brian Giesen (Ogilvy) will be speaking about the opportunities and challenges that are being presented to Australian businesses in the social age. They will aim to help business owners make more informed decisions about how to use and engage in social media for business.
7 July 2011 – Melbourne, Vic

Macquarie University’s Women, Management and Work Conference
Learn how to become an influential leader at Macquarie University’s 23rd annual Women, Management and Work Conference. This two day conference will inspire and inform women who are looking for insights and key tips to develop their leadership skills. Speakers include CEO of Medicare Lynelle Briggs, Board Director of CoSolve Anna Booth and Director in the Royal Australian Navy Captain Michele Miller.
28-29 July 2011 – Sydney, NSW

Journalists work in a fast-pace, high-pressure environment everyday and are only looking for stories which capture their attention right away. They constantly receive media releases, phone calls from PR agents and emails about the latest and greatest product or business. So to make sure you are noticed there are a few things to keep in mind when contacting the media.

Make them want to know more
Whether you are sending them a media release or pitching an article over the phone, make sure to present the most interesting information first. The information may have to be tailored for different types of media, eg: community newspapers are generally only interested on something to do with its immediate area. Most media releases won’t even be read all the way through if the journalist isn’t interested from the beginning.

Personalise your attempt
Whether emailing or calling, do a bit of research first and find out which journalist you may wish to speak to. Simply using someone’s name can get their attention and makes them feel like you have put in a bit of effort and aren’t just calling every media outlet in the country. If sending out a mass email make sure to BCC all email addresses so journalists don’t know you are sending it to every media outlet in the country, they will be less inclined to use information they know everyone else has.

Pick your time wisely
A bit of research and common sense can tell you when a media outlets deadline is. Daily papers will obviously have a deadline each day so getting your information to a journalist earlier in the day may be an advantage for you as you’ll be contacting them when the stress is a bit less. Monthly publications such as some magazines have long lead times and can be looking for articles months in advance, there is no point contacting a magazine at the end of the month trying to get into the next month’s issue.

Don’t be afraid of journalists
They are people too. They have good days and bad days and there are ones who will be nicer than others. But don’t be intimidated by them if they are less than sugar and spice, they will respect you more for not sounding nervous. If you contact them at a bad time apologise once and move on, apologising more than that can become annoying. If you have all your information at hand, know what you are talking about and are polite at all times you should be received well.

Before pitching a story to a journalist, you should always think of the visuals that could support your story. Regardless of the strength of your angle, a photo can make the difference as to whether a journalist picks it up or not.

Make sure you understand the pictorial policy of the publication you want to approach. Some daily news outlets only use photos taken from their own staff photographers. Sending a picture through with a pitch will not serve your purpose. Simply pitch the image as part of the story idea.

On the other hand, when approaching regional newspapers and online sites, seeing the photos when pitching the story to an editor may sway them to cover your story. 

When looking to use photos, always remember:

• Talk to the journalist first. You should always check if they want a photo, and if so, what format they require it in.
• Always check the publication specifications and only ever provide images that fit these specifications. There is nothing worse than seeing your coverage appear with a photo that is substandard or has sections cropped out.
• Ask for the photo deadline– sometimes these can differ from copy deadlines and they often need to be sent to different contacts within the publication.
• Review past issues of a publication to work out what type of style is preferred. It can be worth sending sample styles to your photographer to ensure you get the right look.
• Don’t forget to clearly label the image in the file name to make it easy for journalists to find it on their system.
• Keep to the news angle and stay clear of the cheesy shot.

If you have a news room on your website, it is also worth adding some unusual and interesting shots in quality formats for pictorial editors to download directly from your site. Encourage departments to think creatively about how they present products and try different locations or angles for the typical senior management head shot.

Photos are powerful communications tools. A good photographer can be an invaluable investment in your brand communication strategy.

We are now full swing in to the lead up to a federal election. A few weeks ago I was interviewed on ABC Radio about if it was too late for Julia Gillard to start tweeting. The answer was absolutely not.

She only joined Twitter on 4 July, and has only tweeted 21 times, but has the enviable number of 25,524 followers. After announcing the election she tweeted: “The election will be on 21 August. With your support I will move Australia forward.”

If used effectively, social media can make a significant difference to this election. Just look at US President Obama – social media won him the election by using it for communication, raising financial support and getting volunteers.

Like Obama, Gillard is using Facebook. Soon after announcing the election she filmed a short video which was placed on her Facebook page, on the Labor Party website, and YouTube. She reinforced her message of “Together, let’s move Australia forward”.

The internet has changed the way candidates communicate with their electorate.

A study on the recent British general election found social media helped political parties organise volunteers more efficiently, with party officials reporting three times more face-to-face contacts through tools such as virtual phone banks and online social networks.

With Twitter now mainstream will we see a ‘Twitter electorate’? Which could be described as the thousands of people on twitter that are technologically and democratically engaged that are not scared to state their opinion. Or will it be won as it usually is by TV ads, letterbox drops and smear campaigns on mainstream media.

I asked my Twitter followers if they thought social media would impact this election. Within minutes I had a mixed response. @AngelineDawson said “Hugely so. Gillard is taking a page out of Obama's book”, @BLKMGK01 said “Depends on how much American-like we are”, @martinwalsh said “It would if the OZ political parties had a strategy! Social Networking is not Social Media Marketing & hope not a strategy!”, and @nickhealy “Tweets will weigh in heavily to building opinion I think. Will be interesting to see how politicians manage it”.

I guess we are about to find out!

Pitching to a TV show

We were speaking to one of the producers of A Current Affair recently and asked them what they specifically look for in a pitch, because an idea that works brilliantly for print may never get picked up by TV and may leave you scratching your head as to why?

Here is some great advice on pitching to TV producers that might just get your business or client in the spotlight.

Images, images, images
Regardless of if it’s the evening news, a morning show or a current affairs program, if you want your story to get on TV you need to put some thought into the visuals. There is no point offering a media release on your great new product or survey results if there are no images to go with them.

Keep it topical
If you’re aiming at news programs obviously a strong news angle will be required. Even if you’re pitching to a morning show or current affair program you will have the best success if you link your pitch to something topical.

Case studies and interviews
Real people add real interest. Rather than offering dry information or statistics, try to provide interesting case studies with people who are happy to be interviewed and suggest some related visuals to go with these interviews. For the Macquarie University's Women, Management & Work Conference, we pitched in Telstra's Andrea Grant to The Circle because she had such an interesting story to tell.

To read the full article go to our blog Public Relations Sydney.

Using Twitter for business: Engaging your customers online
People are often sceptical when we explain engaging in Twitter can really benefit their business. Creating a Twitter account for your business opens up opportunities for communication and attracts new customers for businesses – when managed correctly. 

Create a personality
If your tweets come across as marketing ploys or if they are really promotional, followers will see straight through you. If you display an honest and interesting personality, followers will recognise that there is a real person behind your tweets.

To create a Twitter personality for your business:

Hold two-way communication
A common mistake people often make when starting out on Twitter is to broadcast messages rather than watching conversations people are having and joining in where possible.

When people follow you, follow them back and engage with them. You can tweet questions or interesting ideas that encourages a response from your followers.

Don’t use your logo as your profile picture
People find it harder to relate to a company when they use their logo as their profile photo. You can show the ‘human-side’ of your business by featuring actual staff photos on your Twitter account’s profile picture.

Devise a strategy that aligns with your communications plan
Factor the following into your Twitter strategy:

Tweeting
Messages do not all need to be specific to your company, followers will respect your business more if you tweet about news and events within your specific industry.

Read the full article on our blog Public Relations Sydney.

Upcoming events
Here are some events coming up that we thought you might be interested in:

media140 Oz Politics
media140 #OzPolitics is a one day Canberra conference planned to explore the way the real time web is transforming politics in an election year. Speakers include individuals involved in party politics, the Canberra Press Gallery, the Blogosphere, public relations, academia and lobby groups.
29 July 2010

Women, Management and Work Conference
At this conference leading women speakers will discuss equal opportunity in the workplace and strategies to achieve higher levels of women in leadership roles throughout Australia. It will encourage and inspire women to succeed in the workforce.
29 - 30 July 2010

What's Your Business Really Worth?
This is the third of four Let’s Talk Business Seminars run by the City of Sydney. At this seminar the Director of Hayes Knight, Greg Hayes and Author of the Sensis Business Index 2010, Christena Singh will speak about what you can do to maximize the worth of your business.
3 August 2010

Public Relations & Corporate Communications Conference 2010
At this conference people involved in business communications can learn how to create a narrative for their organisation, how to pitch stories for all mediums, how to understand and manage a crisis, how to engage in the political process, and about the new trends in digital PR and the power of online social networks. 
10 - 11 August 2010

Public Affairs Convention 
The Walkley Foundation for Journalism will bring together journalists, communicators, and social media gurus as part of a large industry media event. The focus is on public affairs with speakers exploring the importance of organisational story-telling as a powerful way to capture attention, engage an audience, and motivate people to act.
12 August 2010

 

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